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Texas Air Travelers Mandated to Self-Quarantine
Texas Air Travelers From Designated Areas Only
On March 30th, Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued an Executive Order mandating that all travelers (including Texas air travelers operating or traveling in private aircraft) from the following designated areas were to self-quarantine for 14 days (or the extent of their stay in Texas, whichever was shorter) upon entering the State:
- California
- Louisiana
- Washington State
- Atlanta, Georgia
- Chicago, Illinois
- Detroit, Michigan
- Miami, Florida
If you traveled to Texas by air from any of the above designated areas, you are required to fill out the Arrivals from Areas Designated for Mandatory Self-Quarantine Form. Failure to do so could lead to a $1,000 fine or 180 days in jail, or both. For private aircraft owners/operators, put your Tail Number in for Flight Number and “Private” for Airline.
Aircraft owners, stay away from the designated areas listed above and you won’t have any worries. A lot of you reading this are from Texas, so make Louisiana a fly over state for now and don’t make any landings in Cajun country.
Make The Upgrade to Pressurization
Are oxygen cannulas rubbing your nostrils raw?
Is turbulence giving you back problems?
Would you like to be above the bumps, breathing without tubes stuck up your nose or a mask on? Would you like a quiet ride?
Sounds like you need pressurization. Need more convincing?
What’s that you say? You don’t have a multi-engine rating? You don’t want to spend the money on a turbo prop?
Have no fear, there are options galore for you to choose from in the single engine piston marketplace, both certified aircraft and experimental.
A word of caution, though; once you go pressurized, you don’t go back….
Here is my review of the certified, pressurized single engine piston options.
Piper PA46 Malibu/Mirage/M350
In 1983, Piper shocked the world with an amazing airplane. The pressurized, Continental TSIO-520 (310 HP) powered PA46 Malibu hit the market in the fall of that year taking the piston world by storm. A six seat, cabin class, pressurized single engine piston that easily cruised at 190-200 knots while only burning 16-17 GPH. It was awesome. It even had an air stair door that felt like getting on a private jet.
I love the original Continental powered Malibu, specifically the ’86-’88 models. Piper initially had hydraulic flaps, which were clunky and had several issues (most notably, the hydraulic system would randomly kick offline while the flaps were in motion at very in-opportune moments). Piper switched to the electric flaps in ’86, making the ’86-’88 year models very desirable.
Unfortunately for Piper, the Continental TSIO-520 was not the engine manufacturer’s best product. There were several Malibu crankshaft problems and engine failures, so much so that Piper decided to go with the Lycoming TIO-540 engine in 1989, creating the Malibu Mirage (all the current Malibu’s operating the -520 engine have been overhauled many times over, so there are no safety concerns with the -520 engine). The Lycoming powered Mirage (350 HP), cruises a little bit faster than the Continental powered Malibu, but burns about 5 more GPH. Piper still makes the Mirage, now dubbed the M350, complete with the Garmin G1000 NXi panel.
The 4 seat, cabin class back seat is very roomy (unlike a Bonanza or Saratoga). There is plenty of rooms for bags, both behind the back seat and in the handy nose compartment, which is wide enough to fit golf clubs, minus the driver. The 1600 pound useful load (880 pound payload with full fuel), allows for a lot of people and gear to be loaded on board. The airplane is a little stingy on CG, though. You do not want to have a CG that is out of the rear limits.
The airplane is fun to fly. It has a heavy elevator, similar to a Bonanza, which requires a lot of trim on landing. It’s very long wings cause it to float a bit on landing if the pilot comes in too fast. It’s very docile in stalls and extremely comfortable for cross country flying. The air conditioning system works very well, though it is still hot on the front seats when sitting on the ramp on a Texas July afternoon.
Many of the airplanes have upgraded to glass panels. Most are still equipped with the King KFC 150 autopilot, some with a Yaw Damper, some not. The KFC 150 is a good autopilot, but when Garmin certifies their GFC 600 for the PA46, that will be a popular retrofit.
