Since you are talking M350, probably in warranty. I have had 4 or 5 piston annuals in the PA46, all around $7-8000. In warranty I would say an expected range of 7-9000. Out of warranty 7-15,000, depending on age, and how the plane was maintained. You need a PA46 specific shop, and someone that knows what can and should be deferred. For instance Inspecting a non life limited part, that is functioning perfectly well, is likely to only increase cost and increase risk of maintenance induced failure, but some person thought it good idea to put it in the maintenance manual. Some things however really need to be inspected and a PA46 mechanic can help there.

Pretty sure. Here is from yesterday out of Denver. Interestingly, one of those strange days when the winds were blowing East to West. The range rings take into account the local winds aloft, which may make your distance change as you go. Usually, the range rings egg out towards the East. The range of the M600, makes the US look small. Piper really undersold the range on this aircraft. The real world range is quite a bit more. Our plane is faster than book, thus burns less fuel over range, and of the 2 M600's I have flown, they hold 50-100 lbs more fuel than advertised with a normal top off.

TEX to FXE would be easily doable in the M600 most days with typical West to East flow aloft.

ha - your FOD is 140 pounds MORE than the Meridian holds. Really 180 pounds with typical fueling jobs. Amazing time machine. Congrats again - hope to see it in SC sometime soon.

Chip-

I must have missed the memo but I see Charles just got an M600?

Looks like it. A good writeup on MMOPA but not here yet.

Chuck - post your full pirep!!!

Yes please. My company is entering the market for either a new M500/M600 or a lightly used Turbo Meridian. I test flew the M600 in Seattle in January, and its range was impressive - Seattle to Bangor Maine non-stop?!?!

Hi Chuck, did the SF50 ever come to mind as a possibility?

So what is the real range of the M600?

I think its great that Piper is over delivering with this plane. Usually marketing numbers are very optimistic.

Rgs,

Patrick.

Loooong range. Probably longer than most would ever want to sit in the saddle, but opens up some possibilities when needed or wanted..

No wind with about 525 pounds of people and stuff you can go 1,400 miles at 260 knots and land with an hour of fuel. Those are real world numbers in an actual M600 with the five blade prop. Whether or not your passengers can handle 5.5+ hours inside one without a stop is another matter.

Yes, but really hard to get one. I almost got a position in 2009, was pretty excited about it. Still haven't heard that they are producing them yet. Close? Sounds like quite a wait list, once they start producing them.

OK. Here is a copy and paste from MMOPA. A little over halfway through transition training, even more impressed:



Well as some had predicted, I did make the move to an M600. I am actually co-owner with another pilot with a similar family size and mission. Moving up was not so much about limitations of the M500 as it was about the potential of the M600. Non-stop range and weather flexibility is really attractive for a small number of missions, but ones that seem to stick in your mind. I recall having to shoot an approach to mins, 300 miles from departure, so that I could tanker the extra fuel needed to shoot the approach at my destination and make it to my closest legal alternate which was in another state. Some say you should have a plane that serves 80% of your missions, well the M500 far exceeded that for me. However, with growing families of five, we were both starting to bump up against having to leave some fuel behind as the kids keep growing. Those range payload limitations can always be solved with a fuel stop, but stopping is not always convenient, and sometimes not as safe as a non-stop trip, when there is intermediate weather. We looked at most of the smaller single pilot turbines. Sure is not an easy decision. There are some great choices out there. Some have great speed, but in reality have little more range than the M500. Some have great speed and range, but come with eye opening acquisition and operating costs. The M600 is unique in that it has great range and payload yet with the simplicity and low operating costs the very familiar M500.

After deciding on the M600, we decided to go for the whole new airplane experience. I had only picked up one other plane at the factory. All the others I had delivered to me, always felt a little lacking. So off to Vero Beach, for a factory tour, and a chance to meet those that actually built the plane. We caught a commercial redeye out to Orlando, caught a few hours of mind racing sleep, and then a rental car to Vero. The commercial flight was a nice reminder of how convenient and special it is to fly GA. Nothing against the great service on Delta, but it is just not the same as flying your own plane. We started the factory tour early the next morning guided by Buddy Watson, a former VP of Manufacturing, although you would never know how important a position he held in the company from just talking to him. He gave us a very in depth factory tour, with delicious detail which really helped with understanding of the aircraft. Piper has built over 144,000 aircraft, and the history of their successes and their failures is quite interesting. They still have tooling to support those legacy aircraft. The real highlight, though, was being able to see the M600 in various stages of build. Seeing that plane being built convinced me even more that I had made the right decision. This was no Piper cub on steroids. The plane is about as close to clean sheet design as you can get living off the TC of the PA46 line. I am pretty sure there are no parts interchangeable with the Malibu, very few with the Mirage, some similarity with the Meridian, although outside of the firewall forward section, almost everything has been reworked. This plane is built strong. The wing spar itself is machined from a single 950 lb. billet of aluminum. It looks like it would be at home on the frame of an F350 Superduty truck. The reinforcement of the empennage, the all-new giant wing, really all well built. I could not ignore the impressive craftsmanship of the employees. Many parts and the assembly are done by hand and carefully inspected. Automation is becoming more common there, but for a relatively low volume product, automation can only go so far.

