POC Aircraft Nears Completion; 1/5 Model Completes Testing

Piper Aircraft announced Tuesday morning at NBAA 2007 it has selected Garmin International Inc. to provide the avionics suite for its all-new PiperJet.

"The PiperJet is a revolutionary new aircraft combining performance, style, utility, capability and pricing," said James K. Bass, President & CEO of Piper Aircraft.  "Piper has had a long and close history with Garmin, and we are excited about what they will bring to the PiperJet.  Simply put, in selecting Garmin for the PiperJet, we focused on state-of-the-art avionics for a best-in-class aircraft."

"The PiperJet's revolutionary design and impressive performance have positioned it to be another great Piper aircraft," said Gary Kelley, Garmin's Vice President of Marketing. "We are proud to join the PiperJet team at such an exciting time and believe that this announcement is yet another example of our commitment to serve the entry-level business jet market."

Scheduled for delivery in 2010, the PiperJet's as-yet unnamed Garmin avionics suite will include two primary flight displays (PFDs) that digitally integrate flight information on large-format displays for easy interpretation by the pilot. The PFDs interface with Garmin's Attitude and Heading Reference System (AHRS), which features rapid, in-motion alignment -- and can reliably align, even while the aircraft is in flight.

A multifunction display (MFD) will also be included, that puts all aircraft systems monitoring and flight-planning functions at the pilot's fingertips. The MFD depicts a composite view of the aircraft's environment, enhancing situational awareness to provide the pilot with key information to make safe decisions during each phase of flight. Engine performance and situational data such as location, terrain, traffic, weather and airport information are all digitally depicted and can be easily interpreted at a glance on the large-format display.

Also included will be Garmin's Automatic Flight Control System, an attitude based, three-axis autopilot that makes it possible for pilots to maintain airspeed references and optimize performance over the entire airspeed envelope.

"The PiperJet breaks the mold in offering an unparalleled blend of performance and luxury," Bass said. "In designing this revolutionary aircraft, we have assembled the finest team of engineers and designers and conducted an extensive consumer research effort to ensure that the PiperJet will be second to none. In effect, every measure has been taken to make sure that the PiperJet answers what our customers have told us they want and need in a jet, because at the end of the day, it's not about being first to market, it's about getting it right in the first place."

Piper tells ANN the PiperJet proof-of-concept aircraft continues to advance through various stages of assembly, with its fuselage currently in Piper's Flight Test hangar. In the meantime, construction continues on the primary and secondary airframe structures as completion of the proof-of-concept draws near.

"We're making great progress with engineering evaluation and development, first flight and eventual certification," said Bob Kromer, Piper's Vice President of Sales.

Most recently, a 1/5-scale model of the PiperJet with remotely controlled flight surfaces completed three weeks of testing at the Kirsten Wind Tunnel at the University of Washington Aeronautical Laboratory in Seattle. In all, PiperJet testing focused on 973 individual data runs that provided Piper engineers with essential data for further aerodynamic analysis and product development.

"With the PiperJet," Kromer said, "we are creating an aircraft that not only meets customer expectations but also exceeds them. Our order book continues to grow in the face of stiff competition, as we define a new level of capability and features and set new standards of performance within general aviation."

FMI: www.piper.com, www.garmin.com