If I had my pick, I would buy an ’86-’88 Malibu with an upgraded Continental TSIO-550 engine. Climbs a bit better and does a bit better in cruise than the original -520 engine. See why here.
I would rate the PA46 line as the best pressurized single engine piston option out there.
Cessna P210 Centurion
The P210 was introduced by Cessna in 1978. It also came with the Continental TSIO-520 engine that the Malibu was certified with. Climbing at about 700-800 fpm (equal to the Malibu), the P210 cruises at around 190 KTAS as well, burning around 17-18 GPH. Like the Malibu, the P210 had a Continental TSIO-520 power plant, but, unlike the Malibu, the P210 makes the pilot work to keep the CHTs cool. With smaller cowl openings and a tighter cowl, cooling isn’t as good as the Malibu.
Even though the P210 has six seats, the forward facing, Cessna style 3 rows aren’t quite as comfortable as the Malibu. The single door on the pilot’s side makes loading and unloading a bit of a chore (especially compared to the air stair door in the Malibu). The third row of seats isn’t extremely useful, as the ceiling is lower and the proximity of the second row of seats decreases the amount of leg room, making it uncomfortable for a full size adult. Most operators remove the pilot’s side second row seat to add an aisle to get to the back row for people and bags. It also has a smaller cabin then the Malibu.
There is less baggage in the P210, with the singular baggage compartment accessed through a baggage door behind the cabin. The Air conditioning system is also not as good as the Malibu.
It’s hard to get the P210 out of CG and overloaded. A useful load of 1500 pounds (with 90 gallons of fuel, it drops to only 960 pounds) allows the airplane to be loaded to the gills without being overweight.
There are some engine upgrades out there for the P210 (the Silver Eagle conversion puts a Rolls Royce turboprop on it). The best piston conversion is the Vitatoe Conversion that swaps the engine out for a Continental Turbo-Normalized IO-550, which is a much better engine than the -520. You still have to monitor the CHTs, but cooling is less of an issue. These are much higher priced on the market, though.
Because of the size of the cabin and the true reputation the P210 has of being a maintenance hog, I would rate it below the PA46 line.
Extra EA-400
There are 3 pressurized, single engine piston airplanes out there today: the Piper PA46, the Cessna P210, and the Extra EA-400. Extra is the famous German aerobatic aircraft manufacturer that created the Extra 300 and 330. In the early 2000s, Extra tried it’s hand at the pressurized single market with the EA-400 (Extra also tried to get into the single engine turbo-prop market with the EA-500, but the project fizzled before much progress was made). Sadly, only 27 EA-400s were built before the company ran into financial trouble.
The concept sounds cool. A fully composite, pressurized, liquid cooled, cabin class piston. The engine was the Continental TSIOL-550, liquid cooled power plant. Liquid cooling means no concern about hot CHTs while you are climbing. The problem with the engine is that there are so few liquid cooled Continental engines out there, finding a mechanic familiar with one could be an issue.
I have never flown an Extra 400, but there are several floating around out there. Most have steam gauges and the STEC-55x autopilot. The price on the only one on Controller right now is comparable to the P210N but above the Continental powered Malibu.
If you are in the market, an Extra 400 might be fun to test fly and who knows, you might fall in love with it!
Experimental Options
There are a handful of experimental pressurized singles out there. I have not flown any of them, so I can’t be a good resource on recommending them. Here is the list, however.
Lancair Evolution Piston
Lancair IV-P
Lancair ES-P
As far as availability on the market goes, there are 8 Malibus on Controller (1 1986 model) ranging from $315,000 and down, 24 Mirages ranging from $705,000 (equipped with the Garmin G1000) and down, 25 P210s ranging from $405,000 and down, and 2 Extra EA 400s, priced at $369,000 and down. Check out the available Experimental Lancair options here.
Have you decided to upgrade, but don’t know what to buy or how to buy it? Check out Texas Top Aviation’s Acquisition Services. We’ll get you the best airplane for you, your mission, and your budget. Contact Us today to find out more information.
