The Piper PA-24 Comanche is an American four-seat or six-seat, low-wing, all-metal, light aircraft of semimonocoque construction with tricycle retractable landing gear. Piper Aircraft designed and developed the Comanche, which first flew on May 24, 1956. Together with the PA-30 and PA-39 Twin Comanches, it made up the core of the Piper Aircraft lineup until the production lines for both aircraft were destroyed in the 1972 Lock Haven flood. Design and development The Comanche is a four-seat (or in 260B and 260C models, six-seat), single-engined, low-wing monoplane. It is an all-metal aircraft with a retractable landing gear. Two prototypes were built in 1956, with the first being completed by June 20, 1956. The first production aircraft, powered by a Lycoming O-360-A1A engine, first flew on October 21, 1957. In 1958, it was joined by a higher-powered PA-24-250 with a Lycoming O-540-A1A5 engine; this model was originally to be known as the PA-26, but Piper decided to keep the PA-24 designation. In 1964, the PA-24-400 was introduced. The following year, the PA-24-250 was superseded by the PA-24-260, featuring the Lycoming IO-540D or E engine of . The 260 was also available as the Turbo Comanche C with a Rajay turbocharger, and was introduced in 1970. Production of the Comanche ended in 1972, when torrential rains from Hurricane Agnes caused the great Susquehanna River flood of 1972, flooding the manufacturing plant and destroying airframes, parts, and much of the tooling necessary for production. Rather than rebuild the tooling, Piper chose to abandon production of the Comanche and Twin Comanche and continue with two newer designs already in production at Piper's other plant in Vero Beach, Florida - the twin-engined PA-34 Seneca and the PA-28R-200 Arrow. Variants Comanche 180 The original version of the Comanche was the PA-24, which featured a carbureted Lycoming O-360-A1A engine, swept tail, laminar flow airfoil, and all-flying stabilator. The standard fuel capacity of the PA-24-180 was . The flaps were manually actuated, controlled by the same Johnson bar actuator as the Piper Cherokee. The aircraft specifications were for cruise speeds of and fuel burns between at 55 and 75% power settings, respectively. Full-fuel payload with standard fuel was , with a gross weight of and range with 45-minute reserve of . When new, standard, typically equipped Comanche 180s sold between $17,850 (1958) and $21,580 (1964). A total of 1,143 were built. Comanche 250 In 1958, Piper introduced a