This customer reached out to us while shopping for a PA46 to upgrade to from his Beechcraft Baron. After finding the aircraft for him, he flew up from California, to our facility in Pitt Meadows where his JetProp would undergo an upgrade similar to the many PA46s we’ve had come through our doors in recent years.

The JetProp Glass Revolution Continues

1999 Piper PA-46-350P Malibu Mirage JetProp

Aircraft & Owner:

The Piper PA46 is a single engine, high performance, pressurized airplane. This aircraft is popular with individuals and companies who have a requirement to travel places with speed and reliability. Equipped with flight into known icing (FIKI) capabilities, and the ability to climb into the flight levels, the PA46 is an ideal IFR platform. The 350P variant was the second iteration of the Malibu and included a slightly more powerful engine, and a number of other quality of life improvements. While this aircraft left the factory with a Lycoming TIO-540 engine, at some point in its life it received the ever-popular JetProp STC, replacing the original engine with a PT6 turbine. The PA46 holds a special place with us here at Maxcraft. Owning one ourselves, and completing many major avionics upgrades on others, we’ve become experts on this airframe and can offer advice on upgrades that may be overlooked by other shops.

The owner of this JetProp reached out to us while in the process of purchasing the aircraft for advice on avionics, and potential upgrade paths. Coming from a Beechcraft Baron, the customer wanted pressurization and flight into known icing capabilities primarily to travel between his home, and his ranch, which brings him over mountainous terrain with his family on-board.

Need:

The customer had heard of our previous work on the PA-46 airframe (you can read about some of those projects here), and didn’t waver on having Maxcraft perform the avionics upgrades on his own aircraft. He came to us looking to add a modern engine indication system for the turbine engine (during the prebuy an engine issue was uncovered which resulted in the seller fixing the issues, but delayed the aircraft’s arrival to Maxcraft), along with a number of other small quality of life upgrades, such as upgrading the GTN 750 GPS to the newer Xi variant, and replacing the standby instruments with a GI 275.

After dropping the aircraft off and having some more in-depth discussions, he decided to also upgrade the legacy G500 primary flight display, to the latest and greatest G500 TXi from Garmin.

NEW EQUIPMENT LIST

Maxcraft Solution:

The G500 TXi brings better screen resolution, an easier touchscreen interface, and better processing technology. Replacing almost all the original engine instrumentation is Garmin’s G500 TXi Engine Information System (EIS). The many analog gauges are replaced with a dedicated 7” touchscreen engine display, and engine details can also be displayed on the primary flight display depending on pilot configuration options.

The same story can be said with the upgrade from the legacy GTN 750 to the GTN 750 Xi. The Xi variant brings with it better screen resolution, and better processing technology, along with Smart Glide technology which adds comfort and reduces pilot workload in the ultra-rare situation the turbine engine fails.

Directly below the G500 TXi primary flight display is Garmin’s GI 275 electronic flight instrument. This small 3.25” instrument has a high-resolution touchscreen which displays everything the pilot needs to maintain safe flight, such as altitude, attitude, airspeed, and heading. With a built-in battery backup, the GI 275 will continue providing vital information, even during a complete electrical failure ensuring the aircraft can make it home.

One of the oldest pieces of avionics found onboard this aircraft before our work was done was the aging KFC 150 autopilot. Replacing this with a modern, digital autopilot will be one of the biggest safety increases during this upgrade. Garmin’s GFC 600 is one of the most advanced autopilots on the market, bringing new levels of capability and reliability to this Jetprop. The GFC 600 provides superior integration with the G500 TXi, and GTN navigators, and offers pitch, roll, pitch trim, and yaw control through a series of servos connected to the flight controls. The GFC 600 also has a variety of safety enhancing features. Even when the autopilot isn’t engaged, it’s always monitoring the flight parameters to detect a number of unsafe situations such as over/under speed. The GFC 600 will audibly alert the pilot, then begin gently nudging the controls back towards stable flight. Garmin’s dedicated return-to-level (LVL) button will automatically return the aircraft to straight and level flight from any attitude when activated. This can save the day if the aircraft inadvertently enters instrument meteorological conditions.

One large benefit of our experience with the PA46 lineup is the efficiency which comes with familiarity. Rarely do we take on a PA46 job with many unknown factors. The panel is one area we have perfected with the PA46. While designing our own Malibu’s panel we took the time to perfect the pattern and we now have perfect CAD files that will fit most PA46s. This gives us the opportunity to focus more on the ergonomics of that panel rather than just making all the equipment fit. With this panel, the customer had good input on how to make it perfect for him and the way he flies, and had also asked if we could add a glovebox to the panel.

Like many PA46s that have come through our shop, we had our own experience to share with the owner which resulted in us also installing additional insulation under the interior panels to help keep the aircraft warm at altitude, as well as a bit cooler when taxiing on the ground on hot days.

Additionally, as this pilot will often be flying with his family, he decided to add a total of 4 dual USB charging port stations. These will allow both himself, and his passengers to keep all their devices charged, even on the longest of legs.