Making An Aircraft Purchase
You have finally decided it’s time to make an aircraft purchase. You’ve got your private pilot certificate with an instrument rating.
You’ve been flying for 3 years, mainly renting the Piper Arrow at the local flight school. You’ve had some frustrations at times with scheduling, since the Arrow is also used for training at the flight school. The airplane isn’t very well taken care of, is kind of old, and breaks a lot.
After several weekends of trying to book the airplane to take a weekend trip to the family cabin, your frustration finally boils over. It’s time to make an aircraft purchase.
Time for Trade-A-Plane?
Here’s a better question: Have you bought an airplane before? Do you know the process? Do you know what to look for in maintenance records? Do you know what ADs are required? Is the airplane priced higher than it’s valued?
Overwhelmed yet? Texas Top Aviation is here to help in your Aircraft Purchase. Visit our Aircraft Purchase Consultation page for more information. Ready to buy? Contact Texas Top Aviation today!
FICON Reports
Field Condition, or FICON, reports show up in NOTAMs both during the summer time and the winter time. In the southern states, FICON reports are seen more in the summertime during and after hard rains and thunderstorms (with the exception of winter 2021 & 2022, where Texans quickly got familiar with FICON reports after some very unusual winter weather). In cold winter climates, FICON reports are a staple during the winter season, showing up during and after snow & ice storms.
The question is, what do those codes mean in the FICON report? You could see 5/5/5, 3/3/3, 3/4/4 and any combination thereof. And why are there three numbers?
Let’s start with the second question first. The three different numbers in the FICON report indicate the 3 different sections of the runway: the touchdown third, midpoint third, and rollout third of the runway.
Now, what are those numbers describing? The three numbers are the indication of how slippery that portion of the runway is. This is referred to as a Runway Condition Code (or RCC). The lower the number, the more slippery the runway is. The higher the number, the dryer the runway. The scale is 0-6, with 6 being completely dry and zero being no traction at all.
Here is the FAA table for the RCCs.
Now, in order for those RCC codes to generate, at least 25% of the surface must be wet. If there are just spots of standing water, slush or snow, a FICON report will be issued to report the contaminants, but no codes will be generated.
The Runway Condition Codes are only part of a FICON report. In addition to the codes, a descriptor in the NOTAM will be published describing what percentage of the portion of the runway is affected and by what.
For example: RWY 28 FICON 3/3/3 100 PRCNT 2IN DRY SN OVER COMPACTED SN.
Deciphered, that is saying that all sections of Runway 28 have braking deceleration that is noticeably reduced or direction control is noticeably reduced and 100% of each section has 2 inches of dry snow over compacted snow. Sounds like a runway to avoid!
Braking action reports are separate from FICON reports, but also issued via NOTAM. Braking action reports are issued by the airport manager whereas the FICON reports are computer generated.
Keeping Your Margin
Just south of the equator in the mountains of Papua, Indonesia on the island of New Guinea, pilots spend their days carrying food, building supplies, doctors, pigs, and passengers into some of the most remote and extreme airstrips on the planet. That’s where I fly.
Each morning I load my Cessna Grand Caravan with 2,600 lbs of (insert strange cargo here) and depart my home base of Wamena just after the sun sends its first rays of light across the waking skies above. I spend my day winding through narrow valleys and crossing high altitude mountain passes with building clouds and poor communication, only to land on short, narrow airstrips with steep slopes and little room for error. Most of these one-way in, one-way out runways require me to commit to landing well before touchdown due to terrain that is too close to allow for a safe go-around. Everything better be right when I cross that decision point or I could be in for some excitement.
The need to keep wide margins of safety might seem obvious in environments like mine, but that doesn’t make them any less important where you fly. You may be a new pilot or an old timer, but keeping your margin should always be on the top of your priority list.
Let’s unpack this further. Margin is not just maintaining the regulatory requirements for cloud clearances or minimum altitudes. It’s more than planning for an alternate airport or carrying the required fuel reserve. Margin is breathing room. It is that extra maneuvering room, the Plan C, the well thought out options that provide you multiple “outs” in any given situation. Margin is what gets you home when things take a turn for the worse.
