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Piper PA-30 Twin Comanche

🇺🇸 United States ·first flew 1962· cabin monoplane

2× piston
9 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
  1. 1. Piper PA-39 Twin Comanche C/R: Aeroprints.com· CC BY-SA 3.0
  2. 2. PA-30-TwinComanche: FlugKerl2· CC BY-SA 3.0
  3. 3. Piper PA-30 Twin Comanche C-FBDK 03: Ahunt· Public domain
  4. 4. Piper PA-30 Twin Comanche C-FQPK 01: Ahunt· Public domain
  5. 5. PA-30 Twin Comanche - NASA 808 in flight (ECN-2845): NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center / NASA· Public domain
  6. 6. PA-30 Twin Comanche - NASA 808 in hangar (E-37135): NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center / NASA· Public domain
  7. 7. Piper PA-30 Twin Comanche (5743734015): Robert Frola· GFDL
  8. 8. Piper PA-30 Twin Comanche at Little Churchill River Lodge (2735926881): Shawn from Airdrie, Canada· CC BY-SA 2.0
  9. 9. The Twin Comanche at Queenstown, New Zealand (299293197): Phillip Capper from Wellington, New Zealand· CC BY 2.0
Read about it on Wikipedia ↗
Piper PA-39 Twin Comanche C/R, photo 1 of 9
1/9· Piper PA-39 Twin Comanche C/R Aeroprints.com· CC BY-SA 3.0

what is it?

The Piper PA-30 Twin Comanche is an American twin-engined cabin monoplane designed and built by Piper Aircraft. It was a twin-engined development of the PA-24 Comanche single-engined aircraft.

How to recognise it: 2 piston engines with propellers · 11.2 m wingspan

base stats

  • speed 330 km/htop speed
  • size 1,690 kgmax take-off weight
  • built 2,142made 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 64 years ago, in 1962.
  • Top speed is 2.5× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
  • Wingspan of 11.2 m: about 2 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
1962-11-07
number built
2,142
role
cabin monoplane
origin
🇺🇸 United States
makers
Piper Aircraft
engines
2× Lycoming IO-320-B1A
length
7.7 m
wingspan
11.2 m
height
2.5 m
max take-off weight
1,690 kg
top speed
330 km/h
cruise speed
286 km/h
range
—
ceiling
6,096 m

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

Sources: Wikidata Q1414859, Wikipedia: Piper PA-30 Twin Comanche (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.

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