Piper Aircraft yesterday revealed the latest generation of its M-class single-engine aircraft, the turboprop M700 Fury, which replaces the M600SLS. FAA certification of the M700 is expected by the end of March and validations by Transport Canada, EASA, the UK CAA, and Brazil’s ANAC are set to take place in the second half. Customer deliveries will start in the U.S. immediately following FAA certification and internationally before year-end, according to Piper.
The six-seat M700 shares many features of the M600SLS, including Garmin G3000 avionics with Autoland, but it is powered by a 700-shp Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-52 with a five-blade Hartzell propeller, a 100-shp increase from the M600’s PT6A-42A, which has a four-blade propeller. Piper also chose Garmin’s PlaneSync 4G LTE cellular datalink technology, which will allow M700 owners to check fuel quantity, aircraft location, oil temperature, battery voltage, and the Metar weather report at the M700’s location and download databases wirelessly and remotely.
The more powerful engine delivers better performance during climb and at high altitude and significant improvements in takeoff and landing distance. At maximum takeoff weight, climb rate is 2,048 fpm, a 32 percent improvement over the M600. Climb to FL250 takes 13.9 minutes, a 34 percent improvement, while burning just 97 pounds of fuel—25 percent less than the M600.
The M700’s takeoff distance is 1,994 feet and the landing distance is 1,968 feet, compared to the M600’s 2,635 and 2,659, respectively. Piper engineers completed a “full takeoff and landing certification program, which yielded these improvements,” according to Ron Gunnarson, v-p of sales, marketing, and customer support. “Also note the landing performance is without prop reverse, beta only.”
Maximum takeoff weight remains 6,000 pounds, max ramp weight 6,050 pounds, and fuel capacity 260 gallons. The M700 carries an empty weight that is 80 pounds higher, and its full-fuel payload is 565 pounds while the M600’s is 658 pounds.
Maximum range of the M700 is 1,852 nm, up from 1,658 nm for the M600. Maximum cruise speed for the M700 jumps from the M600’s 274 ktas to 301 ktas, “the fastest single-engine aircraft in Piper’s…history,” according to the company. At the maximum cruise speed, its range is 1,149 nm. To accommodate the more powerful engine, the M700 has a “more efficient intake plenum that improves ram air recovery, new engine mount assemblies, and an improved exhaust stack design that maximizes residual thrust.”
Buyers can choose from six new interior schemes with new leather offerings and “aesthetically styled seats.”
“The M700 Fury is a beautifully efficient, cross-country thoroughbred that gives our customers a performance-based flight experience with economics never seen before,” said Piper president and CEO John Calcagno. “We listened, and we delivered. The M700 Fury encompasses power, performance, and the most advanced safety measures available today and an overall value proposition that is extremely compelling to individuals and corporate flight departments alike.”
Base price of the M700 Fury is $4.1 million; typically equipped, it is $4.3 million.