That's about 950 nm direct. If you can do this flight without a fuel stop, you're putting the best light on the Meridian preformance.

in the meridian it took 4 1/2 hrs with a fuel stop in georgia ( bladder stop was ness as the plane's owner was 68 yrs, but plane wouldn't do non stop anyway) bonanza does it it 6 + (flightaware n7bw) with a fuel stop in GA if you could go non-stop it would take about the same time, the meridian had to climb to FL280 for best fuel economy under about 250 it burnt 315pph and only did about 240kts,,at 145knts,1,500fpm, and was speed restricted at 186kts ind so the decent had to be timed, altho it will do 2-3,000fpm descents but you want to get as high as possible as fast as possible and stay there as long as possible for the fuel burn, i did make it non stop from MTH to THV one day with a good se tail wind and it was late at night so Wash Center left me up above FL220) over Washington or we would not have done it,,,sooo with the 2 climbs and 2 decents verses 6,000ft in the bonanza the times almost equal's out,(that's what i'm telling myself anyway just so i don't cry any more) but those trips from PA to JFK were a lot faster in the meridian !!

$20k annuals were the norm for the JetProp I was partners in.

The Piper Malibu/Meridian airframe requires lots of maintenance ... from the hydraulic gear, heated windshield, windows, airstair door.

Flying at FL250 is not "all that" for me ... I like to see the countryside and enjoy the flight most when I'm down at 3000 and below. Cruising at 6k and 7k is just fine.

With the turbine, there is no choice, fly high or the fuel just goes too quickly.

Of course, if I lived in the Western USA, a turbo or turbine for high altitude would become almost mandatory.

Useful load may be limited but NEVER because of a lack of power ... the JetProp will hop off the ground and climb like you've got a tiger by the tail no mater what you put in it.

I have never missed it for a minute ... love owning the B58.

Mike

Did you notice it had 360 + cycles. Lots of short trips. And one of those 850's has DH
I can't remember which one

Maybe it was a demo plane.

Most wealthy people I know worked hard to accumulate their money. While they can afford to buy the most expensive toys they despise throwing money away due to excessive maintenance and operating cost.

Agreed Rick.

All this talk me still has me thinking the PC-12 is the most bang for the buck plane out there. Yes, it's more expensive to acquire but you get so much more with the acquisition..

And, it won't cost any more to operate than a Meridien. The PC12 burns 10 more gallons per hour than the Meridien.

we have those PC12's and TBM 850's coming to our airport all the time. The PC12 is huge but what's with that tail it looks out of proportion with the rest of the plane? How's the cross wind handling of that plane?

Russ

I think it looks great. Never thought it looked out of proportion and "bigger is better".

The massive size of the PC12 would be one of the downsides for me because it's such a hassle to find a place to put it. I'm still thinking King Air 90B ... now I just need a million bucks.

Plus $200,000.00/yr. to operate it.

It's not a hassle to find room for a KA90 but it is a hassle to find room for a PC12?

Plus $200,000.00/yr. to operate it.

King Air 90B
35 ft 6" length
14 ft 3" height
50 ft 3" wingspan

Pilatus PC12
47 ft 3" length
14 ft height
53 ft 3" wingspan

I'm surprised that the King Air 90B actually has a larger wingspan than the Pilatus PC12 ... the Pilatus is however much longer. I guess the truth is, they are both much larger than a Baron.

I always disliked the long wings on the Malibu but at 43 ft, it's a little smaller than the PC12 or the King Air. There is a point at which the airplane becomes too big or complex and then to me, it stops being fun. The JetProp Malibu had a good dose of that. The combination of entering through the air stair door ... flying at 23,000 feet, long wings and stiff handling with very little seat of the pants feel, poor unimproved runway ability all led me to the Baron instead.

The grass is always greener certainly applies to airplanes ... I try to remind myself to love my own airplane and stop drooling over something else.

Mike,

Maybe you made a mistake in the above figures, and I did not research it myself. At Sun-N-Fun, the PC-12 was diagonally across from the TBM 850, and I was amazed at how much larger the PC-12 was.