With airline travel becoming more like riding an overcrowded city bus on a random schedule, hopeful discussions about the perfect personal airplane are even turning up in the mainstream media.
Enter the New Piper Meridian, a $1.5 million marriage of the Pratt and Whitney PT6, known icing, airborne radar, sophisticated avionics and simple systems clearly designed for operation by a single, non-professional pilot, the kind of guy who just doesnt trust piston engines.
Yes, there will always be below mins weather, thunderstorms and freezing rain that will park everything in the fleet, but with the Meridian, New Piper hopes it has created a design with the needed dispatch reliability and weather capability to be the serious traveling machine the world may want.
A Little History
Piper introduced the PA-46-310P Malibu in 1982 to compete with Cessnas P210. With a larger cabin and club seating, it was intended as a second-generation pressurized single. A piston powerplant in a pressurized single operates in a harsh environment, near its limits, thus the Malibus extensive problems with its Continental TSIO-520 werent surprising.
Piper put a higher horsepower Lycoming into the airframe and created the PA-46-350P Mirage in 1989. It, too, had plenty of engine problems. While things have improved, even the most rosy-goggled Malibu/Mirage owners accept high maintenance load and less-than-stellar dispatch rate.
Turbine power seemed to be the logical way to go with the PA-46 series. But could it be made to work? Over the years, weve seen a number of piston-engine airplanes that have been converted to turbines via STC, with results best described as uneven.
Piper is understandably nervous about turbine conversions of the PA-46s and is only providing limited support to owners of the converted airplanes, arguing that the STC process is not always thorough enough to address all technical issues.
Against that backdrop, the Meridian is not just a re-engined Malibu but a more extensive redo. The only common part between the two is the pressure vessel.
To obtain needed stability and control, the horizontal tail was enlarged 37 percent.
The wing is longer, with sparless tips and a large cuff was added at the wing root to assist in meeting the 61-knot stall speed requirement for single-engine airplanes. The cuff also allowed Piper to route all of the fuel lines outside of the pressure vessel, in our opinion a significant improvement in crashworthiness.
Whats Right
Overall, our view is that Piper has made a serious effort and has come closer than anyone else in building an airplane sophisticated enough to operate in most weather but simple enough to be flown solo by a well-trained non-professional pilot. The airplane is fast enough to be competitive with airlines, system redundancy is good and the Meridian should do we’ll based at airports with modest services.
Of course there are shortcomings, but theyre relatively minor, unless you wish to carry lots of weight over long distances. Some nitpicks first: The flight decks overhead switch panel needs to be removed. Its a step backward in design, reducing forward visibility during descent and its hard-to-read switch labels will drive the bifocal set nuts.
Further, in the event of a crash, we think it increases the chance of head injury, which is why most manufacturers have avoided overhead panels in recent years. Frankly, those switches could easily be located elsewhere on what we believe otherwise is a nicely organized flight deck.
Overall, we like the Meridians system design. The one complaint we have is minor: There’s no button to cancel the gear warning horn, so it squalls during the slam-dunk descents ATC likes to give high-flying kerosene burners. (The horn tends to launch passengers, which is never good.)
Last, and a carryover from the Malibu, the cabin is not friendly to anyone much over six feet. In order to build seats with adequate impact protection, headroom for tall pilots and passengers is slim at best; a headset will bump the ceiling and in turbulence, you’ll bump it harder. We suspect this will be an issue with some buyers who expect undiminished luxury in a $1.5 million airplane.
The Basic Airplane
The Meridians PT6A-42A is thermodynamically rated at 1029 shaft horsepower. Its the same basic engine used in the King Air 200, but de-rated to a maximum of 500 SHP. In turbines, de-rating is good since temperatures remain cooler which improves longevity, already the PT6s strong suite. Because of the de-rate, TBO is 3600 hours and may go higher later.
For the owner, in addition to a long TBO and reliability, de-rating means that 500 SHP is available to about 25,000 feet. For an airplane certified to 30,000 feet, this means that the initial 1750 FPM rate of climb declines only when the engines temp limit is hit and power must be reduced by about FL250.
It also means that there’s lots of power available for cruise, making the Meridian faster than many turboprop twins. Piper advertises a max cruise speed of 262 knots TAS at FL290 but we actually saw 263 knots TAS at FL270, slightly faster than book. The downside of de-rating is that the engine still has the rotating mass of a 1020 SHP engine and thus requires the fuel to rotate that mass. Fuel burn down low, where the engine is loafing, is correspondingly higher than it would be for an engine not de-rated.
Meridian pilots will have to learn to fly high all the time or suffer reduced range. In a Malibu, its okay to poke around at 3000 feet after a missed approach, waiting for better weather or motoring to an alternate. In a Meridian, you’ll have to scoot above 10,000 feet, otherwise fuel burn may make endurance dicey.
Pipers promotional material states endurance as 5.1 hours at max cruise with 45 minutes reserve. Our observations indicated fuel flows right at POH claims but we saw no way to meet the claim of 5.1 hours plus reserve at max cruise power. Piper told us it had to guarantee performance at FL300, even though it has never been a legal cruising altitude.
