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Meet the aircraft
Piper designed the PA-38-112 Tomahawk for two-seat flight training. It also served touring and personal flying, alongside the larger PA-28 family. MSFS and X-Plane implementations are separate developer products.
Aircraft background
Wikipedia contributors · Read more ↗A two-seater for weekends around New England
Diette bought his Tomahawk II for short trips with his wife around New England. Martha’s Vineyard and Bar Harbor were among the destinations that became easier to reach, leaving more of a weekend to enjoy after arrival. Their usual journeys were under three hours, with light bags that suited the small aircraft’s role.
Interviewed by Julie K. Boatman, AOPA Pilot · July 2001. Diette’s 1982 Tomahawk II, N91383.
AOPA Pilot · Read more ↗Choose the cockpit equipment and inspect the systems
The MSFS package lists GNS 430/530 equipment, optional separately supplied GTN integrations, Navigraph charts and SimBrief support. Its documented fuel and electrical models include working breakers, carburettor heat and primer effects, with selectable failures such as plug fouling and vapour lock. Automatic tank switching is offered as a convenience option.
Piper PA-38 Tomahawk · Just Flight · MSFS 2020 · MSFS 2024
Just Flight · Read more ↗Into the cockpit
YouTube CarBon1432 · 9 min ·
Landing Piper PA-38 Tomahawk, Cockpit view...
A Tomahawk approach, go-around and landing at Liverpool, filmed by a student.
Real aircraft · Piper PA-38 Tomahawk
Watch on YouTube ↗Preview images are served by AirframeDB. Videos open on YouTube only when you choose to watch.
Meet Piper PA-38 Tomahawk
Piper designed the PA-38-112 Tomahawk for two-seat flight training. It also served touring and personal flying, alongside the larger PA-28 family. MSFS and X-Plane implementations are separate developer products.
Piper PA-38 Tomahawk
Aircraft type designators
Use the code for the model you are flying. The linked authority lists the applicable aircraft.
History & design
A trainer shaped by instructor feedback
Boatman’s history describes Piper consulting flight instructors when developing its new trainer in the mid-1970s. The resulting Tomahawk combined a two-door cabin and broad view with deliberately distinctive control and stall characteristics.
AOPA Pilot · Budget Buys: Day-Tripper — Piper Tomahawk ↗AOPA Pilot historical background; individual flight characteristics require type-specific context
Pilot accounts
A two-seater for weekends around New England
Diette bought his Tomahawk II for short trips with his wife around New England. Martha’s Vineyard and Bar Harbor were among the destinations that became easier to reach, leaving more of a weekend to enjoy after arrival. Their usual journeys were under three hours, with light bags that suited the small aircraft’s role.
The baggage space could still accommodate something unexpected: he once flew home with an Adirondack chair after a successful shopping trip. His account is about choosing journeys that fit a two-seater and enjoying the freedom of making them with his own flying skills.
Interviewed by Julie K. Boatman, AOPA Pilot · July 2001. Diette’s 1982 Tomahawk II, N91383.
Read the full account · AOPA Pilot ↗Returning to flying, then seeing Manhattan from the air
Scott returned to an aircraft type he had trained in decades earlier, working with Rex Damschroder to rebuild his skills. The process took repeated lessons rather than a quick refresher. A visit to his cousin’s airpark became an early travelling goal, while electronic flight planning and navigation added new tools to the landmarks and paper methods he remembered.
Further local practice eventually led to a much larger adventure through Pennsylvania to New York. Flying the Hudson corridor brought nervous anticipation followed by extraordinary views of the Statue of Liberty, the city and even glimpses into apartment buildings.
AOPA Pilot · May 2026. Return to flying in 2024 after a 34-year gap, using a Tomahawk at Fremont, Ohio.
Read the full account · AOPA Pilot ↗A winter work trip with older navigation equipment
Cobb set out on a long work trip with a single VOR receiver and no GPS or DME. Headwinds slowed the outbound leg, and deteriorating visibility near his destination prompted him to turn back before finding a route into clearer conditions. He requested flight following and valued the controller’s help with distance information and locating a fuel stop against a snowy landscape.
The return brought a tailwind, but changing clouds led him to add another fuel stop instead of relying on the original plan. He arrived home after sunset. The account shows how weather, navigation equipment and intermediate stops shaped one pilot’s working day. The headwinds, extra stops and controller assistance made this a more involved day than a simple there-and-back flight.
Piper Forum · January 2020. First substantial cross-country in PA-38 N4342E, described in two posts by the same pilot.
Read the full account · Piper Forum ↗In your simulator
Systems, equipment and documentation for each developer’s aircraft.
