small plane

PiperJet Has Its First Flight

Filed under: Wings

We first wrote about the PiperJet back in 2006, the small plane is the first pure, jet-powered, turbofan design in the company's 71-year history. The pane has now made its first flight from Piper Headquarters in Vero Beach, Florida. The plane flew for one hour, reaching a maximum altitude of 10,500 feet and a speed of 160 KTAS as per the flight test plan. The PiperJet is powered by a single Williams FJ44-3AP engine and is set to carry six passengers with an option for a seventh or an enclosable lavatory. It will have a range of 1,300 nautical miles and a full-fuel payload of 800 lbs. The jet is priced from $2.199 million and will be certified to a maximum operating altitude of 35,000 feet. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in 2011.

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Tags: airplane, jet, piper, piperjet, small plane, SmallPlane

TBM 850 Six Seater Turboprop

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings

Another entry into the super competitive small plane market comes from EADS Socata which has announced the newest member of its TBM family, the six-seater TBM 850 single-engine turboprop. The idea is to give TBM 850 operators the advantage of the cruising speeds of light jets with the lower costs of operating costs of a single-engined turboprop. The plane is certified in European and FAA certification is expected soon. Deliveries will begin in 2006 and the base price is $2,576,930 in 2006. A version with typical customer options and equipped for RVSM (Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum) operation will list at $2,799,850. The RVSM-equipped version can fly non-stop from Minneapolis to Miami.

Tags: plane, single-engine, small plane, SmallPlane, turbo prop, TurboProp