This is my 1959 Piper Comanche 180 with lifetime logbook history, 0 accidents, and approximately 350 hours on a new Lycoming 0-360 engine. Annual completed in October 2025. This is a safe, reliable, and extremely efficient complex aircraft. Has been hangar kept for most of its lifetime. Flies about 20 hours per month and time will go up. Avionics are modern and make this an extremely capable IFR certified aircraft. It is equipped with a JPI Engine monitor, dual GI 275s, a GNX 375, and 2 Guardian Ipad mounts.

Manufacturer year

1959

Serial Number

24-632

Registration Number

N5568P

Make/Model

Piper Comanche 180 PA-24

Aircraft Model Overview (Reference only)

The Piper PA-24-180 Comanche is a four-seat, single-engine retractable-gear all-metal aircraft produced by Piper Aircraft Corporation in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, from 1958 through 1964. As the entry-level variant of Piper's landmark Comanche family — the company's first all-metal retractable-gear design — the PA-24-180 introduced Piper's owner-pilot customers to a fundamentally new level of performance, build quality, and aerodynamic refinement relative to the fabric-and-tube aircraft that had defined the Piper lineup through the 1950s. The 1959 model year represents one of the earliest production examples of this historically significant design, and surviving first-generation Comanches with documented histories are regarded with genuine enthusiasm by the vintage aircraft community and the Comanche Flyers organisation that supports the type worldwide. Power is provided by a Lycoming O-360-A1A carbureted four-cylinder engine producing 180 horsepower at 2,700 RPM, driving a two-blade Hartzell constant-speed propeller. The constant-speed propeller is standard equipment on the Comanche 180 — a meaningful distinction from the fixed-pitch M20C and fixed-pitch Cherokee contemporaries — and delivers the cruise efficiency and climb optimization that the Comanche's aerodynamic design was built to exploit. The O-360 family is among the most comprehensively supported Lycoming engines in the certified market, with universal overhaul capability and broad parts availability that will never be a constraint for any Comanche 180 owner. Fuel burn at cruise is typically 9.0 to 9.5 USG per hour at 75% power, returning a practical cruise range that makes the PA-24-180 a genuine cross-country IFR platform. The PA-24 Comanche airframe is John Thorp's design — the same designer behind the T-18 Tiger and T-211 Sky Skooter — and reflects his engineering discipline for aerodynamic efficiency and structural elegance. The all-metal, low-wing, semi-monocoque fuselage with hydraulically-actuated retractable tricycle gear is clean and purposefully proportioned, with a teardrop fuselage cross-section and tapered wing that give the Comanche its distinctive and universally admired visual profile. The Comanche's aerodynamic efficiency is exceptional for a 180 HP retractable — cruise speeds competitive with 200 HP contemporaries are routinely achieved by well-maintained examples — and the laminar-flow wing's low-drag characteristics contribute directly to the performance-per-horsepower ratio that defines the type's appeal. The four-seat cabin is one of the Comanche's genuine competitive strengths relative to the Mooney M20 series — wider, more comfortable, and better appointed than the narrow Mooney fuselage, with good headroom, adequate legroom in both rows, and a cabin environment that is genuinely comfortable on legs up to three hours. The Comanche's dual entry doors on both sides of the cabin simplify boarding compared to single-door contemporaries, and the generous window area provides excellent in-flight visibility. The 1959 panel carries the original Piper analog layout of the period; most surviving examples have received successive avionics updates, and the active Comanche community has supported a wide range of modernization options for the type. The Comanche 180 handles with the responsive, well-harmonised control feel that Thorp's design philosophy consistently delivered — lighter and more precise than the Cherokee derivatives that would follow it in the Piper lineup, with a roll rate and pitch authority that reward pilot proficiency and invite active engagement rather than passive management. The hydraulic gear system is reliable and well-understood by Comanche-experienced A&Ps, but demands specific maintenance attention to seals, actuators, and the gear doors that are specific to the type. The Comanche Flyers organisation and COPA (the Comanche Pilots Association) provide active type-specific support, and Comanche-experienced shops are available across North America and internationally. In the current used market the 1959 Piper Comanche 180 occupies a specific and appreciated tier — below the more powerful and more common PA-24-250 in performance, but priced accordingly and appealing to buyers who value the aerodynamic elegance of the Comanche design, Thorp's engineering legacy, and the historical significance of an early-production example. Logbook continuity from new is the most valued attribute of any early Comanche, and the integrity of the hydraulic gear system, spar carry-through condition, and avionics currency are the primary pre-purchase evaluation priorities on a 66-year-old all-metal airframe. For the pilot who appreciates design pedigree, aerodynamic efficiency, and the pleasure of flying a genuinely beautiful aircraft, the 1959 PA-24-180 Comanche delivers an experience that no Cherokee, Cessna, or Beechcraft of comparable horsepower can replicate.