That will be very nice once it’s ready but obviously the autopilot is the missing piece. In reality it will be quite some time when you begin to see enough pre 2006 Meridians with that conversion done that you could pick one up with the system already installed. I have no wish to buy a bird and then have it spend 3 mos in the shop for panel surgery. My bet is that it will be 2 years before you regularly see these upgraded meridians on the market.

Terry, I feel like I owe you an apology as I failed to acknowledge or congratulate you on your panel upgrade. I love the C2’s and that panel in a C2 is some tremendous bang for the buck, especially compared to new as you mentioned.

Congratulations!!

Got any pics of the finished product? Did you have many post-installation issues?

Terry, I feel like I owe you an apology as I failed to acknowledge or congratulate you on your panel upgrade. I love the C2’s and that panel in a C2 is some tremendous bang for the buck, especially compared to new as you mentioned.

Congratulations!!

Got any pics of the finished product? Did you have many post-installation issues?

The number “4” is considered to be very unlucky in China (pronunciation for “4” in Mandarin sounds very much like the word “death”, with the only difference being the tone). And, between G3 and G5, Cirrus was bought by a Chinese state-owned company.

Wow! That is stunning Terry. You’re going to be the envy of the entire TBM owner community.

I'll weigh in on this one. I considered the Silver Eagle for a very short time several years ago. A friend of mine owned one for a period and liked it for maybe a year or two until he didn't. Pressurization is attractive but it's got a VERY low pressure differential (3.4 psi). Speed is better but not by much (200-210 kts vs. 190 kts in the SR). I flew a C182 for quite awhile and always enjoyed it so I have no bones to pick with Cessnas. However, when I go back and consider a Silver Eagle again, there's very little that's attractive to me or my family to consider it. The panel, interior, cabin, seating and cockpit all feel very, very dated even if you throw in some Garmin glass. My wife and kids would all feel as though we took a huge step back from the SR and my solo missions wouldn't change much at all except that I wouldn't need to bother with the cannula. There's nothing that's compelling enough for me to genuinely consider it.

What I would consider in the tprop category is a move to a Jetprop or Meridian that I would definitely consider an upgrade to the SR. The speed difference would be significant, the pressurization would be very useful, the additional altitude would be nice and the added cabin space would be a step up. The challenge for me is that once you've been on a G1000 system for a period of time, it's difficult to consider operating anything less. There are no GX000 options for the Jetprop and in the Meridian, G1000 examples begin at about $1.2-$1.3M. I could own and operate a Jetprop for about 1.3-1.4X the all-in costs of my SR. A G1000 Meridian would run roughly 2X my all-in costs. Neither of those options would increase my range but would make the 600-800nm trips more reasonable than they are now. In short, they offer a step up in utility and incremental time savings from where I am now but at a rather steep upgrade in costs. I find it a bit difficult to justify at the moment but perhaps in a year or two the added $ won't mean as much. We shall see.

Terry, I feel like I owe you an apology as I failed to acknowledge or congratulate you on your panel upgrade. I love the C2’s and that panel in a C2 is some tremendous bang for the buck, especially compared to new as you mentioned.

Congratulations!!

Got any pics of the finished product? Did you have many post-installation issues?[/quote]

It's done, but we are finishing the annual this week, so won't get to fly until then. Very few issues, I had 2 sets of wires reversed (my own pinning error) but luckily the smoke stayed in the wiring. The GFC600 turn-on was perfect!

A few minor labels to make for the panel is all that is left.[/quote]

Let me know Terry if you’d like someone to kick the rust off her after that new panel...

It's done, but we are finishing the annual this week, so won't get to fly until then. Very few issues, I had 2 sets of wires reversed (my own pinning error) but luckily the smoke stayed in the wiring. The GFC600 turn-on was perfect!

A few minor labels to make for the panel is all that is left.[/quote]

Let me know Terry if you’d like someone to kick the rust off her after that new panel... [/quote]

It's me and my partner that will need the rust knocked off! Haven't flown for 2 months.....

I don't understand the blue lever comment at all. What could be more simple than setting power with a big % power gauge on the MFD? It runs at 2500RPM all the time and you put the big lever to the % power you want. What's so confusing about that?

Don't understand the oil usage comment either. I've owned a G3 SR22T and a G5 SR22T over the past 5-6 years. On both airplanes, I use (1) quart between oil changes. It's a big block Conti, same as the A36. There's nothing dramatically different about the engine. Like any big block Conti, especially one that's turbo-normalized, the cylinders rarely make it to O/H. I would expect that in any SR22T that you're going to replace 3-6 of the cylinders sometime in the 800-1,200 hour mark. Budget it and simply do it when they come up. They're roughly $2K / jug installed.[/quote]

I don’t have a ton of hours in it, but I feel that I end up fighting the embedded blue lever / gates trying to get the right power. It could be that specific plane, as it’s a rental and who knows how much abuse it gets. I find 2500rpm at the correct MP extremely elusive. I’m usually too low on MP. WRT oil, on my last big trip I consumed 4 or 5 quarts in 14 hours Hobbs, which seems high, but again it’s the only 550 I fly.[/quote]

Did you check the oil with the engine cold?
How many quarts did you top it off to?

3.5 psi silver eagle... I am out. You have a turbine with a chain around your tail.

Ignorant comment... the engine is mated well to the psi...

Cirrus skipped the G4 because the number 4 has unlucky connotations in Chinese culture, as I understand it - and Cirrus is owned by a Chinese company. So ... no G4! Kind of like 7 has some lucky connotations in Western culture ...

Could be wrong on that so please correct me and no cultural appropriation or offense intended!

I think very few Cirrus owners would consider a Silver Eagle for the reasons outlined above. Many of them do consider Meridians as their next aircraft, also for the reasons outlined above. Since I flew an Avidyne Cirrus, I was ok with an Avidyne Meridian, but wound up in a G3000 M600 - the G3000 is an outstanding avionics package.

But the G500/600/700TXi panels coupled with the GTN750/650 navigators, the EIS and a GFC600 autopilot comes pretty damn close to a G3000, while at the same time being more modular and upgradeable than a G1000 or G3000. With the added benefit of not being on a type certificate so its up to the owner, not the manufacturer.

Garmin should have the GFC600 autopilot certified in the Meridian very soon. They recently certified the TXi/GFC package in the straight CJ, for example, and that is causing quite a buzz over on CJOPA. EIS to follow apparently. Even though they previously put a G1000 in that airframe (but not a NXi apparently, so those folks are stuck with a legacy G1000). Those TXi/GTN packages are super nice - you can get those in a Piaggio too (sans autopilot).

You can also upgrade a G1/G2/G3 Avidyne Cirrus to the TXi/GTN combo ... which also makes for a very attractive panel. However, you're going to spend six figures for it (200k+ in the turbines, and I think something like 150k in a Cirrus), so it's not for everybody.

Ignorant comment... the engine is mated well to the psi...

Seriously, no need to bash another's bird. It has a sweet spot mission that's good for many folks. It's not my cup o' tea but for some it checks off a lot of boxes.

There really is a hole in the market between a high performance, TN single piston and a turbine with 1,000nm+ range. The all-in cost delta between those markets is substantial and the financial step up skips several rungs on the ladder. I believe there's a market for a small, fuel-efficient turbine below the small block PT6 that also provides altitude capabilities in the high 20's / low 30's. I hope we see one come to market someday.

Haters gonna hate. I love it. I often fly the Pilatus in the teens. 3.8psi is a whole lot better than 0 psi.