Originally published at: What Happened? Why Piper's Business Jet Failed
Piper’s ambitious bid to build a single-engine jet ended where it began — on the ground in Vero Beach.
The jet demand is buoyant … the problem was a weal design. Taking a single engine piston and slapping a Williams turbine on the tail along with an obviously weak landing gear design is not the way to woo customers. Nonetheless, there is a market and Piper could have done it — and still can