Those interested in the Cherokee 140 are people who know the limits of a budget but love to fly. They are now or may one day be in the market for their first airplane: a simple, inexpensive, easy-to-fly and maintain machine that can perform that essential miracle of lifting them into the sky and taking them someplace.
A lot of little airplanes can do that, of course. What makes the 140 different is its roominess and stability, which make it a good candidate as an entry-level cross-country airplane, including IFR trips for airplanes equipped with even a minimal panel. Looking for thrills in a snappy little weekend flier? Forget the 140. Its stodgy and that fat wing blocks the view.
Looking for a true four-place airplane? don’t buy the 140, despite its rear seats. Fill them up and its over gross with zero fuel. But for one or two people looking to make a trip with a couple of small bags and their Labrador, if not their first-born, it does a yeomans job of traveling the skies at minimal cost.
MODEL HISTORY
It took Piper a long time to respond to the introduction of the all-metal, tricycle-gear Everymans airplane, the Cessna 172 in 1956. The closest thing Piper offered was the stodgy tube-and-rag high-wing Tri-Pacer, dubbed the Milkstool for introducing tricycle gear to the lower end of the GA market in 1951.
Piper needed some quick and bold thinking. Six years isn’t quick but what reached the market in 1962 was indeed bold at the time. John Thorps now legendary design, the low-wing all-metal PA28, was a radical departure for a company known best until then (and even now among non-pilots) for its high-wing fabric taildraggers. It spawned a diverse family of airplanes from the Cherokee 140 up to the Turbo Arrow IV and, even though its technically a different type, the Cherokee Six.
Not only threatened by the 172 but the popular 150 trainer Cessna introduced in 1952, Piper did something the simple and durable PA28 design would allow it to do again and again: adjust and tweak and introduce an entirely new airplane for a particular market without a lot of R&D.
Thorps design evolved into the 140 trainer in 1964 when Piper removed the rear bench seat and put a climb prop on its Lycoming four-banger that limited RPM and effectively derated it to 140 HP. It never beat the 150 in the trainer market, except perhaps among schools that did a lot of instrument work. Its O-320 engine was more expensive to run than the 150s O-200. Its forgiving flight characteristics if not downright lack of agility, including a mushy stall and sluggish control response, didnt force students to fully come to grips with some of the basics of good piloting. But the 150 did not offer that wide cabin, all that fuel capacity (50 gallons compared to 26) and the option of putting someone in the back. That kept the 140 in production for 13 years, with 10,213 built through 1977. After that, the Tomahawk and the Warrior split its niche.
The first big change in the 140 series came in 1965, when another prop allowed 2700 RPM, the bench seat went back in and a higher gross weight (2150 pounds compared to 1950 pounds) was allowed.
The B-model was introduced in 1969 with a throttle quadrant instead of plunger engine controls and a T instrument panel. Option packages and a few minor changes defined the models C through E.