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of 310 hp. The B offered options for cargo carriers like a pilot access door, double aft loading doors and extended nacelle compartments. The Navajo C was introduced in1974, largely centered on a change to a TIO-540-A2C engine with 300 hours more TBO, standard 3-blade propellers and a 36-pound payload increase with a ramp-weightallowance. On May 31, 1974 the Navajo C/R was certificated with 325-hp TIO-540-F2BD engines; the right engine was a left-turning model that eliminated the “critical engine” and lowered Vmc by 10 mph, even with the increase in horsepower.Navajo C and C/R production ended after September, 1983, closing out a 16-year run of one of Piper’s best-looking airplanes, totaling 1,785 of the short-body Navajos. Chieftain production continued into 1985, and for 1984 a “P-Navajo light” was tried, called the Mojave, which used the Chieftain’s engines, tail and wings (lengthened by four feet), mated to the Cheyenne fuselage. Only fifty Mojaves were built.The escalating downturn in general aviation’s fortunes that began in 1980, which continues to this day, has left an inventory of used Navajos that represent excellent capa•bility and value. And it’s still one of the nicest-lookingPiperseverbuilt. T&TOCTOBER 2013TWIN & TURBINE • 13


































































































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