Breaking barriers

For decades, the Archer has acted as an efficient, reliable training platform for countless student pilots. But Archers are also excellent airplanes to own, with plenty of power, useful load, and room in the instrument panel for avionics upgrades.

AOPA chose the Archer as its twenty-ninth sweepstakes airplane in part because the new MOSAIC rules allow it to be flown under sport pilot privileges. That’s great news for pilots who want less cost and less red tape in their personal flying. Through AOPA’s advocacy for the MOSAIC rules (wich allow sport pilots to fly larger, more complex aircraft), more pilots now have access to aircraft like the Archer. The path forward in aviation is more open than ever—and this Archer can take you there.

The Piper Archer has remained in production for over 50 years. It’s roomy, cruises at 125 knots, is simple to operate with a fixed-pitch propeller and fixed gear, has a useful load of 870 pounds, can fly more than 500 miles on 48 gallons of fuel, and stalls without flaps at 51 knots calibrated airspeed.

Now, N47694 may look great from 10 feet away, but in fact it was the least expensive Piper Archer II for sale in the United States when we bought it; its four-seat interior is threadbare, its Bendix/King and Narco avionics date from the Carter administration, and its 180-horsepower Lycoming O-360 engine has survived to TBO—and a few hundred hours beyond.

But that’s exactly what we were looking for, because AOPA will restore this well-loved Piper Archer and make it better than new for a lucky pilot who will be handed the keys. AOPA will overhaul the engine and propeller (and add some powerplant mods not available in 1977), commission a dramatic new paint scheme, install a stunning new interior, pack the instrument panel full of modern avionics, and change the N number—among other modifications.

The AOPA Sweepstakes Piper Archer—refined, reimagined, and expanding the freedom to fly through MOSAIC. Will you be our lucky winner?

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