A Cheyenne I with wingtip fuel tanks parked at Southampton, England. · G B_NZ, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Piper · Turboprop
Cheyenne I / IA (PA-31T1)
The lower-power, lower-price member of Piper's PA-31T Cheyenne family, built from 1978, with the rare IA following in 1983–1984.
The Cheyenne I is the cheapest way into a pressurized twin turboprop: about 240 knots, roughly 900 nm with four aboard and only about 65 gallons an hour. The price is a tight cabin, scarce PT6A-11 engine parts and few specialist shops.
Buy it if
You are stepping up from a piston twin, fly yourself or with one pilot, usually carry four or fewer, and want two turbine engines and flight-level comfort for under $500,000, with a Cheyenne-savvy shop within reach.
Skip it if
You routinely fill every seat, want stand-up headroom or a private toilet, fly too few hours to fund an engine overhaul reserve, or need overnight parts support far from a Cheyenne specialist.
Biggest compromise
Piper cut the price by fitting smaller 500 shp PT6A-11 engines that few other aircraft use. Exchange engines and parts are harder to find than for a King Air, and two overhauls can cost more than the aircraft is worth, which is why many owners have paid to upgrade to newer PT6A-135A or PT6A-28 engines.
The numbers that matter
Purchase price
$467K–$495K
guide value (PlanePhD and Conklin & de Decker)
What it costs per year
$510K
at 300 hrs · one professional pilot
How far it flies
1,330 nm
700–900 nm with passengers
How fast
249 kt
high-speed cruise
Seats
5
5 typical; up to 6
Pilots needed
1
Certified for one pilot; many are owner-flown, and insurers usually require formal initial training first.
Price
What one costs to buy
Guide value
$467K–$495K
Other sites
Priced vs call
with a price / call for price
Only one of five listings shows a price, $389,000. Published guides put a typical Cheyenne I at $466,500–$495,000; the rare IA nearer $700,000.
Price vs its family and alternatives
Scroll to explore · select a jet for details
Cheyenne I / IA (PA-31T1) · This aircraft
$467K–$495K guide
Guide value, not a listed asking price.
The least expensive here; next up is the Cheyenne II (PA-31T).
For sale now
None listed right now
Cost to own
What it costs per year to run
300hours / year
Per year
Per flight hour
Estimate — your operator will quote actual numbers.
Fuel, maintenance and engine overhaul reserve rise as you fly more. One professional pilot, hangar and insurance stay the same however much you fly.
Where the money goes
Partial estimate- One professional pilot$130,00025%
- Hangar$45,0009%
- Insurance$37,5007%
- Fuel$160,38931%
- Maintenance$75,00015%
- Engine overhaul reserve$61,97112%
Fuel is the biggest single cost at 31% of the total.
The JetGrade
66 out of 100 — Below its class average
Peer group: King Air C90, King Air E90, Piper Cheyenne II, Cessna Conquest I (425), Mitsubishi MU-2 Solitaire
Seven categories at a glance
- - - 70 = typical— This aircraft
Strongest on running costs, weakest on cabin & passenger comfort.
Grades are editorial opinions about the model, not any specific aircraft. Sponsors and affiliates have no input. Reviewed 2026-10-08.
Where it flies
Sample trips and reach
Typical trips on a map
Nonstop
Depends on weight or weather
Fuel stop likely
2 of 6 sample trips are comfortable nonstops.
Sample flight times
- 1.3 hr
Carlsbad → Las Vegas
205 nm · Short hop, well within range
- 3.1 hr
Carlsbad → Aspen
625 nm · Mountain airport; depends on weight and temperature
- 3.6 hr
Santa Ana → San José del Cabo
765 nm · Fits with four aboard; headwinds trim the margin
- 4.2 hr
Teterboro → West Palm Beach
900 nm · At its limit with four; a stop is common
- 5.6 hr
Dallas → Teterboro
1,190 nm · Needs one stop, typically mid-route
- 9.6 hr
Carlsbad → Teterboro
2,100 nm · Two stops with four aboard
Lineage
What came before and after
Pressurized Navajo (PA-31P)
Pressurized piston twin whose airframe became the Cheyenne.
1978–1984
Cheyenne I / IA (PA-31T1)
Lower-power, lower-price version; IA added tip tanks and cleaner cowlings.
What changed from the Cheyenne / Cheyenne II (PA-31T)
- 500 shp PT6A-11 engines replaced the Cheyenne II's 620 shp PT6A-28s.
- Lower power removed the need for the tail stability augmentation system.
- Tip tanks became optional: 300 gallons standard, 382 gallons with tips.
- The aft center-of-gravity limit moved 2 in forward.
- It cost about $100,000 less new than the 620 shp model.
- The 1984 IA added reshaped intakes and longer exhaust stacks for more speed up high.
