Piper PA-32R

The Piper PA-32R is a six-seat, high-performance, single engine, all-metal, fixed-wing aircraft produced by Piper Aircraft of Vero Beach, Florida. The design began life as the Piper Lance, a retractable-gear version of the Piper Cherokee Six. Later models became known by the designation Piper Saratoga. The primary difference between the Lance and early Saratoga is the development of a tapered wing on the Saratoga, replacing the "Hershey bar" wing on the Lance that was a carryover from the Cherokee Six. Later Saratoga models provided updated/improved avionics, engine and interior touches but retained the same airframe design.
Production of the Saratoga was discontinued in 2009.
The Saratoga competed for sales with the Beechcraft Bonanza, Mooney M20, Cirrus SR22, Cessna 210, and Cessna 350.

Development

Until 1972, when the assembly line was destroyed in a flood, the Comanche was Piper's luxury, high-performance single. Afterwards, Piper began modifying its heavy-lifting single engined PA-32 Cherokee Six, adding retractable landing gear and designating the type as the "PA-32R".
The PA-32R was built under license by Embraer in Brazil as the Embraer EMB-721 Sertanejo.
Kits for the PA-32R-300, PA-32RT-300 and PA-32RT-300T were supplied to Chincul in Argentina for completion. They were designated the PA-A-32R and PA-A-32RT.
For the 2008 model year, the Saratoga II HP model was eliminated, along with the 6X and 6XT, leaving the turbocharged Saratoga II TC as the only production model in the PA-32 line. Production of all PA-32 models ended in 2009.

Variants

;PA-32R-300
;PA-32RT-300
;
;PA-32R-301
;PA-32R-301T
;EMB-721C Sertanejo
;EMB-721D Sertanejo

Accidents

John F. Kennedy Jr., along with his wife, Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, and sister-in-law Lauren Bessette died on July 16, 1999, when the Saratoga Kennedy was flying crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Martha's Vineyard due to spatial disorientation. Kennedy's estimated total flight experience was about 310 hours, of which 55 hours were at night. His estimated flight time in the accident airplane was about 36 hours, of which about 9.4 hours were at night.
Michael Connell, founder of New Media Communications, Govtech, and Connell Donatelli Inc. and the primary Republican Party information technology expert for Karl Rove, George W. Bush, and John McCain, among others, died on December 19, 2008, when the Saratoga he was flying crashed while attempting an approach for landing into Akron-Canton Airport. Connell was an instrument rated pilot with over 500 hours. According to the National Transportation Safety Board report on the accident, Connell flew into adverse weather conditions where icing conditions existed, after having been warned about them.
On August 8, 2009, a Saratoga and a Eurocopter AS350 collided in midair over the Hudson River near Hoboken, New Jersey, under visual flight rules. All on board both aircraft died in the accident.
On March 4, 2024, a Piper PA-32RT-300T lost power and crashed in a grassy area adjacent to Interstate 40 in Nashville, Tennessee, killing all onboard. The victims were pilot Victor Dotsenko, his wife Rimma, and their three children, all from King, Ontario. The plane left from Mount Sterling, Kentucky, flew into Nashville from the southwest, and overflew John C. Tune Airport at 2,500 feet. After the plane's engine lost power, the air traffic controller tried to steer Dotsenko toward a runway. The pilot made a U-turn and said, "Yes, I have the runway in sight," and then added, "I’m too far away, I won’t make it."