Piper Aircraft and its German dealer Piper Deutschland brought a diesel-powered Archer DX and M500 turboprop single the week to Aero Friedrichshafen in Germany. In addition to the M500, Piper’s other high-performance models include the M600/SLS and piston-powered Matrix. Its trainer- and twin-class fleet includes a gas-powered version of the Archer (the TX), Warrior, Arrow, Seminole, and Seneca V.
The company recently announced that M600/SLSs equipped with Garmin G3000 avionics will soon incorporate Garmin’s new PlaneSync datalink, with LTE cellular and Wi-Fi connectivity for pre- and post-flight information sharing and database updates. M600/SLS owners will be able to use the Garmin Pilot app to check fuel quantity, location of the airplane, oil temperature, battery voltage, the meteorological aerodrome report (METAR), and other information. Avionics databases will be automatically downloaded as well.
Piper and Garmin have also added new features to the M600/SLS’s avionics, including enhanced synthetic vision, weather radar, navigation, flight planning, and checklists as well as weight and balance calculations, stabilized approach monitoring, glide range ring, and 3D SafeTaxi. The latter provides a 3-D view of the ground environment while taxiing, with depictions of airport markers, buildings, and other position markings and taxiway routing guidance.
At Aero Friedrichshafen, Piper also announced that its turbine-powered airplanes are qualified to run on sustainable aviation fuel.