This 1976 Piper PA-32R-300 Lance Is a Six-Place, Load-Lifting ‘AircraftForSale’ Top Pick

Roomy cabin and speed modifications make this high-performance machine a fast traveler.

Jonathan Welsh

Friday, July 10, 2026 at 09:00 AM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Travis Tingle

1976 Piper PA-32R-300 [Credit: Bradford Fuller]

Key Takeaways:

The article features a 1976 Piper PA-32R-300 Lance as "Today's Top Pick," an evolution of Piper's PA-28 Cherokee designed as a high-performance, six-place personal transport aircraft.
This specific Lance offers a spacious cabin for families or business, includes LoPresti aerodynamic modifications for enhanced speed, and received new paint and interior in 1998.
Key specifications include 4,417 airframe hours, a Lycoming IO-540K1G5D engine with 512 hours since overhaul, and an updated avionics panel featuring a Garmin GNS 430W GPS/nav/com and an AutoControl IIIB autopilot.

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Each day, the team at Aircraft For Sale picks an airplane that catches our attention because it is unique, represents a good deal, or has other interesting qualities. You can read Aircraft For Sale: Today’s Top Pick at FLYINGMag.com daily.

Today’s Top Pick is a 1976 Piper PA-32R-300 Lance.

Aircraft manufacturers are known for developing existing models into new ones. Often this method makes more economic sense than embarking on a clean- sheet project. Piper is especially famous for squeezing, pulling, and stretching its original PA-28 Cherokee in ways that resulted in a whole fleet of airplanes, from trainers to twins.

Enlarging the PA-28 to become the PA-32 Cherokee Six was one of Piper’s greatest moves because it gave pilots the flying equivalent of the family station wagon—at a time when station wagons were very much in vogue and economical six-place airplanes were rare. If you ask me, though, it was the decision to retract the gear and further modify the Six to produce the Lance that truly moved Piper into the mainstream of high-performance personal transport.

The Lance’s cabin has plenty of room for six seats. [Credit: Bradford Fuller]

The aircraft for sale today has plenty of space for growing families traveling on vacation or colleagues making business trips to cities without airline service. A wide cabin means occupants are not constantly rubbing shoulders and passengers have space to get comfortable on long flights. This heavy hauler has the bonus of LoPresti aerodynamic modifications to improve speed. It also received new paint and interior in 1998.

This 1976 Piper Lance has 4,417 hours on the airframe and 512 hours since overhaul on its Lycoming IO-540K1G5D engine, which also underwent a top overhaul 240 hours ago. The aircraft’s Hartzell Scimitar propeller has logged 250 hours since new. The Lance has a gross weight of 3,600 pounds, useful load of 1,508 pounds, and fuel capacity of 98 gallons.

This Lance’s panel includes Garmin GPS and other updated equipment. [Credit: Bradford Fuller]

The panel includes a Garmin GNS 430W GPS/nav/com, King KX170B nav/com, AutoControl IIIB autopilot, Garmin 495, GTX 345 transponder, KMA 20 TSO audio panel, FS 1000II intercom, Narco DME, and JPI EDM 700 engine monitor.

Pilots looking for the carrying capacity of a large SUV with cross-country performance that feels more like that of a super sports car should consider this 1976 Piper PA-34R-300, which is available on AiircraftForSale.

If you’re interested in financing, you can do so with FLYING Finance. Use our airplane loan calculator to calculate your estimated monthly payments. Or, to speak with an aviation finance specialist, visit flyingfinance.com.