We where a Cheyenne Service Center back in the nineties, We did take care of some 400's back then but my Cheyenne technicians have retired, still see some 31T's and one IIIA. Can not recommend Friend Air Care more, they have kept there hands on them continuously over the years and we rely on them for ideas and parts occasionally.
My service manager in those days was Steve Magginetti, Steve was the West Coast Cheyenne Tech rep for Piper during the height of Cheyenne production. He still does consulting work and is a good resource if you operate one of these aircraft. I can get you in touch with him if you give a call, 408-977-0990.

Awesome aircraft, amazingly fast and efficient but will be like maintaining an old Ferrari, support and parts getting very thin on this old hot rod. No clue how the unique -13 engines and Dowty props are being supported.

One of our most memorable 400 experiences was one that was tanked and being ferried to New Zealand out of Oakland well over gross. The left gear collapsed on take off. We ferried it to our shop and did months of repair. After completion including prop and engines we where sending the aircraft to paint. The aircraft flown by Lad Cane took a major lightning hit en route and returned. Right after the hit, Lad was temporarily blinded by the flash, all the CRT displays went blank and the airspeed was deteriorating for unknown reasons. The screens slowly came back and Lad noted the gear hanging out, the lightning strike had blown the gear emergency squibs extending the gear, on return we found a hole on one prop blade on the left engine and an exit hole on the tail. Prop and engine went out again for inspection and repair, the aircraft finally made it to NZ after nearly a year of delay.

The -14 engine in the 400LS is still fully supported and sold new by Honeywell, so wouldn't worry abut parts for that one. Heck, they even sell parts for the ancient -1's still and they've been out of production since the 70's.

The British Jetstream 41 uses the -14, but those airplanes are kind of scarce as well.

Lot$ a $upport for those engine$!

I’d like to have them on the Merlin.

Owned our 400LS for nearly 14 years, never had any issues with getting any parts, aircraft or engine. Did get rid of the Dowtys. Friend AirCare (Cheyenne Service Center) in Washington, PA does all our maintenance, except for minor stuff like tires.

The 400 has been very very reliable and dispatch ready. Goes in for the 2 event inspections about once a year. Seldom ever needs anything in between, the things it has needed haven't been Piper parts for the most part. Most all of our issues over the years has been the Collins stuff.

Nice airplane, does exactly what we expected. Goes high and goes fast.

Setting aside Piper’s issues in the 90’s, Anybody who can afford a 400 can afford a jet. most people pick the jet

I’d like to hear some 400LS stories. How high? How fast? Climb rate? I’ve always heard those things were smokin’ fast. C’mon - let’s hear it…

When that thing first came out, it was on a magazine cover…Flying, AOPA, I forget…but it looked so impressive.

Looked like the props barely cleared the ground.

I've been around the 400 LS for 15 years now. We're talking about an airframe that originally had 700 HP total (The Navajo Chieftain/Mojave line) and now you hang 1000 HP on each wing. Climbs at 1000-1500 FPM on one engine. You just lower the nose to ten degrees nose up and keep going. Doing a single engine demo is a real hoot. The engines are actually 1600 HP but flat rated to 1000 HP, meaning they keep that power way up into the flight levels with no worries about ITT getting too hot. We don't worry about temperatures until passing FL200 if the air temperatures are above standard. Compare that with the Pratt engined Cheyenne 1, II, and III, which are always ITT limited at any altitude.

Climbs at 3500-4000 FPM at mid weight on a standard day, and 5000-6000 FPM at light weight on a cool day. It is an absolute rocket.

Goes up to FL410- it was the first civilian turboprop to go that high. Followed many years later by the Piaggio, and later yet, by the King Air 350.

It has a Max speed of 350 KTAS at FL240, but the best speed vs fuel burn is 340 KTAS at FL330, with the 5 blade MT props. A few knots slower with the original 4 blade Dowtys. Range can be anywhere from 1200 to 2200 NM depending on load and power settings.

Chuck Yeager set a number of time to climb and speed records with a 400 LS back in 1985, and crossed the pond flying from New York to Paris.

There are 38 left out of 44 built, they don't change hands often. People refer to them by serial number since there are so few. Friend Air in Pennsylvania has complied a real world performance document that is handy for those looking the 400LS.

https://www.friendaircare.com/sites/fri ... C_PERF.pdf

[youtube]http://youtu.be/btj13kuNoJA[/youtube]

Many have probably seen it, but there's a video on YT of Chuck Yeager setting time to climb records in the 400LS from the mid 80s. Along with Bill Cox doing a flight review of the airplane.

What a crazy pitch angle in the climb. Sexy beast even by todays standards. Would love to see a modern version of that, but the market seems to want SETP’s. Maybe if Piper can take that fuselage, modernize the interior and put a 1200+ HP PT6 on the nose, with the G3000 tech of the M600 would be a new niche. In between the 6 seat TP’s and the Denali/PC12. If I were a betting man…. Probably not the only person thinking that. :-)

Honestly, this airplane and the Piaggio are amazing to me. Definitely lust-worthy. Both are ownership challenges but for different reasons. Comparable performance (Piaggio is a little faster up high, but the 400LS goes farther and carries more). Would be an amazing airplane to fly. Can’t imagine what insurance would be like on one … don’t think there are many avionics upgrades certified for it however - although you can put Garmin GTNs in them.

I LOVE the 400LS!

But... I also love the Lamborghini Countach!

Oooh i was just drooling over a Countach at Carefree Skyranch Airpark the other day.
I'd really like one of those.
I do prefer the wingless models.

Sorry thread drift.