Photograph:
Piper PA-31T-620 Cheyenne VH-TNZ (c/n 31T-7920064) at Essendon, VIC in November 1981 (David C Eyre)
Country of origin:
United States of America
Description:
Business and executive aircraft
Power Plant:
Two 463 kw (620 eshp) Pratt & Whitney of Canada PT6A-28 turboprops
Specifications:
- Wingspan: 13.01 m (42 ft 8¼ in)
- Length: 10.57 m (34 ft 8 in)
- Height: 3.89 m (12 ft 9 in)
- Wing area: 21.3 m² (229 sq ft)
- Max cruising speed at 3,355 m (11,000 ft): 525 km/h (326 mph)
- Economical cruising speed at 7,620 m (25,000 ft): 393 km/h (244 mph)
- Max operating altitude: 8,840 m (29,000 ft)
- Range at max cruising speed: 2,260 km (1,407 miles)
- Range with 1,451 kg (3,200 lb) payload: 378 km (235 miles)
- Empty weight: 2,458 kg (5,420 lb)
- Loaded weight: 4,082 kg (9,000 lb)
History:
The Cheyenne was a development of the pressurised Piper Navajo, as indicated by the common PA-31 type number, but was fitted with turboprop engines. The prototype of the Cheyenne series was flown for the first time on 20 August 1969. Certified for commercial operations in May of 1972, production deliveries began in 1974. This was the first turbine-engine business aircraft placed in production by the Company.
Seating six to eight persons, and having basically the same fuselage as the Navajo, the main difference was the Pratt & Whitney PT6A turboprops and the wingtip fuel tanks on early model Cheyennes. The wingtip tanks of the new aircraft provided a greater range, which is a normal requirement for turbine business aircraft. The first production aircraft was flown on 22 October 1973, and three years later a Cheyenne became the 100,000th aircraft produced by the Piper company.
During 1977 Piper made the decision to make changes in the production of the Cheyenne series. At the end of the year it increased the range of aircraft by offering a low-cost version known as the Cheyenne I with the same airframe as the original PA-31T but using the lower power of the Pratt & Whitney PT6A-11 turboprops of 373 kw (500 eshp). This model offered the wingtip tanks as an option, as it was considered that some commuter airlines which may purchase the model, and which had short routes in their network, would not require the extra range and would opt for the extra load-carrying capacity.
The original PA-31T then continued in production, becoming known as the Cheyenne II. The Cheyenne XL had the same engines as the Cheyenne II but offered an extended fuselage 127 cm (50 in) longer than the Cheyenne II, providing 50 cm (19.7 in) more length in the passenger cabin and 10 cm in the cockpit. It was a combination of the Chieftain’s pressurised fuselage with standard Cheyenne II wings, undercarriage and engines.
Further development led to the PA-42 Cheyenne III in 1978. This model only superficially resembled the two previous models. In 1979 the Cheyenne II XL model appeared with an increase of 61 cm (24 in) in the forward cabin area, and an additional window on the port side.
First of the type seen in this region was a Cheyenne II XL which arrived in New Zealand in March 1982 for a demonstration tour, later being sold by the distributor, Ansett General Aviation, in Australia. Other examples of the PA-31T series have been registered in Australasia, including VH-HXL (c/n 31T-8166055), a Cheyenne XL, registered from January 1983 to November 1984, and ZK-FPL, a PA-31T3 (c/n 31-8475001) with Airwork (NZ) Ltd.