While almost all of the aircraft we feature in our projects arrive at our hangar with older avionics and leave as highly capable machines ready for many more years of service, this M600 left the Piper factory in early 2022 and arrived to Maxcraft after the pilot made a diversion during one of his first cross country flights due to some errors on the primary flight display. Equipped with Garmin’s G3000 integrated flight deck, there wasn’t much more we could’ve possible added. Maxcraft was able to troubleshoot and solve the issue, and as a Garmin authorized service center, we were able to complete the repairs under warranty without charging the customer.

Brand New Piper M600 Warranty Repairs

2022 Piper PA-46-600TP M600

Aircraft & Owner:

The PA-46, originally called the Malibu, is Piper’s most advanced single engine aircraft. Piper’s M-Class of aircraft is the modern-day continuation of the Malibu. While the original Malibu was equipped with a piston engine, in 2000 Piper received certification for a turbo-prop version of the Malibu which was named the Malibu Meridian. Today, the M600 is being produced and continues the legacy of being an advanced and capable aircraft. The M600 has a PT6A-42A turbo-prop engine, and a pressurized cabin allowing it to comfortably cruise at altitudes of up to 30,000ft. The PA-46 is one of the airframes we at Maxcraft consider ourselves to be experts on. We’ve completed major avionics upgrades on several privately owned Malibus, and Maxcraft even owns a PA-46-310P.

Need:

While many of the projects we feature on our website are rags to riches situations where an older aircraft arrives to our hangar with mostly original avionics, or having undergone upgrades many years, or even decades before coming to us. The M600 comes standard with Garmin’s G3000 digital avionics suite. The G3000 system was the first ever touchscreen-controlled glass flight deck designed for light turbine aircraft. One of the most revolutionary systems found on the M600 is the HALO Safety System which incorporates many familiar safety features, but most notably Garmin Autoland. If necessary, at the press of a button the aircraft will automatically take control and maneuver the aircraft to the nearest suitable runway where the autopilot will perform a precision landing, all while squawking 7700 and communicating the systems intentions to both air traffic control, and the passengers onboard.

This M600 left Piper’s factory in Vero Beach, Florida just months before coming to Maxcraft. While the owner was on one of his first cross country flights in the Pacific Northwest, he experienced an intermittent error message on the primary flight display warning of a heading failure. After contacting Piper about the issue, he had the option of either cutting his trip short and returning to their service center in Florida, or flying to a Garmin Authorized Service Center somewhere along his route. The owner made the decision to make a small diversion to Pitt Meadows to have us diagnose the issue and solve the problem.

Maxcraft Solution:

Upon arriving at Maxcraft, the pilot described the issue to one of our technicians, and along with in-flight pictures and videos we were able to begin troubleshooting and narrowed the snag down to interference at the magnetometers. Upon running a magnetometer interference test, both were found to fail the test when the air conditioning and blowers were switched on to any setting. After tracing the wiring for magnetometers, it was found the high current condenser blower wiring was touching the pressure bulkhead connector which facilitates the feedthrough of the magnetometer wiring. After separating the wiring and routing it slightly differently, a calibration and re-test of the magnetometers showed both passing with “very clean” results.

After solving the problem with the magnetometers, we also updated the customers flight deck databases, and showed the customer how to do so using the Garmin Database Concierge. While we were completing this work, the customer was able to explore Vancouver and we offered the use of our company vehicle while his aircraft was being serviced. Moreover, as his M600 was still under Piper’s factory warranty, he wasn’t required to pay for the work we completed, and as an Authorized Garmin Service Center we can complete warranty repairs on Garmin equipment.