Ramp Appeal
Piper Comanche 250
All metal, with a laminar flow wing and tricycle, retractable landing gear, it marked a complete break from the slow, steel tube and fabric Pipers that preceded it.
The Comanche 250 is known for respectable speed (typically about 150 knots true), well-harmonized flight controls, and exceptional endurance with optional 90-gallon extended-range fuel tanks. (Max Conrad flew one 7,668 miles nonstop from Casablanca, Morocco, to Los Angeles, California.) It’s faster than its perennial competitor, the Cessna 182 Skylane, and carries more and costs less than rival Beechcraft Bonanzas.
Comanches have a reputation for graceless landings. The airplanes are well behaved, but the combination of a laminar flow wing, a big nosewheel tire, and a stabilator make touchdowns flat and clumsy. Aftermarket aerodynamic kits claim to solve this problem, although many Comanche owners don’t admit to landings being a problem at all.
The Comanche 250 is the most numerous of the Comanche line with about 1,400 produced, most of them in the early 1960s. A nearly equal number of 180, 260, and 400 versions were built until the early 1970s.
SPEC SHEET
Powerplant: Lycoming IO-540
Seats: 4 or 6
Length: 25 feet
Height: 7 feet 6 inches
Wingspan: 36 feet
Empty weight: 1,700 lb
Useful load: 1,200 lb
Max gross weight: 2,900 lb
PERFORMANCE
Cruise speed: 150 knots
Range: 1,225 miles with extended-range fuel tanks
