Aircraft model
PIPER PA-28-201T
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The Turbo Dakota is a tapered-wing Cherokee with a turbocharged 200 hp Continental instead of the Dakota's 235 hp Lycoming. It cruises at 165 knots in the low teens with a 20,000-foot ceiling, which is twenty knots better than a normally aspirated Dakota and useful for crossing terrain.
It was built for two model years and fewer than a hundred were made, which is the first thing to know. The second is the engine: the Continental TSIO-360 in Piper installations has a long-standing reputation for running hot, cylinder cracking and turbocharger trouble, and frequently falls short of its nominal overhaul life. That reputation is why the Turbo Dakota sold poorly and why it is cheap today. At exactly 200 hp no high-performance endorsement applies and the gear is fixed, so no complex endorsement either.
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Put PIPER PA-28-201T side by side with up to two other models.
- PIPER PA-28-201T
What it is
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tricycle |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Continental TSIO-360-FB (turbocharged) |
| Horsepower | 200 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | CAR3 |
| Production start | 1979 |
| Production end | 1980 |
| Endorsements required | — |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 165 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 700 nm |
| Service ceiling | 20,000 ft |
| Climb rate | 900 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 53 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | 1,600 ft |
| Landing over 50 ft | 1,725 ft |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 1,200 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 768 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 2,900 lb |
| Empty weight | 1,700 lb |
| Usable fuel | 72 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 11.6 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $149,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $239,900 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 1,800 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $40,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $58,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 94 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 62 |
| Median year built | 1979.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 3 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 48.39 · thin base (low)1 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 48.39 · thin base (low)2 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 6 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 9.68 · thin base (low)3 |
| Airworthiness directives | 3 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | low |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 62 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 62 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 62 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 3-4 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | 7.9 of 103 |
| Support | 2.9 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 0.2 of 105 |
- Accident record: class median 28.36 · 202 models in class.
- Severity: class median 11.65.
- Access: class median 767.75.
- Support: class median 141.5.
- Liquidity: class median 19.57.
- 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.