Every pilot wants more useful load, and Piper provides 242 more pounds of it in its new Piper Meridian single-engine turboprop, thanks to an increase in maximum takeoff weight. And the company also switched to the new Meggitt Magic 1500 autopilot that offers the performance and features a pilot expects in a turbine airplane.
When Piper introduced the Meridian in 2001 it had a 4,850 pound maximum takeoff weight, which was capped at that level by the FAA requirement that single-engine airplanes stall at 61 knots or less at maximum certified weight. With more than 1,000 shaft horsepower available from the Pratt & Whitney PT6A-42A engine, power to lift more weight was never a question. The Meridian wing and other primary structure also had the heft to carry extra weight. But the stall speed rule was limiting what the Meridian could carry.
