Flying the Piper M350: Some Tips on the "Visual" at KHWD 

Good catch! Thank you. Fly Safely - Train Often .. DR

Hi Carl, Good question.. I am not fully briefed on the NXi release schedule. I suspect that Garmin makes decisions on release based on the certification plan for each make model.

Hi David, Yours is an excellent question. Anytime material moves it is subject to fatigue and all such movement has limits. I suppose the more relevant discussion at this point surrounds the failure history (if any). I am not aware of any such history regarding the speed brakes. There were several well publicized in-flight catastrophic airframe failures back in the late 80’s and early 90’s. The entire fleet was even grounded for a time. There was a major investigation which yielded some important changes. Piper was asked to modify the annunciation for pitot heat (yellow for “OFF” instead of “ON”). The insurance industry began mandating “approved training” for all PA46 pilots. I think progress was made, however the PA46 accident rate remains stubbornly high; about 2 fatalities per 100k hours according to Richard Collins’ 2019 research. I have noted with interest that many organizations have managed similar problems with standardization of the instructor cadre around a well-vetted procedurally consistent training program: Cape Air, Cirrus, BPPP (The Bonanza Pilot Proficiency Program), PADI (Professional Association of Dive Instructors).. the list goes on. They all have one thing in common. They halved their current accident rate and doubled the popularity of the activity they promote. No such collective memory exists for the PA46 community. Bottom up programs such as FRAT and IMSAFE can help, but as we have seen, they won’t budge the statistics. Those that fail to remember history are doomed to repeat it! Here is a link to a white paper I wrote on the topic some years ago: rwrpilottraining.com/uploads/3/4/3/3/34335558/training_pa46_pilots.pdf

Hi Steve, The Piper Malibu was first certified in the mid 1980’s with the Continental 310 HP engine. With each engine and/or major avionics change came a need to differentiate the new model without the requirement for recertification. Aircraft manufacturers do this all the time. As a result the formal names for the PA46 line of aircraft each begin with “Malibu”; so Malibu PA46-310, Malibu Mirage PA46-350, Malibu Meridian PA46-500T, Malibu Matrix PA46-350R, Malibu M350 PA46-350 etc. ATC doesn’t care except for significant differences in performance. Generally all piston PA46 aircraft are flight planned as PA46/G and referred to as “Malibu” by ATC while turbine PA46’s are flight planned as P46T/G and referred to as Meridian or JetProp as appropriate. This is getting to be confusing for ATC with the introduction of the M600 which has a Vmo of 250 knots (the Meridian and M500 are limited to a Vmo of 188 Kts). Yesterday we were descending at 230 knots into northern Florida when the controller asked for confirmation that we “are a Meridian”. This new found freedom of a 250 Knot Vmo comes with speed restrictions around class B, C and D airspace but it really is an awesome aircraft. Watch for some new videos on the M600 soon! I forgot to say.. The M600 is flight planned as “M600/G” Because of the enhanced performance associated with the greater horsepower and higher Vmo.

@@RWRPilotTraining Thank You.