Piper Aircraft: История и современность производителя самолетов из Брунея.

Bruneian owned aircraft manufacturer located in the United States

Piper Aircraft, Inc. is a manufacturer of general aviation aircraft, located at the Vero Beach Regional Airport in Vero Beach, Florida, United States and owned since 2009 by the Government of Brunei. Throughout much of the mid to late 20th century, it was considered to be one of the "Big Three" in the field of general aviation manufacturing, along with Beechcraft and Cessna. Between its founding in 1927 and the end of 2009, the company produced 144,000 aircraft in 160 certified models, of which 90,000 are still flying.

The company was founded as the Taylor Brothers Aircraft Manufacturing Company in September 1927 by brothers Clarence G. Taylor and Gordon A. Taylor in Rochester, New York. The company was renamed Taylor Brothers Aircraft Corporation in April 1928, shortly before Gordon Taylor died in an aircraft accident on April 24, 1928. The company was enticed to move to Bradford, Pennsylvania, with the promise of a larger facility and investment capital from local businessmen, including an initial investment of $400 from local oil industry engineer William T. Piper. The move was completed in September 1929.

In late 1930, the company filed for bankruptcy and William T. Piper purchased the assets of the company for $761. This aircraft was the E 2 Cub.

Piper continued operations in Lock Haven throughout World War II, building military versions of its J 3 Cub as the L 4 Grasshopper. A total of 5,941 powered aircraft were built by the company for the US armed forces during the war, as well as training gliders, and aircraft components for other manufacturers, but its main contribution to the war effort was in the fabrication of steel masts for mounting radar antennas. In 1946, the company opened a new factory in Ponca City, Oklahoma, and transferred production of the Cub from Lock Haven. That year, Piper led the American industry in light aircraft production. Almost 7,800 of the 35,000 civil aircraft built in the United States that year were Pipers, but a strike led to a shortage of steel tubing, interrupting production, and 1,900 workers had to be suspended as a result. The following year, the postwar general aviation boom ended. This led to a downfall for the company. Piper's output reached 3,500 aircraft, less than half its 1946 total, and the company suffered an operating loss of more than $560,000. The board of directors replaced William Piper with William Shriver, a former Chrysler executive. In 1948, with two thirds of its workforce laid off, Piper only lost $75,000, but it found itself no longer the leader in a shrinking market, falling behind Cessna, which itself only delivered 1,600 aircraft; the Ponca City factory was closed.

The outbreak of the Korean War in 1950 helped to stimulate production at Piper, which again won large orders for military versions of the Cub.

In 1960, the line of Piper aircraft consisted of agricultural and two passenger variants of the Super Cub, the Caribbean, Colt and Tri Pacer, two versions of the PA 24 Comanche, the Pawnee, the Apache and its new larger derivative the Aztec. The following year, the PA 28 Cherokee was the first type to enter production at the new Vero Beach factory. The Cherokee replaced the Tri Pacer and Colt, which ended their production runs in 1961 and 1964 respectively. In 1963, Piper supported Betty Miller's successful attempt to be the first female pilot to fly solo across the Pacific Ocean, during which she delivered a twin engine Piper aircraft from Oakland, California, USA to Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In September 1964, Piper flew the prototype of its new PA 31 Navajo cabin class twin for the first time, after two and a half years of development. In 1969, the Piper family agreed to sell Piper Aircraft to the Bangor Punta Corporation, which started an eight year court battle with the losing bidder, Chris Craft Industries, culminating in a Supreme Court decision in 1977.

