Four-Decade-Old Turbo Dakota Returns to the Market With a Modern Panel and Autopilot

A 1979 Piper PA-28-201T Turbo Dakota is up for sale, and the case for it rests on what is behind the panel and under the cowling rather than on its build year. The panel is now built around Garmin's G3X Touch, and a GFC 500 autopilot handles the flying. The turbocharged powerplant up front is presented as low-time. For an owner, that combination addresses the usual worries about an airframe of this age: dated instruments, hand-flying on long legs, and an engine nearing the end of its run. It also leaves a buyer with a known Piper airframe and a cockpit that looks like one from this decade. The listing was picked out on AircraftForSale as one of its featured aircraft.

With reporting from Flying.