Margin comes in all shapes and sizes. For myself it includes maintaining double my required turn radius in narrow valleys or choosing not to land when my groundspeed is just 1 knot too high at a short and slippery airstrip. For you, it could be determining a ceiling or visibility minimum requirement that is more conservative than the legal ones or setting a wind limitation that you know is reasonable. When it comes down to it, keeping your margin means you don’t push to the ragged edge of your skill or the aircraft’s capability.
Margin can also refer to your mental or emotional capacity. Are you mentally prepared to divert and miss that important event because the weather is getting bad? Are you ready to handle the disappointment of passengers when you arrive over your airstrip and choose not to land due to approaching rain or a factor that is difficult for a non-pilot to understand? Are you willing to cancel a flight on an important client because you are coming down with a cold or didn’t get adequate sleep? As the PIC of your flying machine, you alone are responsible for the safety of the aircraft and the people on board and those are the tough calls that only you can make.
Fatigue, overconfidence, and complacency are the biggest obstacles to keeping your margin. They are all very subtle dangers and you may be experiencing them without even recognizing it. Fatigue can slow down your thought process leaving you behind the plane and backed into a corner before you know it. Overconfidence might cause you to push weather or commit to a course of action that has no favorable alternatives. Complacency will lead you to believe that, because you have 2000 hours in a particular make and model, you don’t need to do a thorough preflight or complete the pre-landing checklist.
Regardless of experience level, operating environment, fancy avionics, and level of proficiency, margin is something that we all need plenty of. So as you go about your upcoming flights, be asking yourself what you can do to build in more margin. It just might be what gets you home.
Pete Greenwald is a transplant to Atlanta, Georgia who has fallen in love with all things Southern, including his wife, Ashley. As a pilot and A&P with Mission Aviation Fellowship, he flies the Cessna Grand Caravan in Papua, Indonesia serving people who live in isolation. In his spare time he is on the hunt for the best burger around.
Cirrus SR22T, Cirrus Vision Jet, or Diamond DA62?
If you have been searching “Cirrus SR22T for sale” or reading up on the Cirrus Vision Jet, you are looking at genuinely excellent airplanes. Both have earned their reputations. This is not an article about why you should not buy one. It is about a third airplane that almost never shows up in a Cirrus search — and what the numbers look like when you set it next to the two you are already considering.
190 ktDA62 Cruise762 lbFull-Fuel Payload648 nmRange, 4 Adults + Bags1 WeekTraining, No TravelWhat the Cirrus SR22T Gets Right
Let us start where we should. The SR22T is one of the most successful piston singles ever built, and for good reason. Turbo-normalized power that holds performance up high. A Perspective+ flight deck that is about as good as glass gets in a single. Side-yoke handling most pilots fall for inside ten minutes. And CAPS — the whole-airframe parachute that changed how our whole industry talks about safety.
Add strong resale, a deep service network, and one of the best owner communities in aviation, and you have an airplane that is very hard to argue with. If you fly two people and light bags on 300 to 500 nautical mile legs, we would tell you to go buy one — and we would help you find the right one. We also teach Cirrus SR20, SR22 and SR22T training here in Texas, so this is not an outsider’s opinion of the airplane.
The conversation changes when the mission grows.
Cirrus SR22T vs. Diamond DA62: The Numbers Side by Side
The Diamond DA62 is a seven-seat, twin-engine, Jet-A-burning composite airplane that most Cirrus shoppers have never sat in — usually because it simply never came up in the search. Here is how the two line up on the numbers that matter.
