Aircraft model
PIPER PA-24-400
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The Comanche 400 is the fastest and rarest of the line: a Comanche airframe with a 400 hp Lycoming IO-720, an eight-cylinder engine built almost exclusively for this aeroplane. It cruises at 194 knots, climbs at 1,600 fpm and carries 1,490 lb, which for a 1964 four-seat single is extraordinary.
Roughly 148 were built and the engine is the reason. The IO-720 is a large, heavy, eight-cylinder design with a tiny installed base, very limited parts availability and few shops willing to overhaul one; a tired engine can make the aeroplane economically unrepairable. Add the general Comanche problem — Piper ended production in 1972 and supports the type minimally — and this is an aircraft for someone with a specialist mechanic and a type club connection. Flown and supported properly it is remarkable.
Compare with…
Put PIPER PA-24-400 side by side with up to two other models.
- PIPER PA-24-400
What it is
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tricycle |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Lycoming IO-720-A1A |
| Horsepower | 400 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | CAR3 |
| Production start | 1964 |
| Production end | 1966 |
| Endorsements required | complex;high-performance |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 194 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 1,000 nm |
| Service ceiling | 19,500 ft |
| Climb rate | 1,600 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 57 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | 1,800 ft |
| Landing over 50 ft | 1,500 ft |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 1,490 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 890 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 3,600 lb |
| Empty weight | 2,110 lb |
| Usable fuel | 100 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 22.4 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $100,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $220,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 1,800 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $70,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $115,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 141 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 74 |
| Median year built | 1964.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 5 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 67.57 · thin base (low)1 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 67.57 · thin base (low)2 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 13 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 17.57 · thin base (low)3 |
| Airworthiness directives | 6 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | low |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 74 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 74 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 74 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 3-4 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | 0.8 of 103 |
| Support | 3.3 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 2.8 of 105 |
- Accident record: class median 32.28 · 202 models in class.
- Severity: class median 12.5.
- Access: class median 775.
- Support: class median 147.5.
- Liquidity: class median 19.9.
- 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.