Key takeaways
- The PA-28 is a whole aircraft family: Cherokee, Warrior, Archer, Cadet, Dakota and the retractable-gear Arrow all go back to the same basic design of 1960.
- Identification formula: all-metal low wing, one door on the right, nosewheel and a fully movable horizontal stabilator.
- The wing shape tells you the age: rectangular wing (“Hershey bar”) until the mid-1970s, then the tapered outer wing of the Warrior and Archer.
- The number in the name roughly gives the horsepower: PA-28-140, -161, -181 – and an R in the designation stands for the Arrow’s retractable gear.
- For spotters the PA-28 can be seen at almost every regional airfield, above all in flight training and at clubs; the new Archer is still rolling off the line.
Contents
Profile
| Manufacturer | Piper Aircraft, Vero Beach (Florida), USA |
|---|---|
| ICAO type designators | P28A (Cherokee, Warrior, Archer), P28B (including Dakota and Turbo Dakota); Arrow versions under P28R and P28T respectively |
| Designers | Fred Weick, John Thorp and Karl Bergey |
| First flight | January 14, 1960 |
| First type certificate | October 31, 1960 (PA-28-160) |
| Production period | since 1961, still in production as the Archer |
| Number built | over 32,000 aircraft of all PA-28 versions |
| Design | Single-engine all-metal low-wing monoplane, fixed nosewheel landing gear (Arrow: retractable gear), stabilator, one door on the right |
| Seats | two to four, depending on the version |
| Engine (Archer TX/LX) | 1 × Lycoming IO-360-B4A, 180 hp |
| Engine (Archer DX/DLX) | 1 × Continental CD-155, diesel engine running on Jet-A1, 155 hp |
| Length (Archer) | about 7.3 m |
| Wingspan (Archer) | about 10.8 m; early Cherokees with the rectangular wing about 9.1 m |
| Height (Archer) | about 2.2 m |
| Max. takeoff weight (Archer) | about 1,157 kg |
| Max. cruise speed (Archer LX, manufacturer’s figure) | 128 kn, about 237 km/h |
| Max. range (Archer LX, manufacturer’s figure) | 522 nm, about 970 km |
Identifying features
Is this really the aircraft type in front of you?
- All-metal low wing with fixed nosewheel landing gear – usually with wheel fairings
- Only one door, on the right side above the wing; you climb in via a step at the wing root
- Stabilator: the entire horizontal tail moves, often with a trim tab on the trailing edge
- Early Cherokees with a rectangular “Hershey bar” wing, Warrior and Archer from the mid-1970s with a tapered outer wing
- Flat, rounded cowling with a two-blade propeller and two cooling air inlets at the front sides
- Slight dihedral of the wings; on the Arrow the fixed gear legs are gone in flight, and the Arrow IV has a T-tail
Updated: October 2026 – On the apron of a small regional airfield they often stand in a row: white low-wings with a colored stripe, one door on the right above the wing, a flight instructor doing the walkaround with a student. Chances are you’re looking at a Piper PA-28. Whether Cherokee, Warrior, Archer or Arrow – for over 60 years the family has been among the most-flown trainers and touring aircraft in the world. Here you’ll learn how the versions relate to each other, how to tell them apart and why so many flight schools rely on them.
Every Cherokee counts
With Planetrack you log your PA-28 sightings with a photo, aircraft type, registration and airfield, and put missing versions on your wish list in the hangar. Planetrack is launching soon – join the waitlist and get early access.
What is the Piper PA-28?
The PA-28 is a single-engine all-metal low-wing aircraft for two to four people. The occupants sit side by side, pilot and copilot or instructor and student in front, and depending on the version a rear bench behind them. You enter through a single door on the right side: you climb over a step onto the wing root and slide from there into the cockpit. Anyone who wants to sit on the left therefore has to get in first.
