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 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 Piper Aircraft Corporation.

Piper continued operations in Lock Haven throughout World War II. In their business planning following the war, it became clear that the Lock Haven facility would not support larger manufacturing efforts, and in 1955, they acquired rights to property at the Vero Beach Municipal Airport. Initially, this location was limited to the design and production of the Piper Cherokee series.

The Lock Haven facility was nearly destroyed in 1972 when torrential rains from Hurricane Agnes caused the great Susquehanna River flood of 1972, flooding the manufacturing plant and destroying airframes, parts, and much of the tooling necessary for production of several designs, including the Aztec, Navajo, and Comanche. The company eleced to abandon production of the Piper PA-24 Comanche and Piper PA-30 Twin Comanche, neither of which were selling particularly well (and were very expensive to produce), move the production of remaining models to Florida, and within 5 years close all operations in Pennsylvania.

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.

On July 2003, American Capital Strategies, Ltd. bought 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.

On 1 May 2009 American Capital Strategies sold the company to Singapore-based investment strategy company Imprimis, making a profit of US$31M on the sale. Piper headquarters will remain in Vero Beach, while the company is expected to seek expanded markets in Asia through Imprimis. Imprimis is funded by the Government of Brunei and has offices in Bangkok, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam.

In June 2009 James Bass, CEO of Piper Aircraft since 2005, announced that he would step down effective 26 June 2009. He will be succeeded by VP of operations Kevin Gould. During his four years at Piper, Bass oversaw development of the PiperJet, the Meridian G1000 and the Matrix and negotiated a new business partnership with Honda. He also negotiated $32 million in incentives from the state and county that retained Piper's factory in Vero Beach, Florida.

On 2 November 2009 another Piper executive resigned. Company president John Becker announced his resignation effective 1 December 2009 to "to pursue other career opportunities". Becker will be replaced as President by CEO Kevin Gould.

2008/09 economic crisis

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."

In February 2009 the company announced that it was laying off an additional 300 workers without notice immediately and that the 650 remaining workers would be given unpaid weeks off in April and July to reduce unsold inventory. Piper spokesman Mark Miller stated that company regrets the pain caused by the layoffs and indicated that the employees will be rehired when the economy improves. He also said: "Even the willing buyers that we have find it incredibly difficult to get financing...We can't keep a full workforce on at this point when people aren't buying planes...If market conditions continue to deteriorate, it may be necessary for the company to take additional actions." On 24 February 2009 the company announced that it would add two more weeks of unpaid furlough for its employees in May and June, bringing the total to four weeks in 2009, citing a need to reduce inventory and cut expenses.

Aircraft

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 was superseded in that role by faster and more spacious designs from the competitive Beechcraft Corporation. In recent years, aircraft from SOCATA, and more lately Cirrus Design and Diamond Aircraft Industries, have been strong competitors with the Cherokee and Cessna designs that traditionally dominated flying schools.

Beginning production in 1965, the Piper PA-32 Series provided 6 or 7 seat single-engine designs based on the smaller Cherokee. Variously named the "Cherokee Six", "Lance" and "Saratoga" these were available with both fixed and retractable gear models and with normally aspirated, fuel injected and turbo-charged engines. The PA-32 proved popular with private owners, air taxi and freight companies. Production of the Saratoga-II HP and Saratoga TC ended in 2009.

With the pressurized single-engined PA-46 Malibu, the company offers an aircraft for the lighter-end of the corporate aircraft market.

Current 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 PA-47 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 , at a maximum altitude of Maximum range will be 1300 nm, with a full-fuel payload of . 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 PA-46R-350T 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 Meridian and the Piper Mirage.

