Piper Aircraft

Piper Aircraft, Inc. is a general aviation aircraft manufacturer located at the Vero Beach Regional Airport in Vero Beach, Florida, United States, owned by the Government of Brunei since 2009. For most of the mid to late 20th century, it was considered one of the "Big Three" in general aviation manufacturing, along with Beechcraft and Cessna.

Since its founding in 1927 until the end of 2009, the company has produced 144,000 aircraft in 160 certified models, 90,000 of which are still flying.

Company history

The company was founded as Taylor Brothers Aircraft Manufacturing Company in September 1927 by brothers Clarence G. Taylor and Gordon A. Taylor in Rochester, New York. The company's name was changed to Taylor Brothers Aircraft Corporation in April 1928, shortly before Gordon Taylor died in an airplane accident on April 24, 1928, flying one of the brothers' designs, the Taylor Chummy. The company was tempted to move to Bradford, Pennsylvania, with the promise of a larger facility and investment capital from local entrepreneurs, including an initial investment of $400 from local petroleum engineer William T. Piper. The move was completed in September 1929.

At the end of 1930, the company declared bankruptcy, and William T. Piper bought its assets for $761. Reorganized as Taylor Aircraft Company, Piper effectively took control of the company, taking over as secretary-treasurer of the corporation, although he left C. G. Taylor as president. Piper, often referred to as the "Henry Ford of aviation," firmly believed that a simple-to-operate, low-cost private aircraft would flourish even in the darkest depths of the Great Depression. That aircraft was the E-2 Cub.

In December 1935, after a series of clashes, William Piper bought out C. G. Taylor, who left the company and founded the Taylor Aircraft Company. On March 16, 1937, a fire destroyed the Bradford Piper factory and the company was moved to an abandoned silk factory in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania. In 1937, the name was changed to Piper Aircraft Corporation.

Piper continued operations at Lock Haven throughout World War II, building military versions of its J-3 Cub as the L-4 Grasshopper. During the war, the company built a total of 5941 powered aircraft for the U.S. armed forces, as well as training gliders and aircraft components for other manufacturers, but its main contribution to the war effort was the production of steel for radar antenna mounting masts. In 1946, the company opened a new factory in Ponca City, Oklahoma, and moved Cuba production from Lock Haven. That same year, Piper led the U.S. industry in light aircraft production. Nearly 7,800 of the 35,000 civilian aircraft built in the United States that year were Pipers, but a strike led to a shortage of steel tubes, interrupting production, and 1,900 workers had to be suspended as a result.

The following year, the post-war boom of general aviation came to an end. This led to the company's collapse. Piper's production reached 3,500 aircraft, less than half of its total 1946 output, and the company suffered operating losses of more than $560,000. The board of directors replaced William Piper with William Shriver, a former Chrysler executive. Under Shriver, the product line was expanded with the introduction of the PA-14 and PA-15 Vagabond family of cruisers. Piper introduced the Taxicub light charter concept at 1,500 dealers and 52 distributors. In 1948, after laying off two-thirds of its workforce, Piper lost only $75,000, but no longer became the leader in the shrinking market, giving way to Cessna, which alone delivered only 1,600 aircraft; the Ponca City plant closed. At the end of 1948, Piper bought the Stinson Aircraft Company for $3 million, and Shriver left the company.

The outbreak of the Korean War in 1950 helped spur production at Piper, which again won large orders for military versions of the Cuba. That same year, William Piper regained control of the company and a decision was made to develop a twin-engine aircraft. The company initially considered producing the Baumann Brigadier, but later decided to develop the Stinson design, which became the PA-23 Apache. During business planning after the war, it became clear that the Lock Haven facility would not be able to support a larger production effort, so in 1955 it acquired the rights to property at the Vero Beach Municipal Airport. Initially, Vero Beach served as a center for design work under the direction of Fred Weick, with the first aircraft developed there being Piper's first agricultural aircraft, the PA-25 Pawnee, announced in 1958 and put into production the following year at Lock Haven.

In 1960, the Piper aircraft line consisted of agricultural and two-seat variants of the Super Cub, Caribbean, Colt and Tri-Pacer, two versions of the PA-24 Comanche, Pawnee, Apache and its new, larger derivative Aztek. The following year, the PA-28 Cherokee was the first type to enter production at the new Vero Beach plant. The Cherokee replaced the Tri-Pacer and Colt, whose production ended in 1961 and 1964, respectively. By the end of the decade, Vero Beach was building 7,000 Cherokee per year.

