The Piper Cherokee turns 50
Genesis of a
BY KENT MISEGADES, EAA ;;;;;;
Classic
ON A WARM FLORIDA day in January 1960 the
first Piper Cherokee (N9315R) took to the air with
the company’s chief test pilot, ;omas F. He;ner,
at the controls. Could he have imagined that,
five decades later, the PA- 28 would be regarded
as one of the most important aircraft ever built?
Generations of pilots have come to regard the
PA- 28 family of aircraft as a dependable, a;ordable range of airplanes with desirable flight
characteristics. As the aviation community begins
a yearlong series of 50th anniversary celebrations
for the Piper Cherokee, we’ll look at the leading
role three early members of EAA—Karl Bergey,
EAA 931;, John ;orp, EAA 1212; and Fred Weick
(EAA 7882)—played in its initial design.
