Piper Arrow PA-28R: Specs, Performance And POH Guide

The Piper Arrow is the four-seat retractable-gear member of the PA-28 family: a 200-horsepower Lycoming IO-360 in front of a Cherokee airframe, with a constant-speed propeller and landing gear that folds away. Ours is N316EF, with a Garmin 430 in the panel, and it cruises at about 135 knots. It is the only complex airplane on our ramp, which makes it the aircraft behind the complex endorsement under 14 CFR 61.31(e) and behind the complex training that a commercial certificate requires.

This page is the reference for the type: what the airplane is, how the retractable gear and the constant-speed propeller work, what the Pilot's Operating Handbook contains and how to read it, and what the Arrow is like to fly. The rest of the fleet, with rates and links to every type, is on the airplanes you will fly. The Arrow is $229 per hour inside a course package and $349 per hour at retail, both wet, and the complex endorsement is a fixed $999.

Courses Flown In The Piper Arrow

What The PA-28R Arrow Is

Piper built the Cherokee as a family. One low wing, one basic fuselage, one set of systems, and a long line of variants distinguished mostly by engine, wing and gear. The Warrior sits near the bottom of that line with 160 horsepower and fixed gear. The Arrow sits above it with a fuel-injected 200-horsepower Lycoming IO-360, a constant-speed propeller and retractable tricycle landing gear.

The point of that combination is not speed for its own sake. It is that a pilot moving up to higher-performance aircraft has to learn three new habits at once: managing propeller pitch as a separate control from throttle, managing landing gear as something that can be forgotten, and managing an airplane that accelerates and decelerates faster than a fixed-gear trainer. The Arrow teaches all three on an airframe that is otherwise familiar to anybody who has flown a Cherokee. That familiarity is exactly why it has been the standard complex trainer in American flight schools for decades.

Model History: Arrow, Arrow II, Arrow III And Turbo Arrow

The Original Cherokee Arrow

Introduced in the late 1960s as the PA-28R-180 and shortly afterwards the PA-28R-200, on the original constant-chord Cherokee wing. These are compact airplanes with the short, square wing planform pilots call the Hershey bar wing, and they are noticeably crisp in roll as a result.

The Arrow II

The 1972 revision stretched the fuselage and extended the wing, which gave more cabin room and a gentler stall without changing the essential character. The Arrow II is the version most commonly found in flight schools, and it remains a PA-28R-200 with the 200-horsepower IO-360.

The Arrow III And Turbo Arrow III

From 1977 Piper fitted the semi-tapered wing used across the later Cherokee line, giving greater span and a longer, more forgiving wing. The Turbo Arrow III added a turbocharged Continental engine, which changes the systems and the operating technique substantially, and it is a different airplane to fly at altitude.

The Arrow IV

The 1979 Arrow IV moved to a T-tail, which alters pitch behavior at low speed during rotation and the landing flare. Pilots who learn on a conventional-tail Arrow notice the difference immediately.

How To Tell Them Apart

Look at the wing planform and the tail. A constant-chord, square-tipped wing with a conventional tail is an early Arrow or an Arrow II. A longer, tapered outer wing with a conventional tail is an Arrow III. A T-tail is an Arrow IV. Then check the data plate and the POH, because the differences that matter operationally are in the numbers rather than in the silhouette.

Airframe And Engine

The Arrow is an all-metal, low-wing monoplane of conventional construction, certificated in the normal category, with a single cabin door on the right-hand side reached by walking up the wing. Ours carries a Lycoming IO-360, a four-cylinder, horizontally opposed, fuel-injected engine producing 200 horsepower, turning a two-blade constant-speed propeller.

Fuel injection is a real difference from the carburetted engines in the Warrior and the Skycatcher. There is no carburetor heat and no carburetor icing to manage, but there is a hot-start technique to learn, because a fuel-injected Lycoming that has been shut down for twenty minutes on a warm Van Nuys afternoon behaves differently from a cold one. That technique is in Section 4 of the handbook and it is one of the first things an instructor will teach you.

