1972 Piper Twin Comanche PA39 S/N 39-148

Total Time -- 4068, Left Engine SMOH -- 916, Right Engine SMOH -- 1912
New Annual March 2012
Plane in excellent condition and always hangared

Equipment
Counter Rotating Engines
Lycoming IO360-B1A 160 HP & LIO360-B1A 160HP

Props HC-E2YL-2BS & HC-E2YL-2BLS
GPS - Garmin 530, IFR approved
GPS - King GPS KLN89B
Garmin Auto Panel
WX10 Storm Scope
King Transponder
HSI
King KX155 Nav/Com
Century 3BI Auto Pilot with Altitude Hold
Piper Wing Leveler
King DME -- remote connection
King ADF
4 Place Intercoms

2011
Extensive Annual
Rebuild Magneto's
Complete overhaul of the Auto Pilot System

2010
New Gyro
New Tires
Battery and New Wiring Kit
Starter
New Brakes

2008
New Paint -- plane completely stripped to the metal, primed and painted
New Interior (seats, panels, head liner and floor)
All new windows Shimmy Damper
Chrome Spinner kit New LED Beacon
New Engine Cowling Wing Tip Modes
Land gear modes

Useful load 740 lbs. with full fuel, gross weight 3,600 lbs.

Plane will climb all day on one engine

Fuel capacity 84 gallon, 2 main tanks 27 gallons each, 2 aux tanks 15 gallons each

Plane burns 15 gallon per hours at 2300 squared, best fuel burn around 5000 to 9000 feet

4 place plane with jump seats in the baggage compartment

One of the partners has owned the plane for 20 years, he has a commercial license and owned an

FBO in Pennsylvania before moving to Florida

The Plane has been in Florida for 6 years

Plane has always been hangered

The one owner is looking for a partner or both will sell the plane.

The right engine has the most hours but only the lower end would need to be rebuilt the top

end is much newer

•

Total Time – 3988, Left Engine SMOH – 836, Right Engine SMOH – 1832

New Extensive Annual March 2012

Plane in excellent condition and always hangared

Equipment

Counter Rotating Engines

Lycoming IO 320-BIA 160HP

GPS - Garmin 530, IFR approved

GPS - King GPS KLN89B

Garmin Auto Panel

WX10 Storm Scope

King Transponder

HSI

King KX155 Nav/Com

Century IIIB Auto Pilot with auto trim

Piper Wing Leveler

King DME – remote connection

King ADF

4 Place Intercoms

2008

New Paint – plane completely stripped to the metal, primed and painted

New Interior (seats, panels, head liner and floor)

All new windows

Shimmy Damper

Chrome Spinner kit

New LED Beacon

New Engine Cowling

Wing Tip Modes

Land gear modes

History of the Piper PA-30 Twin Comanche

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (October 2008)

PA-30 Twin Comanche
1965 model Piper Turbo Twin Comanche with deicing boots installed
Role	Cabin monoplane
Manufacturer	Piper Aircraft
First flight	1963
Number built	2,142

Turbo PA-30 with tip tanks and vortex generators installed

PA-30 Twin Comanche with modified dorsal fin and modified air intake in nacelles

The Piper PA-30 Twin Comanche is an American twin-engined cabin monoplane designed and built by Piper Aircraft. It was twin-engine development of the PA-24 Comanche single-engine aircraft. A variant with counter-rotating propellers was designated the Piper PA-39 Twin Comanche C/R.

Development

The Twin Comanche was designed to replace the Piper Apache in the company's line up of products. The Twin Comanche was developed from the single-engined Comanche by Ed Swearingen who at the time operated a facility that specialized in the modification of production aircraft. The normally aspirated aircraft was equipped with two 4-cylinder 160 hp (120 kW) Lycoming IO-320-B1A fuel injected engines, but 200 hp (150 kW) engines were available as a modification. A version with turbocharged engines for higher altitude flight was also developed, using IO-C1A engines of the same nominal power. All Twin Comanche engines enjoyed long TBO's (2000 hours for the B1A) and developed a reputation for reliability. The PA-39 was a version with counter-rotating engines (to eliminate the critical engine) that replaced the PA-30 in the early 1970s. The Twin Comanche was produced on the same Lock Haven, Pennsylvania production line as its single-engine cousin; production ceased when the factory was flooded in 1972. Piper chose at that time to focus on its equally-popular Cherokee 140/180/235/Arrow line, manufactured in Florida, and its highly popular twin-engine Seneca, which is essentially a Twin Cherokee Six. The Piper PA-40 Arapaho had been scheduled to replace the PA-39 in the 1973-4 timeframe. Three were manufactured, and the aircraft was already fully certified when the decision was made not to proceed with the manufacture. One of the three Arapahos was destroyed in a flat spin accident in 1973; the test pilot (who was none other than future aviation entrepreneur Clay Lacy) successfully escaped. One was scrapped by Piper. One remains flightworthy as of this writing but is not currently being flown.

