1975 Cherokee-140 with 180 hp conversion. Pretty much a small 140 airframe with big Cherokee-180 engine, climbs like 182. (Lycoming O-360 A4M, same engine used on C-172 Penn Yann 180 hp conversions). Very clean aircraft, no damage, well maintained, flies perfectly straight. Trim it, then take your hands off yoke and it will fly like on autopilot (in smooth air, of course). 50 gallon fuel tanks, more than in C-172, makes five to six hours legs easy. Flew it from LAS to HWD in one hop, landed with 15 gallons still in the tanks. It's a real four-seat airplane, not a tiny 152, you can take your whole family with you! Feels smooth in turbulence and makes a very stable instrument trainer. Essentially, it's the same airframe and engine as Piper's current primary trainer, the Pilot 100i, (see the last pic), sans Garmin G3X PFD and $285,000 sticker price. You can fly this Cherokee with the same performance numbers for less than 1/4 of the Pilot 100i price and get the same hours in your logbook.
Was originally delivered to Ohio State aviation program, high time airframe (13K hours) but very well maintained. Has LoPresti performance kit (new wingtips with LED lights, aileron and flap seals, few other things). Spent most of its life in Midwest, then in dry desert of Nevada, so no corrosion anywhere). Basic six-pack VFR package with an old Garmin/Apollo GPS and ADSB-OUT. Just went through an extensive annual, all ADs are complied with. NOTE: Cherokee-140 isn't subject to the infamous wing spar/Eddy current AD that affects pretty much all other Piper singles, only a visual inspection, so it's all clean. Annual is current, July of 2025.
180 hp really does make a difference, it's nothing like a typical anemic Cherokee-140. We took off at LAS on a hot summer day (41C) with density altitude close to 5600ft, and it was climbing at 900 fpm easy! Engine is past TBO, 3700 hours, but in excellent condition, compressions are in high 70s, valves and pistons are clean, it doesn't make any metal (we cut filter and send it for analysis with every oil change).
Bought it for time building and it served me well. Now I'm moving up to a twin and don't need two planes.