PIPER MERIDIAN

2001’Present

Plane & Pilot

Tuesday, November 30, 1999 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Edited By: Omar Filipović

Key Takeaways:

The New Piper Meridian is a single-engine turboprop aircraft, essentially a modified Malibu, powered by a 500-shp Pratt & Whitney PT6A-42A engine.
It compares favorably within its niche against larger turboprops and even smaller pure jets, despite being smaller than some competitors.
Despite initial challenges with poor payload numbers, a series of improvements and modifications have enabled the Meridian to maintain a strong market presence.

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The New Piper Meridian is for all intents and purposes a Malibu with a Pratt & Whitney 500-shp PT6A-42A up front. Though smaller that some of its competition, the Meridian compares favorably with the TMB 700 and PC 12. Within its niche, single engine turbines compare favorably with many smaller pure jets, and consequently new entries in the category are always being discussed. The Meridian suffered poor payload numbers in the beginning, but a string of improvements and modifications have allowed New Piper’s biggest single to remain strong in the market.