The one and only Piper PA-35 Pocono - circa 1968

 (7 pix)

 The voiceover in the PiperJet Altaire video I posted the other day said that the Altaire has “the largest cabin ever in any Piper aircraft”. Well, that might not be completely accurate… meet the Piper PA-35 Pocono.

 Piper Aircraft was on the warpath in the 1960’s… after introducing the PA-23 Apache in 1954, which happened to be their first American Indian named airplane as well as their first twin, Piper was really pushing an enlarged line of twin engine aircraft. The 4-place Apache grew into the 5-place Aztec by the late 50’s, and when the 60’s began, the Aztec had been made into a 6 seat aircraft with 250hp hanging off each wing. Soon after, in 1963, the PA-30 Twin Comanche first flew, then there was the PA-31 Navajo first flight in 1964, and the PA-34 Seneca first flew in 1967. That’s a lot of development of production-bound aircraft in a relatively short period of time.

 But their biggest twin-engine effort was an airplane you most likely have never heard of… the Piper PA-35 Pocono. While the other aircraft that had exited the Piper design laboratory were relatively logical extensions of other Piper projects, the Pocono was a wild departure. The intent was to provide a small airliner that would appeal to the growing number of feeder airlines. The basic concept for accomplishing this was a really wide fuselage cross section. The Pocono fuselage was seven feet wide! Umm, did you hear me?  Seven feet wide! This allowed the approximately 40 foot long fuselage to be set up to carry a total of 18 souls, with the passenger cabin having three seats across, in a 1-2 configuration with an off-center isle between.

 When you consider the advantage of easier CG handling by reducing the number of passengers seated well forward or well aft of the center of gravity, along with the really large loading door, the separate split airstair door up front for the cockpit crew, and the overall generally good looks, the Pocono seemed to be on a really great journey.