According to Piper, 170 gallons of Jet-A provide for a still air range of a bit over 1000 nautical miles. However, we recorded a 261-pound-per-hour fuel flow at max cruise at FL270, making endurance on the order of four hours without reserve. Allowing for flight to a legal alternate and then another 45 minutes, 700 to 800 miles may be the limit. Even then, you’ll have to climb assertively into the mid-to high 20s and stay there. Piddling about down low at higher power settings will cut endurance substantially.
Systems Design
For a single-pilot airplane, we like simple and the Meridian is that. For example, intake air doesnt reach the engine via a big ram air scoop, as is usual on PT6 installations.
Thanks to the de-rating, the Meridians PT6 doesnt need the ram effect. Instead, it has two NACA ducts under the nose, which are non-icing so there’s no need for ice vanes or an inertial separator. Nor is there inlet de-icing, thus no bleed air is wasted, sapping performance.
The Meridian essentially has a full-time inertial separator to keep precip out of the engine, protecting it from ingestion while removing opportunities for pilots to make expensive mistakes.
The engine installation has a few other thoughtful points. Engine oil has the usual dipstick but also a sight glass and there’s a check valve so that if the pilot forgets to secure the dipstick, the oil wont blow out of the engine.
For those who recall older Piper singles with numerous fuel tanks requiring a plumbers permit to understand, the Meridian is a pleasure. The fuel is either on or off and since Piper recognized that such systems lend themselves to imbalance between tanks, the system automatically senses this and turns on a pump to correct the imbalance. When balance is restored, the system shuts off the pump, keeping the pilot in the loop with annunciator lights.
The 28-volt electrical system is powered by a 200-amp starter-generator with a 135-amp back-up alternator. Both run during normal operation, however, there’s no paralleling circuit so the alternator doesnt do much unless the generator quits.
Storage is via two lead-acid batteries. If the entire ship goes dark, there’s a heated NiCad battery that lives in the fairing behind the radome tucked under the right wing. It will power the peanut gyro attitude indicator for 30 minutes. The pressurization system has a 5.5 PSI differential, allowing for an 8000-foot cabin at about FL250. At FL290, the cabin is just above 10,000 feet, which illuminates a warning light and sounds a chime which can be silenced. There’s an emergency bleed system that automatically kicks in if the cabin reaches an altitude of 12,500 feet, even if the environmental control systems are switched off, an excellent safety feature.
A vapor cycle air conditioning system typical of PT6 engine installations is used in lieu of an air cycle machine for climate control because the engine idles too slowly to run an ACM. We thought that the cooling system was adequate on a 90-degree Florida day.
Doors, Interior
Cabin entry is through an airstair door. We were advised that the original door cables on the Malibu didnt stand up we’ll and that a number of changes were made. Weve seen flimsier looking airstair doors on pressurized airplanes so we’ll hazard a guess that the current door will probably endure well.
The cabin reflected a noticeable attention to detail and quality. With potential buyers of a Meridian expected to drive top-end automobiles, the interior of a Meridian should be at least as we’ll appointed.
Piper has made a good start, in our view. The leather seats are attractive and comfortable, although we would expect armrests in an airplane of this price and, as noted, more headroom would be nice. The sidewalls and ceiling coverings are relatively spartan, but tasteful.
Normal seating is for a pilot and five passengers with club seating in the cabin. The left middle seat can be replaced with an optional beverage and entertainment center. Because only 250 to 300 pounds of fuel can be carried with six people aboard and because a number of insurance companies give a break on premiums for five-seat airplanes, we predict that most buyers will opt for the beverage center rather than the sixth seat.
Baggage space is entirely inside the pressure vessel behind the rear seats and limited to a maximum of 100 pounds. If you have more than 100 pounds, strap them to the seats because you cant put people in them due payload limits.
Weight, Payload
Consistent with single-engine turboprops, weight is a serious consideration in the Meridian. Small turboprops confront designers with major headaches to provide enough fuel for reasonable endurance and still have any useful payload.
There are few airplanes that can launch with full tanks and full seats and the Meridian isn’t one of them. Piper sells the Meridian with few options but even so, with some optional equipment, the normal useful load of a Meridian is between 1450 and 1500 pounds.
There’s no zero-fuel weight, so its simply a matter of adding up weights and getting them in the right spots for balance. Maximum usable fuel amounts to 1140 pounds, leaving about 310 to 360 pounds for the cabin: Two people and an overnight bag. With 1200 pounds of people and baggage in the cabin, only 250 to 300 pounds of fuel may be carried; about an hours worth.
Clearly, this is not an airplane for Part 135 charter operators. Its an airplane for the wealthy, Type-A individual who goes places alone or with one passenger. If market research suggesting that potential Meridian buyers only carry a passenger or two, the tight payload restriction wont be an issue.
High-End Avionics
Overall, the avionics in the Meridian are more than satisfactory. The EFIS is made by Meggitt Avionics and consists of six flat-panel LCD displays-if the two optional copilot panels are installed-providing flight and engine information.
The ADHARS (air data and attitude heading reference system) displays flight information on a primary and secondary flight display consisting of two of the flat plates mounted vertically in front of the pilot and two (optional) in front of the copilot.
The upper screen displays an attitude indicator along with airspeed, altitude, heading, rate of climb and trend information for any parameter thats changing. It also can display the nav and ILS needles.