PIPER PA-31 NAVAJO CHIEFTAIN

The Piper PA-31 Navajo is a family of cabin-class, twin-engined aircraft designed and built by Piper Aircraft for the general aviation market, most using Lycoming engines. It was also license-built in a number of Latin American countries. Targeted at small-scale cargo and feeder liner operations and the corporate market, the aircraft was a success. It continues to prove a popular choice, but due to greatly decreased demand across the general aviation sector in the 1980s, production of the PA-31 ceased in 1984.

The PA-31, now named “Navajo” after a Native American tribe, was not certified by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) until 24 February 1966, and deliveries did not begin until the following year, after the type was recertified in mid-1966 with an increase in maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) from 6,200 lb (2,812 kg) to 6,500 lb (2,948 kg).

The next member of the family was also Piper’s first pressurized aircraft, the PA-31P Pressurized Navajo, certified in late 1969.

Development of the PA-31P had begun in January 1966, before the FAA had awarded the PA-31 a type certificate.

In September 1972, Piper unveiled the PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain, a stretched version of the Navajo B with more powerful engines and counter-rotating propellers to prevent critical engine handling problems.

Aircraft of similar role, configuration and era: Beechcraft Queen Air, Cessna 402, Cessna 414, Aero Commander 500.