Piper Aircraftintroduced the latest version of its Meridian M500 turboprop on Wednesday, announcing an enhanced Garmin G1000 avionics package and new features. “As part of our on-going product improvement initiatives, we saw an opportunity to give our customers the latest improvements in proven avionics technology with electronic stability protection, under speed protection and automatic level mode among other improvements,” Piper President and CEO Simon Caldecott said in the company’s announcement.
Also new on the panel’s PFD and MFD are improved display resolution and master, gear position, and gear warnings incorporated into the G1000. The cockpit also hasdigital pressurization and an optional GTS 825 Traffic Advisory System, which will be ADS-B In and Out compliant when coupled with the GTX 33ES Transponder. Piper said the new M500’s list price is $2.26 million, which is slightly more than the previous version’s $2.22 million advertised on its website. The six-seat Meridian is part of Piper’s M-Class series that includes the pressurized piston-engine Mirage and the unpressurized Matrix.