Piper discussed a merger with Swearingen but the deal was not completed. The Lock Haven facility was nearly destroyed in 1972 when torrential rains from Hurricane Agnes caused the Susquehanna River to flood in June. The manufacturing plant was flooded to a depth of 16 feet (5 m), effectively destroying about 100 aircraft and causing an estimated $23 million in damage. Much of the tooling necessary for production of several designs, including the Aztec, Navajo, and Comanche, was also destroyed, and the Piper PA 31T Cheyenne program received a setback when the prototype was damaged just after the Federal Aviation Administration awarded it Type Certification. Initial deliveries of the new PA 31 350 Chieftain were also delayed by several months. After the flood, Piper gave 32 written off PA 28s, PA 31s and PA 23 Aztecs to NASA, which used them for crash tests at the Langley Research Center, using a rig originally built to simulate spacecraft landings on the moon for the Apollo program. As a result of the flood, and market factors, the company decided to end production of the Comanche and Twin Comanche. Piper opened a manufacturing division in Lakeland, Florida, in 1972 and through the 1970s, the Piper PA 31 Navajo, Chieftain, and Cheyenne III were manufactured at the more than facility on the Lakeland municipal airport. In 1984, Piper changed hands when parent company Bangor Punta was acquired by Lear Siegler which, in turn, was acquired by Forstmann Little in 1986. Forstmann Little then sold Piper to M. Stuart Millar in 1987. Manufacture of light aircraft was impacted in the mid 1980s when increasing product liability insurance premiums made operation financially difficult for Piper and other American manufacturers of light aircraft. In a bid to improve sales, Piper cut prices for its aircraft and the company became unprofitable. In 1991 the Lakeland, Florida factory was sold and closed and by July that year the workforce had shrunk to 45; with only $1,000 in available cash remaining, Piper filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after a proposed takeover by competing French manufacturer Socata failed over the issue of product liability. Production of the flagship Cheyenne 400 ended in February 1993 with only 43 being built since its inception a decade earlier. In 1995, the company emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy and was renamed New Piper Aircraft. As part of the end of bankruptcy protection, the company was sold to Newco Pac Inc., itself owned by Piper's creditors (including major creditor, aircraft engine manufacturer Teledyne Continental Motors) and a Philadelphia based investment firm.

In July 2003, American Capital Strategies, Ltd. bought 94% of Piper's voting equity. In July 2006, a partnership with Honda was announced to market the new HA 420 HondaJet. The following month, the firm dropped the "New" from its name, reverting to Piper Aircraft. In response to the late 2000s recession, the company announced in November 2008 that it was reducing its work week to save money while avoiding lay offs. Piper is party to an agreement with the state of Florida that will see the company benefit from $32 million in incentives in exchange for increasing its work force to 1400 people and building the PiperJet in the state. In December 2008, the company announced it would defer the $10 million incentive that required hiring 400 new workers by 2012 for the PiperJet project and retain 1,417 employees through 2015. The company stated the move was precautionary. Piper spokesman Mark Miller said: "While this year has been a good one for Piper, we have taken measures to keep the company healthy and to weather any future adversity." In February 2009, the company announced it was laying off an additional 300 workers without notice immediately and the 650 remaining workers would be given unpaid weeks off in April and July to reduce unsold inventory. Piper spokesman Mark Miller stated company regretted the pain caused by the layoffs and indicated the employees would be rehired when the economy improves. He also said: "Even the willing buyers that we have find it incredibly difficult to get financing We can't keep a full workforce on at this point when people aren't buying planes If market conditions continue to deteriorate, it may be necessary for the company to take additional actions". On 24 February 2009, the company announced it would add two more weeks of unpaid furlough for its employees in May and June, bringing the total to four weeks in 2009, citing a need to reduce inventory and cut expenses. In June 2010, the company announced it would shut down for a further week in August to save money. The lay off affected all workers except those on the PiperJet program and some critical company business functions. On 1 May 2009, American Capital Strategies sold the company to Singapore based investment strategy company Imprimis, making a profit of US$31 million on the sale. Imprimis is funded by the Government of Brunei and has offices in Bangkok, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam. In June 2009, James Bass, CEO of Piper Aircraft since 2005, announced he would step down effective that same month. He was succeeded by VP of operations Kevin Gould. During his four years at Piper, Bass oversaw development of the PiperJet, the Meridian G1000 and the Matrix, and negotiated a new business partnership with Honda. He also negotiated $32 million in incentives from the state and county that retained Piper's factory in Vero Beach, Florida. On 2 November 2009, company president John Becker announced his resignation effective 1 December 2009 "to pursue other career opportunities". Becker was replaced as president by CEO Kevin Gould.

