Old aircraft repair problems

[Kirk Gray]

Currently in the market for a Pa24. Was wondering if any maintenance repairs have had difficulties with parts acquisition due to the Comanche being out of production

[JIMICS2452]

I have had a Comanche 250 since 1977 and have never had trouble finding parts and services. Piper provides some support, but there are a number of good companies such as Webco, Comanche Gear, Knots to You and others, along with several service providers that allow us to keep 'em flying. ICS is an excelent portal for finding what you need.

[MULEFLY]

Kirk... good luck on your search. I've owned 2 Comanche aircraft. 1) A 260B that I purchased in 1992 and sold in 2005 and a PA39 that was purchased in 2005. I don't know of a single AOG situation due to part availability. There are some things to keep your eyes peeled for during your search... I'd determine if the gear transmission was a Dukes (favorable) versus a Dura. But I believe that there are work arounds for everything.

Very reliable aircraft and the support group is a cohesive group. I would add to the names listed above Clifton Aero in Texas and Heritage Aero in Rockford, IL.

All the best!
Jim

[N3322G]

Kirk,

Welcome to the Comanche Forum. I see this is your first post.

ditto on the first 2 posts. Be sure to use an experienced pre-buy person.

I just looked up your location to recommend a shop or person for a pre-buy. It shows El Cajon. Kirstin Winter is in N Calif, very knowledgeable and does a good job based on feedback on this site.

The Pathfinder info also shows you have 2 Comanches today. Is the info correct?

[Michael Bryant]

Kirk,

I have been a PA24 co-owner for a year. The only part we've had difficulty locating was one of the wing end rib sections (due to an improperly installed strobe unit) and a right aileron in flyable condition (due to a crack in the skin from hanger rash).

The wing end rib sections were obtained from Webco, and we elected to re-skin our aileron since we could not find any at salvage yards that would not need repairs.

Michael