Dimensions, Weights And Capacities

Treat every figure in that table as typical for the type rather than as the number for a particular airplane. Empty weight in particular varies by hundreds of pounds across individual aircraft depending on avionics and equipment, and empty weight is what determines useful load. The weight and balance section of the handbook for the specific aircraft, with its current equipment list, is the only document that tells you what you can actually carry.

The Retractable Landing Gear

The Arrow's gear is hydraulically actuated, powered by an engine-driven pump, with a selector in the cockpit and three green lights to confirm that all three legs are down and locked. There is an emergency extension procedure for the case where hydraulic pressure is lost, and it works by gravity and airloads rather than by pumping.

Two numbers matter more than any other on a retractable airplane, and both are in Section 2 of the handbook. V_LO is the maximum speed at which the gear may be operated, sometimes published separately for extension and retraction. V_LE is the maximum speed at which the airplane may be flown with the gear already extended. Exceeding either is a structural matter, not a technique matter.

Many Arrows were built with an automatic gear extension system that lowers the gear on its own at low airspeed or low power, using a sensor in the pitot system, with a cockpit override. A large number of aircraft have since had that system deactivated or removed under a supplemental type certificate, and whether it is fitted and active changes how you fly the airplane. Confirm the configuration for the specific aircraft from its handbook supplements before you fly it. On N316EF, the Arrow on our ramp at Van Nuys, the automatic gear extension system is disabled. The gear is selected and operated manually, and you fly the airplane on the assumption that nothing will put the wheels down for you.

The habit the Arrow really teaches is the gear check, repeated at the same points in every circuit until it is automatic: downwind, base, final. Every pilot who flies retractables has a personal flow, and the Arrow is where most American pilots build theirs.

The Constant-Speed Propeller

On a fixed-pitch airplane the throttle is the only power control and engine speed follows airspeed. On the Arrow there are two levers: throttle sets manifold pressure, and the propeller control sets the RPM the governor will hold by changing blade pitch. The airplane will now maintain a chosen RPM across a range of airspeeds, which is what makes efficient cruise possible and what makes a climb propeller and a cruise propeller unnecessary.

The technique is simple once learned and it is the first thing checked on a complex checkout. Increasing power means propeller forward then throttle up. Reducing power means throttle back then propeller back. Run it the other way round and you are briefly asking the engine to make high manifold pressure at low RPM, which is the condition every constant-speed briefing exists to prevent. Section 2 of the handbook gives the permitted combinations for the engine in the airplane you are flying.

Why The Arrow Is The Complex Trainer

Under 14 CFR 61.1 a complex airplane is one with retractable landing gear, flaps and a controllable-pitch propeller. Under 14 CFR 61.31(e), to act as pilot in command of one you must have received and logged ground and flight training from an authorized instructor in a complex airplane, or in a full flight simulator or flight training device representative of one, been found proficient in its operation and systems, and received a one-time logbook endorsement. There is no minimum number of hours in the regulation.

Commercial candidates meet the Arrow for a different reason. 14 CFR 61.129(a) requires, within the 20 hours of training on the areas of operation, at least 10 hours of training in a complex airplane, a turbine-powered airplane, or a technically advanced airplane. The Arrow satisfies that requirement directly, and doing it in an airplane that also gives you the complex endorsement is the efficient way round.

Because 61.31(e) sets no minimum hours, an open hourly meter is the wrong way to buy this endorsement, and pilots put it off for years as a result. We sell it at a fixed $999. The wider regulatory picture, including the grandfather provisions and why insurance rather than the FAA usually sets the real minimum, is on complex and high-performance endorsements.

What The POH Contains

Pilot's Operating Handbooks for general aviation aircraft follow a standard nine-section layout, and knowing which section answers which question is half of using one well.

Section 1, General

Three-view drawings, dimensions, definitions of the symbols and abbreviations used throughout, and conversion tables.

Section 2, Limitations

The legally binding numbers: airspeed limitations including V_LO and V_LE, powerplant limitations, permitted manifold pressure and RPM combinations, weight and center of gravity limits, approved maneuvers, and required placards.

