When the decision was made to end production of the Piper PA-23 Apache, the company introduced a new twin-engine four-seat cabin monoplane under the designation Piper PA-30 Twin Comanche, a cantilver low-wing monoplane with retractable tricycle landing gear and powered by two 119kW Avco Lycoming IO-320-B flat-four engines. First flown in production form on 3 May 1963, one of these aircraft was used by Max Conrad to establish a new world class distance record when he flew non-stop from Cape Town, South Africa, to St Petersburg, Florida, during 24-26 December 1964. The distance of 12,678.83km remained a record in its class in 1993. The PA-30 was superseded in 1965 by an improved four/six-seat PA-30B-160 Twin Comanche, and made available also at the same time was the PA-30B Turbo Twin Comanche with Rayjay-turbocharged IO-320-C1A engines, but both were replaced in 1970 by generally similar versions which introduced a powerplant with counter-rotating propellers. Designated PA-39 Twin Comanche C/R and PA-39 Turbo Twin Comanche C/R, manufacture of these two models ended in 1972, when total production of all versions amounted to 2,142.