Worth every penny

[youtube]https://youtu.be/XP_--KthFMI[/youtube]

My 2012 Lycoming powered mirage ran fine LOP. I made my 1000nm commute 70% of the time. Was a great plane for me. Only reason I sold was for the fact that your still in the soup quite a bit of the time in the 20’s. Seemed I always needed another 2,000 feet to get into the sunshine. So I transitioned up to the Meridian, gave up my range, and found out that I still needed more altitude
I really liked the Mirage, and although I lost range, I really loved the Meridian. For the cost of ownership, it is really hard to beat the Meridian. Back to the OP, the entire PA-46 fleet are very nice planes. Don’t let the UL deter you.

I found that the difference between climbing to fl280 wasn’t that different from being at fl250 weather wise.

The Malibu is the ultimate personal airliner. My first flight in mine was about a 900 mile leg and we flew over a huge winter storm system doing 260kts over the ground. Really hard to beat that.

Misc question: How many hours at altitude does the O2 tank last?

Most probably if an owner. But for us dreamers?

Best,

Tom

For those who have run these birds over a period of time, what’s a fair number to allocate for realistic annual inspection and ongoing Mx costs (per hour or annual)?

I know there can be big swings in a year where the windshield may be due (my understanding is that those are a ~$30k item once every 10 yrs or so). I also understand that typically most cylinders will be replaced at least once prior to O/H.

So aside from cylinder work and windshields how much should one expect annual Mx to be?

How many people? I don’t know the specific answer, but generally these airplanes’ O2 systems are sized to supply someone in every seat for the time needed to descend from high altitude to 10,000 feet, plus some reserve or fudge factor.

The Malibu is pressurized.

Most probably if an owner. But for us dreamers?

Best,

Tom

Beechtalk is free and lots of information here as well.

I was weaving around buildups this Sunday going from KJGG to KFTW.
I have a 1988 w/ the 550 engine and radar pod.
Was burning about 16gph at FL220 on a +23C day.

I have at one time or another owned all the PA46's except the Malibu, which is a fine plane, but no longer produced. In the piston world, they are the ultimate piston aircraft that is still being produced. Your passengers really can't tell the difference sitting in the back from a Meridian/M500 or TBM, unless they know how to read the ASI and VSI. Quiet, comfortable and flies above most of the weather, making cross country flight so much less stressful. Someone mentioned personal airliner, and that is true. The range and payload in these aircraft is good, but if you do fill 5 or 6 seats, need to leave fuel behind. But at 7 hours of fuel for an M350, don't need all the fuel most of the time anyway.

Here is non-stop Salt Lake area to Atlanta (1490 nm) in an unmodified Lycoming powered Mirage. These birds have long legs, even at 200 knots, on that long trip, handily beats anything I could do commercial, even with that trip being Delta hub to hub. Throw in ground transport, security, parking, suboptimal airports to destination, and you will probably not really want to fly commercial much at all.

I had finally gotten over the itch for one of these planes....and now this thread. Thanks!

I have a hangar big enough for one now to!

The piston PA46 glides pretty well, not as good as the turbine version, but still 14.4:1 glide ratio, so from 25,000ft, 60 nm no wind glide, so..... No parachute, but no excuse not to find a suitable airport if that were necessary.