Piper PA-24-250  Comanche          (c/n  24-1524)


                                 

                                        The Comanche marked a radical change in design for the Piper team.  It was the first low-wing
                                        single engine type to go into quantity production.  The first production aircraft made its flight on
                                        21 October 1957.  Originally launched as the PA-24-180,  it was soon supplemented by the
                                        PA-250 powered by a Lycoming O-540-A1A engine. The example seen above at Santa Monica
                                        Airport in 1959 was one of the first of the higher powered models.
   
                                        The PA-24 is the last of the Piper models which can reasonably be called "Classics".  One could
                                        make a point that the early PA-28 Cherokees qualify, and, although the prototype of that model
                                        first flew in 1960, series production did not begin until until 1961, and my theoretical time window
                                        ends in 1960.