On 4 January 2010, the company announced Boeing subsidiary Aviall would act as Piper's sole global parts distributor. In September 2010, Piper announced the lay off of an additional 60 production workers. Piper's interim CEO Geoffrey Berger stated: "Piper remains challenged by overall market weakness". The company hired 140 workers for the PiperJet program in 2009–10. Piper started renovation of a factory in Vero Beach in October 2010, with a completion goal of 2011. The facility was intended to be used to build the PiperJet. On 17 October 2011, the company announced Simon Caldecott had replaced Geoff Berger as interim CEO. At the same time, executive vice president Randy Groom also resigned from the company and it was announced that the Piper Altaire program was "under review". Only one week later, on 24 October 2011, Piper Aircraft announced it had "indefinitely suspended" all work on the Altaire project and would be laying off 150 of its 850 employees, plus 55 contract workers, due to the program's cancellation. In December 2011, Piper announced it was attempting to renegotiate the 2008 deal it had made with the state of Florida and Indian River County for incentives. The company did not meet its contractual requirements to employ 1,100 people by the end of 2009; instead, employment fell to 600, and as a result, the company owed US$1.5 million. Piper is looking for forgiveness of the debt. Also in December, Piper came under the direct ownership of the government of Brunei. In July 2015 the company announced it was laying off 15 20% of its workers, about 150 people, as sales were faltering amongst world markets, especially Asia, Latin America and Europe. In February 2018, Piper announced the largest order of trainer aircraft in the company's history. Fanmei Aviation Technologies, which is Piper's exclusive dealer in China, placed an order for 152 aircraft. The deliveries will take place over a period of seven years. In April 2019 an even bigger order was announced: L3 Commercial Aviation will take delivery up to 240 new aircraft over the next 10 years. The order will consist of single engine Piper Archers and twin engine Piper Seminoles.

In March 2021, CEO Simon Caldecott announced that he would retire in April 2021. CFO John Calcagno assumed the role of president and CEO in April 2021.

Piper's J 3 Cub, a single engine, high wing, two seater, was the first inexpensive training aircraft produced in large numbers. Many former military examples were sold to civilian owners over the 1950 1995 period and seem certain to see many more years in recreational use. The PA 28 Cherokee has been one of the company's most successful products. Both this design and the twin engined PA 34 Seneca are used for pilot training around the world. The PA 23 Apache was one of the first aircraft associated with the term "air taxi", although it was superseded in that role by faster and more spacious designs from competitors Beechcraft and Cessna. Beginning production in 1965, the PA 32 series provided six or seven seat, single engine designs based on the smaller Cherokee. Variously named Cherokee Six, Lance, and Saratoga, these were available as both fixed and retractable gear models and also with normally aspirated, fuel injected, and turbocharged engines. The PA 32s proved popular with private owners, air taxi, and freight companies. Production of the Saratoga II HPs and Saratoga TCs ended in 2009. On 21 January 2010 the company announced it had licensed the CZAW SportCruiser and intended to market it as the PiperSport. Piper CEO Kevin Gould said, "The PiperSport is an amazing entry level aircraft that will bring new customers into Piper and lead the way for those customers to step up into more sophisticated and higher performance aircraft within our line over time." In January 2011, the licensing agreement with Piper was abruptly ended with Piper CEO Geoffrey Berger saying "the company has a different business perspective and approach to the market than Czech Sport Aircraft".

