Aircraft model
PIPER PA32-301FT
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The Piper 6X: a fixed-gear six-seat Saratoga reintroduced in 2003 after a decade out of production, with the 300 hp Lycoming IO-540, a 3,600 lb maximum weight and a modern panel. Piper built it to sit below the retractable Saratoga HP, and the pitch was the honest one — the gear costs weight, money and complexity, and for a load-hauling family aeroplane it does not buy back very much.
What a 6X actually is, is one of the few genuinely modern piston sixes. It has club seating, two doors, and a cabin that four adults and luggage fit into without argument, and it cruises at about 148 knots doing it. The fixed gear means lower insurance, no gear system to maintain and no gear-up landings. The penalty is resale: the market has always preferred the retractable, and 6X values have never matched Saratoga HP values for the same year. Ownership is otherwise as easy as a big single gets.
Compare with…
Put PIPER PA32-301FT side by side with up to two other models.
- PIPER PA32-301FT
What it is
| Seats | 6 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tricycle |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Lycoming IO-540-K1G5 |
| Horsepower | 300 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | CAR3 |
| Production start | 2003 |
| Production end | 2007 |
| Endorsements required | high-performance |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 148 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 745 nm |
| Service ceiling | 14,100 ft |
| Climb rate | 990 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 58 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | 1,759 ft |
| Landing over 50 ft | 1,612 ft |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 6 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 1,384 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 772 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 3,600 lb |
| Empty weight | 2,216 lb |
| Usable fuel | 102 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 16.8 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $395,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $449,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 2,000 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $46,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $66,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 56 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 34 |
| Median year built | 2004.0 |
| 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 | 7 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 20.59 · thin base (low)3 |
| Airworthiness directives | 6 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | low |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 34 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 34 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 34 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 7+ seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | —3 |
| Support | 0.9 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 7.3 of 105 |
These record scores treat PIPER PA32-301FT as one design with the same aircraft registered under other names: it includes 5 aircraft registered under PIPER AIRCRAFT INC; includes 4 aircraft registered under NEW PIPER AIRCRAFT INC. Prices are not combined.
- Accident record: class median 35.06 · 12 models in class.
- Severity: class median 19.51.
- Access: class median 1,122.75.
- Support: class median 183.5.
- Liquidity: class median 22.19.
- 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.