Piper Aircraft is sprucing up its M-Class single-engine trio with efficiency, comfort and money-saving upgrades. The enhancements to the turbine-powered Meridian, piston-powered pressurized Malibu and piston-powered unpressurized Matrix include LED landing and interior lights, which increase bulb life by as much as 10-times over incandescent bulbs, and aircraft-powered Bose noise-cancelling A20 headsets in the cockpit as standard equipment.
Along with improved ventilation for better cabin comfort, the cockpits on also feature sculpted side panels that give the pilots more elbow room, larger map pockets that can hold an iPad, and seat modifications that make it easier for pilots to get to the cockpit from the cabin entrance. The access is dramatically improved by having the tops of the rear-facing club seats and the copilot's seat fold down.
Piper is optimistic on recovery in the segment, seeing billings over the first six months of 2011 up 16% compared with the same period in 2010. There have been 14 deliveries of the turboprop Meridian in the first six months, up from eight in the same period last year. Piper last month also announced approval of the Meridian for unpaved runways, a request from Brazilian and South African operators.
Source: Flight Daily News
