PIPER PA-28-140FL

The Cherokee 140, Piper's low-wing answer to the Cessna 150 and 172, built from 1964 to 1977. Despite the name it had 150 hp from 1964 onward. Piper sold it as a two-seat trainer with an optional rear bench, and that optional bench is why it appears as a four-seater — in practice it is a two-plus-two, because loading four adults and useful fuel puts it over gross. The first aircraft were certified as two-seaters at 1,950 lb; the four-seat version at 2,150 lb was approved in June 1965, so a 1964 aircraft may be a genuine two-seater and the paperwork of any individual aeroplane decides which it is. Piper never changed the engine or the constant-chord wing during the run; the later aircraft differ in trim and in name — the Flite Liner trainer from 1971 and the Cruiser 2+2, shortened to Cruiser in 1974 — rather than in what they can do. It was used to train enormous numbers of pilots and many are still doing that work.

The low wing is the main difference in character from a Cessna: you climb onto the wing to get in through one door on the right, visibility in a turn is better below and worse above, and it sits lower and feels more stable in turbulence. It also has 50 usable gallons, which is generous for its size and gives it genuinely long legs. The weaknesses are a cramped rear seat, only one cabin door, modest climb performance on a warm day, and the Piper wing spar corrosion and fatigue inspection requirements that now apply to high-time PA-28 airframes. Running costs are low and every mechanic knows the type.