Aircraft model
PIPER PA-31T2
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The Cheyenne IIXL: a Cheyenne II stretched about two feet in the fuselage ahead of the wing, with 750 shp PT6A-135 engines and a 9,540 lb maximum weight. Piper built it from 1981 to answer the complaint that the Cheyenne II's cabin was too small for the performance it offered, and it is the most usable of the PA-31T family — pressurized, quick, and with enough room behind the cockpit to justify the fuel bill.
A Cheyenne is a turboprop with piston-twin running costs only if you ignore the hot section, and nobody who owns one does. Two PT6s at their inspection intervals set the hourly cost and the engine programme status is the first thing to establish about any particular aircraft. Against that, the PT6 is the most supported turbine in general aviation, the airframe is a Navajo underneath and therefore well understood, and a sorted Cheyenne IIXL does work that costs three times as much in anything newer.
Compare with…
Put PIPER PA-31T2 side by side with up to two other models.
- PIPER PA-31T2
What it is
| Seats | 9 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tricycle |
| Engines | 2 |
| Engine | Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-135 |
| Horsepower | 750 hp |
| Fuel | JetA |
| Certification basis | FAR23 |
| Production start | 1981 |
| Production end | 1984 |
| Endorsements required | complex;high-performance;pressurized/high-altitude;multi-engine |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 270 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 1,336 nm |
| Service ceiling | 32,400 ft |
| Climb rate | 1,750 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 77 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | 2,940 ft |
| Landing over 50 ft | 2,446 ft |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 9 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 3,860 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 1,301 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 9,540 lb |
| Empty weight | 5,680 lb |
| Usable fuel | 382 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 105 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $650,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $1,400,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 3,600 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $380,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $570,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 77 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 24 |
| Median year built | 1981.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 0 · thin base (low)1 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 0 · thin base (low)2 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 3 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 12.5 · thin base (low)3 |
| Airworthiness directives | 7 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | low |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 24 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 24 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 24 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing multi-engine, turbo-prop, 2 engines, 7+ seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | —3 |
| Support | 3.5 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 1.7 of 105 |
- Accident record: class median 13.13 · 24 models in class.
- Severity: class median 31.67.
- Access: class median 5,500.
- Support: class median 59.
- Liquidity: class median 22.37.
- 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.