After the factory tour, we were finally able to see the N600MU. Coming into the delivery area, the plane in person was far more beautiful than the computer generated pictures I had seen displaying the paint design and colors. After a short period left to ourselves, examining the plane, the greater Piper leadership team including CEO Simon Caldecott met us. I certainly did not expect to be the center of such attention. You can certainly tell that these folks take great pride in their product. A very important job in fact, which my partner pointed out to the team. This is the aircraft that with only a few test hours on the Hobbs, we were about to embark on a single day 2000 mile journey back home. A journey that would involve navigating with the advanced avionics through areas of frontal driven convection, turbulence, ground winds, and even some night flight. Shortly thereafter, we would be trusting this plane with the lives of our loved ones. You can tell that safety is at the forefront of their goals. We were presented with some very nice gifts, a photo opportunity, and well wishes for our journey back home.

As to the plane, one of the things that stood out to me was the improved fit and finish of the M600. This aircraft is my fifth new PA46. Each iteration I have owned has come with incremental improvements in technology and aesthetics since my first Matrix, one of the first G1000 PA46 pistons in 2010. The M600 is certainly the pinnacle of the Piper line. The interior of the M600 looks more like a luxury SUV than a small aircraft. The seats are red stitched, black leather, with carbon themed trim, and color coordinated side panels aand carpet. Somewhat by chance, this M600 has an interior that has the same color scheme and look of my new SUV. The seats are the most comfortable yet. Front and back. The leather is very high quality, and the cushion firmness and thickness perfect for longer flights. The external paint was beautiful and expertly done. The painstaking flush and countersunk riveting makes for a very smooth surface, especially for a most metal aircraft, rivaling the look of composite aircraft.

Pretty only gets you so far though. Where the M600 really shines is performance. You can look on the Piper website and see what kind of performance Piper promises from the M600. I can tell you that they lied about all of it. Every single performance indicator on their website is surpassed by the actual aircraft. It is faster, climbs better and goes farther than billed. We were seeing 3-4 knots higher true airspeed than advertised in the POH in normal cruise, and the range far exceeded advertised range. Part of that is that I believe Piper picked the most adverse engine settings possible for each phase of flight, and surprisingly, having flown 2 M600’s now, they seem to hold 50-100 lbs. more fuel than advertised with a normal fill. At FL280, ISA +3, we were seeing 261 KTAS on a miserly 255 pph. At FL240 269 KTAS at 295 pph., putting a few more coals to the fire. Those are Meridian or better speeds on just a little more than Meridian fuel flows. Once getting up to FL280, you still have 6.5 hours worth of cruise fuel at normal cruise with IFR reserves!! The fuel range rings on this bird are unbelievable. From my recent flight departing Denver, I had range to hit all of the US, most of Canada, some of Alaska, Mexico and maybe even Central America. Where do you want to go today? This is a true traveling aircraft.

The handling characteristics of the M600 is true to stick and rudder feel of the PA46. Elevator forces are a little light at high speed cruise compared to roll, but easily manageable, once you extinguish the desire to overcontrol. The ride is exceptionally solid, even when compared to the other M-class aircraft. The PA46 airframe, which is already a tough airframe, was really beefed up to handle the rigor of a 250 KIAS Vmo. There is a lot of metal with special riveting and bolting that went into the M600 in key areas. The plane definitely handles turbulence much better than the M350/M500. The wing loading is only nominally higher than the Meridian so I think the improved ride is related to something else, maybe the stiffness of the airframe or design of the wing. We had our fair share of bumps crossing a couple of strong cold fronts on our way back home. The airliners were really whining, we felt pretty good in our mid band of choppy air.

