[Kent Dellenbusch]

Kent Dellenbusch on May 5, 2026 at 2:14 pm #26563

In reply to Maurice Snipes (#26562)

Welcome Maurice.

Yes, Steve is our technical adviser, and I provide parts-locating assistance when you’re looking for hard-to-find parts. To start you off, I’ll email you a parts catalog (file is too large to attach) for your Comanche.  I suggest that our members keep a copy of this on a thumb drive in their flight bag.  One never knows when you have to look up a part.

Welcome aboard.

Kent

[Maurice Snipes]

Maurice Snipes on May 5, 2026 at 3:15 am #26562

In reply to STEVE (#26539)

Hi Maurice;
You made a wonderful choice. My name is Steve–I work for the Piper Flyer magazine as its tech guy (I’m an A & P and Commercial Pilot) and have owned a 1960 Piper PA 24 180 for 22 years.
I’ve written about upgrades and adventures in my Comanche many times in the Piper Flyer magazine.
This is the third airplane I’ve owned and I’m very happy to say that …

Nice to meet you Steve.

22 years of ownership is quite an accomplishment. I’m glad to know this aircraft can be a solid workhorse when cared for properly.

I’ll be making trips regularly up and down the East Coast, so I don’t have to worry about high elevation…yet. 8-9,000 has been my regular altitudes traveling to FL.

As for Mods, it’s got most of the speed mods: 1 Piece Windshield, wing-root fairings, spats, gear lobes, reversed brakes, and scimitar prop. I’ll be adding gap seals, JPI engine monitor, and ditching the vacuum pump at the next annual.

I’ll have to look into the E ignition and get back to you with the story of how I found this plane.

-Mo

[STEVE]

STEVE on May 4, 2026 at 4:31 pm #26539

Hi Maurice;

You made a wonderful choice. My name is Steve–I work for the Piper Flyer magazine as its tech guy (I’m an A & P and Commercial Pilot) and have owned a 1960 Piper PA 24 180 for 22 years.

I’ve written about upgrades and adventures in my Comanche many times in the Piper Flyer magazine.

This is the third airplane I’ve owned and I’m very happy to say that I finally found the one that fits my mission perfectly.

I will fill all seats when I’m giving “gee whiz” flights from friends and their kids, but because I live in California, home to some high mountains, when I’m flying cross country I consider my 180 a 2 place + baggage airplane.

I fly to AirVenture each year and my preferred routing consists of taking off from KPRB my home airport, climbing to 13,500 feet and flying for about 4.5 hours until I land at Evanston, WY (KEVW). That’s a 561 nm leg that gets me east of both the Sierra and the Rocky mountain ranges. I will not fly in the mountains unless the winds aloft at 12000 feet are less than 20 knots.

I installed the Electro Air electronic ignition system and believe it’s a big help when flying at those altitudes because it provides a very hot long duration spark that automatically advances the spark timing as I climb. It saves me one gallon per hour or slightly more.

Please post you questions about flying, maintenance, and other flying topics on this forum.

And we are always looking for good stories to share in our magazine. For instance, what steps did you go through to: a) find your airplane; b) choose the Comanche 180; c) what your flying experience is; d) planned flying adventures; and on and on.

Best,

Steve

[Maurice Snipes]

Maurice Snipes on May 4, 2026 at 12:04 am #26538

Hello all!

I’ve been in the aviation community for a while and finally decided to pick up one of those flying things. New owner of a 63 PA-24 180 operating out of the DC area.

I just picked up the Aussie tail horn (just in time for the inspection), and I’m currently waiting for my turn in line at the maintenance shop to knock it out and get back into the air.

Happy to be a part of the Piper community and I look forward to interacting with some of you.