Interesting....the T tail I maintain....few recurring ADs.

I owned a share of one for a while. No complaints. Just about everything said above about flying qualities is correct. Passengers in the back gave it a thumbs up for ride quality. Practice landing it both full and empty; you'll get more variation in results than you do on most other six-seaters. As far as runway length, it'll do fine at anything that shows up on a sectional and is south of Alaska.

Would I buy one again? Yes, under two scenarios:
1) Regularly hauling 5-6 people. The 5th & 6th seats are full size, unlike the 206.
2) Needing to go faster/farther. The fuel burn is the same, but the Lance is moving significantly faster.
Other than that, I like the 206 better.

One additional note - the front baggage compartment can get very hot in summer. I've slightly melted lightweight plastics that were pressed against the forward firewall (the stretchy clear film that goes over some bulk paper products.) Normal baggage is fine.

Thanks everyone!

I owned a 1978 PA32RT-300T and put ~500 hours on the plane before buying a Baron BE58. All of the BS about the tail dropping out is just that, BS. It is an airplane, learn to fly the airplane properly and it behaves just fine.

I will tell you the T-Tail is awesome in a T-Hangar; no running into the elevator.

I will also tell you that I did not like the turbocharged version. I'm a flat lander and should not have purchased a turbocharged airplane; did not need it. The wife and kids would not wear O2 masks so I rarely flew above 10,000 feet. Thus, the turbo was a big chunk of useless weight hanging on the nose.

Owned the plane for about four years; no issues. Whoever bought it from me definitely scored. I dumped a lot of sweat-equity into that plane. Installed an Airtex interior and did a first class job of it, new primer, sound insulation, wiring bundles, new plastic, etc. I also rebuilt the avionics stack and installed a GNS430, Avidyne EX500, GTX330, WX500, SL30, and engine monitor.

The plane is flying around Texas by I believe to be the guy who bought it from me back in 2009.

Thanks everyone, much appreciated!

If anyone has a line on a nice pa32 for sale please let me know!

I was working for Atco the Piper distributor on the west coast in the late seventies.
Had an eye opening experience when flying in one of the first T tailed Lance's. We were going to visit a dealer with six aboard. Our service administrator was at the controls for the first time. He held the yoke back on take off and over rotated when the tail started to fly, aircraft popped off the runway and rolled to within a few inches of catching the left tip before copilot got the nose down and corrected. If I had been wearing contacts they would have fallen out as my eyes were wide open in that event.

Beyond that a good airplane, simple Cherokee systems easy to deal with if maintained and free of corrosion.

As for the Turbo Lance, it has the scariest exhaust systems I have run across, have seen to many failures if ignored and have read to many reports of the airplanes demise if there are issues.

Always liked the nose baggage area as it insulates the cabin from a lot of noise and has an access panel in it to access the accessories on the engine.

I owned a 78 Turbo T-tail Lance for years. It was a fine airplane. You just fly them more like you would a swept wing jet than a straight wing trainer and you’re fine. That solves the tail issue some folks have with them. No bad habits. The only negatives I’ve heard about the tail were always from people that weren’t properly trained to fly them or people perpetuating rumors. We also maintain 7 T-tail Lances, turbo & NA, and none have given us any undue problems. I have a long term customer that is probably going to sell his 1978 Turbo T-tail. We just overhauled the engine & prop and it’s ready to do it’s first flight. He owned the plane for probably 30 years and he’s aged out of the cockpit. Might be a good opportunity for you. Send me a message and I’ll give you his contact.

Thanks Jeremy. Don’t think I’d be a buyer for a turbo version (unless it were stupid cheap); I’m a flat land pilot with no need to go high

I’ve got a good amount of time in turbo T tail lances...

They fly like crap, real heavy on the controls, lots of trim when nose heavy. If your the only guy in the plane and light on gas you have to fly it on as it won’t flare. Approach speeds are higher than expected to keep it smooth I always did 90kts I think. it will want to porpoise if you get slow with the T tail. Keep an eye on the exhaust for cracks and the lower engine mount/nose gear frame they have a tendency to crack where the nose gear attaches and it will result in NLG collapse. I also did have to put rudder cables in one, there’s an AD to inspect them now I think... but the issue was the overhead vent duct was dripping water occasionally on the rudder cables and eventually they started corroding. Not a big deal at all maybe spent 8hrs doing the replacement and rigging including making the stabilator tool.

Ok that’s all the bad stuff... the good is that airplane is a serious load hauler, if it fits it will take off, the nose storage is handy and the cabin space isn’t bad at all. It burns 20gph and does 155kts TAS. Once you get used to the T tail you will love it, great airplane with a bad opinion by inexperienced pilots that don’t know how to fly the tail. The range isn’t that great but I would fly 600nm with reserves and that’s about it.

I've looked at them and agree on all points. The exhaust appears to have brought one down with an onboard fire and two senior naval aviators aboard near me earlier this year. I ultimately decided to wait and plan to move to a twin versus taking an intermediate step with a c6 or similar.

What defines “ flies like crap”?

I have absolutely no complaints about how it flies. It’s smooth, predictable, docile, stable and reliable. If I wanted an RV, extra 300 or a Lancair, I too would say the Lance flies like crap because it doesn’t handle like a totally different mission-set airplane.

You may have some hours, but I think your assertion fails to address context. By my account, you could also say that a C130 flies like crap as does does a Widgen.

"heavy on the controls" describes a really good instrument platform. Stable and smooth for passengers too.

I find it interesting when a plane that was built for hauling a huge load long distances on autopilot gets bashed for being heavy on the controls.

An RV-8 flies like crap when you load it with 4 people and 300 lbs of bags.

All these planes handle the same once you press the Stec button. Who hand flies cross country ?

Tight wads like me.