Piper PA-47 PiperJet

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piper_PA-47_PiperJet

The Piper PA-47 PiperJet was a single-engined very light jet (VLJ) that was
intended to be developed and built by Piper Aircraft. However, following a
change of ownership at Piper, it was decided to redesign the aircraft into the
PiperJet Altaire. Despite being technically successful, the Altaire project was
cancelled in October 2011 due to economic conditions.

PiperJet

The PiperJet was announced in October 2006, as a competitor to the twin-engined
Eclipse 500 and Cessna Citation Mustang. The aircraft's fuselage was the same
cross section as the propeller-driven Piper PA-46 series, with a 4 feet (1.2 m)
increase in length. It was to be capable of carrying up to 7 passengers and
cruise at 360 knots (666.7 km/h), at a maximum altitude of 35,000 feet (10,668.0
m). Maximum range was expected to be 1,300 nautical miles (2,407.6 km), with a
full-fuel payload of 800 pounds. Piper selected Williams International to supply
its FJ44-3AP turbofan engine for the PiperJet.

Due to the engine being mounted above the center of gravity, power was highly
stabilizing (addition of power would push the nose down), which could have been
disconcerting to pilots. Initially, Piper designers incorporated an automatic
pitch trim system to coordinate horizontal stabilizer angle of incidence with
power setting. This system was later replaced by a vectored thrust nozzle,
developed by Williams International, which resulted in reduced weight and
simplified manufacturing processes.

A design feature of the aircraft was the use of a straight duct air intake
design for the vertical stabilizer (tail) mounted engine, similar in engineering
design concept to a McDonnell Douglas DC-10, rather than the s-duct arrangement
of most trijet aircraft designs such as the Dassault Falcon 900.

A selling price of US$2.199 million in 2006 dollars was initially set and as of
February 19, 2007, Piper announced that it had received 180 pre-orders. An
entry-into-service date of early 2010 was initially anticipated, later changed
to 2011-12. In October 2009 the company indicated that it had delayed the
delivery of the first customer aircraft to mid-2013 and had informed depositors.

The PiperJet did not enter production and in October 2010 Piper announced it
would instead develop an aircraft with a larger circular-section fuselage known
as the Piper PiperJet Altaire. The 160 customers who had placed orders for the
PiperJet retained their delivery positions with the new aircraft and at the same
$2.2 million price.


Role
Very light jet

National origin
United States

Manufacturer
Piper Aircraft

First flight
30 July 2008

Status
Cancelled

Number built
1

Unit cost

$2.199M (in 2006 USD)


Altaire

Based on the PA-47 PiperJet prototype, the Altaire featured a slightly larger
fuselage with a rounded cross-section, and included a conventional control yoke
for flight control, as opposed to the original PiperJet's side-stick.

Piper had been tooling up its facilities in Vero Beach, Florida (USA) to build
four Altaire prototypes to be used for FAA (safety & performance) certification
of the aircraft through 2013. First delivery of aircraft to customers was
scheduled for 2014. The first flight was expected in 2012.

The fuselage of the original Piperjet was designed using the Piper Meridian
single-engine turboprop as a template. The new owners of Piper, Imprimis, found
fault with this design prompting a revision without direct reference to the
Meridian. According to Piper CEO Geoffrey Berger, "We wanted to give our jet
customers an even roomier light jet that incorporates a scalable design, paving
the way for a future family of competitive business jets,". The new fuselage
design provided an additional 4 inches of headroom and nine more inches of elbow
room and does away with a hump in the cabin floor that accommodated the wing
spar in the old design.

The Altaire had been designed for single-pilot operation allowing one passenger
to occupy the co-pilot's seat. Combined with 4 passenger seats in the cabin
behind the flight deck, the jet would typically have seated 5 passengers. The
cabin would have been specially configured to add an additional seat such that a
total of 6 passengers can be accommodated in addition to the pilot. There was 20
cubic feet (570 L) of baggage space behind the passenger seats and another 20 cu
ft (570 L). of heated but unpressurized space in the nose of the aircraft.

On 17 October 2011 the company announced that the PiperJet Altaire program was
"under review". Piper's new interim CEO, appointed that same day, Simon
Caldecott said, "This is being undertaken to ensure the company is properly
aligning business goals and light-jet market forecasts with investment
strategies and economic forecasts." The next day, on 18 October 2011, AVweb
editor-in-chief Russ Niles called for the project to be ended, calling it
"unrealistic" to pursue the design in the face of Federal Aviation
Administration opposition to certifying a single engined jet to 35,000 ft
(10,668 m) and the lack of economic reasoning as the aircraft would cost the
same as most twin-engined jets. Niles called on Piper saying, "the sooner it
ends its "review" of the project and puts a bullet in it the better." On 24
October 2011, despite the Altaire's development being "on schedule and on
budget", the program was indefinitely suspended by Piper due to economic issues,
with the company laying off a number of workers who had been assigned to the
project. It was stated the company would entertain offers for the
PiperJet/Altaire project.

Specifications (original PA-47 PiperJet)

General characteristics
Crew: 1 or 2 pilots
Capacity: 6-7 passengers
Length: 35 ft 8 in (10.87 m)
Wingspan: 44 ft 3 in (13.49 m)
Height: 15 ft 8 in (4.78 m)
Full fuel payload: intended to be 800 lbs (363 kg) +/-5%
Powerplant: 1 × Williams FJ44-3AP turbofan, 2,820 lbf (12.5 kN) thrust

Performance
Cruise speed: 360 kn (414 mph; 667 km/h) (intended maximum cruise speed +5%
-2.5%)
Range: 1,300 nmi (1,496 mi; 2,408 km) (intended maximum range +/-5%)
Service ceiling: 35,000 ft (11,000 m)

Avionics

Garmin glass cockpit




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