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Piper PA46 Maintenance Shops

ByHank Gibson

Sometimes, it’s hard to find a good shop that does quality work and communicates well without charging a fortune. Luckily for the PA46 owner, there are lots of good options. Here are the Texas Top Aviation recommended Piper PA46 maintenance shops.

Lubbock Aero (KLBB)/Abilene Aero (KABI)-Texas

Lubbock Aero and Abilene Aero are owned by the same company. Both are Piper service centers. I have had some Piper PA46 maintenance interactions with Chad at Lubbock Aero over the last year and have been impressed.

The folks at Lubbock Aero are friendly, knowledgeable, and keep the customer abreast of what’s going on with their airplane. I haven’t been to Abilene Aero, but I suspect that the same quality of service exists there as well.

Chuck’s Aircraft (KEDC)-Austin, TX

Chuck’s Aircraft has been a Cirrus Service Center for a number of years. Recently, Chuck’s put several mechanics through Kevin Mead’s M-Class which educates mechanics on the ins and outs of Piper PA46 maintenance. Chuck’s is a great, convenient spot to get your PA46 worked on.

First Line Aero (KJSO)-Jacksonville, TX

Located on the same airport as Casey Aviation, First Line Aero specializes in Piper PA46 maintenance. Walking up to their hangar, it’s loaded with Malibus, Mirages, JetProps, and Meridians. Charles Crossman, the owner, has been turning wrenches for a lot of years. Anyone recommended by Joe Casey has a stamp of approval in my book.

Midwest Malibu (KHUT)-Hutchinson, KS

One of 2 nationally renowned PA46 shops, owners bring their PA46s from all over the country to Midwest Malibu. Owner Tony Beauchamp has personally assisted multiple of my customers when they have gotten in AOG situations with their PA46s.

Des Moines Flying Service (KDSM)-Des Moines, IA

I have not had any direct interaction with Des Moines Flying Service, but I have several customers who have. The reviews have all indicated knowledgeable mechanics, good work, and good communication.

Malibu Aerospace (KANE)-Blaine, MN

Malibu Aerospace (the second nationally renowned Piper PA46 maintenance shop) has done many great things for the PA46 line of aircraft. From the M1 Cooling Mod that alters the lower cowl and add baffles for cooling air getting to where it needs to go, to the M5 TSIO 550C upgrade for the original PA46-310P, the Malibu Aerospace guys know what they are doing with the PA46.

Hetrick Aviation (KTOP)-Topeka, KS

I recently learned about Hetrick Aviation in Topeka. I met a customer there to pick up his plane where it was having a pre-buy and annual done. Keith Hetrick, the owner, has worked on a lot of PA46 airplanes and was very knowledgeable in my discussions with him. He is also a pilot, so he flies each airplane after maintenance is done to make sure no bugs are present when an owner picks it up.

Those are the Texas Top Aviation recommended PA46 shops. Have another one to add? Post in the comments below and we’ll get it added to the list.

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  • Garmin G1000 Updates

    ByHank Gibson

    You have just received the keys of your shiny new (to you) airplane complete with a beautiful Garmin G1000 glass panel flight deck. Synthetic Vision, WAAS, and ADS-B are all installed. You are ready to cruise in high technology.

    You turn on the PFD and MFD and notice one problem. All your databases are expired. No big deal, right? Your Garmin 530W was easy as pie to update with it’s single data card.

    You start looking around and can’t find the data card. Then you notice that there are several SD cards in slots on the panels. SD cards won’t fit in your Blue Jepp Skybound card reader. Confusion sets in which quickly leads to full on panic.

    What have you gotten yourself into?!

    No need to fear, Texas Top Aviation is here to help with your Garmin G1000 database update confusion (and hopefully not panic).

    Database Update Providers

    First, you have to choose who to get your Garmin G1000 updates from. You have two options. One is Garmin (fly.garmin.com; always use either Firefox or Chrome to update, don’t use Safari). The other is Jeppesen.

    Honestly, there is no difference between the data that each provides. If you had a 530 or 430 before, you used Jepp already. Just keep the Jepp account, call them, and have them get you set up for your Garmin G1000 updates.

    If you didn’t have a Jepp account before, I would use Garmin, for a couple of reasons. You get multiple downloads in case you mess something up (Jepp NavData gives 1 download per month, while Safe Taxi, etc. you get 2-3). On Jepp, you have to call in and have them reset the account, which can be a pain if it’s after hours or a Saturday or Sunday.

