Piper PA28-181 Archer

The Piper PA-28-181 Cherokee Archer II is a low-winged, single-engine, 4-seat, and very stable “people carrier” light-aircraft. It’s heritage is from the same Piper PA28 Cherokee family tree as the Piper Warrior and the two types share the same fuselage and a very similar wing. The main difference is the extra 20hp offered by the Archer with it’s 180hp Lycoming O-360 engine giving some extra performance and making it able to carry more or fly further than it’s 160hp Warrior stablemate. Anyone finding the Cessna 152 lacking roominess will appreciate the extra elbow and leg room of both the PA28 Archer and Warrior where the front seats are more flexible and there is a gap between the front seats where the trim wheel is located. Also the relative ease of entry and exit.

The Archer’s slightly higher gross weight of 2550lbs or 1157kg (compared to the Warrior 2440lbs or 1106kg), is generally able to carry 4 people with some baggage and maybe full fuel (check POH for details). This makes it a great platform for touring, where a bit more performance may be required, as well as for instrument flying where the stability of the PA28s generally really makes a big difference when hand flying accurate headings and approaches. It cruises at around 110kts, pulled along by a Sensenich propeller.

The Archer II uses a structurally reinforced version of the same tapered wing as used on the Warrior II. This makes the handling of the Archer II and Warrior II very similar. Neither are cleared for spinning but both are incredibly stable and the cockpit layout and checklists are virtually identical. The engine, power,speeds and weights are the main but slight differences. Other similarities are the airline style throttle and mixture lever quadrant and the fuel and flap systems.

The PA28 Archer II is mainly of aluminium alloy construction with some parts such as the undercarriage and engine mounting frame made of steel. Its low-wing design uses an electric fuel-pump for take-off and landing as a backup to the mechanical engine-driven pump.The fixed tricycle landing gear makes smooth work of bumpy runway surfaces and the spacious four-seat cabin provides an overall comfortable environment particularly for longer flights.

Our 1986 built Piper PA28-181 Archer II G-KEWL serial number 28-8690036 was previously registered in Guernsey since 2013 as 2-KOOL & prior to that was G-JCAS. In the cockpit it has a WAAS-equipped Avidyne IFD440 GPS/NAV/COM avionics suite with both touchscreen and physical knobs and buttons, for better use in turbulance, and includes FMS preview graphical depictions of proposed flight plans, built-in 3D exocentric synthetic vision detailing terrain, obstacles, traffic and airports. Other avionics and instruments include: BendixKing KY197TSO Com, BendixKing KN53 Nav, Trig TT31 Mode-S Transponder, King KR87 ADF and King KN64 DME and even a digital OAT thermometer. Whatever next?

The 180hp Lycoming O-360-A4M engine of the Archer II has a 361 cubic inch or 6 litre displacement, needless to say, a very well proven in-service record of reliability since 1955. It is a horizontally-opposed, 4-cylinder, 4-stroke, carburettor fed piston engine with dual Slick magnetos, consuming Avgas 100LL fuel. The O-360 has been produced in over 160 different versions powers over 150 different aircraft types including airships and helicopters. In total, Lycoming has built around 325,000 piston engines of all types at the Lycoming factory in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, USA, of which, about 50,000 are O-360s.

In 1979 Piper dropped the use of the Cherokee name, so Piper PA-28-181 Archer II is the more correct model name to use. Untold thousands of Archers have been built at Piper’s Vero Beach Airport HQ and factory in Florida, USA since 1974 and with many refinements along the way the Archer is still in production today with a Diesel and an Avgas version.

Overall the Piper PA-28-181 Archer II is perfect for hours building and multi-day hire cross-country trips around the UK and international voyages into Europe and beyond, and offers excellent value for it’s higher performance and comfort, no wonder it is so popular.