New In The BAS Disassembly Hangar March 19th, 2026

The World’s Most Honest Airplane

If aviation had a blue-collar hero, it would be the Cherokee. No flash, no drama, just a machine that has quietly taught generations how not to scare themselves in the sky. The PA-28-151 sits right in the sweet spot of that lineage. Simple, forgiving, and built in numbers that border on absurd. Over 32,000 Cherokees have rolled out since 1960, making it one of the most produced aircraft in history. That is not popularity. That is dominance.

The Warrior variant, including the -151, came along as Piper refined the formula. More modern wing, better manners, same mission. Flight schools love them because they survive students. Owners love them because they are predictable. Mechanics love them because nothing is hiding. It was designed from day one to be cheaper and simpler than the Comanche, and that DNA still shows. You step on the wing, drop into the seat, and suddenly you understand why this airplane has outlived trends, fuel crises, and entire manufacturers.

It is not fast. It is not glamorous. But it might be the most important airplane sitting in your hangar right now.

We'll receive a laundry list of good components from this aircraft:

• Lycoming O-320-E2D engine (Ly-Con 160 HP STC, no prop strike, SMOH: 82)
• Sensenich Fixed Pitch Propeller
• Garmin GTX-327 Transponder
• Uavionix TailBeacon ADS-B Out
• Dual brake pedals
• Carbon Fiber spinner bulkhead
• New style control yokes
• X2 Narco MK-12D Nav/Comm Radios
• PAI-700 Compass
• Rosen Visors
• New style main gear torque links
• Good nose and main landing gear
• Cleveland wheels and brakes
• Alternator conversion

The Gentleman’s Twin That Meant Business

The 414 is what happens when someone says, “I want pressurization, but I also want to keep my dignity.” It showed up in 1968 as Cessna’s answer to owners stepping up from piston twins who were tired of oxygen masks and altitude limits. Pressurized cabin, serious range, and twin turbocharged Continentals up front. This wasn’t a trainer. This was transportation.

Cessna pulled the best pieces off the shelf to build it. The fuselage traces back to the 421, the wing comes from the 401, and the result is a clean, capable platform that still feels modern today. Then came the 414A Chancellor, stretching the nose, refining the wing, and turning it into a legitimate cross-country machine with real payload and comfort.

About a thousand were built, which is just enough to keep them special but not rare. Owners tend to hang onto them, upgrade them, and fly them like they matter. Because they do. The 414 sits in that narrow lane between piston practicality and turbine ambition, and it wears that role well.

It is not trying to impress you. It already knows it can outrun your schedule. This one had a proper run, and now it is doing what good airplanes do at the end. Giving it back. A clean, deliberate disassembly that sends a hangar’s worth of proven 414 parts right back into the fleet where they still have work to do.

A treasure trove of parts are coming off of this aircraft:

• RAM VII Engines (LH engine has a broken case, no prop strikes)
• RAM VII Continental TSIO-520-NB (no prop strike, SMOH: 1810.3 / TT: 4610.3)
• X2 Hartzell PHC-C3YF-2UF/FC7693DFB
• S-Tec 55X Autopilot  
• Garmin GTX-335 ADS-B Out Transponder
• Garmin GNS-530W WAAS/GPS/Nav/Comm  
• King KX-155 Nav/Comm Transceiver  

The Push-Pull Problem Solve

At first glance, the Skymaster looks like someone installed the engine twice just to be safe. And in a way, that is exactly what happened. The push-pull configuration puts one engine in the nose and one in the tail, both lined up on the centerline. No asymmetric thrust, no dramatic yaw when an engine quits. Just keep flying straight and sort it out.

That design made it a weird airplane. It also made it a very useful one. The 337 series evolved from the early 1960s into more capable, retractable gear versions, and eventually into turbocharged and even pressurized variants like the T337G. Nearly 3,000 were built, including military O-2 versions that spent real time doing real work in combat and observation roles.

Pilots either love it or side-eye it. There is no middle ground. It flies differently, sounds different, and demands respect in ways a conventional twin does not. But the mission capability is undeniable. Long loiter times, great visibility, and that centerline thrust safety margin made it a favorite for everything from firefighting to surveillance.

It may look like a design experiment. It is not. It is a tool that refused to follow the rules and ended up rewriting a few of them. The Skymaster is built to solve problems, just not this one, without writing a very large check. The annual told the truth, the numbers did the math, and the decision made itself.

So instead of forcing it back into the air the hard way, this one is getting a smarter sendoff. Clean disassembly, premium avionics, and a long list of hard-to-find 337 parts heading back into the fleet where they will keep other Skymasters doing exactly what they were built to do.

Here's what we plan to get:

• JPI EDM-960 Engine monitoring System
• Avidyne IFD-440 Integrated Flight Display
• X2 Aspen EFD-1000 MAX units
• PS Engineering PMA8000B Audion Panel
• ICOM IC-A200 VHF Transceiver  
• Nose and main landing gear
• Nose and main gear actuators
• Power pack
• Steering Bungee
• Cleveland Wheels and Brakes