One of the most important questions a prospective used aircraft buyer must ask is: Should I purchase a totally refurbished used airplane at a premium price or try to find a comparatively inexpensive fixer-upper and re­build it to my specifications with my choice of avionics, upholstery and paint?

Mark Krueger of Chino, Calif., chose the latter route when he set out to create a company demonstrator for his business, Advantage Avionics. The idea was to find a reasonable airplane capable of serving as both a transportation machine and an impressive demonstrator.

An older Cherokee Six was especially attractive because it offered good hauling capacity and reasonable operating economics. Plus, it also had a spacious instrument panel and ready access to demonstrate the results of Advantage Avionics’ work. Access is an important benefit in an airplane intended as a showcase for an avionics shop.

“I looked at a little of everything on the used market before buying the Six,” said Krueger, “and nothing else really came close to what I needed. An A36 is a beautiful airplane, but it has all the doors on the right. I was planning to display this airplane at air shows, so I specifically wanted access from both sides.

“Of course, there was also the consideration of price,” Krueger continued, “and the Bonanza would have cost at least twice what I’d pay for a Six. Another factor was insurance. A retractable costs quite a bit more to insure. Finally, maintenance on a Bonanza is generally acknowledged to be more expensive than on most comparable models.”

Another benefit of a Cherokee Six, according to Krueger, is simply its room. The Bonanza’s cabin measures only 42 inches wide by 48 inches tall. In contrast, the Six sports a basically square cabin at 49 inches wide by 49 inches tall in the front four seats. There’s plenty of room no matter which row of seats you occupy.

Equally as important, most of the early Cherokee Sixes could legally lift six people and full fuel. “I’ve given plenty of demos in this airplane, and I’ve flown some folks home around the Southwest after they dropped off their airplane for service. Almost without exception, everyone comments about how easily the airplane handles a load, and the comfort of the Six.”

Krueger found his 1966 Cherokee Six 260, one of the oldest of the type, at his home airport. The airplane was freshly painted but needed an interior. Krueger chose Klassik Interiors at Chino Airport for the job, and Klassik owner Sergio Flores pulled out all the stops in rebuilding the airplane’s cabin and furnishings. “The folks at Klassik knew I was planning to display the Six at air shows around the country, possibly even Sun ’n Fun and Oshkosh,” said Krueger, “so they went to extra lengths to make certain the job was representative of their best work. I think the results speak for themselves.”

While the demonstrator is intended to show off what’s possible in avionics and upholstery, Cherokee Sixes have always been adaptable to a wide variety of missions. They often serve yeoman duty in places where many other airplanes would fear to roll a tread, the tundra of Canada and Alaska, the outback of Australia and the veldt of Africa. The basic PA32 design is regarded as tough and durable, and if the low wing is a slight disadvantage in high brush, the Six’s extreme loading flexibility and excellent payload more than compensate for its deficiencies.

The PA32 was an outgrowth of the original four-place PA28 design after it was widened and stretched to accommodate six to seven people. Piper also increased power to either 260 hp with carburetion or 300 hp with injection (both with 540-cubic-inch Lycoming mills). Later in its evolution, Piper further adapted the Cherokee Six to a light twin—the Seneca.

Almost predictably, the more powerful 300-hp version proved the more popular of the two models, but it didn’t hold all the aces. The Six 260 was about 50 pounds lighter than the 300-hp version, resulting in a theoretical useful load (in a lightly equipped airplane) greater than the airplane’s empty weight, a characteristic shared only by the early Cessna 206.

Discounting some interruptions in production, the basic Cherokee Six design has served right through to present day, albeit in significantly modified form. Ten years after its conception, the Six 300 became the retractable Lance. Two years later, it adopted turbocharging and a T-tail, and two years after that, the airplane was fitted with the semi-tapered Warrior wing and the horizontal stabilizer was lowered to its former position.

Piper even investigated an unusual concept airplane based on the Cherokee Six. The company converted the single-engine Six into a trimotor, mounting a pair of 200-hp Lycoming IO-360s on the wings. The resulting fixed-gear Cherokee Trimotor allegedly achieved a climb well over 2000 fpm and a cruise speed of 165 knots. Unfortunately, fuel storage and endurance were seemingly insoluble problems and Piper concluded the design was too off-the-wall to sell.

Since then, Piper elected to basically leave alone a good airplane. While there have been dozens of tweaks and updates, the basic configuration of the original Cherokee Six was unchanged.

Krueger’s Six reflects that same originality. “Aside from massive improvements to the avionics and Klassik’s interior to die for, I elected to leave the rest of the Six in basically stock appearance,” said Krueger. “That’s why the paint scheme is still original, though the airplane was repainted last year. The concept was to create a faithful reproduction of the 1966 Cherokee Six 260 on the outside while upgrading everything inside the airplane to the latest possible specs.”

