Pennsylvania man finds rare turbo twin-engine Comanche airplane that hasn’t flown for 21 years, attempts to fly it

These guys from Pennsylvania found an abandoned airplane, a Piper PA-30 Twin Turbo ‘Comanche’ private jet and decided to rescue it.

The plane had been sitting in one place for more than two decades so they had no idea what it would take to get it flying again.

After a handful of inspections and maintenance, they decided it had potential and committed 100% to restoring it.

These guys even took it a step further and planned to take the Piper on a 2,000-mile trip to see if it could hold its ground.

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Flying an abandoned airplane sitting for 21 years

Jason Morrison from the Rebuild Rescue YouTube channel found this Piper PA-30 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

It had been away from the skies for two decades when Jason went there with his mate Dave to rescue it.

For context, these guys are in the business of rescuing planes, boats, and cars.

They recently found an abandoned Cessna 401A and tried fixing it.

Jason was told he could get it for free if he could start it — which certainly made things interesting.

This Piper Twin Turbo was inspected and went through maintenance before they attempted to fly it back home to Pennsylvania.

However, the tests only consisted of short flights, and their flight path back home to Pennsylvania was nearly 2,000 miles.

Flying an aircraft that hasn’t flown in years for such long routes is a challenge, and there are multiple things that can go wrong.

That’s precisely why Jason and Dave took multiple stops in between to ensure the hardware didn’t fail.

Specifically, they kept checking the oil in both engines because if the pistons had any issues, they could end up burning a lot more fuel than they should.

Could the Piper PA-30 Twin Comanche make the trip?

Unlike this Cirrus airplane they found, the Twin Piper was actually in pretty decent shape.

Their first stop in Oklahoma seemed promising, and both engines of the Twin Turbo Comanche were working as intended.

After a quick inspection and refuel, the duo took off again and stopped in Southern Illinois for an overnight stop.

They found the wings frosted the next morning, so they had to de-ice the abandoned airplane to return home.

But after de-icing it, the guys set off for the last leg and ultimately made it back to their hangar in Pennsylvania.

This rare Piper PA-30 Comanche stood the test of time and conquered a 2,000-mile flight.

Although some work was still needed to be done on it, the abandoned airplane was now ready to be sold.

“It’s another one rescued,” Jason said as the duo landed in Pennsylvania.

Jason also mentioned that they would conduct a 100-hour inspection to ensure everything would be in good shape for its future owner.

A 2,000-mile flight is a remarkable feat for an aircraft that hasn’t been flown in 21 years, but then again, these guys are pros.