Beautiful 1978 Piper PA-38 Tomahawk- Garmin G5-Ready to Fly This well maintained 1978 Piper PA-38 Tomahawk is a clean dependable trainer and cross-country aircraft has been exceptionally cared for and always hangared. Highlights 3078 Total Time Airframe(TTAF) Lycoming O-235 engine 346 SMOH (Since Major Overhaul) Garmin G5 Electronic Flight Instrument Dual NAV​/​COM radios King KT-76C Transponder ADS-B out(GDL82 ELT New paint in 2022 Excellent compression 75​/​75​/​74​/​75 Complete logbooks Always Hangared Recent ignition harnesses,spark plugs,and brake linings All ADs are compliant The aircraft runs and flies beautifully and is ready for the nest owner.It includes a cabin cover and spare windshield. Price $70,000 Aircraft location Emmett Idaho (near Boise) Serious inquiries only. Additional photos,logbooks and specifications are available upon request Marketed by Sunrise Brokers

Registration Number

N9482T

Manufacturer year

1978

Make/Model

Piper PA-38 Tomahawk

Aircraft Model Overview (Reference only)

The Piper PA-38-112 Tomahawk is a two-seat, single-engine fixed-gear primary trainer produced by Piper Aircraft Corporation in Vero Beach, Florida, from 1978 through 1982. Conceived as Piper's purpose-built answer to the Cessna 152 — which had dominated the two-seat trainer market throughout the 1970s — the Tomahawk was developed with direct input from a survey of 10,000 student pilots and flight instructors who told Piper what they wanted in a primary trainer. The result was an aircraft specifically engineered for the training environment rather than adapted from a four-seat touring design: wide side-by-side seating with equal visibility for instructor and student, dual full controls, an all-new low-wing airframe, and a T-tail that provided a distinct and teachable stall environment. The 1978 model year represents the first year of Tomahawk production. Power is provided by a Lycoming O-235-L2C four-cylinder horizontally-opposed carbureted engine producing 112 horsepower at 2,600 RPM, driving a two-blade Sensenich fixed-pitch propeller. The O-235-L2C is a well-supported and comprehensively maintained engine variant with broad A&P familiarity and a 2,000-hour TBO that delivers predictable maintenance cost planning for flight school operations and owner-pilots alike. Fuel burn is typically 6.0 to 6.5 USG per hour at cruise power — competitive with the Cessna 152's O-235 installation and well within the operating cost expectations of a two-seat primary trainer. The fixed-pitch propeller eliminates governor and blade maintenance costs entirely. The PA-38 airframe is an all-metal, low-wing semi-monocoque design built specifically for the training environment rather than adapted from an existing Piper platform. The wide, flat-floor cabin was designed around the side-by-side seating requirement identified in Piper's student survey, and the result is a genuinely spacious two-seat cockpit that provides equal sight lines, equal control access, and comfortable working conditions for both occupants on legs up to two hours. The T-tail empennage was chosen to provide ground clearance for the elevator during rotation on soft or rough surfaces and to deliver a consistent, well-announced stall that could be used as a teaching tool — though it introduces the deep stall risk that requires specific awareness and training. Fixed spring-steel tricycle gear rounds out the airframe's straightforward and low-maintenance specification. The Tomahawk cabin's side-by-side layout with a broad instrument panel accessible to both occupants was a deliberate departure from the tandem or cramped side-by-side configurations of earlier two-seat trainers. The large wraparound windscreen and generous window area provide excellent forward and side visibility — important for both traffic awareness and for the instructor's ability to monitor student technique and outside reference. The instrument panel layout supports a conventional six-pack training environment, and most active Tomahawks have received successive avionics updates including GPS, ADS-B Out transponders, and modern communication stacks over their four-plus decades of service. The Tomahawk's handling character has been the subject of considerable discussion within the training community since its introduction. Control harmony is good for a two-seat trainer, with light and responsive ailerons that deliver a roll rate notably better than the Cessna 152. Stall characteristics are well-announced in normal flight — with buffet, pitch break, and clear aerodynamic warning — but the T-tail's susceptibility to deep stall at high angles of attack in accelerated or unusual attitudes demands specific training emphasis that distinguishes the Tomahawk checkout from the 152. Pilots who have received thorough type-specific training and maintain currency in the aircraft regard its handling as rewarding and appropriate for its training role. In the current used market the PA-38 Tomahawk occupies an accessible and well-understood position as one of the two primary two-seat trainer alternatives to the Cessna 152 — priced comparably, with a wider cabin and lower wing as its primary differentiators. Flight schools operating the type benefit from the wide, training-optimized cockpit and the Tomahawk's purpose-built specification, while owner-pilots are drawn to the type's low operating cost, Piper heritage, and the wider side-by-side accommodation relative to the 152's narrower cabin. The Piper Owner Society provides type support, and A&P familiarity with the PA-38 is broad across the certified maintenance community. On any 1978 first-year airframe, corrosion inspection, logbook continuity, and a thorough annual inspection are the standard pre-purchase priorities.