CF-VLB is a 1967 PA28-140 Piper Cherokee, Serial #28-22448. This aircraft was manufactured December 20, 1966 and was imported directly into Canada. Total time on the airframe is approximately 6,000 hours.
A new engine was put into the aircraft in the summer of 2004. The engine currently has 12 hours total time. The aircraft has been through several owners since new. A British Columbia flying club put the most hours on the aircraft.
I purchased it from a friend who flew it out of Moose Jaw, SK in 1996. He acquired it from a flying club operating out of Canadian Forces Base Moose Jaw. As a coincidence a good friend of mine, who was stationed at Moose Jaw helped maintain this aircraft while he was posted there. Since purchasing CF-VLB I have installed 2 new windshields, a passenger side windshield, a 760 Val Com radio and redone the seats and most of the lower upholstery. As present CF-VLB is at St. Andrews where a leaky gas tank is being repaired.
The Cherokee is probably one of the easiest light aircraft to fly; it just doesn’t have any bad habits. It was purpose built as a training plane and has contributed to thousands of pilots getting their licenses. There are hundreds of them still flying so we will see them in Canadian skies for years to come.
Ken Catton