Piper PA-31-300 Navajo

Piper Aircraft · United States · first flew 1964 · light aircraft

The Piper PA-31-300 Navajo is a twin-engine piston business and commuter aircraft produced by Piper Aircraft from the mid-1960s, widely used for air taxi and charter operations.

Recognition (WEFT)

W — Wings	Low-mounted, tapered
E — Engines	2 × piston, wing-mounted
F — Fuselage	Square-section fuselage with oval cabin windows
T — Tail	Conventional

WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.

Spot it by:

Twin-engine low-wing Piper business aircraft seating up to 8
Lycoming IO-540 piston engines in elongated nacelles
Square-section fuselage with oval cabin windows

Low-wing twin with a distinctive square fuselage cross-section, elongated engine nacelles housing six-cylinder Lycomings, and a T-shaped vertical tail.

Specifications

The Piper PA-31-300 Navajo has a length of 9.94 m (33 ft).
It has a wingspan of 12.4 m (41 ft).
Its maximum speed is 374 km/h (232 mph).
Typical crew: 1.

Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.

History

The PA-31 Navajo first flew in 1964 and entered production in 1966, filling the market gap between Piper's single-engine Comanche and larger pressurised twins; the 300-hp variant became a popular baseline model for the extensive Navajo family.

Variants

The PA-31 family expanded to include the Navajo Chieftain, the Pressurized Navajo, the Navajo C/R with counter-rotating props, and the Cheyenne turboprop derivative.

Where you'll see it

Extensively operated worldwide by air taxi operators, commuter airlines, and private owners; still in service decades after production ended.

Related aircraft

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