New Piper Aircraft has signed a contract with Scheme Designers, who will design the production paint scheme for the Malibu Meridian. The new paintwork has been applied to the third production prototype of the aircraft, N402MM, which took off in August. Larry Bardon, vp of sales and marketing, said: "The paint scheme is a vital aspect of Piper's marketing programme - creating a unique look and feel for the aircraft." Scheme designers specialise in aircraft paint designs. "The project was initiated in April this year. The high profile aircraft made it a very important design for us. It took 23 designs and hundreds of design iterations to arrive at the final scheme," said Craig Barnett, founder of the company. "We worked with New Piper's marketing department in defining and completing the job."