Aircraft model
PIPER PA-28-151
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The original Warrior, built 1974-1976. It is the Cherokee with a new, longer, tapered wing and a stretched cabin, which improved the stall behaviour, the climb and the rear-seat room over the old constant-chord aircraft. With 150 hp it is a trainer and a modest four-seat tourer, and a very large number of flight schools bought them.
It is a pleasant, forgiving aeroplane to fly and a cheap one to own, and the tapered wing makes it more docile near the stall than a Cherokee 140. The honest complaint is power: 150 hp moving a 2,325 lb aeroplane is adequate and no more, and climb performance on a hot day with three or four people aboard is genuinely poor — which is why Piper replaced it with the 160 hp Warrior II after only three model years. It also has the single right-hand door and the tight rear bench common to the family. The wing spar airworthiness directive is the priority check on any ex-training example, along with fuel tank and selector condition.
Compare with…
Put PIPER PA-28-151 side by side with up to two other models.
- PIPER PA-28-151
What it is
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tricycle |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Lycoming O-320-E3D |
| Horsepower | 150 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | CAR3 |
| Production start | 1974 |
| Production end | 1976 |
| Endorsements required | — |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 112 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 610 nm |
| Service ceiling | 12,700 ft |
| Climb rate | 649 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 44 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | 1,490 ft |
| Landing over 50 ft | 1,115 ft |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 1,024 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 736 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 2,325 lb |
| Empty weight | 1,301 lb |
| Usable fuel | 48 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 8.4 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $34,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $110,000 |
| 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 | 1,610 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 960 |
| Median year built | 1974.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 31 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 3 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 32.291 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 20.832 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 229 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 23.853 |
| Airworthiness directives | 9 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | ok |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 960 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 960 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 960 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 3-4 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | 8.5 of 101 |
| Severity | 5.8 of 102 |
| Access | 9.3 of 103 |
| Support | 9 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 7.7 of 105 |
| Overall (sum of the categories shown) | 40.3 out of 506 |
These record scores treat PIPER PA-28-151 as one design with the same aircraft registered under other names: it includes 1 aircraft registered under PIPER AIRCRAFT CORP. Prices are not combined.
- 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.