Many a pilot aspires to own an aircraft with more power, speed, and room; one that sports a pressurised cabin, enabling above the weather, flight-level travel. The Piper PA-46 M350 promises all that.
Nick Jones, from Airflite, the Piper authorised dealer in Australia, offered me an M350 flight. It would be a 748-nm, non-stop, IFR trip from Moorabbin to Archerfield. The immaculate red and white 2016 example (registration withheld at the request of the owner), was one I’d admired from afar for years. Having previously flown the more expensive M600 turbine version of the same design, the performance of the six-cylinder, fuel injected, turbo-charged Lycoming TIO-540 version would be interesting.
My guide was international ferry pilot, Stuart Caling, who was to fly the aircraft onwards to the USA.
Background
The PA-46 first flight was in 1979 with a 310-hp engine; FAA certification and deliveries occurred in 1983. The more powerful M350, with a new wing, commenced production in 1988 and was released in 1989. It is a cabin-class, six seat, low-wing of metal construction with retractable landing gear. A pressurised aircraft with a maximum cruise speed of 213 KTAS, its maximum range is 1343 nm, and its maximum approved cruise altitude is FL250.
At this altitude, the automatic pressurisation system can maintain a comfortable cabin altitude of just 8000 feet.
Fuel capacity is 454 litres, in two wing tanks, and the engine700 integrated autopilot. There is a long list of desirable options. Our test aircraft was fitted with speed brakes.