    The other problem with Jepp is since Boeing bought Jeppesen, I have found it extremely difficult to find online where to set up a new account and purchase databases. Yes, you can always call, but, again, problematic after hours or on a weekend.

    The only problem with Fly Garmin for your Garmin G1000 updates is Garmin is constantly updating their program. You have to update their downloader quite often, which can be a bit frustrating.

    I’m going to use Fly Garmin as my example.

    What to Buy

    Garmin gives you a couple of different bundle options for your Garmin G1000 updates, the OnePak and the PilotPak. The main difference between the two is the PilotPak includes approach charts that display on your PFD and the OnePak doesn’t. Therefore, the OnePak is about $200 cheaper.

    Both include Navigation Data, SafeTaxi, Obstacles, Airport Directory, Terrain, and the BaseMap.

    How to Update

    Once you have followed all the instructions on Garmin’s website (or gotten Jeppesen set up), here is what to put on which SD card.

    NOTE: YOU WILL NEED TO PURCHASE ONE OR TWO BLANK SD CARDS FOR THE NAVIGATION DATABASES. DO NOT PUT THE NAVIGATION DATA ON THE SD CARD THAT IS ALREADY IN THE TOP SLOT ON THE MFD. THAT IS FOR ENGINE DATA LOGGING ONLY. NO NAVIGATION DATA SHOULD EVER BE PUT THAT ON THAT CARD.

    Bottom Card, PFD

    • SafeTaxi
    • Obstacles

    Bottom Card, MFD

    • SafeTaxi
    • Obstacles
    • Airport Directory
    • Flite Charts

    Top Card, PFD & MFD (This is the new blank SD card(s) you bought)

    NOTE: REMOVE THE TOP SD CARD IN THE MFD THAT IS ALREADY IN THE SLOT AND DON’T PUT ANY DATABASE INFORMATION ON IT.

    • Navigation Data

    Garmin G1000 NXi Users (or Cirrus Perspective + Users)

    Ignore everything above and put all databases on the bottom card of the MFD. You have database sync, so you don’t have to mess with multiple cards. When you do an update though, go to the AUX chapter on the MFD and scroll down to the Databases page. Ensure that all dates match what you just put on the SD Card.

    For you Jeppesen users, check out the new Bad Elf Wombat updater that works with the iPad JDM app for updates.

  • Flying Through Rain

    ByHank Gibson

    For the most part, flying through rain is a non-event. If the NexRad or Radar is showing light green or dark green, usually there aren’t that many bumps and your plane just gets a wash. Sometimes the visibility drops down a little bit making us IFR pilots have to transition to our instruments.

    It get’s a little more exciting when the precipitation on your screen turns to yellow. This means there is a lot more precipitation echoes either in the clouds or coming out of the clouds, meaning harder rain. I usually tend to stay away from yellow unless it’s absolutely necessary to go through it.

    I had a situation a few weeks ago where I deemed it necessary to fly through some yellow NexRad returns. I was flying a G1000 Columbia into Monroe, Louisiana, KMLU. The winds were mostly light, but slightly favoring runway 04, which was the runway in use. As I got closer, a decent size rain shower with mostly yellow returns was sitting over the final approach fix for runway 04 and slowly tracking to the northeast.

    I didn’t particularly want to spend the entire approach getting beat on with rain, so I decided to fly the RNAV 14 approach at MLU and circle to land on runway 04. The rain hadn’t quite reached the airport yet, so I decided that circling to 04 should be no problem.

    I started the RNAV 14 at the FLESH IAF. Since I was approaching from the west, I did not need to do the procedure turn, so I joined the Final Approach Course (FAC) after crossing FLESH.

    In the meantime, that rain shower was inching closer to the FAC for the RNAV 14. I wasn’t concerned about my safety if I flew through some of it and I didn’t have passengers on board who would get nervous, so I elected to continue. I wasn’t seeing any lightning coming out of the clouds, so it appeared to only be moderate rain.

    Just before I got to JIVEY, the FAF, I entered the clouds and the rain. About 20 seconds later, my altimeter and airspeed started bouncing around a lot. Now, based on all I’ve said so far, what would cause that, and what would you do?

    (Jeopardy theme song playing while contestants ponder questions)

    The answers? Due to the moderate precipitation, water had gotten into my static port and caused the unusual readings on my altimeter and airspeed indicators on the G1000.

    I had experienced this before, so I knew what to do. I reached down and turned the static source from primary to alternate, which starts taking static pressure from inside the cabin in the Columbia. Instantly, everything went normal.

