Piper Dakota Refurb

Florida-based Premier Aircraft offers a spinner-to-tail refurbishment for the Piper Dakota, called the Premier Edition Dakota. It starts with the latest avionics, high-end paint work and en extensive annual inspection. But there's a lot more that goes into making a vintage Dakota almost as good as new. To find out, Aviation Consumer's Editor At Large Paul Bertorelli took a closer look at the aircraft and prepared this video report.

[@ArmamentAxes]

I was lucky to get my hands and feet on the controls of a 1979 Dakota lately, I think i'm in love!!!! blows the pants off my brothers 150 I been learning with!!!!

[@haljohnson6947]

just lower your mic 1/2 " and you will have better sound with no pops

[@TRPGpilot]

Very nice!

[@quinnjim]

The problem with paying $270,000 for a refurbished Dakota is that they will be worth about $150,000 in a year. You didn't make it new. Really a bad investment. You can buy a Cirrus SR22 that is relatively new for that much money...and go 30-40 knots faster with better avionics. You also don't have to worry about the wings falling off (like on a Cherokee).

[@stan1900]

Any sort of big splurge on avionics is probably a bad investment in terms of resale value and lot of that max cost of 270k seems to be due to the avionics selection. Presumably you want it so you can use it, otherwise don't buy everything top of the line. It probably is overkill for that aircraft anyway.

[@ernies7174]

I agree with you as far as price. But let me know how those Cirrus Wings are in 50 years.
Why piper never made a retractable Dakota is a damn travesty.

[@ConvairDart106]

@@ernies7174 Just put 235 hp in an Arrow, and you will have one. I would go a step further, and make it 250hp.

[@2Greenlid]

@@ernies7174 50 years, I’ll be long gone so not to worried about resale in 50!

[@FlightRisk2010]

@@ernies7174 They did better than a retractable Dakota. It’s called a Comanche. Also, the Cirrus is life limited. There likely won’t be many that make it to 50 years old. The wing spars on the cherokee really should have been designed like the Comanche but two aircraft breaking up out of 32k built says more about the abuse those two aircraft were put through than it does about the model in general. Most small GA aircraft models have had an inflight breakup for one reason or another but it usually gets written off as pilot error. With the low amount of technology onboard data recording wise, who knows what really happened.

[@Lloyd2605]

I love Lycoming engines. But we need newer engine designs. 60's technology should be improved on in 2021 by a significant margin.!!

[@malcolmzaid2443]

I realize it is kind of randomly asking but do anybody know of a good place to watch newly released tv shows online?

[@harrisonlanden436]

@Malcolm Zaid Lately I have been using FlixZone. You can find it by googling :)

[@charlielandon8751]

@Harrison Landen yea, been watching on Flixzone for months myself :D

[@malcolmzaid2443]

@Harrison Landen Thank you, I signed up and it seems like a nice service :) Appreciate it !!

[@harrisonlanden436]

@Malcolm Zaid no problem :D

[@charlesburnett9209]

Are these wing spars included in the AD? How do you inspect the carrythru for cracks?

[@sglynn]

The Wing Spar AD does not apply to PA28-236 (Dakota).

[@lcprivatepilot1969]

Based on GA aircraft pricing today, that’s a great deal

[@ericnolastname3454]

I want one!

[@alienxyt]

Clearly this is a plane for someone with more money than sense. And a great opportunity for the shop that builds it. Great marketing.

[@TomCook1993]

if someone is looking for a forever plane that is ready to go on day one, this is a smart choice.