A Cheyenne II at Herzliya, Israel, showing its wingtip fuel tanks and slim engine nacelles. · Photo: Oyoyoy, CC BY-SA 3.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0), via Wikimedia Commons
Piper · Turboprop
Cheyenne II (PA-31T)
The original Piper Cheyenne turboprop, renamed Cheyenne II in 1978 when the smaller Cheyenne I arrived.
The Cheyenne II delivers real turboprop speed and climb for well under $1M and is cheap to run for its class. The trade-offs are a narrow cabin, modest range with every seat full, and engine overhauls that can approach the airplane's value.
Buy it if
You usually fly two to four people on trips under about 800 nm, want one pilot up front, and care more about speed and running costs than cabin space.
Skip it if
You regularly fill every seat, want to stand up inside, carry lots of luggage, or could not absorb a $360,000–$500,000 bill for two engine overhauls within a few years of buying.
Biggest compromise
Space. The cabin is 4 ft 3 in tall and 4 ft 2 in wide, baggage tops out at 42 cubic feet split between the nose and the rear of the cabin, and with full tanks a typical aircraft carries only about 600–800 lb of people and bags.
The numbers that matter
Purchase price
$435K–$540K
guide value (PlanePhD and Conklin & de Decker)
What it costs per year
$505K
at 300 hrs · one professional pilot
How far it flies
1,510 nm
720–830 nm with passengers
How fast
283 kt
high-speed cruise
Seats
5
4 club seats plus belted toilet seat
Pilots needed
1
Flown by one pilot; most owners fly it solo, and insurers typically require formal training first.
Price
What one costs to buy
Guide value
$435K–$540K
Other sites
4.2% of the fleet
Priced vs call
with a price / call for price
Only two of five listings show a price: $535,000 for a 1980 aircraft and about $1.44M for one re-engined by Blackhawk. Guides put typical values near $435,000–$540,000.
Price vs its family and alternatives
Scroll to explore · select a jet for details
Cheyenne II (PA-31T) · This aircraft
$435K–$540K guide
Guide value, not a listed asking price.
Sits between the Cheyenne I / IA (PA-31T1) and the Cheyenne IIXL (PA-31T2).
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 reserve rise as you fly more. One professional pilot, recurrent training, hangar, insurance and subscriptions and databases stay the same however much you fly.
Where the money goes
- One professional pilot$130,00026%
- Recurrent training$10,0002%
- Hangar$24,0005%
- Insurance$27,5005%
- Subscriptions and databases$5,5001%
- Fuel$178,79435%
- Maintenance$82,50016%
- Engine reserve$47,0019%
Fuel is the biggest single cost at 35% of the total.
The JetGrade
69 out of 100 — Below its class average
Peer group: Beechcraft King Air C90, Cessna Conquest I, Piper Cheyenne I / IA, Mitsubishi MU-2 short body
Seven categories at a glance
- - - 70 = typical— This aircraft
Strongest on speed & trip time, weakest on range & payload.
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
1 of 6 sample trips are comfortable nonstops.
Sample flight times
- 1.3 hr
Carlsbad → Las Vegas
205 nm · Easy nonstop with four passengers
- 3.0 hr
Carlsbad → Aspen
625 nm · Mountain airport; depends on weight, weather, terrain
- 3.5 hr
Santa Ana → San José del Cabo
765 nm · Near its four-passenger range; winds decide
- 4.3 hr
Teterboro → West Palm Beach
900 nm · One stop with four aboard; lighter loads may not
- 5.4 hr
Dallas → Teterboro
1,190 nm · Needs one stop, typically mid-Atlantic
- 9.3 hr
Carlsbad → Teterboro
2,100 nm · Two stops, typically central US
Lineage
What came before and after
From 1967
Piper Navajo (PA-31)
Unpressurized piston cabin twin that started the family.
Certified 1969
Piper Pressurized Navajo (PA-31P)
Added pressurization and a one-piece airstair door.
1974–1981
Piper Cheyenne II (PA-31T)
First turboprop Cheyenne: 620 shp PT6s and wingtip tanks.
What changed from the Piper Pressurized Navajo (PA-31P)
- Two 620 shp PT6A-28 turboprops replaced the Pressurized Navajo's 425 hp piston engines.
