Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC
New piper Aircraft expects certification of its Malibu Meridian single-turboprop business aircraft next month and is to hand over the first example to a retail customer for 30 August.
The first production Meridian is completing flight tests and will soon undergo interior installation and exterior painting.
New Piper had hoped to deliver the first Meridian this month, five years after the company emerged from bankruptcy protection, but certification has taken slightly longer than expected, partly because of design changes and additional testing.
Take-off power of the Meridian's Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6-42A was increased to 370kW (500shp) and a four-blade propeller was fitted to meet the climb-rate guarantees, which has edged cruise speed up to 265kt (495km/h), says Larry Bardon, vice-president sales and marketing.
New Piper also had to complete extra icing flight tests to meet new airworthiness guidelines introduced by the US Federal Aviation Administration after agreeing the certification basis for the Meridian.
Bardon says the Meridian will not be certificated initially for flight into known icing, although de-icing equipment will be fitted to all aircraft. Approval is expected by the year-end, he says.
New Piper has orders from dealers for 137 Meridians, 97 of which have already been sold to retail customers. It will deliver 35 aircraft this year and ramp up production to 85 next year, a rate it hopes to maintain for some time.
Source: Flight International
