Piper Aztec

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Piper PA-23 Aztec
Piper PA-23-250 Aztec C.
Type: Business jet
Design country:

United States 48United States United States

Manufacturer:

Piper Aircraft Corporation

First flight:

October 1, 1958

Production time:

1959-1981

Number of pieces:

4,930

The Piper PA-23 Aztec is a twin-engine light aircraft produced by the US aircraft manufacturer Piper Aircraft Corporation and the successor to the Piper PA-23 Apache . The aircraft went into series production in 1959 and was built until early 1982. It has very good-natured, safe flight characteristics and only needs a short take-off distance.

The pattern was initially developed from a converted PA-23 Apache under the name Piper PA-27 Aztec . In October 1957, Piper received the approval of the US aviation authority CAA to rename the type in "PA-23-250", whereby the existing type certification of the Apache could continue to be used. However, the Aztecs were produced with serial numbers that begin with "27-" (instead of 23-).

In the USA, the pattern is also known as "AzTruck" because of the high possible payload and the rather low cruising speed of around 240 km / h TAS .

construction

The aircraft is powered by two clockwise six-cylinder boxer engines of the type 0-540 and IO-540 with 186 kW each and offers space for a maximum of 5 passengers in addition to the pilot. It is equipped with a hydraulically retractable undercarriage . The landing flaps are also operated hydraulically.

The first Aztec series, the Aztec A, still has the short bow of the Apache 235 without a front luggage compartment. It was only with the introduction of the B series that the front fuselage was extended to offer more luggage space. At the same time, the number of seats was increased from 5 to 6.

With the introduction of the C-series in 1964, engines with gasoline injection were offered as standard, and turbochargers were available as options. Radiator flaps were introduced on the engine nacelles. In the D, E and F series, mainly the instrument panel and the arrangement of the controls were designed to be more ergonomic. For the E and F series, the front fuselage was lengthened again.

Piper PA-23 Aztec

use

Among other things, the US Navy bought twenty copies and used them as UO-1 (from 1962: U-11).

Until around the end of the 1980s, this type of aircraft was mainly in commercial use by small airlines; private operation was rather rare.

Due to the high fuel costs (consumption approx. 100 l AvGas per hour) and the high maintenance requirements, commercial operation is no longer profitable today. However, they are still used in the Caribbean, as the aircraft have a high payload and high speed is not necessarily important there.

Six machines of this type are currently still registered in Germany.

Technical data (PA 23-250 Aztec C)

Piper Aztec B
Parameter Data
crew 1
Passengers 5
length 9.51 m
span 11.3 m
height 3.14 m
Wing area 19.3 m²
Empty mass 1500 kg
Takeoff mass 2360 kg
Top speed 340 km / h
Service ceiling 6100 m
Max. Rate of climb 460 m / min
Range 1900 km
Engines two 6-cylinder boxer engines Lycoming IO-540-C4B5 , each 250 PS (186 kW)

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : Piper PA-23-250 Aztec  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Peperell 2006, p. 230
  2. ↑ Peperell 2006, p. 243
  3. ↑ Peperell 2006, pp. 229-230