Aircraft model
PIPER PA-28R-200
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The Arrow II, built 1972-1976 with 200 hp, a five-inch fuselage stretch and more rear-seat room than the original Arrow. It is a four-seat retractable that cruises at about 137 knots on around ten gallons an hour, which is decent efficiency, and it is the aeroplane a very large proportion of American commercial pilots did their complex training in. Flight schools still run them for that reason.
As a private purchase it is competent rather than exciting: faster than an Archer, slower than a Mooney, and burdened with the maintenance of retractable gear for a gain of roughly 13 knots. The gear system is reliable when maintained but the emergency extension procedure, gear rigging and the automatic extension system (if still fitted and active) all need to be understood. Insurance costs noticeably more than a fixed-gear Cherokee and a complex endorsement is required. At exactly 200 hp no high-performance endorsement applies. The wing spar airworthiness directive matters here more than in most PA-28s because so many Arrows spent their lives in commercial training, which is exactly the flight profile the AD targets.
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Put PIPER PA-28R-200 side by side with up to two other models.
- PIPER PA-28R-200
What it is
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tricycle |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Lycoming IO-360-C1C |
| Horsepower | 200 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | CAR3 |
| Production start | 1972 |
| Production end | 1976 |
| Endorsements required | complex |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 137 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 700 nm |
| Service ceiling | 15,000 ft |
| Climb rate | 900 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 55 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | 1,600 ft |
| Landing over 50 ft | 1,340 ft |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 1,160 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 872 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 2,650 lb |
| Empty weight | 1,490 lb |
| Usable fuel | 48 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 11.2 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $55,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $145,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 2,000 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $34,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $48,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 2,316 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 1,223 |
| Median year built | 1973.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 58 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 8 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 47.421 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 30.252 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 283 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 23.143 |
| Airworthiness directives | 4 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | ok |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 1,223 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 1,223 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 1,223 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 3-4 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | 4.7 of 101 |
| Severity | 4.5 of 102 |
| Access | 6.8 of 103 |
| Support | 9.3 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 7.4 of 105 |
| Overall (sum of the categories shown) | 32.7 out of 506 |
- 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.