- Standard wingtip tanks raised usable fuel to 382 gallons.
- A stability augmentation system was added so the faster airplane met pitch-stability rules.
- Flight controls were reworked for much higher operating speeds.
- 1980–81 aircraft are certified to 31,000 ft instead of 29,000 ft.
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 II (PA-31T)
- 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
← Before
Piper Pressurized Navajo (PA-31P)
Not yet graded
After →
- 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
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
- 67
- Price
- $1.23M
- Cost per year
- $531K
- Range
- 1,240 nm
- Speed
- 262 kt
- Seats
- 5
- Cabin length
- 10′ 7″
- Pilots
- 1
- Years built
- 1980–1986
- Beechcraft King Air C90 instead: A taller, roomier cabin and a far larger service network, but roughly 20–60 kt slower and usually pricier to buy and maintain.
- Piper Cheyenne IIXL instead: Two more feet of cabin and stronger PT6A-135 engines from the factory, at a price premium over a stock Cheyenne II.
- Cessna Conquest I instead: A similar-size pressurized twin with about 836 nm of range with every seat full, against roughly 720 nm for the Cheyenne II.
Gold marks the best figure in each row.
Owning one
What to know before you buy
Engines & inspections
2 × Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-28 · 620 shp each
No APUEngine hours until overhaul
- Nose baggage door inspection · 100 hr
- Main gear door hinges · 100 hr
- Engine hot section inspection · 1,800 hr
- Elevator downspring replacement · 2,000 hr
- Propeller overhaul · 3,000 hr
- Engine overhaul · 3,600 hr
- Circuit-breaker panel wiring check every 12 months
- Rudder corrosion inspection every 12 months
Most owners pay for engine work as it comes; the MORE Company program can stretch overhaul time toward 8,000 hours if engines meet its standards.
Known issues
Engine bills versus value
Two overhauls can total $360,000–$500,000, about the price of many complete aircraft.
Stability augmentation system
Required for flight; if it fails the airplane is grounded, and few shops know it well.
Wiring behind circuit breakers
A fatal in-flight fire led to a yearly inspection; wiring touching hydraulic lines turned up on every aircraft checked.
Pre-buy checklist
0 of 10 checked
Piper still supports the Cheyenne and can make some parts on request, but fewer shops specialize in it than in King Airs. Any experienced PT6 shop can handle the engines.
Review
The full review
Strengths
- Fast for the money: Piper lists 283 kt at 11,000 ft, and owners report about 245–260 kt at higher altitudes.
- Short-field ability: about 1,980 ft to clear a 50 ft obstacle at its 9,000 lb maximum weight.
- Low running costs: about $1,680 an hour with one pilot, and owners report maintenance near half a King Air's.
Limitations
- Small cabin: 4 ft 3 in tall, 4 ft 2 in wide, and a belted toilet seat instead of a lavatory.
- About 720 nm with every seat full, and roughly 600–800 lb of payload once the tanks are full.
- Engine overhauls run about $180,000–$250,000 each, which is close to the value of many airframes.
The Cheyenne II is the original Piper Cheyenne, the PA-31T. Piper took the Pressurized Navajo cabin, hung two 620 shp Pratt & Whitney PT6A-28 turboprops on the wing, added wingtip fuel tanks and set out to beat Beechcraft's King Air 90 on price and speed. Deliveries began in 1974, and the airplane was renamed the Cheyenne II in 1978 when the smaller, less powerful Cheyenne I arrived. Piper built about 526 of them through the 1981 model year, before the stretched Cheyenne IIXL took over.
Pilot's take
The Cheyenne II flies much like a Navajo with far more power. With 1,240 shaft horsepower on a 9,000 lb airframe, it climbs at about 2,700 fpm at sea level and still manages roughly 660 fpm on one engine. Pitch stability is the thing to respect: the airplane relies on its stability augmentation system, and it must be loaded inside its center-of-gravity limits, because aft loading is where the design is least forgiving. Expect plenty of nose-up trim in the flare, and use propeller reverse to keep landings short. Insurers typically ask for formal initial training and a yearly recurrent.
Who this is for
Owner-pilots and small companies stepping up from a piston twin who want turbine reliability, pressurization and simple systems for regional trips with a few passengers, and who will budget seriously for the engines.
Ask about this aircraft
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