Piper Aircraft has introduced its newest M-Class single-engine Meridian M500 turbine business aircraft with the latest in Garmin avionics, enhanced safety features and a number of other improvements, according to officials with the Vero Beach, Fla.-based company.
“The 2015 Piper M500 will come equipped with the very newest Garmin avionics package for increased safety,” said Piper President and CEO Simon Caldecott. “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.”
The Piper M500, which seats six, is powered by a Pratt & Whitney PT6A-42A 500shp engine, sports a 260 KTAS max cruise speed and has a range of 1,000 nm. Equipped with an improved Garmin G1000 avionics suite, the 2015 M500 is listed at $2.26 million.
The M500’s new Garmin G1000 avionics suite features high resolution dual 10-inch PFDs, and a high resolution 12-inch MFD, as well as the latest Garmin software upgrade along with a GFC700 autopilot with enhanced Autopilot Flight Control System (AFCS), which includes a number of flight safety features, such as Electronic Stability Protection (ESP), which helps prevent the onset of stall/spins, steep spirals, and loss-of-control conditions. It functions independently of the autopilot and only takes effect when the pilot is hand-flying the aircraft with the autopilot disengaged.
It also includes Underspeed Protection (USP), which is a flight director function that reacts to under speed conditions in a way that allows the autopilot to remain engaged but prevents the airplane from stalling; Automatic Level Mode, which returns the aircraft to a wings level attitude with zero vertical speed; and more.