    The other time I had experienced this was also in a Columbia, so I’m under the impression that the way the Columbia static ports are designed, they are a little bit more susceptible to water creeping into them than other airplanes.

    Moral of the story? If your pitot/static instruments start jumping around, the first thing you do is turn your alternate static source on.

  • The Importance of Transition Training

    ByHank Gibson

    In September, the FAASTeam at the San Antonio FSDO put a special emphasis on transition training (AOPA put out a free course last year covering general transition training topics).  A lot of pilots don’t understand the need for transition training or what it even entails.

    Transition training deals mainly with piston engine aircraft, regardless of whether the airplane is a single or twin.  The FAA doesn’t have any special requirements for changing from one piston engine airplane to another, as long as the pilot has the appropriate endorsements (high performance, complex, high altitude, etc.) and is rated in that category and class.

    Transition training is promoted mostly by insurance companies. An insurance company looks at a pilots experience when deciding to insure him or her in a new airplane.  If the pilot has only flown Cherokees and Comanches and is now upgrading to a Malibu, then the insurance company is going to require some transition training with a knowledgable instructor.

    What is transition training?  It is when an appropriate rated pilot needs to learn how to fly a different airplane.  These are referred to commonly as checkouts, but with more complicated airplanes, the training is actually very in depth.

    Using the example above, Pilot A just sold his Comanche 260 and bought a 1987 Malibu.  Pilot A says, “A Malibu is a complex, high performance, single engine piston, which is what I had in my Comanche.  I can fly that, no problem.”  In reality, a Malibu has a lot of differences.

    pa46-transition-training

    First, there are more systems in a Malibu.  You have pressurization, air conditioning, emergency oxygen, turbo charging, and possibly radar.  Not to mention you are dealing with a Continental engine instead of a Lycoming.  And, is it a factory TSIO 520 or a converted 550?  2, 3, or 4 blade prop?  Glass panel or steam gauges?  What kind of autopilot?  Plus, it’s a much heavier airplane so it’s going to fly different, have different rotation and landing speeds and handle differently in stalls.  What’s the sight picture supposed to be on final approach?  What are the emergency procedures?

    Overwhelmed yet?

    An experienced, insurance approved instructor and training program is a necessity when getting into new airplanes.  It makes for safe pilots and safer skies.

    Texas Top Aviation offers Cirrus Transition Training as well as Bonanza Transition Training and Columbia/Corvalis Transition Training.  We are working on an insurance approved Piper PA 46 piston transition course as well (Malibu and Mirage) and will have the course approved by the end of 2016.  Contact us today to schedule your transition training.

  • Garmin Perspective Tips & Tricks

    ByHank Gibson

    The Garmin Perspective and Perspective + are awesome pieces of equipment.  There is so much a pilot can do with this system that it can sometimes get overwhelming. There are two very important features of the Garmin Perspective that all IFR pilots need to know, but are tricky to do if the correct buttons aren’t pushed.

    The two features of the Garmin Perspective I want to focus on today are the “Load Airway” feature and the “Hold at Waypoint” feature.  The “Load Airway” feature is especially handy when flying IFR long distances with several airways as part of the clearance.  Here’s how to utilize both on the Garmin Perspective.

    Load Airway

    • On your flight plan page, insert the waypoint where you will be joining the airway, or, if your clearance was radar vectors to join an airway, then insert the waypoint on the airway that begins the leg you will be joining on
    • Press the Menu key on the keypad
    • A menu will pop up. Scroll down to highlight Load Airway
    • Highlight the Airway you want from the next menu that pops up then press Enter
    • Then, a list of waypoints will display to exit the airway. Highlight the waypoint where you will be exiting the airway and Press Enter
    • The cursor will then move down to Load at the bottom of the menu. Press Enter to load the airway
    • The Airway and all the waypoints in between your entry and exit waypoints appear in your flight plan
    • If you are getting vectors to join the airway, you’ll need to use the Activate Leg function to activate the leg you will be joining the airway on
      • On the Flight Plan page, highlight the waypoint that ends the leg you want to activate
      • Look for the ACT LEG soft key on the lower right hand side of the MFD and press
      • This Activates the leg on the airway. Then, just simply fly the heading assigned by ATC until the CDI needle centers showing you are on the airway

    Hold At Waypoint

    The Garmin Perspective allows pilots to place a holding pattern at any waypoint that is in the Nav Database (or any user created waypoint).  Here’s how to do it.