Section 3, Emergency Procedures

Engine failure, fire, electrical failure, and on this airplane the emergency gear extension procedure. Learn the memory items from this section rather than from a checklist card.

Section 4, Normal Procedures

Preflight, starting including the hot-start technique for a fuel-injected engine, taxi, takeoff, climb, cruise, descent, approach and landing, and the sequence for gear and propeller operation.

Section 5, Performance

Takeoff and landing distance charts, climb performance, cruise power settings and fuel flow, and range. Every chart carries conditions that must be matched before the answer means anything.

Section 6, Weight And Balance

The empty weight and center of gravity for that individual airplane, its equipment list, and the loading graphs used to prove a proposed load is inside the envelope.

Section 7, Systems Description

How the fuel, electrical, hydraulic, landing gear, flight control and propeller systems actually work. On a complex airplane this is the section that turns a checklist into understanding.

Section 8, Handling, Servicing And Maintenance

Ground handling, towing, tire pressures, servicing intervals and what an owner may legally do.

Section 9, Supplements

The section pilots skip and should not. Every piece of optional equipment installed under a supplemental type certificate, including the Garmin 430 and any modification to the automatic gear extension system, arrives with a supplement that amends the rest of the handbook.

How To Read A Performance Chart

Performance charts are not estimates and they are not promises. They are the results the manufacturer measured with a new airframe, a new engine and a test pilot, on a particular day, at a particular weight, in a particular configuration. Every one of those conditions is printed on the chart and every one of them must be matched or corrected for.

Work through them in order. Establish pressure altitude and temperature, not field elevation and a guess. Use the actual takeoff weight from your weight and balance calculation. Apply the wind component, and remember that a tailwind correction is usually far larger than the equivalent headwind benefit. Then add margin: the airplane is not new, the engine is not new, and you are not a manufacturer's test pilot. Instructors who teach performance well teach the margin as part of the number rather than as an afterthought.

Why POH Figures Are Aircraft-Specific

A handbook downloaded for a PA-28R-200 is a study aid. It is not the document that governs the airplane you are about to fly. Two Arrows of the same model year can differ in empty weight by a substantial margin because of avionics, interiors and modifications, and empty weight drives useful load. Supplements can change limitations, procedures and placards. Modifications under supplemental type certificates can change systems entirely, and the automatic gear extension system is the obvious example on this type.

The current handbook issued for the specific serial number, with its supplements, is the only legal authority for operating that aircraft. Read it for the airplane you are flying, and read Section 9 as carefully as Section 2.

Where To Get The Official Manual

Current handbooks and revisions come from the manufacturer or its authorized distributors. The airplane's own handbook lives with the airplane and is required to be aboard. Copies found on general-purpose download sites are frequently out of date, frequently for a different model year, and never carry the supplements for a particular aircraft. Use them to study the type, never to plan a flight.

What The Arrow Is Like To Fly

Familiar and then noticeably quicker. Anybody who has flown a Warrior will recognize the cockpit, the door, the wing walk and the general feel of the controls. What is different is the pace at which things happen. Two hundred horsepower and a clean airframe mean the Arrow accelerates away from you if you are slow to reduce power, and the approach requires planning that a fixed-gear trainer forgives.

The gear changes the rhythm of the circuit more than the propeller does. There is a speed to slow to before you can select gear down, and a point in the pattern where it has to happen if the rest of the approach is going to work. Pilots learning on the Arrow spend their first few circuits behind the airplane and then, usually around the fourth or fifth landing, ahead of it. That transition is the whole value of complex training.

In the cruise it is a comfortable four-seat cross-country airplane at about 135 knots, which from Van Nuys puts Santa Barbara, Big Bear, Catalina and the desert airports comfortably inside an afternoon. With a Garmin 430 in the panel it is also a capable instrument platform for a pilot who holds the rating.

