The PiperSport made its debut at the Light Sport Aircraft show in Sebring, Florida on Thursday, and the news has the industry buzzing louder than the little two-placer’s Rotax 912 engine (which can run on 100LL or unleaded auto fuel). With Cessna enjoying a fat order book for its Light Sport trainer, the SkyCatcher, Piper has jumped in with its own pony at the entry-level end of the market.
The PiperSport is a Czech design that is already approved as an LSA trainer. The all-metal airplane is built under license by Czech Sport Aircraft and distributed by Piper’s master distributor PiperSport Distribution, Inc. First deliveries are expected in April. Specs include a 1,200-fpm climb rate, max cruise of 119 knots, 30-gallon fuel capacity (good for 600 nautical miles’ range) and 1,320-pound maximum gross weight (tops for the category) yielding 600 pounds of useful load. The PiperSport will come in three “trim levels” starting with the basic unit at $119,900, which includes a host of standard features including leather seats and a BRS ballistic recovery whole-airplane parachute system. For an extra $10,000 the PiperSport LT is set up as a trainer with a better stacked panel, including a digital engine-instrument display. The top-of-the-line LTD version adds the AP74/HS34 autopilot from avionics manufacturer Dynon (which, like many LSA avionics , is eligible for use in Experimental and Light Sport aircraft only). All PiperSport models include a Dynon primary flight display (PFD), a Garmin SL40 com; GTX 328 transponder and a GPS495 portable GPS, though that choice will likely be superseded when Garmin ceases production of that series in about a year. Also on the equipment list are a PS Engineering PM3000 intercom and an Ameriking emergency locator transmitter.
