Aircraft model
PIPER PA32-301XTC
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The Piper 6XT: the turbocharged 6X, with a 300 hp Lycoming TIO-540 in place of the normally aspirated engine, a higher maximum weight and a normal cruise around 161 knots against the 6X's 148. It is the last turbocharged fixed-gear six Piper built and one of the rarest aircraft the company sold in the 2000s.
Turbocharging on a fixed-gear aeroplane is a slightly odd combination — the drag that the fixed gear costs is exactly what the turbocharger is working against — but for anyone flying in the mountain west or regularly above ten thousand feet it is the difference between an aeroplane that works and one that does not. The cost is the usual turbo bill: the turbocharger, the wastegate, the exhaust system, and cylinders that run hotter than a normally aspirated engine's. Production numbers were tiny, so expect to search for one and expect parts specific to the T-model to be slow.
Compare with…
Put PIPER PA32-301XTC side by side with up to two other models.
- PIPER PA32-301XTC
What it is
| Seats | 6 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tricycle |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Lycoming TIO-540-AH1A (turbocharged) |
| Horsepower | 300 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | CAR3 |
| Production start | 2004 |
| Production end | 2007 |
| Endorsements required | high-performance |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 161 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 627 nm |
| Service ceiling | 20,000 ft |
| Climb rate | 1,075 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 58 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | 1,590 ft |
| Landing over 50 ft | 1,725 ft |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 6 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 1,500 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 888 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 3,800 lb |
| Empty weight | 2,300 lb |
| Usable fuel | 102 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 17.4 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $435,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $469,900 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 1,800 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $62,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $88,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 41 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 36 |
| 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 | 12 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 33.33 · 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 36 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 36 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 36 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 7+ seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | —3 |
| Support | 0 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 10 of 105 |
- 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.