Neither Stranger nor Enemy
The name “Comanche” translated from the Uto-Aztecan language spoken by the Comanche people, means “enemy”, or “stranger”. But the Piper Comanche seems to only have loyal friends, not enemies, although many people are strangers to the type.
The Piper Comanche is a four-seat low-wing retractable monoplane, originally powered by a 180-hp Lycoming O-360 engine. The first prototype flew in 1956, and entered production as the PA-24-180.
Piper Aircraft had taken to naming its aircraft after Native American nations and words when it moved from its rag and tube designs to modern metal aircraft in the 1950s. By the 1960s, it had developed a line-up of GA aircraft which included the PA-23 Apache, the PA-24 Comanche, and the PA-28 Cherokee. The Apache, later renamed Aztec, was a design inherited from its takeover of Stinson Aircraft, so the Comanche was Piper’s first metal aircraft design.
Immediately successful
Comanche production started in 1957, and a year later the more powerful PA-24-250 was introduced with a six-cylinder O-540 engine. The bigger engine gave the Comanche better performance, with the cruising speed lifting from 140 to 160 knots, with only a relatively small increase in purchase price. Over 1000 of the 180s were sold, while 2500 of the 250s were snapped up by enthusiastic buyers until production of the 180s and 250s ended in 1964.
The Comanche production line then shifted to the upgraded 260-hp PA-24-260, and the over-powered PA-24-400, fitted with an eight-cylinder