The PA-28 is deliberately simple in construction. The nosewheel landing gear is fixed, on most versions the flaps are set with a hand lever between the front seats, and the tanks are in the wings. Instead of a fixed horizontal stabilizer with an elevator, the PA-28 has a stabilator, that is, a horizontal tail that moves as a whole. This mix of ruggedness, forgiving flying characteristics and manageable technology has made it a training workhorse for decades.
The manufacturer is Piper Aircraft, which became famous with the J-3 Cub. The PA-28 shares only the name with the Cub, though: it is made of metal instead of fabric, has a nosewheel instead of a tailwheel and flies considerably faster.
Origins: a low-wing aircraft from Vero Beach
In the 1950s Piper mainly sold high-wing aircraft with steel-tube fuselages and fabric covering, among them the PA-22 Tri-Pacer. Next to the all-metal Cessnas that looked increasingly old-fashioned. So in the mid-1950s Piper took over land at the airport at Vero Beach in Florida and built a development center there, because the main plant in Lock Haven was not big enough for larger production programs.
In Vero Beach, under the leadership of Fred Weick, together with John Thorp and Karl Bergey, a simple, inexpensive-to-build all-metal low-wing aircraft was created. The prototype flew on January 14, 1960. As the first version, the PA-28-160 received its type certificate on October 31, 1960, and series production began in 1961 – at first with 150 and 160 hp Lycoming O-320 engines.
The basic design proved enormously adaptable. Piper built versions with more powerful engines, with retractable gear, with a turbocharger and finally with a diesel engine. PA-28s were built under license by Embraer and Neiva in Brazil, for example as the EMB-711 Corisco, as well as in Argentina and Chile.
The number in the name
Behind PA-28 there is usually a number that roughly gives the engine power: PA-28-140 for 140 hp, PA-28-180 for 180 hp. From the mid-1970s Piper added a one to mark the new versions with the tapered wing, such as PA-28-161 for the Warrior II and PA-28-181 for the Archer. An R as in PA-28R stands for “retractable”, that is, the Arrow’s retractable gear.
The versions at a glance
Over the decades Piper has renamed and developed the PA-28 again and again. The following overview shows the main lines.
| Version | Introduced | Engine | Special feature |
|---|---|---|---|
| PA-28-150 / -160 Cherokee | 1961 | Lycoming O-320 | Original model with the rectangular wing |
| PA-28-180 Cherokee | 1962 | Lycoming O-360 | More powerful version, forerunner of the Archer |
| PA-28-235 Cherokee | 1963 | Lycoming O-540 | Six-cylinder, touring and payload version |
| PA-28-140 Cherokee | 1964 | Lycoming O-320 | Inexpensive two- to four-seater for schools |
| PA-28R Arrow | 1967 | Lycoming IO-360 | Retractable gear and constant-speed propeller |
| PA-28-151 Warrior | 1974 | Lycoming O-320 | First tapered wing |
| PA-28-181 Archer II | mid-1970s | Lycoming O-360 | 180 hp, tapered wing |
| PA-28-161 Warrior II | 1977 | Lycoming O-320 | 160 hp, very widespread in flight training |
| PA-28RT-201 Arrow IV | 1979 | Lycoming IO-360 | T-tail |
| PA-28-236 Dakota | 1979 | Lycoming O-540 | Tapered wing with a large six-cylinder |
| PA-28-161 Cadet | 1988 | Lycoming O-320 | Simplified training version |
| PA-28-181 Archer III | 1994 | Lycoming O-360 | New cowling, modernized |
| Archer TX / LX | current | Lycoming IO-360-B4A | Garmin G1000 NXi, TX as the training version |
| Archer DX / DLX | from 2014 | Continental CD-155 (diesel) | Runs on Jet-A1 |
| Pilot 100 / 100i | from 2019 | Lycoming IO-360-B4A | Dedicated trainer, Garmin G3X Touch |
The Arrow is often counted as part of the PA-28 family but has its own type designators because of its retractable gear. The stretched six-seater PA-32 Cherokee Six is also based on the Cherokee but is a type of its own. Twin-engine offshoots are the Seminole (PA-44), which builds on the Arrow, and the larger PA-34 Seneca, which came out of the PA-32.