In 1963, Piper assisted Betty Miller in her successful attempt to become the first woman pilot to fly solo across the Pacific, during which she delivered a twin-engine Piper aircraft from Oakland, California, USA, to Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

In September 1964, Piper first flew the prototype of its new PA-31 Navajo cabin-class twin, after two and a half years of development work.

In 1969, the Piper family agreed to sell Piper Aircraft to the Bangor Punta Corporation, sparking 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 finalized. The Lock Haven facility was nearly destroyed in 1972, when heavy rains caused by Hurricane Agnes in June caused the Susquehanna River to overflow. The manufacturing facility was flooded to a depth of 16 feet (4.9 m), effectively destroying about 100 aircraft and causing an estimated $23 million in damage. Much of the tooling necessary for the production of several designs, including the Aztec, Navajo and Comanche, was also destroyed, and the Piper PA-31T Cheyenne program suffered a setback when a prototype was damaged shortly after the Federal Aviation Administration granted it type certification. The first deliveries of the new PA-31-350 Chieftain were also delayed by several months. After the flood , Piper handed over 32 written-off PA-28, PA-31 and PA-23 Aztecs to NASA, which used them for crash tests at the Langley Research Center, using a platform originally built to simulate spacecraft landings on the Moon. 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 by the 1970s the Piper PA-31 Navajo, Chieftain and Cheyenne III were being produced in a facility of more than 710,000 square feet (66,000 m2) at the Lakeland Municipal Airport.

Piper opened the airline's T1000 branch in Lakeland, Florida, in May 1981, employing 20 people. Employment at both of Piper's Lakeland branches peaked at 2,200 later that year. Piper PA-42 Cheyenne IV and Piper T-1020/Piper T-1040 aircraft were manufactured at Lakeland at the time, and Piper also maintained a fully equipped research and development center at Lakeland, including the "X" store where the Piper PA-48 Enforcer was developed. The airline division provided aircraft for commuter airlines in the United States, including Air New Orleans, Desert Sun in Long Beach, Shasta Air and Sun West Airlines, and internationally for Vickers for corporate transportation use in the United Kingdom, Cameroon Avia Services and for Piper's distributor in Colombia, Aero Leaver.[31] In 1984, Piper changed ownership when parent company Bangor Punta was acquired by Lear Siegler,[32] which in turn was acquired by Forstmann Little in 1986.[33] Forstmann Little then sold Piper to M. Stuart Millar in 1987.

Light aircraft production suffered in the mid-1980s, when rising product liability insurance premiums made it difficult for Piper and other U.S. light aircraft manufacturers to operate financially. In an effort to improve sales, Piper cut prices on its aircraft, making the company unprofitable. In 1991, the Lakeland, Florida plant was sold and closed, and by July of that year the number of employees had shrunk to 45; with only $1,000 in available cash, Piper filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after a proposed takeover by rival French manufacturer Socata failed to resolve product liability issues. Production of the flagship Cheyenne 400 ended in February 1993, and only 43 units had been built since its inception a decade earlier. In 1995, the company emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy and was renamed New Piper Aircraft. Under the expiration of bankruptcy protection, the company was sold to Newco Pac Inc. owned by Piper's creditors (including its main 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 shares.

In July 2006, a partnership was announced with Honda to launch the new HA-420 HondaJet aircraft. The following month, the company removed "New" from its name and reverted to Piper Aircraft.

In response to the recession that occurred at the end of the first decade of the 21st century, the company announced in November 2008 that it was shortening its work week to save money and avoid layoffs. Piper is party to an agreement with the state of Florida under which the company will benefit from $32 million in incentives in exchange for increasing its workforce to 1,400 people and building PiperJet in the state.

In December 2008, the company announced that it would defer a $10 million incentive that required the hiring of 400 new employees by 2012 for the PiperJet project and the retention of 1,417 employees through 2015. The company said the move was precautionary. Piper spokesman Mark Miller said: "While this year has been a good one for Piper, we have taken steps to keep the company strong and survive any future adversity.

