The Upgrade Express

Rather than taking a breather after successfully navigating the circuitous route out of bankruptcy, officials at The New Piper Aircraft have surged ahead with plans to modernize the company's products. The incremental product improvements reflect the same tack the company adopted midway through its four-year bankruptcy proceedings that ended last summer. At that time, former creditors and a Philadelphia investment company bought the assets of Piper Aircraft Corporation and formed The New Piper Aircraft, Incorporated.

Piper's recent strategy has been to make basic aerodynamic cleanups and to completely make over the interiors and panels of its most popular models. Beneficiaries so far are the Archer III, the Saratoga II HP, and the Seneca IV. The aerodynamically clean Malibu Mirage already had a fairly modern interior and panel, but it too has seen some improvements over the years. Again in 1996 it received a new interior and some significant changes to the panel in the form of sophisticated engine instrumentation.

Other models, such as the Warrior, Arrow, and Seminole, have received minor changes in the last few years.

Piper's objective has been to offer new value to its customers and give pilots reasons to buy new airplanes rather than used, while at the same time not breaking the bank with development costs.

Decisions, decisions

At press time, Piper officials were struggling to solve a problem that most manufacturers would envy: a need for more airplanes. Piper planned to build 186 airplanes in 1996, up from 165 in 1995. The rub is that nearly all of them are spoken for by Piper distributors and some distributors want more. Meanwhile, Piper has added several new international distributors who, under the current production plan, have virtually no airplanes available to them this year. Already in 1996, companies in the Czech Republic, Chile, and Argentina have signed on as new distributors. Piper expects about 51 percent of its deliveries to find homes on foreign tarmac. Two Seminoles were delivered to Thailand earlier this year, and two more went to a flight school in Sault Sainte Marie, Ontario, Canada.

The challenge for Piper is to produce airplanes at a sustainable rate. Produce too few and you risk losing customers who want immediate delivery — and you lose potential economies of scale in the production process. But produce too many and you might have to slash prices to move inventory or lay off personnel to slow production.

Off the production line

Since the Saratoga was morphed into the Saratoga II HP in 1993, the roomy six-seater has been a consistent bestseller for Piper. This year 34 'Togas are in the production schedule, and all of them are already sold to dealers.

The 1993 makeover included the change to round engine cooling inlets and the addition of a pointy new spinner. Piper also added fairings to various parts of the fuselage to eke out an extra few knots of speed, bringing the cruise up to 163 knots true. Back then, the Saratoga also got a completely new interior, adopting many of the materials and accoutrements of the elegant Malibu Mirage. Up front, the pilot flew behind a new all- metal panel stocked with the latest avionics. Rid of the plastic overlays and with a little rearranging of instrumentation, the panel brimmed with extra space, which many customers elected to fill with a second set of flight instruments.

For 1996, the II HP retains all of that, but a 28-volt electrical system now powers the equipment. The higher-voltage system supplanted the 14-volt bus in the older versions. For standardization of parts and manufacturing, Piper, like most airframe manufacturers, is in the process of switching its entire fleet to 28-volt systems. The higher voltage means lower amperage and a subsequent reduction in the size of the wiring. That, of course, reduces weight.

Some accessories that demand high operating amperages, such as air conditioners, are happier being powered by 28-volt systems, as well. For 1996 the Saratoga gets a more efficient air conditioning system.

Piper has moved the switches used only once or twice during a flight — such as the magneto, Start, Master, Fuel Pump, and lighting switches — to an overhead panel, a la Boeing. You no longer need a key to start your Saratoga — just push the button.

On the outside, the nose-gear-mounted landing light has been replaced by wingtip- mounted variants. Another feature pilots will appreciate is the change in the cockpit door latching mechanism. The new latch requires just the movement of one lever on the arm rest. That lever also moves pins in the top of the door out and into the door frame. The older models required the pilot to move a second latch at the top of the door also. Even those pilots who remembered to close that second latch sometimes found that the door would pop open upon takeoff. The new latch is simpler and more reliable, according to Piper engineers.

The standard-equipped price of $349,500 brings with it a well-stocked airplane, including dual Bendix/King navcoms, an IFR-certified KLN 90B GPS, a KFC-150 two- axis flight control system, and a six-place P.S. Engineering intercom.

With a useful load of more than 1,200 pounds and a maximum of 102 gallons of fuel available, the Saratoga II HP offers plenty of versatility. Carry three people and bags 750 miles with IFR reserves, or leave some fuel behind and carry five people 550 miles. With both nose and aft baggage compartments, the model also brings unsurpassed loading flexibility.