Design

The Twin Comanche is a low-wing cantilever monoplane with a retractable tricycle landing gear. The Twin Comanche is the most fuel efficient aircraft in its class. With tip tanks, the aircraft holds 120 gallons (454 l) of fuel. Fuel burn at typical cruise settings is approximately 15.5 gph (58.7 lph) with a cruise speed of 165 kts. It easily climbs to 18,000' (5,500 m) when desired (24,000' - 7,300 m - if turbocharged). When compared with the Seminole (in reality a Twin Arrow), the Twin Comanche goes faster, carries more, burns less fuel, climbs more rapidly and ultimately higher, is quieter, and is more difficult for a novice to land. When compared to the Seneca, which is really quite a different aircraft, the more noticeable differences are in handling. Another contemporary competitor to the Twin Comanche was the Beechcraft Travel Air. A similar airplane in form and function was the Gulfstream American GA-7 Cougar, which went into production after the Twin Comanche's production run ended.

Operational history

An early high-ratio of training accidents on the original Twin Comanche was reduced by raising the minimum airspeed at which engine-out flights were conducted. In the 1960s, engine-out stalls were performed as part of multiengine training at low altitudes. This, combined with the Twin Comanche's ease of entry into a flat spin if an engine-out stall is taken too far, led to many early accidents. A revision of training procedures combined with revised placarded speed restrictions for single engine operation as well as a service bulletin which added a rudder-aileron interconnect and leading edge stall strips resulted in significant improvement in the accident rate.

A Twin Comanche was flown in the 1992 and 1994 French Arc en Ciel air races. It is the only US aircraft to have raced twice around the world. In the pilot-skilled races, 1992 pilot and Pioneer Hall of Fame enshrinee and 100 Aviation Hero for the First Century of Flight, Marion P. Jayne and her daughter Nancy Palozola placed second. In 1994 Jayne and her daughter, Patricia Jayne (Pat) Keefer won the FAI Gold Medal in what, so far, is the longest race in history at over 21,000 miles flown May 1-24, 1994. With FAA approval the twin carried a total of 252 gallons in 11 tanks and at maximum power went over 2,100 miles non-stop between Marrakech, Morocco and Istanbul, Turkey in 11:19 hours.^[1]

Variants

Three versions of the PA30 were produced: the original, a B model, and a C model. The B and C models can carry six passengers and can be identified by the additional side windows. Factory turbocharged engines became available in 1965. Turbo models can be identified by the presence of vents on the nacelle sides. These use Rajay turbochargers with manual wastegates operated by twin knobs under the throttle quadrant. They are properly termed "turbonormalized" since the compression ratio and maximum manifold pressure remained unchanged. Pilots are required to use care to avoid overboosting at low altitudes, since no overboost popoff valves are used. Since there is no accompanying power increase, the B/C models simply give owners a fuel vs. passenger tradeoff. The two rearmost seats, occupying the baggage compartment, are quite small.

PA-30 Twin Comanche: Four-seat twin-engined cabin aircraft. PA-24 with engine removed and nose faired in and powered by two 160-hp (119-kW) Lycoming IO-320-B1A engines in wing mounted nacelles.
PA-30B Twin Comanche: PA-30 with a third cabin window on each side and an optional fifth or sixth seat.
PA-30B Turbo Twin Comanche: Turbonormalized version of the PA-30B Twin Comanche, powered by two Rayjay turbonormalized IO-320-C1A piston engines.
PA-30C Twin Comanche: Twin Comanche B with new instrument panel, switches, and other minor variations. Optional turbonormalized version.
PA-30-200 Twin Comanche B: Experimental PA-30 with two 200hp Lycoming engines, one only from Piper. However, a number of Twin Comanches were modified with 200hp Lycoming engines under an STC from Miller which was often accompanied by modifications to the dorsal fin, nacelles, and nose. Dual brakes on each main wheel and a nosegear headlight were also available from Miller. An optional turbocharged variant of the Miller Twin Comanche was available as well.
PA-39 Twin Comanche C/R: PA-30 with counter-rotating 160hp Lycoming IO-320-B1A engines and modified wing leading edges.
PA-39 Turbo Twin Comanche C/R: Turbocharged version of the PA-39 Twin Comanche C/R.
Piper PA-40 Arapaho: Developed and fully certified version of PA-39 with entirely different wing and extensive fuselage modifications. Three prototypes only.

Specifications (PA-39)

Data from The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985), 1985, Orbis Publishing, Page 2735

General characteristics

Capacity: four/six seat
Length: 25 ft 2 in (7.67 m)
Wingspan: 36 ft 9½ in (11.21 m)
Height: 8 ft 3 in (2.51 m)
Wing area: 178 ft² (16.54 m²)
Empty weight: 2270 lb (1030 kg)
Gross weight: 3725 lb (1690 kg)
Powerplant: 2 × Avco Lycoming IO-320-B1A flat-four piston engine with counter-rotating propellers, 160 hp (119 kW) each each

Performance

Maximum speed: 205 mph (330 km/h)
Range: 1200 miles (1931 km)
Service ceiling: 20,000 ft (6095 m)