Hershey bar or tapered wing?
The most important visual check on a PA-28 is a look at the wing. It tells you at a glance whether you have an early Cherokee or a later Warrior or Archer in front of you.
| Feature | Early Cherokee | Warrior / Archer |
|---|---|---|
| Wing shape | Rectangular, same chord from inboard to outboard | Rectangular inner section, tapered outer section |
| Nickname | “Hershey bar” | “Tapered wing” |
| Wingspan | about 9.1 m (Cherokee 140) | about 10.7 to 10.8 m |
| Typical years built | 1961 to the mid-1970s | from 1974 (Warrior), from the mid-1970s (Archer) |
The rectangular wing owes its nickname to its resemblance to a flat chocolate bar. The Warrior’s new wing brought about 60 centimeters more span and a more modern airfoil.
Cherokee, Warrior, Archer – all in the hangar
Collect the versions of the PA-28 family and put rare variants such as the Dakota or Arrow IV on your wish list. Planetrack is launching soon – join the waitlist.
The flight school trainer
Hardly any aircraft has trained as many pilots as the PA-28 – next to the Cessna 172 it is the classic of flight training. There are solid reasons for that:
- Forgiving flying characteristics: The PA-28 reacts predictably, gives clear warning before stalls and forgives mistakes in landing.
- Rugged landing gear: The fixed nosewheel gear with oleo struts takes hard student landings well.
- Simple technology: Fixed-pitch propeller, carbureted or fuel-injected Lycoming engine, manual flaps – maintenance and spare parts supply are well established everywhere.
- Four seats: With the Archer a student can fly with family or friends right after getting the license.
In the US, large training operations ordered the Archer in volume. ATP Flight School bought 15 Archer TXs at first from 2013 and expanded the fleet in several follow-up orders. The University of North Dakota signed a contract with Piper for 80 Archer TXs and 20 Seminoles, with the first Archer delivered in 2016. Armed forces also use the type; the Indonesian Navy, for example, operates the diesel Archer DX as a trainer.
In Europe you find the PA-28 mainly at clubs, charter operators and flight schools that train for the private pilot license. What the training involves is explained in the article on the private pilot license PPL(A); the difference from the lighter license you can read at LAPL or PPL. An overview of all the paths into the cockpit is given by Becoming a pilot. Important competitors in flight training are the Cessna 152, the Diamond DA20 Katana, the Diamond DA40, the Cirrus SR20 and, in France and Germany, the Robin DR400.
Old airframes, many landings
Many PA-28s are 40 years and older and have thousands of takeoffs behind them in flight training. After a fatal wing failure on an Arrow in 2018, the US aviation authority FAA issued an airworthiness directive in 2020 requiring an inspection of the wing spars on many PA-28s and PA-32s with a high load history. EASA adopted the directive.
The current Archer
Piper still builds the PA-28 in Vero Beach. The Archer LX is the touring model with a 180 hp fuel-injected Lycoming engine and a Garmin G1000 NXi glass cockpit. The Archer TX is the training version with similar technology but simpler equipment. For the LX, Piper quotes a maximum cruise speed of 128 knots and a maximum range of 522 nautical miles, about 970 kilometers.
The Archer DX and DLX instead have a 155 hp Continental CD-155 diesel engine that runs on Jet-A1 kerosene. It is more economical, and Jet-A1 is easier to get at many airfields than avgas. Finally, the Pilot 100i is a spartan trainer based on the Archer with a Garmin G3X Touch and an autopilot; it has also been certified in Europe since 2021.
Externally the new Archers differ from older ones mainly in details: the Archer III and its successors have a redesigned, rounder cowling, often LED lighting and modern antennas. In the cockpit you see large Garmin screens through the windshield instead of round gauges.
How to identify the PA-28
At a club field you often find different four-seat low-wings parked side by side. Four observations let you pin down the PA-28 with confidence.
Count the doors
The PA-28 has only one door, on the right above the wing. The Cirrus SR20 has two doors, left and right; the DA40 has one large, upward-opening canopy.
