Conforming Article Production Underway

A mockup of Piper's Altaire very light business jet is on a tour of airports around North America.

 
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The next stop for the Altaire jet mockup is April 15 near Westminster, MD at Skytech Inc., located on the Carroll County Regional Airport. Then, the model travels to Columbia Aircraft Sales' locations at the Westchester County Airport in White Plains, for exhibit April 18 and April 20 for display at the Groton-New London Airport. Also on April 22 it will be at Marshfield Airport in Bedford, MA.

During May it will be near Wichita, KS. at the Great Plains Air Expo in Salina May 11, and in Kansas City at Johnson County Executive Airport May 12 for display at both locations by (KCAC) Kansas City Aviation Center. It then travels to Nashville, TN, and Destin, FL, with SouthEast Piper.

In June, it will make stops in Georgia, Florida and Massachusetts. It will then stop in Chicago on its way to exhibit at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2012 in July. At the end of the year, it will have been on display in 16 states and Canada.

While the mockup is out meeting the public, Piper has committed 175 engineering personnel to its jet program. Detailed design drawings are being released at the scheduled pace and top-level assembly drawings are in progress. First production parts for the first of four conforming articles have been produced and the company is on schedule for first flight of conforming articles in 2012. Piper has selected all Tier 1 vendors, including Hampson/GTS, which has resident tool designers on site and will be delivering tools over the next 12 months. Renovation for the future Altaire production facility will be complete by this summer. The building will be tooled and ready for aircraft production during 2012. Construction of the static test rig for FAA structural testing requirements has begun and will be complete this year.

The price point for the Piper Altaire is tentatively set at $2.5 million, with a typically equipped aircraft priced at $2.6 million. Piper estimates that the Altaire will cost an average of 25 percent less to operate per hour than comparable production very light jets. 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 M-class aircraft - the Meridian, Malibu and Matrix.

 
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The airplane's maximum range is targeted at 1,300 nautical miles with a maximum cruise speed planned at 360 knots. It is planned to fly 1,200 nautical miles with a payload of 800 pounds.

The airplane is equipped with an integrated flight deck. It features Garmin G3000 avionics complete with the first touch screen-controlled glass panel designed for light turbine aircraft, three displays, two touch screens and a GFC 700 automatic flight control system. The improved aircraft will also have crew seats that are easy to access and an ergodynamic interface between pilot and avionics.

Certification and first customer deliveries are planned for 2014.

FMI: www.piper.com