Compare simulator versions →MSFS 2020 · MSFS 2024Piper PA-38 Tomahawk
Just Flight · Released
Piper PA-38 Tomahawk
Just Flight · Released
X-Plane 11Piper PA-38 Tomahawk
Just Flight · Released
Piper PA-38 Tomahawk
Just Flight · Released
Aircraft specifications
Published figures for the named real-aircraft variant. Simulator equipment and performance can differ.
| Specification | Published value |
|---|---|
| Length | 23 ft 1 + 1 ⁄ 4 in (7.042 m) |
| Wingspan | 34 ft 0 in (10.36 m) |
| Height | 9 ft 0 + 3 ⁄ 4 in (2.762 m) |
| Wing area | 124.7 sq ft (11.59 m² ) |
| Empty weight | 1,128 lb (512 kg) |
| Max takeoff weight | 1,670 lb (757 kg) |
| Powerplant | 1 × Avco Lycoming O-235 -L2C air-cooled flat-four piston engine , 112 hp (84 kW) |
| Propellers | 2-bladed Sensenich metal fixed-pitch propeller, 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) diameter |
| Maximum speed | 126 mph (203 km/h, 109 kn) at sea level |
| Cruise speed | 115 mph (185 km/h, 100 kn) at 10,500 ft (3,200 m) (65% power) |
| Stall speed | 56.5 mph (90.9 km/h, 49.1 kn) (flaps down, IAS ) |
| Range | 539 mi (867 km, 468 nmi) at 10,500 ft (3,200 m) (65% power) |
| Service ceiling | 13,000 ft (4,000 m) |
| Rate of climb | 718 ft/min (3.65 m/s) |
Manuals & resources
Find your next read
Choose a topic for a short introduction and a link to the original source. Simulator references identify the developer and edition they cover.
Simulator documentation
Choose the cockpit equipment and inspect the systemsPiper PA-38 Tomahawk · Just Flight · MSFS 2020 · MSFS 2024
The MSFS package lists GNS 430/530 equipment, optional separately supplied GTN integrations, Navigraph charts and SimBrief support. Its documented fuel and electrical models include working breakers, carburettor heat and primer effects, with selectable failures such as plug fouling and vapour lock. Automatic tank switching is offered as a convenience option.
Just Flight’s published feature description
Just Flight · Read the source ↗The X-Plane 11 version exposes engine conditionPiper PA-38 Tomahawk · Just Flight · X-Plane 11
The Just Flight/Thranda edition provides an engine popup showing fuel imbalance, pressures, temperatures, battery charge and plug-fouling or vapour-lock state. Its electrical breakers use X-Plane’s failure logic. Interactive checklists, saved panel state and a weight-and-balance manager accompany the conventional radio cockpit.
Gathered X-Plane 11 listing; no X-Plane 12 compatibility inferred
Just Flight · Read the source ↗A walkaround and persistent wear in MSFSPiper PA-38 Tomahawk · Just Flight · MSFS 2020 · MSFS 2024
Just Flight’s MSFS Tomahawk is based on research with G-BNKH at Goodwood. The interactive exterior includes tyre-pressure and fuel-condition checks, while wear affects more than fifteen components and persists between flights. The EFB can repair or randomise the aircraft’s condition as well as select starting states.
Gathered listing names MSFS 2020 and 2024 · revision not stated
Just Flight · Read the source ↗Pilot account
A two-seater for weekends around New EnglandInterviewed by Julie K. Boatman, AOPA Pilot · July 2001. Diette’s 1982 Tomahawk II, N91383.
Diette bought his Tomahawk II for short trips with his wife around New England. Martha’s Vineyard and Bar Harbor were among the destinations that became easier to reach, leaving more of a weekend to enjoy after arrival. Their usual journeys were under three hours, with light bags that suited the small aircraft’s role. The baggage space could still accommodate something unexpected: he once flew home with an Adirondack chair after a successful shopping trip.
Paul Diette
AOPA Pilot · Read the source ↗Returning to flying, then seeing Manhattan from the airAOPA Pilot · May 2026. Return to flying in 2024 after a 34-year gap, using a Tomahawk at Fremont, Ohio.
Scott returned to an aircraft type he had trained in decades earlier, working with Rex Damschroder to rebuild his skills. The process took repeated lessons rather than a quick refresher. A visit to his cousin’s airpark became an early travelling goal, while electronic flight planning and navigation added new tools to the landmarks and paper methods he remembered. Further local practice eventually led to a much larger adventure through Pennsylvania to New York.
Charles Scott
AOPA Pilot · Read the source ↗Read the original documentation from the people who created it. Manuals open on their publisher’s website.
Aircraft background
Piper PA-38 TomahawkWikipedia contributors · Research background · retrieved 2026-09-12Product
PA-38 Tomahawk (MSFS)Just Flight · Official developer / designated store catalogue · checked 2026-09-12 PA-38 Tomahawk (X-Plane 11)Just Flight · Official developer / designated store catalogue · checked 2026-09-12Type designator
ICAO Doc 8643 — aircraft type designatorsInternational Civil Aviation Organization · Public search data retrieved 2026-09-14; authority update 2026-09-03Built-in force-feedback profiles
Read the documentary basis, editable starting settings and remaining questions for the aircraft you fly. Each explanation refers to the exact profile revision shown.
Catalogue programme-20261022-v1 · 2 profile choices
Just Flight PA-38 Tomahawk
Just Flight · Free and Pro · Revision 5 · Inherited starting point
MSFS 2020 · MSFS 2024
Just Flight PA-38 Tomahawk: Conventional mechanical controls motivate reversible loading.
Piper PA-38 Tomahawk
Free and Pro · Revision 2 · Partial review
MSFS 2024 · MSFS 2020 · X-Plane 11
Piper PA-38 Tomahawk: Conventional mechanical controls motivate reversible loading.
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