The writer of the AC magazine article doesn't live near Knoxville. No one around here would call the Arrow ubiquitous.

There are more than 20 Bonanzas based at my home airport. Piper Arrows? None.

I had an Arrow for about six months and 100 hours. It was my first retractable and I thought it was a nice plane. Then I got a C210 and flew it for about 250 hours. I loved it and thought it was the perfect fast and roomy piston single...until I flew a Bonanza. I still love the ease of entry for the pilot and passengers of that high-winged and strut-less plane model, but that's the only thing I miss. The handling and visibility of the two planes is different with the Bonanza being far superior.

Talk about bad luck for you. Bo's are everywhere in Montana.

Talk about bad luck for you. Bo's are everywhere in Montana.

Aw the retractable Ercoupe,,,,er Arrow. I raced a 182 in for 100 miles. I was so proud to put the wheels up. Had to leave 4500 for 6500 and Bam,, he outclimbed me, beat me to Watsonville.
And by the way, a $65000 Arrow getting beat by a $45000 C182 didn't make plane cents.
Mark

Just shows there are mAny variables. I beat the pants off a friends 182 in my arrow. Dd it on less fuel to boot with similar useful load.
But one story doesn't make it all fact. My bonanza has raced many others and some say Trixie is fast. Sadly I've raced with some really fast Grumman's but I'd hate to hear a story about a fast Grumman beating a slow bonanza. And that making someone think all Grumman's are faster than all bonanzas

The key to never going out of style is to not have any in the first place.

Good point. But I would frame the issue this way: If you could afford to buy a Bonanza, why would you buy an Arrow?

However, it may be the fastest thing some of us can afford to operate and maintain. The question may be would an Arrow be better than nothing if we want to go faster than 120kts cruise?

We can read how a Bonanza costs less to own, fly, and maintain then an Arrow, then in another thread we'll hear how much it really costs.

Good point. But I would frame the issue this way: If you could afford to buy a Bonanza, why would you buy an Arrow?

However, it may be the fastest thing some of us can afford to operate and maintain. The question may be would an Arrow be better than nothing if we want to go faster than 120kts cruise?

We can read how a Bonanza costs less to own, fly, and maintain then an Arrow, then in another thread we'll hear how much it really costs.

I don't think the issue is which is better. The issue for the market is cost.

More can afford to fly an Arrow compared to a Bonanza. Maybe that was the AVC article author's point.
Did the author say which aircraft was better?

The only point of the comment was that there are still a lot of Arrows around. However, I still see more Bonanzas on a typical ramp than Arrows.

and a lot of people come from training in Cherokees so they progress into Arrows........I just don't remember seeing too many cheap Arrows.

One of the things that I have seen is that the cost of an Arrow is starting to approach the cost of a simular Piper fixed wing plane. In that context, I'd take the Arrow over an Archer.

This CSOB's answer to the Arrow was the BE24R Sierra, which was my 1st airplane that I flew for 9 years and 1400 hours.

Pick a number of $20-$25K less than a comparable Arrow (last time I checked). Great console controls complex retractable. These days you can buy a nicely equipped IO Bonanza for about the cost of an Arrow.

It all depends on the benefits you value and want to pay for

Mike

I agree with Alan,

I will always have a affection for the Turbo Arrow. My first aircraft that I owned was a 1978 PA 201T. (Turbo Arrow). It was fast (TAS in the 150's), cruised happily in the 13-17k range, ran cool, performed very well at high elevation airports here in the Pacific Northwest and was economical to operate. I put about 600 hours on it and was truly sad to have to sell but when my payload became a wife, 2 kids and a dog the turbo arrow no longer fit my mission. I upgraded to a 1984 A36TN and have been very happy but I have nothing bad to say about the PA28R-201T. Sure, the Bo is faster, heavier, has more room in the back, has a bigger engine etc but... Here are a couple of pics:

Well sir. Park an Arrow on the ramp next to a V35. all things being considered, see which one grabs the most attention. Better yet, top off both aircraft and load them to capacity and which one do you suppose has a more useful load. Even better, launch them both and see how far each travels in an hour. Finally, fly each for 4 hours (you can do it in a Bonanza) and at the end of the trip, which one would you climb back into for another 4 hours??