Jujupilote wrote:
Such a 172 would be like a unicorn
Well, I know and have flown at least one and it’s now owned by a friend in Austria. I think these conversions are more prevalent in Austria and Switzerland, as you need the extra power for the mountains.
I think the spar life on Grumman Tiger is something like 11,500 hrs. If you bought one with say 4000 hrs, I don’t think your resale value would be affected 
Airframe parts issues might well be a consideration in Europe, as well as finding one for sale in the first place.
If you have haven’t flown Cessnas and Pipers, I’d encourage you to experience them before buying. They are not all the same, but the higher payload versions do tend to handle like a beached whale.
The TB10 generally plays in the same space as the Archer, I find.
The cabin is wider and more modern, you get two doors as opposed to Piper’s one and the range to empty tanks is a bit more at ~650nm. Useful load is comparable to the Archer (which I believe varies according to model). Both will, roughly speaking, carry four fairly trim adults for ~3 hours or two adults plus bags for ~5 hours.
The downside of the TB10 is it uses more runway. The cabin is wider and the wing chord smaller – there is no free lunch!
At the present time the TB10 may represent good value for money due to high PA28 prices?
Jujupilote wrote:
I ask because Archer and Arrows asking prices are , very close.
To be honest, in that case I would choose Arrow. If you plan to go places, cost per nm I believe was lower for Arrow.
Plus it is faster, plus it can fly further. Yes, you normally plan to fly 300nm, but for those 2-3 flights a year when you want to fly further, you could.
Re higher powered versions of C172s, Reims Rockets are out there, a friend has one in Germany. But then you end up with a relatively fussy 6-cylinder Continental engine, versus a 4-cylinder Lycoming in some of the other options.
https://www.planecheck.com/?ent=da&id=50765
This Arrow II seems very good value if the pre buy checks out.
I have flown a fair bit the II and III, and while the III is a nicer handling version, the II is a much more honest performer. For some reason the Hershey Bar is faster in the Arrow, and the short field performance is better. Conversely, the fixed gear taper wing versions tend to be better performers than their Hershey Bar equivalents.
It may be the III higher empty weight is a factor, but a III is a 135 KTAS performer, a II will achieve 140 KTAS and closer to book.
The Archer is OK up to FL130, and is a fair bit lighter empty weight than the Arrow with similar, close to HP.
Graham wrote:
At the present time the TB10 may represent good value for money due to high PA28 prices?
TB10 prices are even higher in my opinion if corrected for avionics.
The downside of the wider cabin is less performance.
The other downside is many things not available eg GFC500 STC.
On a PA28 everything is STCable.
I like Arrows but I want to avoid potentially high maintenance costs of variable prop and retractable gear.
I’d look closely at this one
https://www.planecheck.com/?ent=da&id=51479
RobertL18C wrote:
https://www.planecheck.com/?ent=da&id=50765This Arrow II seems very good value if the pre buy checks out.
I know the seller of this Arrow II, and someone who flew it for the previous owner. It is supposed to be totally time warp original condition and makes 140kts easily. Arrow II is a good solid performer.
Snoopy wrote:
TB10 prices are even higher in my opinion if corrected for avionics.
The downside of the wider cabin is less performance.
Are they? I don’t see so many for sale so it’s hard to form a mental dataset.
Both having the 180hp 0-360 I believe the TB10 has performance (speed) equivalent to the Archer despite the wider cabin, probably due to the smaller wing. It also has a constant-speed prop which the Archer does not.
The Archer probably has the edge on rate-of-climb and certainly uses less runway to get off, but not as much as rumours would have you believe. The amount of (grass) runway our TB10 uses here at White Waltham is a standing joke, albeit an ill-informed one. The TB10, when it departs, is generally not too far off max weight and is going somewhere. The comparison of course, is with countless PA28s taking off for instructional sorties, two-up with fuel at tabs or less.
Edited because I repeatedly wrote Arrow instead of Archer!
