Pilots who have flown the twin-engine Piper Aztec tag it the “Aztruck,” and that nickname is fair. Introduced in 1960, the Aztec is a load-hauler, but it is not a speed demon. In a normally aspirated D model, you can fill the tanks, six seats, and baggage compartments and still not reach the maximum certificated takeoff weight of 5,200 pounds.
Ted DuPuis, founder of the nonprofit Cloud Nine Rescue Flights, started in 2013 with a 1969 Aztec that hauled hundreds of animals to rescues and permanent homes. After five years, he moved on to a Cessna 310 and then a Cessna 414 to get the benefits of greater speed, range, and pressurization, but said he still misses the Aztec.
“The Aztec remains the best airplane I have ever flown in icing,” DuPuis said. “The way I describe it to people was that it was an airplane that was so un-aerodynamic, the ice couldn’t make it worse. I never lost more than 10 mph indicated airspeed, no matter how much I got with it.” The airplane “would just plow through icing like a tank through a brick wall,” he said.
Running at lean of peak, DuPuis would generally see 155 knots true airspeed at cruise, burning around 21 gallons per hour combined. Run rich of peak, he said, Aztecs will cruise at about 160 knots on 28 gph combined.
DuPuis also praised the airplane’s honest handling qualities. “It would do what you wanted it to and was extremely forgiving,” he said, calling the Aztec “an excellent first twin.” He especially liked the 50-degree flaps—which, he said, made slowing down and losing altitude a nonissue.
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For more information: Piper Flyer Association, P.O. Box 5505, Riverside, California 92517, 626-844-0125 (www.piperflyer.org).