Specification Cirrus SR22T Diamond DA62 Cruise speed 184 KTAS @ 85% power / 10,000 ft 190 KTAS @ 90% power / 10,000 ft Fuel burn 18.3 GPH @ 85% (16.4 GPH @ 75%) 19 GPH total (9.5 GPH per engine) Fuel type 100LL AvGas Jet-A (~$1.75/gal cheaper) Seats / rows 5 seats, 2 rows 7 seats, 3 rows Useful load ~1,125 lb (3,600 lb MTOW) 1,341 lb (5,071 lb MTOW) Full-fuel payload ~575 lb 762 lb Range, 4 adults + 75 lb bags (835 lb) ~320–350 nm ~648 nm (45-min reserve) Takeoff over 50-ft obstacle 2,080 ft 1,575 ft Landing over 50-ft obstacle 2,535 ft 1,447 ft Single-engine service ceiling — 11,000 ft Engine-out redundancy CAPS parachute Second engine Recurring safety-system cost ~$20,000 CAPS repack / 10 yr None Rating required High-performance endorsement Multi-engine (~1 week, at home) Cirrus SR22T figures are taken from the Cirrus SR22T G6 Pilot’s Operating Handbook (P/N 13772-007, Reissue A): cruise at ISA and 3,400 lb, takeoff and landing over a 50-ft obstacle at sea level, ISA and 3,600 lb max gross.
Read that speed line carefully, because it is closer than the marketing on either side suggests. At 10,000 feet the DA62 has about six knots on the SR22T — real, but hardly decisive. Climb higher and the advantage flips outright: the SR22T is turbo-normalized, so at 18,000 feet the POH shows 198 KTAS on the same 18.3 gallons an hour, comfortably faster than the DA62. If raw speed is what you are buying, the Cirrus has a genuine answer.
Where the DA62 separates itself is everything around the speed. It burns Jet-A, which runs roughly $1.75 a gallon under 100LL at most FBOs and is available at airports where AvGas gets harder to find every year. And the full-fuel payload gap is 187 pounds. Payload is where light-airplane trip plans quietly fall apart.
Four Adults, Bags, and the Range That Actually Matters
Spec sheets get written for two people. Real trips are not flown that way.
Load four adults and 75 pounds of luggage — call it 835 pounds — and the SR22T has to leave fuel on the ramp. On a typical G6 empty weight that leaves room for roughly 48 of its 92 usable gallons, and realistic range lands around 320 to 350 nautical miles with IFR reserves. Put that same 835 pounds into a DA62 and you are looking at roughly 648 nautical miles with a 45-minute reserve.
To be fair to the airplane: with full fuel and two people aboard, the SR22T is genuinely long-legged. The POH shows 763 nm at 10,000 feet and 791 nm at 18,000 feet on a 45-minute reserve. The range only collapses when you fill the seats — which is precisely the mission this comparison is about.
That is not a rounding error. That is one fuel stop versus none on a Texas-to-Colorado weekend. And the DA62 does it across three rows, with two seats still open behind you.
About the Cirrus Vision Jet G1
If your search has moved from the SR22T up to the Vision Jet, that airplane deserves real credit too. Cirrus did something nobody else managed: a single-pilot personal jet, with CAPS, delivered in volume, flown successfully by owner-operators. That is a genuine achievement in this industry, and we teach Cirrus Vision Jet training ourselves.
The G1 specifically, though, asks for a level of commitment that surprises a lot of first-time jet buyers.
Cirrus Vision Jet G1: What Ownership Actually Asks Of You
- Acquisition: approximately $1.8 million.
- Fuel burn: 60–70 GPH of Jet-A.
- Full-fuel payload: only 300–400 lb — roughly two adults and a soft bag.
- Range: about 800 nm on paper, but heavily payload-limited in practice.
- Type rating: a full FAA type rating is required — roughly two weeks of initial training in Knoxville, Tennessee.
- Insurance dual: 25+ hours of additional dual instruction beyond the type rating.
- Recurrent: annual simulator recurrent training back in Knoxville, at $15,000–$25,000 per year, every year.
- Runway: 3,192 ft takeoff / 3,011 ft landing over a 50-ft obstacle.
- Climb: drops to 1,100–1,200 fpm at heavier weights, and loses thrust at high density altitude airports — exactly where you want margin.
