Piper Arrow / Arrow II (1967-1976)

The specifications on this page describe one airplane: the PA-28R-200 Arrow II, TCDS 2A13 Section XI, S/N 28R-7235001 through 28R-7635545. The 180 hp PA-28R-180 (Section IX, 1,282 eligible serials) and the short-body 200 hp PA-28R-200 (Section X, 1,049 eligible serials) are different airplanes with different weights and, in the 180's case, a different engine. Their own certificate figures are in the Variants table below; do not read the frontmatter numbers onto them.

The 1967-1976 Piper Arrow is the first retractable-gear PA-28 -- a Cherokee airframe with a fuel-injected Lycoming engine, a constant-speed propeller and retractable landing gear. The Arrow targeted the complex/high-performance trainer market as well as light cross-country work, and became one of the most produced retractable singles in general aviation history.

Three certificated airplanes span the Hershey-bar wing Arrow era:

• PA-28R-180 Arrow (Section IX, approved 8 June 1967): Lycoming IO-360-B1E, 180 hp, 2,500 lb
• PA-28R-200 Arrow (Section X, approved 16 January 1969): Lycoming IO-360-C1C, 200 hp, 2,600 lb
• PA-28R-200 Arrow II (Section XI, approved 2 December 1971): IO-360-C1C, 200 hp, 2,650 lb, with a five-inch fuselage extension, a larger horizontal tail and increased wing span

The Hershey-bar era ended in 1977 with the semi-tapered-wing Arrow III (PA-28R-201).

Why these three share a page

Applying docs/CATALOG-SPLITTING-RULE.md in order:

• Step 1 (hard splits) does not fire. Same type certificate (2A13), one piston engine each, four seats each, retractable gear on all three, none pressurized.
• Step 2 (thresholds) does not fire on anything the certificate states. Maximum weight spreads 2,500 to 2,650 lb, which is 6.0% against a 15% threshold. Fuel is 50 gallons in all three sections. The overhaul reserve is the same parallel-valve IO-360 either way, so the engine-cost spread is zero.
• Step 3 (the buyer test). The pre-buy is the same airplane's -- the same electro-hydraulic gear pack, the same automatic gear extension system, the same spar AD, the same IO-360 cylinders -- and so is the insurance class. The certificate itself treats them as one design with two engines: Sections IX and X print identical airspeed limits, and both models share a single certification-basis paragraph. The difference a buyer plans around is 20 horsepower and 150 lb of gross weight, which is what a Variants table is for.

The 180 hp airplane is genuinely the weakest of the three and this page says so plainly below. What it does not do is put a 180 hp engine and a 200 hp engine in one engine_model field, which is how it read before.

Automatic Gear Extension (Original Arrow)

Original 1967-1971 Arrows featured a controversial automatic gear extension system -- gear would automatically extend below ~80 KIAS regardless of pilot input. This system was designed to prevent gear-up landings but caused issues:

• Unwanted gear extension during steep descents or slow flight
• Pilots developed habit of overriding the system
• AD-required modifications made the system manual override standard

Most surviving 1967-1971 Arrows have had the automatic gear system disabled or modified. Verify modification history during pre-buy.

Every figure in this table is from TCDS 2A13 Rev 66, read section by section. The Arrow II row is the one the frontmatter describes.

Notes on the table, all of them from the certificate rather than from us:

• Serial counts are counts of eligible serial numbers, not of airplanes built. Section XI cannot be counted at all: Piper's serials here run 28R-YYLNNN with the sequence restarting inside each model year, so subtracting 28R-7235001 from 28R-7635545 counts nothing. No production figure is asserted on this page.
• Sections IX and X are identical on every airspeed limit. Only Va moves when the Arrow II arrives, from 134 mph (116 knots) to 131 mph (114 knots).
• The Arrow II's last 29 serials have a different engine. NOTE 23 approves the IO-360-C1C6 with a McCauley propeller on S/N 28R-7635517 through 28R-7635545 only; every serial below that is the IO-360-C1C on a Hartzell (NOTE 22). Both are 200 hp at 2,700 rpm, so nothing else on the page changes -- but check the data plate before ordering a propeller.
• Fuel is the certificate's TOTAL. 2A13 states 50 gallons in two wing tanks and puts unusable fuel in NOTE 1 as a weight, 12.0 lb for all PA-28R-180 and PA-28R-200 serials. It never states usable fuel in gallons, so this page does not either.
• The seat stations move with the stretch: +85.5 for the front seats in Sections IX and X, +80.5 in Section XI. Same four seats, different loading.

The performance block below is legacy catalogue data and is not yet sourced. A type certificate states limits and configuration; it publishes no cruise speed, no fuel flow, no range, no climb and no runway distances, so re-sourcing this page from 2A13 could not touch them. They describe the Arrow II, per the note the original page carried, and they need an Arrow II POH to confirm.

Representative Arrow II (PA-28R-200, IO-360-C1C, 200 hp):

• Cruise: 135 KTAS at 7,500 ft (75% power)
• Climb: 875 FPM at gross
• Fuel burn: 10.5 GPH cruise
• Range: 825 NM -- this figure is not credible and is flagged, not fixed
• Useful load: 1,030 lbs (2,650 lb gross minus a 1,620 lb empty weight)

The stored range is impossible on the stored fuel. 50 gallons at 10.5 GPH is 4.8 hours, and 4.8 hours at 135 KTAS is about 643 NM with no reserve at all -- so 825 NM overstates it by roughly 28% before a drop of reserve fuel is allowed for. Something in the cruise/burn/range triple came from a different row, a different tank or a different airplane. It is left in place rather than replaced because replacing it would mean inventing a number, and the correct fix is the Arrow II POH's range profile. Treat 825 NM as unusable until then.

The Hershey-bar Arrow II is a few knots slower than the tapered-wing Arrow III on the same engine, and carries 50 gallons against the Arrow III's 77 -- which is the larger practical difference between them.

The 180 hp Arrow is the one to think hardest about. It is the cheapest way into a retractable complex airplane and it is 20 hp down on an airframe only 150 lb lighter, which shows up in climb at weight and at density altitude rather than in cruise. Buyers who fly two-up out of long runways are well served by it; buyers who load four seats out of a high-elevation strip in summer generally are not, and should be reading the 200 hp rows.

Hershey-bar Arrows trade $15,000-$30,000 below equivalent tapered-wing Arrow IIIs.

Universal PA-28 concerns plus Arrow-specific:

1. Lycoming IO-360 cylinder condition: Borescope all four cylinders.
2. Automatic gear extension status (1967-1971): Verify modification history.
3. Gear retraction system inspection: Hydraulic system condition, gear doors, micro-switches.
4. Spar AD compliance (AD 2020-26-16): Inspect main spar.