In February 2009, the company announced that it was laying off an additional 300 employees without notice, and that the remaining 650 employees would be given unpaid vacation weeks in April and July to reduce unsold inventory. Piper spokesman Mark Miller said the company regrets the pain caused by the layoffs and indicated that employees would be rehired when the economy improves. He also said: "Even the eager buyers we have are finding it extremely difficult to obtain financing...We cannot maintain a full workforce at this time when people are not buying planes...If market conditions continue to deteriorate the company may need to take additional action." On February 24, 2009, the company announced that it would add two weeks of unpaid temporary leave to its employees in May and June, bringing the total to four weeks in 2009, citing the need to reduce inventory and cut expenses. In June 2010, the company announced it would shut down operations for another week in August to save money. The layoffs affected all employees except PiperJet employees and some of the company's key business positions.

On May 1, 2009. American Capital Strategies sold its Singapore-based investment strategy firm Imprimis for a $31 million gain on the sale. Imprimis is funded by the Brunei government and has offices in Bangkok, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam.

In June 2009. James Bass, Piper Aircraft's CEO since 2005, announced that he would step down that same month. He was succeeded by Vice President of Operations Kevin Gould. During his four years at Piper, Bass oversaw the development of the PiperJet, Meridian G1000 and 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 plant in Vero Beach, Florida.

On November 2, 2009. Company CEO John Becker announced his resignation effective December 1, 2009. "in order to pursue other career opportunities." Becker was replaced as chairman by CEO Kevin Gould.

On January 4, 2010, the company announced thatBoeing subsidiary Aviall will be the sole global distributor of Piper parts.

In July 2010. CEO Kevin Gould resigned for unspecified reasons after serving in the position for just over a year. Gould was replaced on an interim basis by Geoffrey Berger, managing director of Imprimus in Brunei, on behalf of the Brunei government. Also in July 2010, longtime Piper spokesman Mark Miller left the company.

In September 2010, Piper announced the layoff of an additional 60 production workers. Piper's interim CEO, Geoffrey Berger, stated: "Piper continues to face the challenge of overall market weakness." The company hired 140 employees for the PiperJet program in 2009-2010.

Piper began renovation of the 75,000-square-foot (7,000 m2) factory in Vero Beach in October 2010, with completion expected in 2011. The facility was to be used to build PiperJet.

On October 17, 2011. The company announced that 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." Just a week later, on October 24, 2011, Piper Aircraft announced that it had "indefinitely suspended" all work on the Altaire project and would lay off 150 of its 850 employees and 55 contract employees in connection with the cancellation of the program.

In December 2011. Piper announced that it was attempting to renegotiate a 2008 agreement it had made with the state of Florida and Indian River County for incentives. The company failed to meet its contractual terms to hire 1,100 people by the end of 2009; instead, employment dropped to 600, resulting in a $1.5 million debt. Piper is seeking debt relief. Also in December, Piper passed directly into the hands of the Brunei government.

In July 2015, the company announced that it was laying off 15-20% of its workforce, or about 150 people, due to declining sales in global markets, particularly in Asia, Latin America and Europe.

In February 2018, Piper announced the largest order for trainer aircraft in the company's history. Fanmei Aviation Technologies, Piper's exclusive distributor in China, placed the order for 152 aircraft. Deliveries will be made over a seven-year period.

In April 2019, an even larger order was announced: L3 Commercial Aviation will take delivery of up to 240 new aircraft over the next 10 years. The order will consist of single-engine Piper Archers and twin-engine Piper Seminole aircraft.

In March 2021, CEO Simon Caldecott announced his retirement in April 2021. Chief Financial Officer John Calcagno took over as president and CEO in April 2021.

In February 2024, Piper launched the all-new M700 Fury aircraft. The aircraft had been secretly under development for the past two years and came as a pleasant surprise to the aviation community.

In October 2024, the Piper M700 FURY, a single-engine high-performance aircraft manufactured by Piper Aircraft, received type certification from several aviation authorities: The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), Brazil's Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil (ANAC) and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) of Australia. The certification includes approvals for flying in known icing conditions and for operation on unpaved surfaces, enhancing the M700 FURY's operational versatility. Deliveries to customers in Europe, Brazil and Australia will begin at the end of October 2024, following the key certification.

Source; WIKIPEDIA
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piper_Aircraft
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