|
I've flown a friend's Cherokee 140 a number of times and I have to say, they are a lot of plane for the money. I have a lot more hours in small Cessnas however and here are some issues to consider.
The older ones often do not have toe brakes which is a bit of a nuisance, but actually what I like less is the overhead trim adjustment some have. I'll bet though, that if you flew one all the time, you wouldn't notice these issues.
Another item to watch on older 140s is the lack of a shoulder belt. Having one is pretty important for safety. A possible work-around is a shoulder harness which is actually tied into the rear seat belt. Sort of a kluge, though.
The 140 I've flown is sort of slow (105 kts), but I think it's out of rig.
I'm not going to get into high vs low wing, but it does seem to me that the Cherokee has a pretty respectable sink rate at lower airspeeds, which is somewhat of a risk for lower-time pilots.
From what my friend says, maintenance isn't much different than with a C-172. Many people like the mechanical flaps on Pipers better than the electric ones on all but the early Cessnas. All-in-all, the 140 is a pretty nice plane for the $18-$30K (US) price range.
|