Airtest — Piper Seneca

Piper Seneca IV

Piper is back in business, out of bankruptcy and producing aeroplanes again.

One of the most important models to be rejuvenated is the six-seat Seneca. This, general aviation’s most popular light twin for many years, will be reincarnated with a few, mainly superficial, improvements as the Seneca IV. The company calls this ‘Redefining a Legend’ and it represents the renaissance product of a manufacturer with new resolve. Being smart, Piper knows better than to tamper much with a winning formula, so alterations are minimal. The most obvious changes are the small circular axisymmetric cowling inlets, developed by NASA with the Mississippi State University. These trendy half-sized intakes are claimed to reduce drag while improving cooling but, sensibly, no performance credit has been published because of the penalising certification costs.

Other improvements include a big ‘user-friendly’ metal instrument panel with a high level of standard equipment, but still with plenty of room for extras. This incorporates improved engine instrumentation, a comprehensive annunciator panel and back-lit switches. The extensive Bendix/King avionics suite includes twin nav/coms (both with glideslope), DME, ADF, encoding transponder and a KLN-90 GPS. Surprisingly, a six-place intercom is not included, but a two-axis autopilot/flight director is. The aircraft I flew also sported the optional weather radar, served by a miniature scanner in its nose cone, co-pilot’s instruments and a Skyforce Locator moving map display.

This content is available exclusively to Australian Aviation members.

Login

Become a Member

To continue reading the rest of this article, please login.

Username or Email

Password Forgot password?

Keep me signed in on this device.

If you check this box before you log in, you won’t have to log back into the website next time you return, even if you close your browser and come back later.

If you check the box above before you log in, you won’t have to log back into the website next time you return, even if you close your browser and come back later.

---

or

---

Login with a Passkey

To unlock all Australian Aviation magazine content and again unlimited access to our daily news and features, become a member today!
A monthly membership is only $5.99 or save with our annual plans.

PRINT

$49.95 for 1 year Become a Member

See benefits

• Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
• Access to In Focus reports every month on our website

MOST POPULAR

PRINT + DIGITAL

$99.95 for 1 year Become a Member

$179.95 for 2 years Become a Member

See benefits

• Unlimited access to all Australian Aviation digital content
• Access to the Australian Aviation app
• Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
• Access to In Focus reports every month on our website
• Access to our Behind the Lens photo galleries and other exclusive content
• Daily news updates via our email bulletin

DIGITAL

$5.99 Monthly Become a Member

$59.95 Annual Become a Member

See benefits

• Unlimited access to all Australian Aviation digital content
• Access to the Australian Aviation app
• Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
• Access to In Focus reports every month on our website
• Access to our Behind the Lens photo galleries and other exclusive content
• Daily news updates via our email bulletin

View more offers and details