Aircraft model
PIPER PA-28RT-201
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The Arrow IV is the normally aspirated T-tail Arrow, built 1979-1982. It has the 35-foot tapered wing, 72 usable gallons and the 200 hp fuel-injected Lycoming, cruising at about 137 knots with roughly 850 nautical miles of range.
The T-tail is the reason it sells below the conventional-tail Arrow III. With the elevator above the propeller slipstream the aircraft needs more speed before the nose will lift, so the takeoff run is longer and the rotation less positive, and pilots consistently describe it as the less pleasant of the two. Otherwise it is a competent four-seat retractable with good range. Insurance costs more than a fixed-gear Cherokee and a complex endorsement is required; at exactly 200 hp no high-performance endorsement applies. The PA-28 wing spar airworthiness directive is especially relevant to ex-training Arrows.
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- PIPER PA-28RT-201
What it is
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tricycle |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Lycoming IO-360-C1C6 |
| Horsepower | 200 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | CAR3 |
| Production start | 1979 |
| Production end | 1982 |
| Endorsements required | complex |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 137 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 850 nm |
| Service ceiling | 16,200 ft |
| Climb rate | 831 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 52 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | 1,600 ft |
| Landing over 50 ft | 1,525 ft |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 1,080 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 648 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 2,750 lb |
| Empty weight | 1,670 lb |
| Usable fuel | 72 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 11.2 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $90,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $160,000 |
| 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 | 405 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 179 |
| Median year built | 1979.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 7 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 1 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 39.111 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 22.352 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 30 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 16.763 |
| Airworthiness directives | 3 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | ok |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 179 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 179 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 179 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 3-4 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | 4.4 of 10 · scored on 21 years of events (fewer than 10 in the last 10)1 |
| Severity | 2.3 of 10 · scored on 21 years of events (fewer than 10 in the last 10)2 |
| Access | 6.3 of 103 |
| Support | 5.2 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 2.3 of 105 |
| Overall (sum of the categories shown) | 20.5 out of 506 |
- 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.