Piper PA-40 Arapaho
Encyclopedia
The Piper PA-40 Arapaho was an American
twin-engined cabin monoplane designed by Piper as a replacement for the PA-39 Twin Comanche C/R.
Like most Piper products at this time, the PA-40 was named for a North American native tribe, in this case the Arapaho
.
160 hp Lycoming IO-320
engines.
The prototype was damaged in June 1972 when the factory at Lock Haven flooded and the prototype, registered
N9999P, did not fly until 16 January 1973. It crashed on 21 September 1973 during spin trials. and the aircraft was re-designed to give more vertical surfaces. The second modified prototype with normally aspirated engined first flew in April 1974 and was followed by a third aircraft with turbocharged engines.
The PA-40 was type certified
on 18 July 1974, as an amendment to the Twin Comanche type certificate. The Arapaho was scheduled to be launched as a 1975 model, but the company decided not to market the aircraft and the project was cancelled in December 1974. Piper stated that the cancellation was for financial reasons as it did not want to establish a new production line during an economic recession.
Following cancellation the two aircraft were used by Piper as company liaison and communication aircraft, one based at Lock Haven the other at Lakeland. Later one aircraft was scrapped by Piper and the third, registered N9997P, is now used by Aviation Technology students at Purdue University
in the airframe laboratory at the Purdue University Airport
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
twin-engined cabin monoplane designed by Piper as a replacement for the PA-39 Twin Comanche C/R.
Like most Piper products at this time, the PA-40 was named for a North American native tribe, in this case the Arapaho
Arapaho
The Arapaho are a tribe of Native Americans historically living on the eastern plains of Colorado and Wyoming. They were close allies of the Cheyenne tribe and loosely aligned with the Sioux. Arapaho is an Algonquian language closely related to Gros Ventre, whose people are seen as an early...
.
Development
The Arapaho was similar in size to the Twin Comanche and had six seats but had a taller main landing gear and larger cabin windows. It had two counter-rotatingCounter-rotating propellers
Counter-rotating propellers, found on twin- and multi-engine propeller-driven aircraft, spin in directions opposite one another.The propellers on both engines of most conventional twin-engined aircraft spin clockwise . Counter-rotating propellers generally spin clockwise on the left engine and...
160 hp Lycoming IO-320
Lycoming O-320
The Lycoming O-320 is a large family of 92 different normally aspirated, air-cooled, four-cylinder, direct-drive engines commonly used on light aircraft such as the Cessna 172 and Piper Cherokee. Different variants are rated for 150 or 160 horsepower...
engines.
The prototype was damaged in June 1972 when the factory at Lock Haven flooded and the prototype, registered
Aircraft registration
An aircraft registration is a unique alphanumeric string that identifies a civil aircraft, in similar fashion to a licence plate on an automobile...
N9999P, did not fly until 16 January 1973. It crashed on 21 September 1973 during spin trials. and the aircraft was re-designed to give more vertical surfaces. The second modified prototype with normally aspirated engined first flew in April 1974 and was followed by a third aircraft with turbocharged engines.
The PA-40 was type certified
Type certificate
A Type Certificate, is awarded by aviation regulating bodies to aerospace manufacturers after it has been established that the particular design of a civil aircraft, engine, or propeller has fulfilled the regulating bodies' current prevailing airworthiness requirements for the safe conduct of...
on 18 July 1974, as an amendment to the Twin Comanche type certificate. The Arapaho was scheduled to be launched as a 1975 model, but the company decided not to market the aircraft and the project was cancelled in December 1974. Piper stated that the cancellation was for financial reasons as it did not want to establish a new production line during an economic recession.
Following cancellation the two aircraft were used by Piper as company liaison and communication aircraft, one based at Lock Haven the other at Lakeland. Later one aircraft was scrapped by Piper and the third, registered N9997P, is now used by Aviation Technology students at Purdue University
Purdue University
Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and...
in the airframe laboratory at the Purdue University Airport
Purdue University Airport
Purdue University Airport is a public-use airport in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States. Owned by Purdue University, the airport is southwest of the central business district of Lafayette, in West Lafayette...
.