Aircraft model
PIPER PA-23-150
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The first Apache: two 150 hp Lycoming O-320s, four seats and a 3,500 lb maximum weight. It is the aeroplane that invented the cheap light twin, and the figures make clear how modest it was -- a hundred and fifty horsepower a side, about 148 knots, and a single-engine climb rate of 240 ft/min in the book and considerably less in practice.
Ownership is dominated by having two of everything. The Lycoming engines themselves are simple and well supported; the accessories, the gear system and the sixty-year-old wiring are where the money goes. Corrosion in the wing spar and the nacelle structure is the structural item to inspect. Insurance for a low-time multi-engine pilot is the other real cost and is worth quoting before buying.
Compare with…
Put PIPER PA-23-150 side by side with up to two other models.
- PIPER PA-23-150
What it is
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tricycle |
| Engines | 2 |
| Engine | Lycoming O-320-A |
| Horsepower | 150 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | CAR3 |
| Production start | 1954 |
| Production end | 1957 |
| Endorsements required | complex;multi-engine |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 148 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 603 nm |
| Service ceiling | 17,000 ft |
| Climb rate | 1,250 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 51 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | 1,600 ft |
| Landing over 50 ft | 1,360 ft |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 1,320 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 888 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 3,500 lb |
| Empty weight | 2,180 lb |
| Usable fuel | 72 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 16.8 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $45,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $95,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 2,000 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $28,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $40,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 209 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 47 |
| Median year built | 1956.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 2 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 1 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 42.55 · thin base (low)1 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 42.55 · thin base (low)2 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 15 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 31.91 · thin base (low)3 |
| Airworthiness directives | 1 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | low |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 47 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 47 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 47 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing multi-engine, piston, 2 engines, 5-6 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | 8.4 of 103 |
| Support | 3.5 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 9.3 of 105 |
- Accident record: class median 28.74 · 56 models in class.
- Severity: class median 33.33.
- Access: class median 2,812.25.
- Support: class median 57.
- Liquidity: class median 21.91.
- Each of the five categories places the model within its peer class, from 0 (the worst of the class) to 10 (the best): a position among comparable models, not a grade. The overall score is the sum of the categories shown that are scored, out of 10 for each (50 when all five are); it is given only when at least 4 of the five are scored, and it can be set against another model's only when both are in the same peer class and scored on the same categories.