After more than two years, Piper Aircraft has officially resumed tours of the manufacturing facilities at its headquarters in Vero Beach, Florida. The company postponed public tours in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Piper has been building aircraft at Vero Beach since the late 1950s and currently produces nine models at the location including the M600/SLS, M500, M350, Seminole, Archer family and Pilot 100i.
“It’s rare for a production facility like ours to open their doors to the public, but as one of the largest employers in Indian River County, we believe it’s important for our community to see what we do here each day,” said Ron Gunnarson, Piper vice president of sales, marketing, and customer support. “With over 85 years of stellar manufacturing experience, we hope our community will take the opportunity to see what we offer not only locally, but to the aviation industry at large.”
Piper is offering factory tours on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. local time. The visit, which last about two hours, is complimentary and open to people ages 16 and older. According to Piper, the tours provide an “in-depth look at their advanced production line” along with a stop at the on-site Piper Pilot Shop.
Did the Piper factory tour some time in the 90’s when visiting from OZ,, it was absolutely brilliant. Well done Piper crew.
Did the tour in 2018. As a Cherokee owner it was very interesting to learn more company history and see how Piper aircraft are manufactured. I did a short write up on my Cherokee blog https://n98297.blogspot.com/2018/05/piper-factory-vero-beach.html.
Very cool. It would do a pilot well to see how aircraft are built. A little knowledge about the nuts and bolts of aircraft construction can give you a little more confidence in the plane that you fly.