He had joined a small aero club in 1962 or 63.  It varied between 6-10 members.  They purchased a new 1963 Cherokee 180.  And in early 1964 one of the members crashed it killing all on board.  Basically he flew into conditions beyond the capabilities of himself and the airframe.  Enough of that.

In early 1965 the insurance company finally settled and bought the club a new 1964 180C.  Helps to have a lawyer in the club.  But by this time the membership had dwindled to just my Father and the lawyer.  So, with a club of two, we acquired a new Cherokee, N7717W.  The local Piper sales rep loaded his son, me and my Father into a twin Comanche and off to Florida we flew to take delivery of the new Cherokee.  My Father and I flew the Cherokee home (Michigan) and that was the start of many happy hours for me in the right seat.

We kept that plane until 1970 when my Father passed suddenly.  We gave our half of it to the lawyer for his services in settling the estate.  I was 18 at the time.  The lawyer eventually sold it to his son and last I knew the plane sits on a small airport NW of Pittsburgh in PA.  I've tried to contact the current owner to no avail.

I have no pictures of it but my Mother should.  I know pics were taken the trick is to find them in all of her slides.  That is one of the tasks for the build as I remember the basic paint scheme but am missing some details.  Piper painted the planes pretty much as they wanted within certain boundaries as they came off the assembly line.  So some of the details will differ between planes built otherwise identically.

And that's it.  Nothing fancy.  Just an airplane I have a personal connection with and many fond memories.  Saw the 68 Detroit riots at night from the air.  All the fires!  Watched as Tracers came up from the ground and did a quick 180 for home.  I thought they were flairs at first.  My Father recognized them for what they were (WWII vet, 101st AB).  Observed the spring flooding in Kentucky and Ohio in the 60's.  Took it to California once, 43 hours total flight time in which I flew most from the right seat.  Then there were all the local flights just because we could.  And getting so air sick one day that when we landed, my Father stopped on the runway (very small airport) so I could roll out onto the wing and lay there as he taxied in to the hanger.

As I sit and slowly work on it, I find myself remembering more and more about the plane and my experiences with it.  Should make for a good retirement project.

My final intentions for it are to donate it to the local FBO of that same little hometown airport.  They have offered to do the painting for me and already have a spot from which they intend to hang it.  Following a few flights first.  Strangely, it will be the first Cherokee hangared there in a good many years.

Good evening.  That's a beautiful story you just told.  I too, used to fly the Cherokee series aircraft and your narratives really brought back a lot of memories.  No one could mistake that long "Johnson Bar" lying on the floor between the two front seats for anything else but the manual flap control.  Yet, every once in awhile, when on final approach and flying a newbie passenger,  I would often joke that I was about to "set the parking brake."  Their facial expressions of astonishment were priceless.  My two kids however, would just roll their eyes at my corny joke.

If you're donating the model to the local FBO, then it stands to reason that weight would not be a consideration as I'm guessing you're not going to fly it.  That being said, I believe you're free to detail the heck out of it.  Just be sure to switch tanks before its too late....

I'll definitely sign on to your build and quietly reminisce along.  

Skye