Aircraft
Piper plans new construction technique for personal jet
Piper Aircraft is patenting a new metal-bonding technique that will be key to the manufacture of the all-aluminum, $2.2 million PiperJet.

Piper Aircraft is patenting a new metal-bonding technique that will be key to the manufacture of the all-aluminum, $2.2 million PiperJet. According to Piper president and CEO James Bass, the intent is to eliminate the use of rivets altogether in the production wing and limit the number of rivets used in the main structure for the single-engine jet. Piper is also patenting a nondestructive testing system for its bonded structures.

Bass, who comes from a mechanical engineering background, told AIN last month that the bonding technique will allow for “lower labor costs and higher quality,” not to mention an aerodynamically clean natural-laminar-flow wing. He believes that “bonding technology has advanced” to the point that it is technically and economically feasible to incorporate into Piper’s largest airplane.