Model name First flight Number built TypeJ 2 Cub19361,207Single engined high wing cabin monoplaneJ 3 Cub193819,888Single engined high wing cabin monoplaneJ 4 Cub Coupe19391,252Single engined high wing cabin monoplaneJ 5 Cub Cruiser19401,507Single engined high wing cabin monoplaneP 1 Applegate Duck19401AmphibianP 2 Cub19411Single engined high wing cabin monoplaneP 30Single engined high wing cabin monoplaneP 4 Cub19411Single engined high wing cabin monoplaneP 519441Single engined high wing cabin monoplane, also known as J 3XPT 1 Trainer19421Two seats in tandem, low wing monoplanePWA 1 Skycoupe19431Two seat low wing twin boom monoplane, later became PA 7PWA 8 Cub Cycle19441Single seat, mid wing single engine monoplaneLBP19453Single seat, optionally piloted glider bombPA 6 Sky Sedan 19452Four seat, low wing retractable gear monoplanePA 7 Skycoupe 19441Two seat low wing twin boom monoplane, was PWA 1,PA 8 Skycycle19452Single seat, mid wing single engine monoplanePA 90Single engined high wing observation and liaison designPA 100Single engined low wing side by side two seater designPA 11 Cub Special19471,541Single engined high wing cabin monoplanePA 12 Super Cruiser19463,759Single engined high wing cabin monoplanePA 13 Designation not usedPA 14 Family Cruiser1948239Single engined high wing cabin monoplanePA 15 Vagabond1948388Side by side two seat high wing monoplanePA 16 Clipper1949737Four seat version of the PA 15PA 17 Vagabond1948214Dual control variant of the PA 15PA 18 Super Cub195010,326Single engined high wing cabin monoplanePA 19 Super Cub19493Initial designation for military version of the PA 18, reverted to PA 18 designation after three builtPA 20 Pacer19501,121Re designed PA 16PA 210Proposed production version of the Baumann BrigadierPA 22 Tri Pacer19519,490Updated version of the PA 20 with nose wheelPA 23 Apache19542,047Twin engined low wing cabin monoplanePA 24 Comanche19584,717Single engine four seat low wing cabin monoplanePA 24 400 Comanche1964148Re engined PA 24 developmentPA 25 Pawnee19595,167Single engined agricultural monoplanePA 260Proposed higher power version of the PA 24PA 27 Aztec19604,930Improved version of the PA 23, kept PA 23 designationPA 28 Cherokee196110,896Single engined low wing cabin monoplanePA 28 140 Cherokee196410,089Two seat training variantPA 28 Warrior19744,842Improved PA 28PA 28 235 Cherokee/Dakota19642,913Higher power PA 28PA 28R Arrow19676,694Retractable landing gear variant of the PA 28PA 28R 300 Pillán19822Two seat military trainer designed for ENAER of ChilePA 29 Papoose19621Small trainer of fiberglass constructionPA 30 Twin Comanche19632,001Four seat twin engined low wing cabin monoplanePA 31 Navajo19671,785Eight seat twin engined low wing cabin monoplanePA 31 350 Chieftain19731,825Stretched NavajoPA 31P Pressurized Navajo1970309Pressurized version of Navajo with more powerful enginesPA 31P 350 Mojave1983~50Lower power successor to Pressurized Navajo, piston engine Cheyenne/Chieftain hybridPA 31T Cheyenne1974847Turboprop powered derivative of Pressurized NavajoPA 32 Cherokee Six19664,373Six seat Cherokee derivative with wider cabinPA 32R Lance/Saratoga19762,721Retractable landing gear variant of the PA 32PA 33 Comanche19661Pressurized ComanchePA 34 Seneca19725,000+Twin engine derivative of PA 32RPA 35 Pocono19681Twin engined pressurized commuter airlinerPA 36 Pawnee Brave1973938Single engined agricultural monoplanePA 370Proposed twin engined PA 33PA 38 Tomahawk19782,519Two seat basic trainerPA 39 Twin Comanche C/R 1970155Improved PA 30 with counter rotating propellersPA 40 Arapaho19733PA 39 replacementPA 41P19741Pressurized AztecPiper PA 42 Cheyenne1980175T tail derivative of PA 31T CheyennePA 430Proposed piston engined PA 42PA 44 Seminole1979469Twin engined derivative of PA 28RPA 450Proposed six seat T tailed aircraft familyPA 46 Malibu/Malibu Mirage19831,250Six seat pressurized single; production of 310P and 350P from 1983 thru 2014PA 46 Matrix2008215Six seat non pressurized version of the PA 46 Malibu; introduced as a 2008 modelPA 47 Piperjet20081 seating for 6 or 7 based on configurationPA 48 Enforcer19714 Single seat counter insurgency aircraft based on the Cavalier Mustang/North American P 51 MustangPA 490Proposed single engine turobprop variant of the AltairePA 50 Freedom Family0Four seat personal/trainer aircraft to replace the CherokeePA 60 Aerostar19671,010Six seat pressurized twin, Piper purchased the design from Ted R. SmithPiperSport201085Two seat light sport aircraft marketed by Piper between January 2010 and January 2011. It was produced by Czech Sport Aircraft and previously known as the SportCruiserPiper M350201569Six seat pressurized piston single; formerly named Malibu Mirage; only M350 production listedPiper M500/Malibu Meridian2000624Six seat pressurized turboprop single; formerly named Mailbu Meridian; M500 and Meridian production listedPiper M600201657Six seat pressurized turboprop single Model name First flight Number built Type