Pilot – June 2018

6 | Pilot June 2018 | pilotweb.aero

AERO Friedrichshafen
A photo-report from the
event, which introduced new
drone and sim exhibitions and
was dominated by elecric and
hybrid aircraft p.

CAA demands colour

From 14 May, any copy ID

documentation submitted

with an application will only

be accepted if in colour and

may require certifying p.

Exeter airspace rejected

The CAA says Exeter

Airport's airspace change

proposal is disproportionate

and not based on a safety

argument p.

MTO Sport is approved

AutoGyro MTO Sport is

the first Permit category

autogyro approved by the

CAA for day and night VFR

operation p.

Piper sales strong in Q1 2018

Piper Aircraft’s first quarter
2018 deliveries and revenue
continued the upward trend of
last year. The company delivered
34 aircraft in Q1 2018 vs 25 in
the same period of 2017, and
sales revenue grew more than
77% to $41,379,227 against
$23,383,514 during Q1 2017.
“The growth in revenue
reflects strong demand for
our M-class products with the
M600 sales expanding by more
than 100%,” Piper President
and Chief Executive Officer
Simon Caldecott said. “Our first
quarter performance is a strong
indicator of the demand for all
Piper products across the board
and continues the consistent
growth in sales that we began
to experience in 2016... It is
important to note that not only
did M-Class sales increase, but
deliveries of our trainer products
continued to grow as well. In the
first quarter of 2018 we delivered
nearly 16% more trainers than
we did in Q1 of 2017, which was
a combination of single-engine
Archers and Arrows and twin-
engine Seminoles.”

Pilot Notes

The latest news from the world of general aviation

Future deliveries will be

boosted by a contract signed

at Sun’n’Fun in April with ATP

Flight School for a second

100-aircraft order of Archer

TXs. ATP’s original Archer order,

placed in April 2013, included

an initial purchase of fifteen TXs,

with an option for 85 more. Over

the past five years it has exercised

that option, taking delivery of

Archers each year, and will reach

100 aircraft by October. This

latest order for Archer TXs will

bring ATP’s aircraft fleet to more

than 400.

From April Robin Aircraft has

doubled production of the

DR401 to 24 aircraft per year.

‘Demand for the DR401 has

increased steadily, pushing

lead times at the factory in

Darois to over twelve months,’

the company says. ‘With a full

order book to March 2019, (we

have) taken on more engineers

and craftsmen to meet the

demand.’ New colour scheme

options and interior design

enhancements have been

introduced. Elstree-based UK

Robin agent Mistral Aviation

will be exhibiting the DR

at AeroExpo UK at Wycombe

Air Park from 14-16 June.

mistralaviation.co.uk

Robin doubles DR401 production

ABOVE: Piper M

helped the company

achieve sales and

revenue growth