A slick new brochure shows a couple standing next to their new Saratoga, aft doors open to reveal a Jet-Ski inside. He holds a pair of foldup motor scooters, and she's got the golf clubs and scuba tanks. Maybe you can have it all.

Top of the line

The Malibu Mirage gets the same overhead switch panel treatment for 1996 that the Saratoga received. But in the pressurized, dual turbocharged Mirage, the pilot and five passengers sit in a newly designed interior. The seats in the Malibu were modified for better support and comfort, according to Piper.

The biggest change for the pilot, though, is in the engine instrumentation. The traditional 3-inch round electromechanical engine gauges for turbine inlet temperature, manifold pressure, fuel flow, fuel quantity, rpm, and oil pressure and temperature have been replaced with a stack of microprocessor-controlled gauges from Transicoil, Incorporated.

In order to accommodate the new instrument stack and to be able to provide space for the optional Eventide Argus 7000 large-screen moving map, Piper rearranged many of the panel switches. To the overhead went switches for the mags, starter, lights, and several other items. The altitude preselect switch was moved from above the power quadrant to above the altimeter, a much more appropriate position from a human factors standpoint.

As with earlier models of the Mirage, Piper maintained an impressive list of standard equipment in the base price of $755,200. Included are a full IFR stack of Bendix/King avionics, color vertical profile weather radar, and deice boots. The optional electronic flight instrumentation system adds $68,100 to the price.

For those looking to buy a new pressurized piston-engine airplane, though, the Mirage is the only choice at any price. No other new piston-powered airplane can ply the flight levels at some 215 knots true while carrying its occupants in pressurized comfort. With 56 in the 1996 production schedule, the Mirage will be Piper's number one seller.

If Piper continues with its past strategy, we can eventually expect to see the sophistication of the Transicoil instruments trickle down to some of the lighter aircraft. At the same time, Piper officials know that they can't rely forever on the existing airframe designs. With "new" now an official part of the company name, expect much to come from this revitalized company.

Digital Dilemma Solved

Mirage brings new technology to the Piper fleet

The digital versus analog instrumentation argument is seemingly just a new variation of the old high-wing/low-wing row. The difference with the instrumentation is that you can have both. Imagine an airplane with both high and low wings — other than a biplane.

Transicoil solves the digital/analog issue by giving the pilot the opportunity to use either method. In the Piper Malibu Mirage, Transicoil supplies a stack of 10 instruments and a module that can digitally display the information from any two instruments.

In the Mirage installation, the instruments display manifold pressure, rpm, turbine inlet temperature, fuel flow, oil pressure and temperature, cylinder head temperature, vacuum, and fuel quantity in the left and right tanks. The instruments are modern variants of the Transicoil gauges used in the Porsche-powered Mooney PFM. Tridair uses a similar stack in its Gemini ST helicopter.

The Transicoil instruments are manufactured so that there is no parallax error no matter where they're positioned in the stack.

The stack is actually made up of individual boxes with two instruments side by side in each box. The stacked boxes are then wired together daisy-chain style and all connected to the top digital display unit. Transicoil calls a stack of its products an engine monitoring instrument system (EMIS). All of the boxes are virtually identical. The only thing that changes from one to the other is the software. So any instrument can be made to measure or display any parameter simply by changing the software and putting on the appropriate faceplate.

In a normal flight configuration, all of the instruments — except the fuel gauges — point to about a nine o'clock position, giving the pilot the ability quickly to scan the stack for anomalies. Anytime an instrument senses a reading outside its programmed "normal" range, it causes a red LED to flash next to the instrument and it displays the readout digitally at the top of the EMIS. In addition, the system records all exceedances for viewing by the pilot or later, on the ground, by maintenance personnel.

The digital module can also display outside air temperature.

Upon startup, the digital display shows manifold pressure and rpm. On takeoff, it's easy to use the analog displays to set the power approximately. The digits can then be used for precise power setting and leaning. At any time, the pilot can touch a button next to an instrument to get a digital display of the reading.

The EMIS also manages the fuel load by telling the pilot how much is available in time and gallons, and amount used. The system also issues fuel-imbalance and low-fuel alerts.

Pilots at AOPA used the Transicoil instruments for several years when the association owned a Mooney PFM. They worked flawlessly then. Transicoil predicts a mean time between failure rate of 3,000 to 5,000 hours, compared to an estimated 1,000 hours MTBF for mechanical indicators.

Pilots new to the gauges will adjust quickly to the presentations. The analog displays are bright and easy to read, and the needles move smoothly and predictably. The ability to call up any reading digitally greatly simplifies power management.

Transicoil Inc. may be contacted at Post Office Box 9011, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania 19485-1011; telephone 610/539-4400, fax 610/539-3400.