To that end, Krueger fitted the 40-year-old company demonstrator with an unusual panel of Garmin radios—intended more to demonstrate what was possible than for pure IFR functionality. He installed a 340 switching panel at top center with a 430 navcom directly below, an SL30 VHF navcom next, and a 330 mode S transponder and a video screen at the bottom.

In the right, secondary stack, Krueger mounted an MX20 MFD, a portable 496 GPS in an Air Gizmos panel mount and an STEC 55 autopilot. There’s also a JPI EDM-800 engine analyzer and a CD player on the far right panel. As if all that weren’t enough, Krueger installed an additional four video screens in the headrests of the front four seat backs plus a center-mounted satellite telephone between pilot and copilot.

As you might imagine, even in an age of solid-state circuitry, so much electronic wizardry adds considerable weight, and the Advanced Avionics demonstrator airplane winds up with an empty weight of about 1916 pounds against a 3400-pound gross. Add 84 gallons of fuel (504 pounds), and you’ll have to somehow struggle along with a payload of “only” 980 pounds. In other words, despite the heavy load of radios, you could still lift 5 full-size people plus 130 pounds of baggage.

If you’re worried about balancing the weight, Piper was way ahead of you even back in the ’60s. They fitted the airplane with a forward baggage compartment—mounted between the engine firewall and main cabin and rated for 100 pounds of cargo. In addition to helping balance a cabin full of passengers, you can use the nose compartment to store those items you need to keep warm, as some engine heat permeates this area.

Not counting AOPA’s 2006 membership sweepstakes airplane, also a Cherokee Six 260 with over-the-top instrument panel, paint and interior, Krueger’s Six is likely one of the best equipped of its type. The question is, no matter how well it’s outfitted, how does a 40-year-old airplane hold up against modern competition?

In reality, there is no longer any 260-hp utiliplane competition for the Cherokee Six 260. Piper calls the current versions of the basic Six the 6X and 6XT, normally aspirated and turbocharged modern Sixes, and Cessna produces equivalent new generation Stationairs. These airplanes all fly behind engines of 300 hp or more. (The final fate of the 6X and 6XT are unknown in Piper’s recent reshuffling of models.)

“For the most part, the mission of this airplane is to demonstrate the avionics,” said Krueger. “I’ve put about 200 hours on it so far, but we haven’t made any long cross-country hops.”

However, Krueger has flown his “Little Six” enough to appreciate its talents. He said the factory spec of 139 knots cruise is pretty much right on. “The airplane only burns about 14 gph at high cruise, so that’s the setting I use virtually all the time,” he commented. “I see a consistent 138 knots when loaded heavy, perhaps 140 knots flying light. That means I can make 4½-hour cross-country flights with no problem, covering about 600 miles in the process. That’s about as long as I want to sit in any airplane, even one as comfortable as the Cherokee Six.”

Most pilots share Krueger’s comments about the Six’s comfort. Back in 1999, I ferried a new Saratoga HP—a highly evolved retractable version of the Cherokee Six—from Piper’s Vero Beach, Fla., factory to Melbourne, Australia. It took 12 stops and almost 70 flight hours to cover 10,000 nm, and though it wasn’t the fastest trip I’ve made down under, it was one of the most comfortable single-engine ferries I’ve flown.

That’s partially because the Six is incredibly stable and smooth. John Thorpe and Fred Weick designed the original Cherokee airframe and wing specifically for outstanding stability, simple handling and ease of production. Surprisingly, the original all-aluminum PA28 Cherokee had 400 fewer parts than the fabric PA22 Tri-Pacer it replaced. The Six merely scaled up everything to accommodate a hockey team rather than a jazz quartet.

Predictably, any time you increase gross weight by 1,000 or even 500 pounds, you’re bound to notice it in the controls. The Six lets you know in no uncertain terms that this most emphatically is not your grandfather’s Cherokee. It’s definitely more of a handful than the PA28 Cherokees. Still, there’s nothing ominous about the Six’s handling in any regime as long as you keep the trim moving.

Even at slow speeds, handling is heavy but happy. The fat rectangular wing is so docile, instructors have often criticized the type as being too easy to fly. During my flight with Krueger, I flew a series of stalls, including a high-angle departure stall out of a hard left turn. I held the yoke against the aft stop for probably 15 seconds, and the Six refused to do anything but turn left while bucking its nose up and down.

That same forgiving behavior carries through to all aspects of operation, especially landings where the airplane is predictable and does exactly what you ask of it. Despite (or perhaps because of) the long nose, it’s easy to grease a Six onto the mains and lower the nose gear to the asphalt.

When Piper revived the Cherokee Six as the 6X in 2004, many of us who have long respected the airplane’s talents gave a silent cheer. Piper PA32s of all descriptions have been transporting families and businessmen, carrying checks and mail, hauling everything from drilling equipment to pianos to points both off and on the beaten track for four decades. As one of the first and now also one of the best Cherokee Sixes flying, Mark Krueger’s Six 260 helped introduce what would become a proud tradition to general aviation.