John, the "everything" they think they're changing is passenger safety. They got the autoland certified first. That's it.

now they just need to install another button: "Auto Finance"

Or “Autopay.” Of course, years ago I was really disappointed to learn that my bank’s autopay didn’t quite do what I thought it did.

I'm guilty of being a Cirrus parachute skeptic... but I won't miss the same boat twice. We are currently working to come up to speed on the M600 and will be capable of handling an M500/600 acquisition in the near future.

I've been around aviation long enough to have the "legacy" mentality... I well remember when the KLN90B was the GPS of choice. I've been friends with Lance Neibauer (Lancair) for years and considered Cirrus the enemy. I now realize that they are near single-handedly saving general aviation.

You'd be amazed at how many people come to us to buy their first turbine and have only flown an SR22! That's it... no 172... 182... Piper Dakota... Cessna 421... they came in via a new or nearly new Cirrus and they want a new or nearly new turboprop or jet.

The M500/600 fits the nicely between the SR22 and the Mustang / M2 and it seems to be the stepping stone many choose over the TBM. The chute sells the Cirrus and the auto-land will sell the M600... it isn't about the rare pilot incapacitation, in fact it's not really about safety as much as marketing. It's about wives not lives!

Chip,

You are absolutely right! We can save and grow GA, but to do so we need to invite wives and kids into the aviation family. We can’t continue to thrive with a 1950s mindset.

-ad

No business model lasts forever. History is littered with dead, formerly great companies. Yet, in every age the stubborn, arrogant or foolish either ignore history or with apparently incurable narcissism think the rules don't apply to them.

Cirrus reinvented a part of GA and is forcing a reckoning with older ways of looking at things. This is what entrepreneurs, and entrepreneurial companies always do. The survivors ignore hubris and adapt. Apparently that is the direction that Piper is headed in.

I was able to get a demo flight in a M600 with autoland at Muncie Aviation yesterday. Amazing technology! It immediately goes to 200 knots indicated to get you to the airport it selected in the quickest time. The approach is high and hot with takeoff flaps used. It does not go to full flaps. The landing was a little longer than normal but it was a good landing despite gusty crosswinds. Very impressed and considering pulling the trigger on one.........

The got the hook in pretty good then? Nice to hear about your ride, thanks.

I think the choice of landing flaps is just in case there is residual ice on the airframe, it lands in an icing configuration. It even turns the deice systems on, not sure what the logic is there, if it looks at OAT. Since the tech presumes no functional pilot, there is nobody to confirm that the plane is clear of ice, so it defaults to icing configuration. At icing speeds and TO flaps, it does eat a little more runway.

Wait, what ? When did this happen ?

Anyone have additional information?

Apparently this new aircraft has the PT6A-52A and that is about all that we know at this time,I hope it has nose baggage and a IS which could make it a 320KT airplane,I don't know if the M600 has enough rudder for that speed since my M600 at cruise uses around 50% of left rudder around 270 KTS TAS.

Is this Feb 6 or June 2, 2024?

I was a partner in a non autoland M600. My partner pushed me to trade it for a newer autoland plane, thinking his family would fly with him with the new tech. The price delta was a million dollars. I didn't see the value in it. He finally found two other partners to go in on a new one. His family still won't fly with him.

I think the autoland is purely a marketing tactic. I'm not aware of any instances when it's been used. I think the chute covers more scenarios that are more common than pilot incapacitation. And, the chute is genius marketing.

Autoland is great tech for sure. It's also a little scary to think it could be the leading edge of the movement to pilotless planes.

February 6