Herb, thanks for the insight. What determines the ‘turbulent air penetration speed’ for a Meridian? Model year? Weight? Other?

And when you do that Vmc cancellation, how far are you typically from your destination airport?

Best,

Tom

Thanks Herb for your input. Why did you move on from your Meridian, if I may ask?

Best,

Tom

Thanks Herb for your input. Why did you move on from your Meridian, if I may ask?

Best,

Tom

We were planning to go to a Premier as it fit the mission profile better and thought the Meridian would take a while to sell, but it sold right away. (December 5th) Then the 'rona hit and my partner who has a bunch of nightclubs decided it was better to wait it out to see what was going to happen. We've been using the Bonanza in the mean time. If all the clubs are closed, there isn't much need for an airplane. Once the election infection runs it's course, I'm hoping to start shopping again. Keep me in mind if you hear of anybody selling a nice one.
As for the five blade, I think it may have been a little quieter. I helped a guy out a few months ago who bought a 2015 and needed me to ride with him for a hundred hours for his insurance company to cover him. He had the five blade. I remember the four blade was about $7,500 for the seven year inspection and rebuild. The prop shop put new heaters on it that kept burning out and I rarely used the heat. The Meridian shop in KHUT said they had a lot of issues and changed them all out to the Hartzel brand, and we never had any more failures. 5 blade speeds were about 3-5 kts faster, but who knows if I am even comparing apples or oranges because those were two different planes. Both airplanes will come down faster than Bill Clinton's pants in an Arkansas trailer park, but you will rarely want to descend at the plane's capability. The 2011 had the normal pressurization controller, and on the 2015 you put the destination elevation in the MFD. Don't fall for it. Put your cruise cabin altitude in first, especially if you are departing a high altitude airport for a lower one. I was coming out of Vail in a M600 and the cabin started descending to Houston elevation instead of climbing to about 9,800' like I wanted. If you get one with that feature, you will need to tell the FMS that Houston is at 9,800' and at cruise altitude change it back to 50'. If you do it that way, you can have the cabin climb at 300-400 fpm all the way to altitude. If not, it will go the wrong way until it hits max diff, then the rest of the climb is at 700-800fpm.
Regards,
Herb

Thanks Herb for your input.

Re changing to the Hartzell, (I assume 5 blade) was the change from the MT?

Best,

Tom

I'm not sure what it had on before as this was on the 2015 that I just rode along with to help the guy get some hours. I think it came from the factory with a Hartzel 4 and before he bought it, the previous owner installed a Hartzel 5.

Thanks Herb; do you still do those Meridian ride-alongs?

Best,

Tom