Look at the horizontal tail
The entire horizontal tail is movable. A fixed stabilizer with a separate elevator speaks against the PA-28.
Check the wing shape
A rectangular wing all the way to the tip means an early Cherokee. If the outer wing tapers, you have a Warrior, Archer, Cadet or Dakota in front of you.
Check the gear and tail
Gear retracted in flight? Then it is an Arrow. If the horizontal tail sits on top of the vertical fin, it is an Arrow IV.
The most reliable way to read the exact version is from the registration. In Germany the PA-28 flies in class D-E; through registers and databases you find the year of manufacture and model. How that works is explained in the article How old is this aircraft?.
Quick ID: four-seat single
Piper PA-28
All-metal low wing, one door on the right, stabilator: that’s the PA-28. Now check the wing shape – rectangular means Cherokee, tapered means Warrior or Archer.
Cessna 172 or 152
A strut-braced high-wing with two doors is more likely a Cessna 172 or, with two seats, a Cessna 152.
Cirrus SR20 or SR22
Two doors and smooth composite construction point to the Cirrus SR20 or the more powerful SR22.
Robin DR400
Angled outer wings and a canopy that slides forward are typical of the Robin DR400, a French wooden low-wing aircraft.
It points to the PA-28 if …
- an all-metal low-wing with a fixed nosewheel stands in front of you
- there is only one door, on the right above the wing
- the entire horizontal tail is movable
- the tracking service lists P28A or P28B as the type
Take a closer look if …
- the gear disappears in flight – then it is an Arrow
- the horizontal tail sits on top of the vertical fin – Arrow IV
- the aircraft looks noticeably longer and has more windows at the back – then more likely a PA-32
It is not a PA-28 if …
- the wing sits on top
- two engines hang on the wings – then for example a Seneca
- the tail forms a V, like on the older Bonanza
- you see a pressurized cabin with a large fuselage – that is more likely a PA-46 Malibu
Where to see the PA-28
The PA-28 is one of the most common aircraft in general aviation. On summer weekends with good visual flight weather you have good chances at almost any regional airfield.
| Place | Chance of a hit | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Regional airfields with flight schools | high | Traffic patterns in flight training, often several PA-28s in a row |
| Club airfields | medium to high | Many clubs keep a Warrior or Archer |
| Regional airports | medium | Touring flights, flight schools and charter |
| Airfield festivals | medium | Sightseeing flights and visiting aircraft |
| AERO Friedrichshafen | high, but limited | General aviation trade show with manufacturer stands |
How to find small airfields is covered in the guide Finding small airfields, and the basics of spotting away from the airliners in the article Spotting general aviation. Since the PA-28 flies almost only under visual flight rules, it helps to know the difference between VFR and IFR: with low clouds the training aircraft mostly stays on the ground.
Ready for your GA session?
- I’ve found an airfield with a flight school or club nearby.
- The weather works for visual flight: little wind, clouds not too low.
- I know where the traffic pattern and the runway are.
- I have a shutter speed for propeller shots in mind.
- I note down registrations to look up the version later.
Photo tips for the PA-28
The PA-28 is small but rewarding. It flies traffic patterns at low altitude, and in training it often comes in for touchdowns and go-arounds several times in a row.
Let the propeller spin
With a longer shutter speed and panning you get a nice propeller disc. How to choose the speed is explained in the article Photographing propellers.
Show the wing shape
From a low angle or on a flyby you can best see whether it is a rectangular or tapered wing. That documents the version right away.
Use the touch-and-go
On training flights the same aircraft often comes by several times. Try out the position on the first pass and optimize on the next.
Capture scenes on the ground
The walkaround with the instructor, climbing in over the wing and refueling say a lot about everyday life in training.
If you want to collect the many PA-28 registrations systematically, that is a rewarding project; many aircraft still wear their original liveries from the 1970s and 1980s. And if you’d like to go for a ride in an Archer yourself: many clubs and schools offer sightseeing flights, with tips at Giving a sightseeing flight as a gift.
