Pratt & Whitney Canada drew the assignment to supply turboprop engines to Piper Aircraft Inc. for a new single-engine aircraft, the Piper M700 Fury. According to Piper, the six-passenger M700 will be its fastest single-engine aircraft it has yet built, with a maximum cruise speed higher than 345 mph. With a variety of digital flight-control capabilities, the M700 will have a range of 1,150 nautical miles(1,850 km / 1,150 miles) at its maximum cruise speed.
The new model for the increasingly important private-aviation sector is on track for U.S. certification by the end of the first quarter, with deliveries beginning after that. Approvals in other markets (Brazil, Canada, EU, and the U.K.) are expected later in 2024.
The 700-hp engine is apparently the justification for Piper to retag its PT6A series aircraft, and with a list prices of $4.1 million it claims the M700 is its “the first step towards a new generation of the M-Class family,” with improvements in performance, operational cost efficiencies, and overall value.
Piper did not project a production volume for the M700.
P&W Canada’s PT6A-52 engine is one of the series of turboprop power sources introduced in the late 1950s. The PT6A has been adopted for more than 100 aircraft models to date, including more than 3,100 individual engines for over 2,000 Piper aircraft.
"During our 55-year collaboration with Piper, we've had the privilege of powering some of the most successful single-engine turboprops in the industry," stated P&W Canada’s Anthony Rossi, vice president, Global Sales and Marketing at Pratt & Whitney Canada. "The M700 Fury is an evolutionary addition to the Piper line-up that includes the PT6A-42A-powered M500 and M600 programs."