Size and cabin
How big it is, inside and out
Outside
Silhouette · scaled to length
Length
Wingspan
Height
Inside the cabin
Cabin length
Width
Height
Compare
How it stacks up
This aircraft
Cheyenne I / IA (PA-31T1)
- JetGrade
- 66
- Price
- $467K–$495K guide
- Cost per year
- $510K
- Range
- 1,330 nm
- Speed
- 249 kt
- Seats
- 5
- Cabin length
- 8′ 5″
- Pilots
- 1
- Years built
- 1978–1984
← Before
- JetGrade
- 69
- Price
- $435K–$540K guide
- Cost per year
- $505K
- Range
- 1,510 nm
- Speed
- 283 kt
- Seats
- 5
- Cabin length
- 8′ 5″
- Pilots
- 1
- Years built
- 1974–1981
Alternative
- JetGrade
- 69
- Price
- $775K
- Cost per year
- $609K
- Range
- 900 nm
- Speed
- 223 kt
- Seats
- 5
- Cabin length
- 12′ 5″
- Pilots
- 1
- Years built
- 1971–1983
Alternative
- JetGrade
- 69
- Price
- $674K–$675K guide
- Cost per year
- $526K
- Range
- 1,060 nm
- Speed
- 274 kt
- Seats
- 5
- Pilots
- 1
- Years built
- 1981–1984
- King Air C90 instead: A wider, taller cabin and the deepest parts and service network of any twin turboprop, for a higher purchase price and fuel bill.
- Cheyenne II (PA-31T) instead: The same airframe with 620 shp engines and about 40 knots more speed, but it needs its tail stability system kept working.
- Cheyenne IIXL (PA-31T2) instead: Two feet longer, more powerful and without the stability system; the Cheyenne to pick if you regularly fill seats and baggage bays.
Gold marks the best figure in each row.
Owning one
What to know before you buy
Engines & inspections
2 × Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-11 · 500 shp each
No APUEngine hours until overhaul
- Nose baggage door latch · 100 hr
- Progressive inspection cycle · 200 hr
- Elevator downspring replacement · 2,000 hr
- Propeller overhaul · 3,000 hr
- Engine overhaul · 3,500 hr
- Wiring inspection directive every 12 months
- Rudder corrosion directive every 12 months
Hot-section credits from Pratt & Whitney Canada apply, and an approved program can stretch overhauls to 8,000 hours. Upgraded engines can join hourly maintenance plans.
Known issues
Scarce, costly PT6A-11 engines
Few aircraft used the -11, so exchange engines are scarce; two overhauls can exceed the aircraft's value.
Tail structure directives
Stabilizer bulkhead and elevator rib directives apply to early aircraft; confirm the fixes are done and logged.
Wiring fire directive
Yearly inspection of wiring below the circuit breaker panel, introduced after a fatal in-flight fire.
Pre-buy checklist
0 of 10 checked
PT6 engine shops are everywhere, but Cheyenne airframe expertise is concentrated in a few specialists such as Friend AirCare in Pennsylvania. Piper still supplies manuals and will make obsolete parts, sometimes slowly.
Review
The full review
Strengths
- Burns about 65 gallons an hour while cruising near 240 knots, well below a King Air 90's fuel bill.
- With the common tip tanks it carries four passengers roughly 900 nm, enough for Los Angeles to Denver nonstop.
- Published guide values near $467,000–$495,000 make it one of the least expensive pressurized twin turboprops to buy.
Limitations
- The cabin is 50 in wide and 51.5 in tall, and the wing spar crosses the floor behind the cockpit.
- Its PT6A-11 engines have no factory flat-rate overhaul price, and exchange engines are scarce.
- With full fuel in the tip tanks, only about 630 lb remains for people and bags after one pilot.
The Cheyenne I is the entry model of Piper's PA-31T Cheyenne family, a line of twin turboprops built on the airframe of the pressurized Navajo piston twin. When Piper introduced it in 1978, it took the original 620 shp Cheyenne, renamed that model the Cheyenne II, and created a cheaper version with smaller 500 shp Pratt & Whitney PT6A-11 engines. About 215 Cheyenne I and IA aircraft were built. The IA, certified in 1983 and built for only about a year, added redesigned engine intakes, longer exhaust stacks and standard wingtip fuel tanks; only about 20 were built.
Pilot's take
Pilots coming from a Navajo or other cabin-class piston twin tend to feel at home quickly: the Cheyenne I is stable, predictable and gentle in the stall, which comes at around 60 knots with everything down. The real learning is turbine discipline, from careful PT6 starts to single-engine procedures flown exactly by the numbers. Loading matters too, since the short cabin and aft seats can move the balance point quickly. Expect a steady 240 knots in the low flight levels rather than dramatic climb performance, and plan fuel stops on long trips with a full cabin.
Who this is for
An owner-pilot or small company moving up from a piston twin, flying regional trips of 300 to 700 nm with up to four passengers, who wants two turbine engines and pressurization and can base near a Cheyenne specialist.
Ask about this aircraft
Answers come only from our research file on the Cheyenne I / IA (PA-31T1).
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