Piper PA-28 Cherokee

The Piper PA-28 Cherokee is a family of light aircraft built by Piper Aircraft and designed for flight training, air taxi, and personal use. The PA-28 family of aircraft are all-metal, unpressurized, single-engine, piston-powered airplanes with low-mounted wings and tricycle landing gear. They have a single door on the copilot side, which is entered by stepping on the wing.

The first PA-28 received its type certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration in 1960, and the series remains in production to this day. Current models are the Arrow and the Archer TX and LX. The Archer was discontinued in 2009, but with investment from new company ownership, the model was put back into production in 2010.

The PA-28 series competes with the Cessna 172, the Grumman American AA-5 series, and the Beechcraft Musketeer.

Piper has created variations within the Cherokee family by installing engines ranging from 140 to 300 hp (105-220 kW), offering turbocharging, retractable landing gear, constant speed propeller, and stretching the fuselage to accommodate six people. The Piper PA-32 (initially known as "Cherokee Six") is a larger, six-seat variant of the PA-28. The PA-32 Saratoga variant was in production until 2009.