A Great Concept Plane Gets Bigger Dimensions In Response To Customer Demand

Piper is very serious about getting the Piper jet to market... and making sure that it becomes the flagship product of this iconic GA manufacturer. Now named the Altaire, the Piper folks have tweaked the design aggressive to offer more cabin room and a host of other refinements... and turning the Piper Jet concept into a potential force to be reckoned with.

The newly named PiperJet Altaire features a new configuration. Its larger redesigned round fuselage is mounted on top of an expanded-chord wing, with a shorter vertical empennage located slightly aft atop an elongated engine nacelle.

"The PiperJet Altaire is a powerful and stylish blend of efficiency, cabin volume, range, payload and speed," Berger says. Price point for the PiperJet Altaire is $2.5 million, with a typically equipped aircraft priced at $2.6 million. The PiperJet Altaire costs an average of 25 percent less to operate per hour than comparable production VLJs.

The round fuselage and new wing provide all the performance and cabin improvements of a clean sheet aircraft coupled with the proven reliability of Piper's manufacturing techniques honed over the decades with the company's lineup of reliable airplanes, including its M-class aircraft - the Meridian, Malibu and Matrix.

In addition to cleaner and sleeker styling, the optimized configuration gives customers a cabin that is nine inches taller and four inches wider than the previous design. The new cross section also offers a wider than standard sunken aisle for ease of movement inside the cabin. Additionally, the PiperJet Altaire will have a three-foot wide cabin door for ease of passenger entry and exit while providing great cargo flexibility.

Piper says the PiperJet Altaire's maximum range is targeted at 1,300 nautical miles with a maximum cruise speed planned at 360 knots. The airplane is planned to fly 1,200 nautical miles with a full fuel payload of 800 pounds.

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