The Piper PA-40 Arapaho was an American twin-engined cabin monoplane designed by

Piper Piper may refer to: People * Piper (given name) * Piper (surname) Arts and entertainment Fictional characters Comics * Piper (Morlock), in the Marvel Universe * Piper (Mutate), in the Marvel Universe Television * Piper Chapman, lea ...

as a replacement for the PA-39 Twin Comanche C/R. Like most Piper products at this time, the PA-40 was named after a Native American tribe, in this case the

Arapaho The Arapaho (; french: Arapahos, ) are a Native American people historically living on the plains of Colorado and Wyoming. They were close allies of the Cheyenne tribe and loosely aligned with the Lakota and Dakota. By the 1850s, Arapaho ba ...

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-rotating 160 hp

Lycoming IO-320 The Lycoming O-320 is a large family of naturally aspirated, air-cooled, four-cylinder, direct-drive engines produced by Lycoming Engines. They are commonly used on light aircraft such as the Cessna 172 and Piper Cherokee. Different variants ...

engines. The prototype was damaged in June 1972 when the factory at

Lock Haven, Pennsylvania Lock Haven is the county seat of Clinton County, in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Located near the confluence of the West Branch Susquehanna River and Bald Eagle Creek, it is the principal city of the Lock Haven Micropolitan Statistical Area ...

, 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 redesigned with a taller tailfin. The second modified prototype with normally aspirated engines first flew in April 1974 and was followed by a third aircraft with turbocharged engines. The PA-40 was

type certified A type certificate signifies the airworthiness of a particular category of aircraft, according to its manufacturing design (''type design''). It confirms that the aircraft of a new type intended for serial production, is in compliance with applica ...

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 the

1973–1975 recession The 1973–1975 recession or 1970s recession was a period of economic stagnation in much of the Western world during the 1970s, putting an end to the overall post–World War II economic expansion. It differed from many previous recessions by ...

. Following cancellation the two aircraft were used by Piper as company liaison and communication aircraft, one based at Lock Haven, the other at

Lakeland, Florida Lakeland is the most populous city in Polk County, Florida, part of the Tampa Bay Area, located along Interstate 4 east of Tampa. According to the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau release, the city had a population of 112,641. Lakeland is a principal ci ...

. Later, one aircraft was scrapped by Piper and the third, registered N9997P, is now privately owned in Texas, following use by the Purdue University student maintenance program.

References

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External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Piper PA-40 Arapaho

1970s United States civil utility aircraft Low-wing aircraft Abandoned civil aircraft projects of the United States Aircraft first flown in 1973 Twin piston-engined tractor aircraft