    • On the Flight Plan page, highlight the Waypoint that you want to hold over and press Menu on the keypad
    • On the menu that pops up, highlight Hold At Waypoint and press Enter
    • On the next menu that pops up, input either the inbound or outbound course, right or left turns, leg time or distance, and the EFC time, then highlight Load and press Enter
    • You will see the hold now as a Waypoint in your flight plan

  • Is The Approach Active? Flying Garmin Instrument Approaches Seminar

    ByHank Gibson

    Hank Gibson from Texas Top Aviation will be presenting a seminar on flying Garmin instrument approaches with the different Garmin GPS units.  Whether you have a Garmin 530/430 unit, a Garmin GTN 750/650 unit, or a Garmin G1000, all will be discussed.  You’ll walk away with some tips and tricks, plus a better understanding of your Garmin unit.

    WINGs credit will be given for attending.  The seminar is hosted by Redbird Skyport at the San Marcos Airport (KHYI) in Redbird’s large conference room.  The seminar will begin at 10am on Saturday, June 30th, 2018.

    It’s always quicker to fly than drive and Redbird has plenty of ramp space to accommodate seminar attendees.

    Registration is required.  Please visit the registration page on FAASafety.gov.  Space is limited to 20 individuals, so please make sure you register if you want to attend.

  • Flight Training Deemed Essential Business

    ByHank Gibson

    There have been lots of changes in all parts of our lives with the coming of COVID-19. All of our lives have been affected in one way or another. We hope and pray that none of your families have been directly affected by the illness.

    A lot of us have been living under Shelter in Place orders for several weeks now, only going out for groceries and making sure to keep our distance from people. We have to take a different mindset when we go out now. Even meeting new people is different since we can’t shake hands.

    Flying has been an afterthought for a lot of pilots. There have been multiple ATC facilities where controllers have been afflicted with the virus and have had to shut down for hours or days. Airspace can change pretty quickly, going from what we all know as normal, to an ATC-ZERO scenario. This was the case for New York Center several times over the last two weeks.

    There was some uncertainty regarding flight training under the shelter in place orders and Texas Top Aviation has been asked several questions about it over the last week. Yesterday, the Flight School Association of North America (FSANA) announced that flight instruction was indeed an essential business.

    In an article on GeneralAviationNews.com, the website quoted a memorandum of understanding written by attorney George Winton on March 24th. Winton was a senior attorney for the FAA and U.S. Department of Justice, and now operates The Aviation Law Firm in Annapolis, Maryland.

    “This memorandum affirms the statement that…flight training would be included as a critical infrastructure activity. Those engaged in the provision of and receipt of flight training who work to provide enhanced compliance with CDC recommendations for limiting potential COVID-19 exposure and spread would be considered exempt from travel limitations imposed by local authorities.”

    Winton’s memo was sent to the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). In the memo, Winton stated:

    “CISA listed Other Community-Based Government Operations And Essential Functions as follows: Workers who support necessary credentialing, vetting and licensing operations for transportation workers.”

    “The aviation sub-sector stakeholders involved with operation of recreational aircraft and flight schools, who employ Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers from the Transportation Sector, support necessary credentialing, vetting and licensing operations for transportation workers seeking pilot certification by the Federal Aviation Administration. Since CISA intended to be overly inclusive to reflect the diversity of industries, the aviation mode stakeholders understand that essential employees involved with the operation of recreational aircraft and flight schools continue to be identified as Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers from the Transportation Sector. Accordingly, the aviation sub-sector stakeholders who employ Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers from the Transportation Sector will continue to operate recreational aircraft and flight schools, appropriately modified to account for CDC workforce and customer protection guidance, based upon the CISA memorandum dated March 19, 2020.”

    Based on the above guidance, Texas Top Aviation will continue to operate flight training in all of it’s normal capacities, while maintaining vigilance concerning sanitation, cleanliness, and health. Our company will keep it’s customer’s up to date on instructor health and wellness and won’t hesitate to cancel if there is any kind of health concern. We ask our customers to do the same.

    If you are scheduled to train with Texas Top Aviation, please don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions or concerns you might have.

    To read the entire memo from George Winton, you can find it here.

    Concerning the 2020 Texas Top Aviation Santa Fe Golf Fly In scheduled for June 5th-7th, that event is currently being re-scheduled for September 2020. Dates will be announced by the end of April. We look forward to seeing you in Santa Fe in September!

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