Most pilots have seen the Icon A5 light sport amphibious aircraft. It’s a neat design that can land on water or on a runway. The high wing design with a pusher prop has foldable wings that allow it to be put on a trailer and towed behind a vehicle, allowing it to be offloaded at boat ramps (it also begs the question can you wakeboard behind it?).
Apparently, not all non-pilots know about the Icon A5. Last week, one landed in the water near a beach in Southern California, but most of the beach goers and local authorities believed it had crash landed in the water. Emergency crews were dispatched, but everyone was surprised when the two occupants crawled out on the wings, had a cup of coffee, and took back off.
The safest pilots are the ones who attempt to gain as much knowledge and learning about their airplane and environment as possible. These pilots are the ones who enjoy learning, going to seminars and conventions, and soak up all the MMOPA magazine articles in each issue. These pilots are the ones who get as much training as they can, above and beyond what the minimum requirements are.
If you are one of these pilots and you own a Piper PA46, then this blog is for you.
Casey Aviation, one of the best Piper PA46 training companies out there, recently released all of their Malibu, Mirage, Matrix, Meridian, and JetProp systems training videos for free. These are some fantastic videos that Casey Aviation created which go much more in depth than any power point presentation could.
The great thing about the videos is they give the viewer an all access “inside look” to the specific airplane. Joe Casey, owner of Casey Aviation, takes off cowlings, crawls under the nose gear compartment, and even shows an airplane with the interior out so all the flap cables and environmental systems can be seen.
I have started referring all of my PA46 customers to the Casey Aviation videos as part of the prep work for our training sessions.
To access the videos, check out the Casey Aviation website.
A lot of my customers ask me which airplane that I train in is my favorite. The Cirrus and the Columbia both are very good airplanes, but if I had my pick, I’d go with a Piper PA46, specifically an ’86-’88 Malibu.
I love the Piper PA46. 6 seat, cabin class, pressurization, air conditioning, great ramp appeal, 17 GPH (in the Continental TSIO 520 or 550; Piper changed to the Lycoming TIO 540 in ’89, which you run rich of peak and burn 22 GPH, decreasing a little bit of the awesomeness). What more can you ask for? The interior is roomy, there is plenty of baggage space in the nose and in the rear of the cabin. They are downright fabulous airplanes. Plus, you can get into a nice one that has had some panel upgrades and a mid time engine for around $300,000. That’s not bad.
Cessna tried to make a pressurized single with the P210, but it just doesn’t match up with the Piper PA46. The Piper has more room, more baggage space, a higher max differential pressure and service ceiling, and better air conditioning to boot!
Don’t know much about the Piper PA46? It’s been called several things. Originally, it was the Malibu, with a Continental engine. Now the TSIO 520 was not one of Continental’s better motors. However, most of the original Malibus have been upgraded to the much better TSIO 550C engine, which is a great product. Cruise around at almost 200 knots at FL200 and burn only 17 GPH. It’s beautiful.
Piper changed to the Lycoming engine in 1989 and changed the name to the Malibu Mirage, later shortened to just Mirage.
Then, in 2016, Piper upgraded a lot of the avionics, cleaned up the panel, and dubbed it the M350.
Piper made the ill fated decision in the mid 2000s to quit making the Saratoga and instead make an unpressurized version of the PA46 called the Matrix. It didn’t last long, only about 10 years or so, and hasn’t been very popular (see: don’t buy one). Piper took the best part about the PA46, the pressurization, and took it away, leaving an airplane that you still have to wear oxygen in to get the advertised high speeds in the upper teens and flight levels. Who wants to be cruising around in a cabin class airplane with oxygen on? Piper needs to bring the Saratoga back to give folks a low level, high performance option.
What would be my dream Piper PA46? As stated above, an ’86-’88 model Malibu (Piper started off with hydraulic flaps in the ’84-’85 models and it wasn’t a very good system. They changed to electric flaps in ’86) with a Continental TSIO 550C upgrade. The Garmin autopilot isn’t out yet, so I’d go with the STEC 3100 Autopilot w/ a Yaw Damper (the airplane originally came with a King KFC 150, which is a really good autopilot, but most of them are getting old and are getting difficult to fix. King’s replacement KFC 325 is still slogging through certification. Garmin’s GFC 600 would be ideal, but that isn’t expected to be certified for the PA46 fleet till late this year). A single Garmin 10.6″ G500 TXi with EIS tied to a Garmin GTN 750 GPS with a Garmin GTR 225 Nav/Comm as the number 2 radio.