Piper Arrow Vs Warrior And Archer

The practical reading of that table is that the Arrow costs $50 an hour more than a Warrior inside a package and gives you the two things a Warrior cannot: the complex endorsement and the complex time a commercial certificate requires. As a cross-country airplane it is quicker, and as a trainer it is the step that makes everything above it feel ordinary. Full specifications for the fixed-gear sibling are on the Piper Warrior PA-28-161 page.

Related Reading

• The airplanes you will fly lists the whole fleet with rates and links to every type.
• Piper Warrior PA-28-161 covers the fixed-gear Cherokee most students train in first.
• Complex and high-performance endorsements explains 14 CFR 61.31(e) and 61.31(f).
• Commercial pilot license covers the course the Arrow's complex hours belong to.
• Flight school rates at Van Nuys publishes every package and retail rate.
• Aircraft checkout requirements for renters covers what it takes to rent the Arrow solo.

Piper Arrow FAQ

What Engine Does The Piper Arrow Have?

A Lycoming IO-360, a four-cylinder fuel-injected engine producing 200 horsepower, turning a two-blade constant-speed propeller. Fuel injection means there is no carburetor heat and no carburetor icing, but there is a hot-start technique to learn from Section 4 of the handbook.

Is The Piper Arrow A Complex Airplane?

Yes. Under 14 CFR 61.1 a complex airplane has retractable landing gear, flaps and a controllable-pitch propeller, and the Arrow has all three. That is why it is the airplane used for the complex endorsement under 14 CFR 61.31(e).

How Fast Is A Piper Arrow?

Ours cruises at about 135 knots, which from Van Nuys puts Santa Barbara, Big Bear, Catalina and the desert airports comfortably inside an afternoon. Exact cruise figures for any individual airplane come from the performance section of its own Pilot's Operating Handbook.

What Does A Complex Endorsement Cost?

We charge a fixed $999 for the complex endorsement in the Arrow. 14 CFR 61.31(e) sets no minimum hours, only a requirement for ground and flight training, a finding of proficiency and a one-time logbook endorsement, which is exactly why a fixed price is more useful than an open hourly meter.

How Much Does It Cost To Fly The Arrow?

$229 per hour inside a course package and $349 per hour at retail, both wet, so fuel is included. Instruction is $110 per hour on top when you are flying dual.

What Is The Difference Between An Arrow And A Warrior?

The Warrior has 160 horsepower, a fixed-pitch propeller and fixed landing gear. The Arrow has a fuel-injected 200-horsepower engine, a constant-speed propeller and retractable gear, which makes it a complex airplane and the Warrior not. The Arrow is quicker and the systems are the reason to fly it.

Does The Arrow Count Toward Commercial Pilot Requirements?

Yes. 14 CFR 61.129(a) requires at least 10 hours of training in a complex, turbine-powered or technically advanced airplane within the 20 hours of training on the areas of operation, and the Arrow satisfies that directly while also earning you the complex endorsement.

What Are VLO And VLE?

V_LO is the maximum speed at which the landing gear may be operated, sometimes published separately for extension and retraction. V_LE is the maximum speed at which the airplane may be flown with the gear already extended. Both are in Section 2 of the handbook for the specific aircraft and both are structural limits.

Which Arrow Model Is The Best Trainer?

Any conventional-tail Arrow with a normally aspirated IO-360 makes a good complex trainer. The Turbo Arrow adds turbocharging and a different set of systems, and the Arrow IV has a T-tail that behaves differently at rotation and in the flare. What matters more than the variant is that you study the handbook for the individual airplane.

Fly The Arrow At Van Nuys

If you already hold a certificate and want the complex endorsement, it is $999 in N316EF and it is one of the more satisfying days of flying you will have, because retractable gear and a constant-speed propeller are the moment general aviation stops feeling like a trainer. Call (818) 330-1318 and we will schedule it. If you have not started flying yet, begin with a discovery flight at $229 for 60 minutes from the left seat, credited in full toward training if you enroll within 24 hours, or book a free consultation. We are at 7900 Balboa Blvd, Van Nuys, CA 91406, open 9 AM to 9 PM seven days a week.