Worth saying plainly: the G2 and G2+ are meaningfully more capable airplanes — better payload, better hot-and-high performance, updated flight deck. That is a different and more interesting conversation, and one we are glad to have. Everything above is specific to the G1, because the G1 is the airplane most often cross-shopped at DA62 money.Compare that training path to the DA62. A multi-engine rating is all that is required — roughly one week, typically at your home airport, with no hotel and no travel. There is no annual sim requirement in another state, and no recurring five-figure training line item on the budget.
Runway Numbers Open Up the Map
Performance over a 50-foot obstacle is where your airport list gets long or short. The DA62 clears it in about 1,575 feet on takeoff and 1,447 feet on landing. The SR22T needs 2,080 and 2,535 feet. The Vision Jet G1 needs 3,192 and 3,011 feet.
That is roughly 500 feet less than the SR22T on departure and nearly 1,100 feet less on arrival — and against the G1 the gap is wider still. Practically, that difference is what gets you into the shorter ranch, lake and mountain-adjacent strips that a lot of the best flying runs on. That is not a spec. That is a different set of weekends.
The Parachute and the Second Engine
CAPS is a real safety system and we will not say otherwise. It has saved lives, and it deserves the respect it gets. It also carries a cost most buyers do not budget for: the rocket and canopy repack runs about $20,000 every ten years, and it is not optional.
The DA62 answers the same question a different way. Lose an engine and you still have one making power, turning counter-rotating props, managed by a FADEC that keeps it to a single lever per side. One number to know either way: the DA62 single-engine service ceiling is 11,000 feet, so on one engine it will hold altitude over most terrain but not over the high country. Neither answer is wrong — they are two philosophies about the same risk. The DA62 version just does not come with a recurring five-figure bill.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Diamond DA62 faster than a Cirrus SR22T?
Only down low, and only slightly. At 10,000 feet the Diamond DA62 cruises at 190 KTAS at 90% power on 19 GPH of Jet-A total, while the Cirrus SR22T G6 POH shows 184 KTAS at 85% power on 18.3 GPH of 100LL. Higher up the SR22T is the faster airplane — its turbo-normalized engine holds 198 KTAS at 18,000 feet on the same fuel flow. The DA62 advantage is fuel cost, payload and runway, not raw speed.
How much can a Diamond DA62 carry compared to a Cirrus SR22T?
The DA62 carries a 762 lb full-fuel payload across seven seats in three rows. The Cirrus SR22T has a useful load of about 1,125 lb and a full-fuel payload of roughly 575 lb. Loaded with four adults and 75 lb of bags — 835 lb total — the DA62 flies about 648 nm with a 45-minute reserve, while the SR22T is closer to 350 nm.
What training does a Cirrus Vision Jet G1 require compared to a Diamond DA62?
The Vision Jet G1 requires a full FAA type rating: about two weeks of initial training in Knoxville, Tennessee, plus 25+ hours of additional dual for insurance, plus annual simulator recurrent back in Knoxville that runs $15,000–$25,000 per year on an ongoing basis. The Diamond DA62 requires only a multi-engine rating — about one week, usually at your home airport, with no travel.
Can a Diamond DA62 use shorter runways than a Cirrus SR22T or Vision Jet?
Yes. Over a 50-foot obstacle the DA62 takes off in about 1,575 ft and lands in about 1,447 ft. The Cirrus SR22T needs about 2,080 ft and 2,535 ft, and the Cirrus Vision Jet G1 needs about 3,192 ft and 3,011 ft. The Vision Jet G1 also sees climb rate fall to 1,100–1,200 fpm at heavier weights and loses thrust at higher density altitude airports.
Does the Diamond DA62 have a whole-airframe parachute like Cirrus CAPS?
No. The DA62 redundancy is a second engine rather than a parachute. One practical difference in ownership cost: the Cirrus CAPS repack runs about $20,000 every ten years and is mandatory, while the DA62 has no equivalent recurring safety-system expense.
Current Diamond DA62 market listings are aggregated on Controller: browse the Diamond DA62 inventory.
DA62 Questions?
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