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PA-31 Navajo
	Piper PA-31 Navajo
Role	Piston
Manufacturer	Piper Aircraft
First flight	30 September 1964
Primary user	Corporate
Number built	2044

The Piper PA-31 Navajo is a family of cabin-class, twin-engine aircraft designed and built by Piper Aircraft for the general aviation market, using Lycoming engines. It was also licence-built by Embraer as the EMB 820.^[2]

In the mid-1960s company founder William T. Piper started development of the PA-31. 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.

[edit] Variants

Piper PA-31 Navajo

1980 Navajo Chieftain

Golden Eagle Airlines Piper Chieftain at Halls Creek Airport Western Australia May 2008

1982 Piper PA-31 Navajo Chieftain

The PA-31 series was produced in the following versions.

PA-31-310 Navajo, sometimes referred to as a "straight Navajo". Also called the "Mini - Liner"
PA-31-325 Navajo, referred to as the "CR" or Counter Rotating.
PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain (originally called the "Navajo II") featured a stretched cabin and more powerful engines (Lycoming TIO-540-J2BD)
T-1020 was a Chieftain modified to be marketed to the commuter airline market.
PA-31P-425 Pressurized Navajo (commonly referred to as "P-Navajo") was equipped with a pressurized cabin and Lycoming TIGO-541-E1A engines.^[3]
Piper Mojave was an upgraded, reengineered version of the PA-31P
PA-31T Cheyenne, pressurized, turboprop
T-1040, PA-31T3, was an airline version of the PA-31T Cheyenne.

[edit] Accidents

On 8 October 1979, Comair Flight 444, operating a PA-31, crashed shortly after takeoff from Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport. All eight on board were killed.
On 31 May 2000 a Navajo Chieftain flying from Adelaide to Whyalla in South Australia crashed into the Spencer Gulf following a dual engine failure. All eight on board were killed.
On 9 July 2009, a Navajo operated by Canadian Air Charters and carrying units of blood for Canadian Blood Services flying from Victoria, British Columbia crashed in an industrial area in Richmond, British Columbia en route to Vancouver International Airport. [1] [2] [3]

[edit] Specifications (PA-31-310 Navajo)

Data from Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1976-77 ^[4]

General characteristics

Crew: 1 or 2
Capacity: 5 to 7 passengers
Length: 32 ft 7½ in (9.94 m)
Wingspan: 40 ft 8 in (12.40 m)
Height: 13 ft 0 in (3.96 m)
Wing area: 229 sq. ft (21.3 m²)
Empty weight: 3,930 lb (1,782 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 6,500 lb (2,948 kg)
Powerplant: 2× Lycoming TIO-540-A air-cooled six-cylinder horizontally-opposed piston engine, 310 hp (231 kW) each
Propellers: Three blade, metal, fully feathering, Hartzell propeller propeller

Performance

Maximum speed: 227 knots (420 km/h, 261 mph) at 15,000 ft (4,570 m)
Cruise speed: 207 knots (383 km/h, 238 mph) econ cruise at 20,000 ft (6,100 m)
Stall speed: 63.5 knots (118 km/h, 73 mph) flaps down
Range: 1,011 nmi (1,875 km, 1,165 mi)
Service ceiling: 26,300 ft (8,015 m)
Rate of climb: 1,445 ft/min (7.3 m/s)

[edit] Specifications (PA-31-350 Chieftain)

Data from Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1976-77 ^[5]

General characteristics

Crew: 1 or 2
Capacity: 8 passengers
Length: 34 ft 7½ in (10.55 m)
Wingspan: 40 ft 8 in (12.40 m)
Height: 13 ft 0 in (3.96 m)
Wing area: 229 ft² (21.3 m²)
Empty weight: 4,114 lb (1,866 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 7,000 lb (3,175 kg)
Powerplant: 2× Lycoming TIO-540-J2BD air-cooled six-cylinder horizontally-opposed piston engine, 350 hp (261 kW) each
Propellers: Three blade, metal, fully feathering, Hartzell propeller

Performance

Maximum speed: 234 knots (435 km/h, 270 mph) at 15,000 ft (7,315 m)
Cruise speed: 214 knots (396 km/h, 246 mph) econ cruise at 20,000 ft (6,100 m)
Stall speed: 74 knots (137 km/h, 85 mph) flaps down
Range: 1,103 nmi (2044 km, 1,270 mi)
Service ceiling: 27,200 ft (8,290 m)

[edit] See also

Wikinews has related news: Two pilots dead in Richmond plane crash

Related development

Piper PA-31T Cheyenne

Comparable aircraft

[edit] References

^ Taylor 1976, p.354.
^ Bonelli, Regis and Armando Castelar Pinheiro. "New Export Activities in Brazil: Comparitive Advantage, Policy or Self-Discovery", Research Network Working Paper #R-551, Inter-American Development Bank, July 2008.
^ "The Piper PA-31 Navajo/Pressurized Navajo". airliners.net. 2009. http://ww.airliners.net/aircraft-data/stats.main?id=311. Retrieved 2009-01-13.
^ Taylor 1976, p.355.
^ Taylor 1976, p.357.

The Piper PA-31 Chieftain/Mojave/T-1020/T-1040 from Airliners.net
The Piper PA-31 Navajo/Pressurized Navajo from Airliners.net
Piper Navajo Information Manual, Revision 9, March 18th 1994, Piper Aircraft Corporation, Manual Part Number 761-723
Piper Navajo Pilot's Operating Manual, Revision 34, April 22nd 2002, Piper Aircraft Corporation, Manual Part Number 761-456
Taylor, John W.R. Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1976-77. London:Jane's Yearbooks, 1976, ISBN 0 354 00538 3.

[Janes_76_p354-0] Taylor 1976, p.354.

[1] Bonelli, Regis and Armando Castelar Pinheiro. "New Export Activities in Brazil: Comparitive Advantage, Policy or Self-Discovery", Research Network Working Paper #R-551, Inter-American Development Bank, July 2008.

[ALDN-2] "The Piper PA-31 Navajo/Pressurized Navajo". airliners.net. 2009. http://ww.airliners.net/aircraft-data/stats.main?id=311. Retrieved 2009-01-13.

[Janes_76_p355-3] Taylor 1976, p.355.

[Janes_76_p357-4] Taylor 1976, p.357.

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