Piper Aircraft has announced that certification on both the twin-engine Piper Seminole and single-engine Archer has been achieved and aircraft deliveries have begun.

The University Of North Dakota John D. Odegard School Of Aerospace Sciences is the launch customer for the next generation Piper trainers. UND and Piper Aircraft announced the awarded contract in April of 2016 for more than 100 trainer aircraft of which 12 aircraft have already been delivered.

The G1000 NXi incorporates innovative capabilities into a state-of-the-art avionics platform. The significantly upgraded system offers enhanced processing power that supports faster map rendering and smoother panning throughout the displays. Features such as wireless cockpit connectivity, including wireless database updates using Garmin Flight Stream 510, visual approaches, map overlay on the horizontal situation indicator (HSI), as well as improved ADS-B options are now all available in the next generation Archer and Seminole.

"The FAA certified Piper Archer and Seminole equipped with G1000 NXi provide a modernized flight display and offer significant performance enhancements to the avionic capabilities. This improvement along with the addition of the Lycoming fuel injected engine (IO-360-B4A) available in the Archer, make our primary trainers the most advanced piston training aircraft available on the market today," said President and CEO Simon Caldecott.