Aircraft model
PIPER PA-25-150
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The original Pawnee, approved in January 1959 with a 150 hp Lycoming O-320, a 2,300 lb maximum weight and an 800 lb hopper. It is a much smaller aeroplane than the 235 and 260 hp versions that replaced it, and by modern ag standards it is not a working aircraft at all -- 150 hp will not lift a useful chemical load out of a short strip on a warm morning.
Buying one means reading the airframe rather than the logbook. Chemical corrosion in the fuselage tubes behind the hopper is the classic killer, the wing spar and attach fittings have spent thousands of hours being pulled round at low level, and the hopper and its plumbing are either serviceable or a large bill. Prices are set by the tug market at the low end and by working operators at the high end. A tailwheel endorsement is a legal minimum and no substitute for a season of training. On a 150 hp aircraft specifically, the honest use is glider towing behind a light single-seater, or restoration.
Compare with…
Put PIPER PA-25-150 side by side with up to two other models.
- PIPER PA-25-150
What it is
| Seats | 1 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | taildragger |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Lycoming O-320-A2A |
| Horsepower | 150 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | CAR3 |
| Production start | 1959 |
| Production end | 1962 |
| Endorsements required | tailwheel |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 83 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 400 nm |
| Service ceiling | 11,300 ft |
| Climb rate | 505 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 50 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | 1,370 ft |
| Landing over 50 ft | 930 ft |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 1 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 1,200 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 948 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 2,300 lb |
| Empty weight | 1,100 lb |
| Usable fuel | 42 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 8.4 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $35,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $70,000 |
| 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 | 54 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 1 |
| Median year built | — |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | — |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | — |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 0 |
| Transfers per 100 active | — |
| Airworthiness directives | 0 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | none |
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 1-2 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | —3 |
| Support | 0.8 of 104 |
| Liquidity | —5 |
- Accident record: class median 29.1 · 174 models in class.
- Severity: class median 9.09.
- Access: class median 974.
- Support: class median 81.
- Liquidity: class median 20.47.
- 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.