Conclusion
The Piper PA-28 is the backbone of flight training in many countries: simple, rugged, forgiving and built in more than 32,000 examples. The Cherokee of 1960 became the Warrior, Archer, Arrow and Dakota, and with the Archer TX, DX and Pilot 100i the family continues to this day. For spotters it can be found wherever small aircraft take off – and quickly identified by its door, tail and wing shape.
In short
All-metal low wing, one door on the right, nosewheel and a movable horizontal tail: that’s a PA-28. A rectangular wing means Cherokee, a tapered wing Warrior or Archer, retractable gear Arrow.
Summary
- The Cherokee came about in the late 1950s at Piper’s new development center in Vero Beach, Florida, as an affordable all-metal low-wing aircraft for private pilots and flight schools.
- The first flight was on January 14, 1960, the first version, the PA-28-160, was certified in October 1960; series production began in 1961.
- From 1974 the Cherokee became the Warrior and Archer with a tapered wing; the Arrow, Dakota and the training version Cadet were developed in parallel.
- Today Piper builds the PA-28 as the Archer TX/LX, as the diesel Archer DX/DLX and as the Pilot 100i trainer; large flight schools such as ATP and the University of North Dakota have ordered Archers in large numbers.
Frequently asked questions
What is the ICAO type designator of the PA-28?
The Cherokee, Warrior and Archer with fixed gear are mostly listed in the ICAO type directory as P28A. Versions such as the Dakota and Turbo Dakota are listed under P28B, the retractable-gear Arrow under P28R and the T-tail Arrow IV under P28T. These codes appear in flight plans, and tracking services mostly display them if the aircraft is picked up by its transponder.
What is the difference between the Cherokee, Warrior and Archer?
Cherokee is the original name of the family and mainly stands for the early models with the rectangular wing. The Warrior (PA-28-151, later -161) brought the tapered, longer wing in 1974 and has roughly 150 to 160 hp. The Archer (PA-28-181) is the 180 hp version with a stretched fuselage; it is the model Piper still builds today.
What does the “Hershey bar” wing mean?
That is what pilots call the rectangular wing of the early Cherokee with a constant chord. The shape resembles the flat chocolate bar from the US manufacturer Hershey. From the 1974 Warrior on, the PA-28 got a wing with a tapered outer section and about 60 centimeters more span.
How do I tell a PA-28 from a Cessna 172?
The easiest way is the wings: the Cessna 172 is a strut-braced high-wing, the PA-28 a low-wing without struts. The Cessna also has two doors and a classic horizontal stabilizer with an elevator, while the PA-28 has only one door on the right and a fully movable stabilator.
What is a Piper Arrow?
The PA-28R Arrow is the PA-28 with retractable gear and a constant-speed propeller, introduced in 1967. It is often used as a training aircraft for more complex aircraft. You recognize the 1979 Arrow IV by its T-tail, where the horizontal stabilizer sits on top of the vertical fin.
Is there a PA-28 with a diesel engine?
Yes. The Archer DX and the better-equipped Archer DLX have a 155 hp Continental CD-155 that runs on Jet-A1 instead of aviation gasoline. Piper introduced the diesel Archer in 2014. Especially in regions where avgas is expensive or scarce, that is interesting for flight schools.
What is the Piper Pilot 100i?
The Pilot 100i is a dedicated trainer based on the Archer with a 180 hp Lycoming, Garmin G3X Touch displays and an autopilot. Instead of the classic rear bench it has a third seat for a second student or an observer. The FAA certified it in December 2020, and EASA followed in 2021.
What registration does a PA-28 carry in Germany?
With a takeoff weight well under two tonnes, the PA-28 falls into class D-E for single-engine aircraft. The system is explained in the article on German aircraft registrations.
Collect the Piper PA-28 Cherokee, don’t just see it
Post a photo with registration, type, airport and spot, check off the type in your hangar and get an alert when a registration you are looking for lands. Planetrack is launching soon – join the waitlist and get early access.
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