Piper PA-47 PiperJet

History of the Piper PA-47 PiperJet

The Piper PA-47 "PiperJet" was Piper Aircraft's eventually abandoned attempt to bring single-engine very light jet (VLJ) products to the relatively active market for this class of aircraft. However, the project has been hampered by soaring development costs and a recession. The PA-47 was a solid product that never went into mass production despite receiving around 180 pre-orders from various customers around the world.

After the company's project review, the PA-47 project was abandoned in October 2008 in favor of the proposed Piper "PiperJet Altaire".

In the spotlight, the only PA-47 prototype toured at various airshows. The prototype made its maiden flight on July 30, 2008, and is scheduled to enter service in early 2010.

The main market competition for the PA-47 at the time was the Cessna Citation line and the Eclipse Aerospace EA500, both VLSs of their respective companies. For the PA-47 engagement, Piper engineers designed a sleek and compact single-engine platform, placing the cockpit behind a long, pointed nose cone. The cabin is lined with smaller rectangular windows, while the nose has larger windows for the pilot. Cockpit avionics are all-digital, all-glass units from Garmin. The main swept-wing aircraft is located midship and stern and covered with winglets, while the empennage consists of a vertical tail and a pair of low horizontal planes.

The location of the engine is unique, it is embedded in the bottom of the vertical tail and has a "straight" duct design. Mounting the engine on the tail changes the aircraft's center of gravity (CoG) and basic thrust effect, but provides a smoother ride for passengers. The passenger seat has a total of six to seven passengers, while the crew is only two or one (VLJ can be certified as a single pilot in civil airspace).

Tricycle landing gear is used for ground operation.

The structural dimensions of the PA-47 include an overall length of 35.7 feet, a wingspan of 44.2 feet and a height of 15.7 feet.

The engine of choice for the new PiperJet is the proven compact Williams FJ44-3AP turbofan with 2,820 pounds of thrust. This gives the aircraft a cruising speed of nearly 415 mph, a range of up to 1,500 miles, and a service ceiling of up to 35,000 feet. Finally, a vector thruster was added to the engine to improve the control and design of the unit.

The engine itself was born from the FJ33 and first appeared in 1985 - and has since powered the Cessna CitationJet, Saab 105 and Grob G180 SPn, among others.

The PA-47 suffered many delays during its development, and soon after, the Piper authorities decided to switch to the PiperJet Altaire. Existing PA-47 customers were carried over into this new program, which was heavily influenced in form and function by the existing PiperJet prototype. The PiperJet Altaire itself was cancelled (or "indefinitely suspended") in October 2011 due to rising development costs and VLJ market forecasts, which inevitably resulted in layoffs of approximately 150 Piper employees and refunds/product credits from customers.

The company has subsequently shifted its focus to the turboprop engine type for the foreseeable future.

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