Piper PA-23

what is it?

The Piper PA-23, named Apache and later Aztec, is an American four- to six-seat twin-engined general aviation light aircraft, used also in small numbers by the United States Navy and military forces in other countries. Originally designed as the Twin Stinson in the 1950s by the Stinson Aircraft Company, it was produced as the Apache and a more powerful version, the Aztec, by Piper Aircraft in the United States from the 1950s to the 1980s.

🔎How to recognise it: 2 piston engines with propellers · 11.3 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 346 km/htop speed
• seats 5passengers
• size 2,359 kgmax take-off weight
• built 6,976made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 74 years ago, in 1952.
• 🏎️Top speed is 2.7× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 11.3 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight

1952-03-02

introduced

1954

number built

6,976

role

twin-engined light piston utility

makers

Piper Aircraft

engines

2× Lycoming IO-540-C4B5

crew

1

passengers

5

length

9.5 m

wingspan

11.3 m

height

3.2 m

max take-off weight

2,359 kg

top speed

346 km/h

cruise speed

277 km/h

range

—

ceiling

5,776 m

wings

monoplane

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.