Hi all,
Maybe someone that owns or fly a Turbo Arrow could tell me.
I was in the air with an TAIII (intercooler, merlyn wastegate etc) some months back, and yes it did climb quick to 8000ft (9 min), and had a speed of 155-158GS up there with 50l/h. Did forget to look what IAS we had, but it was a pretty calm day.
I assume he did fly at 75% power, maybe to “show off” what speed he could get.
Do you always fly Turbo Arrows at 75% or is 65% more healthy for the engine in the long run?
What speed can I expect when flying at 65% 130KT?
Is the Turbo Arrow faster than the NA version below 10000ft
Thinking of buying an Turbo for a good cross country plane, but I also want more speed below 8000ft…
/Patrik
I’ve passed this on to my friend who owns an Arrow in the US (not sure which flavour it is). I’ll post his answer if/when I get it.
At 65% power (which is typically 31.1" MAP and 2300 rpm), I usually get a TAS of 149-151 kt at 8000-10,000 ft. Haven’t flow the NA version so can’t compare.
Is the Turbo Arrow faster than the NA version below 10000ft
Well, for the same fuel flow, not quite. Turbo aircraft are always less efficient than their non-turbo counterparts.
But disregarding fuel flow, yes, 150 knots sounds correct as best cruise speed for a Turbo at 10000 feet (altough it depends on mods and speed mods). A non-turbo will be max out at just under 140 knots at 7000-10000 feet, burning 11-11.5 GPH.
What typical speeds can I expect at 2000, 4000, 6000 Feet with 65% and 75% effect?
Is it normally you cruise at 75% with Turbo Arrows, or use 65% as I normally use when flying.
If I buy an Turbo Arrow, I don’t want to stress the engine with 75% to get acceptable speeds below 8000ft.
The once I look at has Intercooler and Merlyn Wastegate with some speed mods.
When I look at Performance Table in POH it says 65% = ~ 130kt at ~4000ft
That’s not much faster than the normal NA Arrow.
“but I also want more speed below 8000ft…”
Keep in mind that most turbo versions of same aircraft without turbo (Mooney Acclaim vs Ovation, TB20 vs TB21 ect) the turbo only really starts to make sense above 8500 ft where a NA engine will start to loose its breath (Manifold pressure drops below 75% even at full throttle). And above approx 15000ft the advantage of the turbo really starts to kick in, making the turbo version faster, more efficient and able to go higher than their non turbo counterpart (same power in thinner air with less drag – if IIRC both arrows puts out 200hp). My TB21 gains approx 2 KTAS for every 1000 ft it climbs for same fuel burn, and it climbs without issues to 25000 ft. So the advantages of a turbo is usually closely tied to IFR flying is Europe (outside special ops like parachute jumping flights ect). So I would not expect any real advantage below 8000 ft where the NA version of the PA28 can also accomplish 75% power.
I usually do 65% (12 gph). Even at those lower altitudes 135-140 KTAS is achieved. 75% doesn’t produce a huge increase in speed. This is with a stock engine (no wastegate / intercooler mods).
I did a climb to FL100 some weeks ago in a NA Arrow II , and it took 30min flying North, and when I flew back home it to 25min.
When I tested the TA Arrow III, it took 8min to get to 8000ft. Also the owner didn’t stress the engine.
So I’ve seen the effects of Turbo in climb, and we also as I wrote before got pretty good speed with 155kt GS.
I’m hopefully soon done with my CBIR course, and looking for a good IFR platform and Cross Country aircraft.
Turbo Arrows looks to be a qualified contender at a resonable price, but are I’ve read horror stories about Turbo engines.
The owner tells me he hadn’t any big problems with the engine, and it’s been overhauled around 450h ago.
He did runs the engine at TIT 1450 if I remember correctly, and let it Turbo slowly cool before descending and after landing 5 minutes turbo cool down.
So the climb performance and >8000ft speed is acceptable for me.
Are Turbos a ticking bomb if well taken cared of and not abused when flying?!
Thinking of buying an Turbo for a good cross country plane, but I also want more speed below 8000ft
I used to rent turbo Arrow, all the times I have flown it under 10kft, only I took it twice to 15kft with oxygen, very low on turbo you should not care about speed or fuel flow 
however, it makes a good impression when you tell people it’s a turbo even when doing circuits
You should be able to compare POH, I would guess FL100 both will be near 145kts, turbo at 150kts, non-turbo at 140kts
I am sure you can come up with a chart like this for NA/T Arrows?
You practically need turbo if doing takeoff from high airports and like to cruise higher above 12kft otherwise NA versions are more than fine, especially, if you are “low altitude 60% LOP flyer”
He did runs the engine at TIT 1450 if I remember correctly, and let it Turbo slowly cool before descending and after landing 5 minutes turbo cool down.
This owner/seller makes a good impression!
Especially the 5 minute cooldown, many don’t do that.
I’m hopefully soon done with my CBIR course, and looking for a good IFR platform and Cross Country aircraft.
I like Arrows (apart from the spar design in combination with 40-50 year old airframes) and a Turbo really helps to climb to IFR levels quickly even on hot summer days. Once there, you will encounter cold temps, and paired with clouds that means potential icing. Depending on the trips you are intending to undertake, and the terrain below, some form of ice protection can become equally important, if not more important, than a turbo. Even more so in winter when MSA is often below freezing level.
Don’t believe the hangar talk about FL160 getting you above weather, it gets you right in the middle of it if there is any. By „over the weather“ these tales mean being over bumpy air when bimbling around at 3500ft. However it’s very much dependent on your intended trips.