Then I just put gas in it and go. That would be my kind of airplane.
As was the case with the Class B Airspace around Houston several months ago, the Class B Dallas airspace has been overhauled as well. These changes were implemented at the last database update on September 18th. If you’ll be flying into any of the Dallas airspace airports IFR, make sure you have current charts and your GPS databases are updated.
According to AOPA, 14 SIDs and STARs were deleted, a number of new procedures were added, and changes were made to most of the other remaining procedures. The new procedures in the Dallas airspace consist mainly of RNAV procedures for turboprops and jets, so most GA aircraft won’t be affected by those. The legacy procedures that remained in place over went changes, including new frequencies, so piston aircraft going into the Dallas airspace are still affected.
From AOPA, departures from Dallas Love (KDAL) that file their flight plan with special equipment /G in their flight plan will automatically be given an RNAV departure procedure. This does not appear to affect piston aircraft as all the new RNAV SIDs in the Dallas airspace are for turboprops or turbojets.
The reason for the changes to the Dallas airspace? Similar to the changes in Houston, these airspace changes are meant to streamline departures and arrivals in the Dallas airspace area, reduce controller workload, and give continuous descent angles for arriving high altitude traffic.
Don’t be surprised the next time you are in the Dallas airspace area if you receive a clearance that states: “Descend via the arrival.” In that case, just check the chart and aim for the appropriate altitudes at the appropriate fixes. As we move closer to the ADS-B requirement, I believe we will see more and more of these terminal procedure overhauls, so be prepared and keep those charts and databases up to date.
There are many different ways to upgrade an instrument panel. Putting in a 696 here, a JPI engine monitoring system there, even an Electronic HSI. But, if you want to swing for the fences and get a serious upgrade, you have to go for a complete glass instrument panel. For good measure, you might as well throw in a touch screen GPS while you are at it.
The Garmin G500
The Aspen EFD 2500
Which panel to go with? There are two mainstream options (Garmin and Aspen) and a handful of other companies that make glass panel replacements (Avidyne being one, King for a short period of time at the end of the last decade being another with the KFD 840). Around 2010, there were a lot of companies trying to get into the glass panel retrofit game, but many of the products didn’t gain a whole lot of popularity, leaving Garmin and Aspen at the top of the heap.
What about the touch screen GPS market? Garmin has this pretty much cornered as well, with Avidyne and King just getting into the game. The gap between Garmin’s GTN series and Avidyne and King is pretty wide.
The answer is pretty easy when it comes to the GPS (go with Garmin!), but not so easy when it comes to the panel. The G500 and the Aspen Evolution series are both excellent interfaces with strong reliability, so which one do you go with? Feature-wise, both have a lot of the same features: traffic, weather, terrain, synthetic vision, to name a few. The presentation for each feature is a little different between the two interfaces. It just depends on what you like better.
The nice thing about the Aspen system is you can go glass, but you have options on how much glass you want: 1 screen, 2 screens, or 3 screens? With the single screen PFD, you have all your instrumentation, traffic, weather, and optional synthetic vision. You don’t need the synthetic vision for the traffic and weather, as it shows up behind your HSI. It is an honest to goodness glass panel retrofit.
When you decide to upgrade to 2 screens, this is where Aspen has a leg up. The second screen is a completely redundant PFD and, if you get the 2 hour emergency backup battery installed, acts as the backup instrumentation to the main PFD. This means you can take out the old steam gauge standby instruments. This helps clean the panel up.
I personally don’t see the need for 3 screens, but maybe there is someone out there who needs it.
One selling point that Aspen has over Garmin is the wide variety of autopilots and GPS units that Aspen units are compatible with. The G500 is only compatible with King autopilots, it’s own GFC 700 autopilot (which would be a retrofit), some Collins autopilots, and the Century 21, 31, 41, and 2000. This does cover a wide array of autopilots, but it keeps some on the outside. Aspen, on the other hand, is compatible with most autopilots on the market.
Finally, let’s talk price. Going with an Aspen EFD 1000 PFD (this is the single screen Aspen) will run you somewhere in the area of $12,000. The price will vary based on the shop and the airplane. When you want to add a screen, it’s an additional $6,000. This is for the base, so if you want to add weather or synthetic vision, it’ll run you a little more.