The increased Vmo makes the decent fast and fun. Watching the ASI roll up to Mach 0.55, or 250 KIAS, is a real delight, coming from the Meridian where it seems we are often dancing with the barber pole. More practically, a standard 1500 fpm descent doesn’t require pulling the throttle back much if any, but get used to 350-400 knot ground speeds. Don’t; forget to review those pesky speed limits in controlled airspace, which you don’t have to worry about in most GA aircraft

There are some nice and practical engineering upgrades as well. The main gear is wider, the brakes heavier duty and the tires higher pressure which gives a very solid ground-handling feel. The wings also have separate forward caps, so if you were to get hangar rash, those caps can be replaced without replacing structure in the wing. One aspect of the aircraft that those living in the frozen northern latitudes will appreciate is that the fuel does not cool as fast as it does in the M500. Not sure if that is due to just having more fuel to cool, better fuel heat exchange, or perhaps the forward caps insulating the fuel better since the leading edge is no longer in direct contact with the fuel. Even at -41 for a 2-hour flight yesterday the coldest my fuel got was -20, and I started off in Denver with cool fuel from the truck. I would have been -32 in my Meridian on the same flight. Another surprise, the venturi vacuum filter is gone. I need to learn where it went?? I have initial training next week at Legacy, so I have at least one question My plane SN 30, as I understand, is the first one certified with the new 5-blade Hartzell prop. The 5-blade is at least 1 decibel quieter, perceptibly smoother, and does seem to have more performance. The performance tables are not rewritten for the 5-blade, I have just been told that it is better. It does look really nice as well, almost as if that giant wing needed a more impressive prop to balance it out. The 5-blade does make the plane more challenging to tow from some tugs. Have to really watch the line guys with this one.

The G3000 avionics has 3, 12 inch screens, 2 touch screens, and the Aspen Evolution as a back up. Wow, that is a lot of glass. I am going to have to hold out on just how I feel about it. Overwhelmed might be an initial response. Unbelievably powerful and customizable might be another. I like the G1000, as it does about everything that I ever needed flying hard IFR. In my limited time, I have been able to make the G3000 work for me, although sometimes, I think I am working for it. I just have to remind myself on occasion, fly the plane, don’t get too involved with all the technology. Of my 12 hours in the plane so far, over 5 hours has been IMC, all with risk for embedded TS due to the unstable systems. The one thing I really appreciate about the G3000 is the seemingly unlimited customization of the split screens. For these convective missions, I can have Nexrad with Nexrad lightning on half of the MFD and in the split right beside it, onboard radar, overlaid on the moving map with Stormscope lightning. That amount of convective detail gives a great balance of strategic delayed and real time situational awareness. Doing an approach with the geo-referenced Jepp approach plate on the split PFD with synthetic vision right beside it makes doing an approach almost too easy. Is it a super complicated toy or is it a Game-changing avionics package. It is probably a game changer, but with 2000 hours on G1000 systems, I still feel like a Caveman newbie fat fingering the technology. Maybe I’ll get back to you guys after 20 more hours on the system …

Safety is another important aspect of the M600. Turbine reliability of that PT6 speaks for itself. The extra 100 HP over the Meridian/M500 even with the extra weight makes the plane surprisingly spirited. It will leap off the runway and the climb rates are amazing. Leaving Ogden yesterday, on a cool day, 1000 lbs. less than gross, I had to pitch up to 15 degrees to keep the airspeed 130 indicated. That equates to over 2000 fpm in the climb, and thank goodness for the TCAS-I, because at that pitch, all you see out the windscreen is blue. Of course you can pull back the power, or increase the airspeed to get a more normal view. The Meridian may out climb it when hot and heavy once you get to the upper 20’s, but by the time you are up there, you are usually above the ice so a gentle climb is no big concern. Still around 1000 fpm. The already strong PA46 cabin was made even stronger with the M600. The higher Vmo of 250 gives the airframe a huge buffer between cruise speed and Vmo. The maneuvering speed at GW is also 20 knots higher than the Meridian, which is only 5 knots below the legendary TBM. I was fortunate enough to get the newly certified AmSafe seatbelts, which are actually a little more comfortable than the stock seat belts, since the airbags are cushioned. Of course the M600 comes with the latest in Garmin technology with full envelope protection, ESP, automatic autopilot engagement for an out of control situation, blue level button, automatic hypoxia descent if the pilot becomes unresponsive presumed due to hypoxia. Redundant pressurization with multiple levels of sensors and automatic over-ride should the pilot inadvertently depressurize or forget to pressurize the aircraft.

All in all, this plane so far has proven to exceed all of my expectations, which were pretty high to begin with. It is a no apologies aircraft, built for true most weather most any time performance, with range and payload that few small GA aircraft possess. Taking 1000 lbs., 1000 nm is possible, and depending on the mission you can trade payload for fuel, and fly a whole lot farther. Farther than Piper says you can

Lowest position for sale on controller.com is #40.

They seem to be in a production freeze, only 3 "delivered", but all 3 appear to be factory controlled.

Mike C.

Excellent PIREP Chuck! Congrats on the new bird and thanks for sharing.

For those who don't think passengers will ride 5.5 hours in a PA46 - I routinely did 7.5hr trips in my Malibu with wife and small kids. Even when 7 months pregnant my wife preferred that to Southwest:/). It's a very comfy cabin.