just out of curiosity, what's the average (median?) cost for annual in a Meridian?

These folks claim the variable cost per hour for a Meridian is $428 https://www.avbuyer.com/articles/busine ... dian-21277

and here they claim $525 per hour https://www.conklindd.com/cdalibrary/ac ... grid=page9

Based on a handful of owners I've spoken to, I'm planning on $14K-18K for annual, which I think is on the high side of a typical annual. That assumes no 'big' items like windshield, etc.

Wow, awesome bird!
Not bad for a first airplane. Would be in green if I had the time.

John's first post here on BT:
"My wife is an airline captain with mostly turbine, but some piston G/A experience. I've got 140 hours in mostly C-172's. My wife is the primary pilot."

Congrats John!

Beautiful airplane.

I've been looking at this market for some time and the one thing I've learned is that the Meridian is hands down the lowest cost certified SETP to own.

If it fits the mission like it does for John it's a no brainer. Based on my research the Meridian is about a 50-70% less cost to maintain than any other SETP.

Congrats John!

John, congrats, the plane looks fantastic!!!

speed at different altitudes and fuel burn, usefull load,psi?

Slow down low, fast up high... Figure about 250kts at FL270, 40GPH, 560lbs. with 170 gallons fuel on board. As to reality, I guess we'll be finding that out soon. It's a stock Meridian so the book is pretty much the story. There is very little variation in the G1000 equipped PA46 line.

This is a good primer article for those unfamiliar with the PA46T:

https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2014/december/pilot/t_ql

>> If it fits the mission like it does for John it's a no brainer.

That's pretty much why we ended up with a PA46T. The "next best" is a TBM. The issue with that plane is that it's really much more than our mission calls for and the added expense for all that extra plane just put it out of competition with the Meridian. Still, love the TBM700B for it's versatility, robustness and support.

I think you are a bit shy on the numbers. 255kts and 37 gph...

Even better!

Congratulations. You will love it. I got mine July of 2016 and have over 150 hours on her. It's a game changer!

Just to Echo Chris, usually expect 257 heavy at 37 gph, and 262 light at 37 gph. I just filed 260. remember that if you need to stretch fuel, the Meridian has a go far lever. It is the power lever. Pull it back and no wind you can get up to 20% more range. That may be roughly 30% more with a standard tail wind, 10% more with a standard headwind. East or westbound, higher almost always uses less fuel even with headwinds unless they are severe. So even on 150-200 nm flights I am going up to FL240 or so. Anything farther, and I am pretty much only using Fl260, 270 and 280.

Love the paint.

Very Nice!