Piper says it expects to certify its new M600 single-engine turboprop later this year and is flying three test articles to complete the cert project for start to finish in about 15 months. Piper announced the new airplane at its Vero Beach factory last week and this week, it’s showing a mock-up of the new aircraft at Sun ‘n Fun in Lakeland, Florida, complete with Garmin G3000 avionics.
Piper CEO Simon Caldecott said the M600 will definitely allow Piper to expand its market and that it satisfies requests customers have made for a new interior. For the M600, Piper retained an outside design firm. As AVweb reported last week, the M600 has 100 more horsepower than the Meridian — now called the M500 Meridian — and has slightly greater payload and range, another thing Caldecott said customers had requested. “What it’s going to do for us is to allow our customers who have been flying around in a Meridian to take a step up,” Caldecott said. “This aircraft is a lot more capable. It has great range and greater payload.” You can see the mock-up in Piper’s booth at Sun ‘n Fun or check out our video here.
