Aircraft model
PIPER PA-28RT-201T
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The Turbo Arrow IV, built from 1979, is the Turbo Arrow III with a T-tail. Piper fitted T-tails across much of its range at the end of the 1970s for reasons that were largely stylistic, and this is the version most affected. Performance in cruise is essentially identical to the Arrow III — about 172 knots in the high teens with a 20,000-foot ceiling.
The T-tail is the reason it sells for less than the conventional-tail aeroplane. With the elevator out of the propeller slipstream, the aircraft needs more speed before the nose will come up, so the takeoff roll is longer and the rotation less positive, and pilots consistently describe it as the less pleasant of the two to fly. The Continental TSIO-360 brings the same cooling, cylinder and turbocharger problems as in the Arrow III and frequently falls short of its nominal overhaul life. Add retractable gear maintenance, a complex endorsement, oxygen above 12,500 feet, and the PA-28 wing spar airworthiness directive. It is fast for the money, with several caveats attached.
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Put PIPER PA-28RT-201T side by side with up to two other models.
- PIPER PA-28RT-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 | 1982 |
| Endorsements required | complex |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 172 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 900 nm |
| Service ceiling | 20,000 ft |
| Climb rate | 940 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 52 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | 1,620 ft |
| Landing over 50 ft | 1,525 ft |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 1,120 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 688 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 2,900 lb |
| Empty weight | 1,780 lb |
| Usable fuel | 72 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 11.6 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $90,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $165,000 |
| 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 | 659 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 255 |
| Median year built | 1979.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 6 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 1 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 23.531 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 19.612 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 46 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 18.043 |
| Airworthiness directives | 5 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | ok |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 255 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 255 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 255 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 3-4 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | 5.2 of 10 · scored on 21 years of events (fewer than 10 in the last 10)1 |
| Severity | 3.4 of 10 · scored on 21 years of events (fewer than 10 in the last 10)2 |
| Access | 6.7 of 103 |
| Support | 5.9 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 3 of 105 |
| Overall (sum of the categories shown) | 24.2 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.