The Garmin G500 comes in around $20,000, again depending on the shop and the airplane. The screens are bigger on the G500, which is kind of nice, and you are buying a Garmin product, which has a fabulous track record in the aviation industry.
Decisions, decisions. There really is no wrong answer here. Both are excellent products with very good track records. Both have really nice features and don’t hardly fail. Really, the choice comes down to what you want.
Need training on your upgraded GPS or glass panel retrofit? Contact Texas Top Aviation for thorough training on your new avionics today.
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.
Ah, fall is finally here. In Texas, it arrived about a month late, but showed up with a vengeance. A strong cold front caused a 40 degree temperature drop in 12 hours earlier this week, bringing rain, lower freezing levels, and lots of wind.
Fall means cooler temps, but fall also means less light. The sun begins to set sooner, plus the fall back time change in November cause darkness to spring upon an unaware pilot.
Before getting in to too many night landings tips, just a friendly reminder, passengers can only be carried at night if the PIC has completed 3 takeoffs and landings to a full stop in the last 90 days during the time period of 1 hour after sunset to 1 hour before sunrise.
Lots of us have been landing long before sunset for most of the past couple of months, so those night flying skills might be a little rusty. The best way to remedy night flying rustiness? Call an instructor and go get some practice.
In the meantime, here are some tips as to what to expect for your next night flying experience.
Your Eyes Are Very Important. This may seem like an obvious statement, but night vision can be affected by many things. Before you takeoff, you want to make sure you can see in the dark. The FAA recommends no bright lights 30 minutes prior to takeoff. They also recommend using oxygen at night as this greatly improves night vision, even at low altitudes. Use off center viewing to help spot traffic or other objects in the air. Finally, when preflighting, use a red flashlight as much as possible, but if you do have to use a white light, close one eye to keep one eye from being blinded.
Utilize Approach Lights onLanding. Night landings are very different then day landings. It is very difficult to get the proper depth perception, not too mention see obstacles below you on your final approach to a runway. PAPI’s, VASI’s, and instrument approach glide slope’s become very important. If you are VFR only pilot, if your airport has a PAPI or a VASI, keep 2 white and 2 red (or 1 white and 1 red) lights. If you see 3 red (or 2 red), climb. If you see 4 red, definitely climb. If you are an IFR pilot, I highly recommend always flying an approach at night. What if your airport doesn’t have a PAPI, VASI, or approach with a glide slope? You might not want to utilize it at night. One side note on VFR flight: Clouds are nearly invisible at night. If you do fly into a cloud (a clue is your strobe lights start reflecting back at you), don’t panic. If you have an autopilot, turn it on and execute a 180 degree level turn. If you don’t have an autopilot, start scanning your instruments, keep your attitude indicator blue side up, and make a shallow 180 degree while maintaining altitude. Then call ATC, advise them what happened, and ask for help. One more note: I highly recommend that if a pilot finds that he/she will fly at night at lot, get an instrument rating and fly IFR at night. It’s much safer.
Practice Landings Before Carrying Passengers. The tendency when landing at night is to level off too high before flaring, causing the airplane to bleed off speed and energy too high above the runway. This can lead to a stall, a hard landing, and/or too high of a pitch attitude at touch down causing a tail strike. A good tip is start your level off when you can see the tire marks on the runway. Make sure you practice night landings, preferably with an experienced instructor who is night current and proficient, before carrying any passengers on board, even if you are night current, but haven’t landed at night in a while.
Night Emergencies. For engine failures at night, you are very limited on options. Unless you have a Cirrus equipped with a CAPS parachute system, you really have two options if an airport isn’t within gliding distance. Find a wide, lighted road that appears to be lightly trafficked. A word of caution, though: be careful of light poles, fences, concrete medians, cars, and buildings. The LA freeway would not be a good option (though there are exceptions to this rule as is evidenced by the picture below). The second option is find a dark spot and pray it’s a field (or the Hudson River). As you get closer, you can turn your landing light on to see what the ground looks like. If it looks good, keep the light on and continue. If you don’t like what you see, turn your landing light off and continue….
Flying at night can be the best time of day to fly. It’s usually smoother, cooler, and you get to see all the city lights. It is a very different environment, however, so make sure to get some training before darkness settles in on your next trip.
