An STC For The Electric Archer, M600 MEL, And The 1000th Pratt & Whitney Engine

By Maria Morrison, ANN Senior Editor

The years have flown by for Piper Aircraft Inc., and this year is the 85th for both the company and its iconic Piper Cub. The anniversary has been met with massive growth and demand post-pandemic. Their revenue has increased nearly 35% from last year, and international sales have grown by 66%. They can barely even demonstrate aircraft now because so many are being snatched up by customers.

In late February 2022, the FAA announced a government partnership called Eliminate Aviation Gas Lead Emissions. Piper wants to join this mission to eliminate leaded aviation fuel by 2030.

“We are committed to collaborating on unleaded aviation fuel, and reducing the overall carbon footprint of the aircraft,” said Piper President and CEO John Calcagno.

Previous efforts by Piper to support the fuel transition include an STC for the Archer that allows for an octane-burning Lycoming, and collaboration with Shell to use octane blends. The next step for Piper is going electric.

At AirVenture 2022, they announced a partnership with CAE on an electric conversion kit via STC for the operation of electrified Piper Archers.

CAE will convert two-thirds of its fleet over a three-year period, and is developing a new curriculum to train pilots to fly electric. This change will significantly reduce carbon emissions at CAE flight schools worldwide. The new electric Archer will be powered by an H55 battery pack.

Looking to the future, Piper and CAE are going to work together to develop an electric conversion kit for other operators to use, and intend to make available the training and support services. Calcagno sees the Archer as the ideal aircraft for CAE to use in this transition.

Expanding in another direction, the Piper M600 now has a Minimum Equipment List. Now that the FAA has approved the MEL, it qualifies the M600 to be operated under Part 135. The M600 and the M600 SLS are one of the most advanced single-engine turboprop aircraft on the market, and this MEL will let the technologically-advanced airplane expand into more operations and be used to its full capability.

“We will never quit innovating with our flagship product,” Calcagno said regarding the M600.

Piper also recently received their 1000th PT6A-42A engine from Pratt & Whitney Canada. Piper has used the engine on all its single-engine turboprop aircraft since 2000. This milestone engine signifies the longstanding partnership between Piper and Pratt & Whitney Canada, one that has created reliability and efficiency.

Piper is showcasing nearly its entire aircraft product line at Oshkosh this year. Those at the airshow can stop by the display to see the single-engine turboprop M600 SLS, the pressurized single-engine piston-powered M350, the executive configured Archer LX, the value-priced Pilot 100i, G1000 NXi equipped Archer TX, and the twin-engine Seminole.

FMI: www.piper.com