Piper Jet Mockup Piper's newly introduced VLJ (Very Light Jet) a single engine turbofan will be capable of reaching speeds of 360 knots and altitudes of about 35,000 feet. Photo taken at Sun 'n Fun April 2007 Lakeland, FL USA (KLAL) Photo © AirplaneMart.com

N5000Z - 1961 Piper PA-22-108 Image taken at Arlington Northwest EAA Fly-In 2007 Arlington, WA USA (KAWO) Photo © AirplaneMart.com

N42BD - 1988 Piper PA-46-310P Malibu Photograph taken at Sun 'n Fun 2007 Lakeland, FL USA (KLAL) Photo © AirplaneMart.com

N4981P - 1963 Piper PA-23-235 Picture taken at Sun 'n Fun 2007 Lakeland, FL USA (KLAL) Photo © AirplaneMart.com

Piper Aircraft, Inc., is a manufacturer of general aviation aircraft, located at the Vero Beach Municipal Airport in Vero Beach, Florida.

History

Originally founded as the Taylor Brothers Aircraft Manufacturing Company in September 1927 by Clarence Gilbert Taylor and Gordon A. Taylor in Rochester, New York. The company was renamed to Taylor Brothers Aircraft Corporation in April 1928, shortly before Gordon Taylor died in a plane crash on April 24, 1928. The company was enticed to move to Bradford, Pennsylvania with the promise of larger facility and investment capital from local businessmen, including an initial investment of $400 from local oilman William T. Piper. The move was completed in September, 1929.

In late 1930 the company filed for bankruptcy and William T. Piper purchased the assets of the company for $761. Reorganized as the Taylor Aircraft Company, Piper effectively took control of the firm when he assumed the position of corporate secretary-treasurer, although he retained C. G. Taylor in the role of president. Piper, often called the "Henry Ford of Aviation", firmly believed that a simple-to-operate low-cost private airplane would flourish, even in the darkest depths of the Great Depression.

In December 1935, after a series of clashes, William Piper bought out C. G. Taylor, who left the company and went on to form the Taylorcraft Aircraft Company. On March 16, 1937 a fire destroyed the Bradford factory and Piper relocated to an abandoned silk mill in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania. By November, 1937, all traces of Taylors' involvement with the company were erased when it was renamed to Piper Aircraft Corporation.

Manufacture ceased in the mid 1980's when, together with other sellers of light aircraft in the USA, increasing insurance premiums made continued operation financially impossible. Upon limitation of liability provided by new legislation in the early 90's, manufacturing re-commenced in 1995. The firm was re-branded New Piper Aircraft at that time.

As of July 2003, American Capital Strategies, Ltd. owns 94% of Piper's voting equity.

In August 2006 the firm dropped the "New" from its name, reverting to Piper Aircraft. Also in that month, a partnership with Honda was announced to market the new HondaJet.

In response to the economic situation the company announced in November 2008 that it was reducing its work-week to save money while avoiding lay-offs. Piper is party to an agreement with the state of Florida that will see the company benefit from USD$32 million in incentives in exchange for increasing its work force to 1400 people plus building the PiperJet in the state.

In December 2008 the company announced that it will defer the USD$10M incentive that would have required it to hire 400 new workers by 2012 for the PiperJet project and retain 1,417 employees through 2015. The company stated that the move was precautionary. Piper spokesman Mark Miller said: "While this year has been a good one for Piper, we have taken measures to keep the company healthy and to weather any future adversity."

Aircraft Products

Piper produced the Piper J-3 Cub, a two seat, 65 horsepower (48 kW) high-wing, single-engine aircraft. The Cub was the first inexpensive training aircraft produced in large numbers. Many former military examples were sold to civilian owners over the 1950-1995 period and seem certain to see many more years in recreational use. The more powerful Piper PA-18 Super Cub is popular for use as a glider tug.

The PA-28 Cherokee has been one of the company's most successful products with variants being manufactured almost every other year. Both this design and the twin-engined PA-34 Seneca are used for pilot training around the world. The PA-23 Apache was one of the first aircraft associated with the term "air taxi" although it has largely been superseded in that role by faster and more spacious designs from the competitive Beechcraft Corporation.

Beginning production in 1965, the Piper PA-32 Series raised the bar for versatility in 6 or 7 seat single-engine airplanes. Variously named the "Cherokee Six", "Lance", and "Saratoga", with both fixed and retractable gear models, and with normally aspirated, injected, and turbo-charged engines, the PA-32s are very capable and successful airplanes. They have been widely deployed in a variety of missions (small air-taxies, heavy load-haulers, personal business, etc.) all over the United States. The Saratoga-II HPs and Saratoga TCs are still manufactured and sold today.

With the streamlined and powerful single-engined PA-46 Malibu, the Piper company maintains a presence in the lighter-end of the corporate aircraft market.

Current Piper Aircraft Projects

In October 2006, Piper Aircraft announced the first jet (that the company would work all the way from design to production) that they would be developing, a single-engined very light jet (VLJ), known as the PiperJet, to compete with the twin-engined Eclipse 500 and Cessna Citation Mustang. The aircraft will carry six (6) passengers, have a single, tail-mounted turbofan, and be capable of cruising at 360 knots (670 km/h), at a maximum altitude of 35,000 ft (11,000 m) Maximum range will be 1300 nm, with a full-fuel payload of 800 lb (360 kg). A selling price of $2.199 m (2006 USD) is quoted. An Entry-into-Service date of early 2010 is anticipated. On June 30, 2008 the Piper Jet made its maiden test flight at Vero Beach, Florida.

In September 2007, Piper announced the Matrix, an unpressurized, single-engine piston aircraft based on the Mirage. It will seat six and will be sold for a base price of $757,000 (2007 USD), to be a third model in the Malibu family, along with the top-end, turboprop-powered Piper Meridian and the Piper Mirage. Piper already has announced that it has 100 orders for the Matrix.

List of Piper Aircraft

- J-3 Cub
- J-4 Cub Coupe
- J-5 Cub Cruiser
- PA-6 Sky Sedan
- PA-7 Sky Coupe
- PA-8 Sky Cycle
- PA-11 Cub Special
- PA-12 Super Cruiser
- PA-14 Family Cruiser
- PA-15 Vagabond
- PA-16 Clipper
- PA-17 Vagabond
- PA-18 Super Cub
- PA-20 Pacer
- PA-22 Tri-Pacer, Colt 108
- PA-23 Apache, Aztec
- PA-24 Comanche
- PA-25 Pawnee
- PA-28 Cherokee, Arrow, Warrior, Archer, Dakota
- PA-30 Twin Comanche
- PA-31 Navajo, Mojave, Chieftain
- PA-31T Cheyenne
- PA-32 Cherokee Six
- PA-32R Lance and Saratoga
- PA-34 Seneca
- PA-36 Pawnee Brave
- PA-38 Tomahawk
- PA-39 Twin Comanche C/R
- PA-40 Arapaho
- PA-42 Cheyenne
- PA-44 Seminole
- PA-46 Malibu, Malibu Mirage, Mirage
- PA-46TP Meridian
- PA-47 PiperJet
- PA-48 Enforcer (Experimental)
- Piper Aerostar