Piper PA-39 Twin Comanche
| PA-30 Twin Comanche | |
|---|---|
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| 1965 model Piper Turbo Twin Comanche with deicing boots installed | |
| Role | Cabin monoplane |
| Manufacturer | Piper Aircraft |
| First flight | November 7, 1962 |
| Number built | 2,142 |
The Piper PA-30 Twin Comanche is an American twin-engined cabin monoplane designed and built by Piper Aircraft. It was a twin-engined development of the PA-24 Comanche single-engined aircraft. A variant with counter-rotating propellers was designated the Piper PA-39 Twin Comanche C/R.
The Piper PA-30 Twin Comanche (later PA-39) was designed as a twin-engined variant of the Piper PA-24 Comanche. A complex light twin, with retractable landing gear, seating 4 (in original models) to 6 (in later models), and cruise speeds ranging from 160-210 mph on twin 150-160 horsepower engines, it competed with the more-powerful Cessna 310 and Beech Baron, and later with Piper's other light twins.
The Twin Comanche was designed to replace the Piper Apache in the company's lineup 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 by Miller Aviation. A version with turbocharged engines for higher altitude flight was also developed, using IO-320-C1A engines of the same nominal power. All Twin Comanche engines have long times between overhaul (2000 hours for the B1A, 1800 for the IO-320-C1A) and have developed a reputation for reliability.
Following a string of accidents involving pilot loss-of-control in single-engine flight (due to engine failure, or in pilot training for engine-failure conditions), Piper sought to alter the plane's single-engine behavior at low airspeeds (such as takeoff and landing). The resulting PA-39 Twin Comanche C/R was a modified version with counter-rotating engines (to eliminate the "critical engine" which, when failed, created the greatest risk of loss-of-control). The PA-39 replaced the PA-30 in the early 1970s. At least one comparative study of U.S. crash rates for the PA-30 and PA-39 indicated that crash rates for the counter-rotating PA-39 were only one-third of those for the conventional PA-30. Piper subsequently expanded the counter-rotating engine development to its other light twins.
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