List of Piper aircraft

Summary of aircraft built by Piper Aircraft

Model name	First flight	Number built	Type
J-2 Cub	1936	1207	Single-engined high-wing cabin monoplane
J-3 Cub	1938	19,888	Single-engined high-wing cabin monoplane
J-4 Cub Coupe	1939	1251	Single-engined high-wing cabin monoplane
J-5 Cub Cruiser	1940	1507	Single-engined high-wing cabin monoplane
P-1 Applegate Duck	1940	1	Amphibian
P-2 Cub	1941	1	Single-engined high-wing cabin monoplane
P-3	1939	1	Single-engined high-wing cabin monoplane, also known as J-4RX
P-4 Cub	1941	1	Single-engined high-wing cabin monoplane
P-5	1944	1	Single-engined high-wing cabin monoplane, also known as J-3X
PT-1 Trainer	1942	1	Two-seats in tandem, low-wing monoplane
PWA-1 Skycoupe	1943	1	Two seat low wing twin-boom monoplane, later became PA-7
PWA-8 Cub Cycle	1944	1	Single seat, mid-wing single-engine monoplane
PA-6 Sky Sedan	1945	2	Four seat, low-wing retractable gear monoplane
PA-7 Skycoupe	1944	1	Two seat low wing twin-boom monoplane, was PWA-1,
PA-8 Skycycle	1945	2	Single seat, mid-wing single-engine monoplane
PA-9	1945	None	Single-engined high-wing observation and liaison
PA-10	1946	None	Single-engined low-wing side-by-side two-seater
PA-11 Cub Special	1947	1541	Single-engined high-wing cabin monoplane
PA-12 Super Cruiser	1946	3760	Single-engined high-wing cabin monoplane
PA-13	-	none	Designation not used
PA-14 Family Cruiser	1948	238	Single-engined high-wing cabin monoplane
PA-15 Vagabond	1948	387	Side-by-side two-seat high-wing
PA-16 Clipper	1949	736	Four-seat version of the PA-15
PA-17 Vagabond	1948	214	Dual-control variant of the PA-15
PA-18 Super Cub	1950	10,222	Single-engined high-wing cabin monoplane
PA-19 Super Cub	1949	3	Military variant of the PA-18
PA-20 Pacer	1950	1120	Re-designed PA-16
PA-21	1949	None	Production version of the Bauman Brigadier
PA-22 Tri-Pacer	1951	9490	Updated version of the PA-20 with nose wheel
PA-23 Apache	1954	2047	Twin-engined low-wing cabin monoplane
PA-24 Comanche	1958	4717	Single-engine four-seat low-wing cabin monoplane
PA-24-400 Comanche	1964	148	Re-engined PA-24 development
PA-25 Pawnee	1959	5167	Single-engined agricultural monoplane
PA-26		None	High-powered version of the PA-24
PA-27 Aztec	1960	4929	Improved version of the PA-23, kept PA-23 designation
PA-28 Cherokee	1961	10,896	Single-engined low-wing cabin monoplane
PA-28-140 Cherokee	1964	10,089	Two-seat training variant
PA-28 Warrior	1974	4842	Improved PA-28
PA-28-235 Cherokee/Dakota	1964	2913	Improved PA-28
PA-28R Arrow	1967	6694	Improved PA-28
PA-28R-300 Pillan	1982	2 plus kits for Chile	Two-seat military trainer
PA-29 Papoose	1956	None	Enlarged PA-23
PA-30 Twin Comanche	1963	2001	Twin-engined low wing cabin monoplane
PA-31 Navajo	1967	1785	Twin-engined low wing cabin monoplane
PA-31-350 Chieftain	1973	1825	Stretched Navajo
PA-31P Navajo / Mojave	1970	309	Pressurized Navajo
PA-31T Cheyenne	1974	847	Turboprop powered Navajo
PA-32 Cherokee Six	1966	4373	Six-seat Cherokee
PA-32R Lance/Saratoga	1976	2721	Retractable landing gear variant of the PA-32
PA-33 Comanche	1966	1	Pressurized Comanche
PA-34 Seneca	1972	4354	Twin-engine low-wing cabin monoplane
PA-35 Pocono	1968	1	Twin-engined pressurized commuter airliner
PA-36 Pawnee Brave	1973	938	Single-engined agricultural monoplane
PA-37	1960s	None	Twin engined PA-33
PA-38 Tomahawk	1978	2519	Two seat basic trainer
PA-39 Twin Comanche C/R	1970	155	Improved PA-30
PA-40 Arapaho	1973	3 built, 5 not completed	PA-30 replacement
PA-41P	1974	1	Pressurized Aztec
Piper PA-42 Cheyenne	1980	175	T-tail pressurized twin
PA-43	1979	None	Piston-engined PA-42
PA-44 Seminole	1979	469	Twin-engined Arrow
PA-45	1970s	None	Six-seat T-tailed aircraft family
PA-46 Malibu	1984	344	Six-seat pressurized single
PA-47 Piperjet	2008	1 prototype only	Eight seat jet
PA-48 Enforcer	1971	4 prototypes	Single seat counter-insurgency aircraft based on the Cavalier Mustang/P-51 Mustang
PA-60 Aerostar	1967	1010	Six-seat pressurized twin, Piper purchased the design from Ted R. Smith

See also

• Beechcraft
• Cessna
• Cirrus Design
• Diamond Aircraft Industries
• Mooney Airplane Company
• Piper Aircraft Co. v. Reyno

References

• Piper Aircraft and their forerunners, R.W.Peperell & Colin M.Smith, Air-Britain, Tonbridge Kent, 1987, ISBN 0-85130-149-5
• The New Piper Aircraft: Soaring High

External links

• Piper website
• Piper Aviation Museum
• Aircraft-Info.net - Piper
• ICAO list of Piper Aircraft