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Payload vs. Range
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Range
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En route
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Direct cost
Fuel cost
Tanks run dry about past before at this burn.
Mission Profile
- High-Performance
- Tailwheel
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Estimated Ownership Costs
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About the Piper PA-36 Pawnee Brave
Type certificated 1974
Overview
The Piper PA-36 Pawnee Brave is a single-seat, low-wing agricultural taildragger, the larger and more capable successor to the PA-25 Pawnee. Introduced in 1974 on a new type certificate, it gave the Pawnee design a redesigned wing, a bigger forward hopper, and more power, while keeping the steel-tube safety-capsule cockpit and wire cutters that protect a pilot working at low level. The representative version is the PA-36-300, powered by a 300-horsepower fuel-injected Lycoming IO-540; the family also ran a 285-horsepower geared Teledyne Continental Tiara and a 375-horsepower eight-cylinder Lycoming IO-720. It holds two type certificates, Normal and Restricted (agricultural), and works to a 4,400-pound ag operating gross.
As an owner’s airplane the Brave is a working ag platform and glider tug. It hauls a heavy hopper, climbs and turns hard at low level, and at roughly $166 an hour runs above the smaller PA-25 on its larger engine and 18-gallon-an-hour burn. As with any ag airframe, corrosion from years of chemical exposure is the central ownership concern, and a thorough pre-buy inspection of the structure is essential. Operators who have outgrown the Pawnee’s hopper, or need more climb on a heavy load, step up to the Brave; it was designed for exactly that gap.
Key Features for GA Buyers
- More hopper, more power. The Brave was built to out-lift the Pawnee, carrying a larger chemical load behind a 300 to 375 horsepower engine.
- Strong glider tug. The high-lift wing and torquey engine suit the Brave to glider and banner tow work, its common second career.
- Safety-capsule design. A steel-tube cockpit cage, forward hopper, and wire cutters/deflectors are built around low-level survivability.
- Payload margin over the Pawnee. A 4,400-pound ag operating gross gives the Brave meaningful useful load over the Pawnee’s 2,900-pound ceiling.
Trade-offs
- Single seat, one job. Like the Pawnee, it carries a pilot and a hopper and nothing else.
- Thirsty. The 300-horsepower IO-540 burns about 18 gallons an hour, and the 375-horsepower IO-720 examples burn more.
- Corrosion watch. Chemical exposure corrodes ag airframes; budget recurring structural inspection and examine the spar and fuselage closely at pre-buy.
- Heavy taildragger at low level. It demands tailwheel proficiency and respect for the low-level ag regime, with the high-performance and tailwheel endorsements to match.
See Also
- Piper PA-25 Pawnee – the smaller, simpler, lower-cost predecessor. Compare
- Cessna 188 – the all-metal Cessna ag wagon, a contemporary piston rival. Compare
- Air Tractor AT-302 – the turbine-class ag aircraft that displaced piston dusters in commercial fleets. Compare
- Air Tractor AT-502B – the modern volume turboprop ag platform, the turbine step up. Compare
- Piper PA-18 Super Cub – the Piper-family taildragger that shares the Brave’s glider-tow role. Compare
Technical Specifications
Dimensions & Weights
- Height
- 8 ft
- Length
- 28 ft
- Parking area (ft²2)
- 1,586 ft²
- Max Takeoff Weight
- Source: FAA Type Certificate Data Sheet 4,400 lbs
- Max Landing Weight
- 4,400 lbs
- Useful Load
- Source: third-party reference 2,110 lbs
- Fuel Capacity
- Source: FAA Type Certificate Data Sheet 86 gal
Performance
- Cruise Speed
- Source: third-party reference 104 KTAS
- Never-Exceed (VNE)
- Source: FAA Type Certificate Data Sheet 158 KIAS
- Max Structural Cruise (VNO)
- Source: FAA Type Certificate Data Sheet 130 KIAS
- Approach Speed
- 80 KIAS
- Stall, Clean (VS1)
- 62 KIAS
- Range
- 392 NM
- Service Ceiling
- 15,000 ft
- Rate of Climb
- 375 fpm
- Takeoff over 50 ft obstacle
- 1,470 ft
- Landing over 50 ft obstacle
- 1,400 ft
Engine
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Sources
Where the figures on this page come from. Piper PA-36 Pawnee Brave specifications are traced to published references; estimated values are flagged inline next to the figure.
Similar to the Piper PA-36 Pawnee Brave
Similar PistonsCessna 188
Piper PA-25 Pawnee
Compare the Piper PA-36 Pawnee Brave to other aircraft
