SA_F_2015_04_

42 SA Flyer

I

push on. Having muscled the

aircraft into a 60-degree bank

I release the yoke and watch,

fascinated, as the aircraft smoothly

but firmly rolls itself ‘wings level’.

Intrigued, I draw the power lever

back, trim forward and push the

nose over into an ever-steepening

dive. The waiting waters of the

Atlantic Ocean loom large in the

windscreen and the VSI is pegged

at 6,000 fpm as the altitude tape tumbles

through 12,000 ft. With less than two

minutes until we plummet into the ocean it’s

clearly time to start recovering, but instead

I simply release the controls, wait, watch –

and hope that the M500’s systems are as

good as they say they are.

The day had begun rather differently

from most SA Flyer flight test assignments.

Upon arriving at Piper’s famous Vero

Beach facility, photographer Jim and I

were ushered into a meeting room by

Director of Corporate Communications,

Jackie Carlon, and given a thick sheaf of

documents sternly labelled ‘Proprietary and

Confidential’. These pertained to the latest

addition to Piper’s very successful M-Class,

the new M500 – an aircraft so secret that

when I revealed its existence to the Editor

(in confidence) later the same week he said,

“The M-what? Never heard of it.” As had no

one else, because – in a major scoop for

SA Flyer magazine – I was honoured to be

the first journalist in the world to be given

the opportunity to evaluate this intriguing

new aeroplane.

Over the course of a long and thorough

briefing, Jackie Carlon and Dave Athay

explained exactly why what I was about

to fly was so special. The acronyms and

initials flew thick and fast as the myriad

features that make this machine so

remarkable were revealed, and when ESP

was mentioned I could scarcely believe

it (in fact, ESP means Electronic Stability

Protection – more on this later).

Unsurprisingly, this aircraft offers all

the latest refinements that you’d expect to

find on an aircraft of this class, such as an

Iridium transceiver, XM weather, a digital

pressurisation system, electroluminescent

cockpit placards and an Extended Squitter

Transponder and Traffic Advisory System

that has ADS-B In and Out functionality.

However (and as impressive as all the

above undoubtedly is) what really made

me sit up in my seat was the enhanced

Autopilot Flight Control System (AFCS).

This system incorporates facets such as

the ability to perform a coupled go-around,

automatic underspeed and overspeed

protection, an expanded autopilot engage

envelope, a ‘Level Mode’ facility and

Electronic Stability Protection. By now

my head was buzzing, but working on the

premise that a single flight is worth ten

briefings, it was clearly time to go flying.

PRE-FLIGHT

Interestingly, when I walk out onto the

ramp at Vero Beach later that morning the

aircraft certainly doesn’t look that special,

being simply painted in a single shade of

off-white and with the N-numbers rather

crudely stencilled on the side. In fact, it

looks more like a utility turboprop about to

be ferried to some foreign air force. Piper

has worked hard to keep the M500 ‘off the

radar’ – and as this report is possibly the

first time you’ve ever heard of it, I’d say the

company has done a pretty good job.

Of course, the M500 still shares the

same PA-46 Type Certificate as the Matrix,

Meridian and Mirage. It has essentially

the same high aspect-ratio wing (it has

a slightly greater wing area, due to the

large wingroot fillet) and is fitted with large

single-slotted flaps and relatively wide,

narrow chord ailerons. One slight difference

is the row of vortex generators on the

wing, but the fuselage, fin and tailplane

all look the same (although the M500 is

actually fractionally longer). It also has the

same undercarriage, which has a wide-

track but relatively short base. There is a

large LED taxi light on the nosewheel strut

and powerful LED landing lights in the

wing’s leading edge. It has all the sort of

equipment you’d expect to find on an all-

weather aeroplane, including weather radar

(in a small pod under the starboard wing)

pneumatic rubber boots on the leading

edges of the wings, fin and tailplane;

de-ice for the prop and a heated pilot’s

windscreen. In common with some other

Piper retractables, the mainwheels (which

retract inwards) are not covered by doors.

The nosewheel retracts aft. In fact, it is only

when you’re studying the cowling that the

external difference between the M500 and

the Matrix and Mirage becomes apparent.

Unlike the large air inlets that are

abeam the spinner on the piston-powered

versions of the PA-46, the M500 has the

primary air intake below the spinner and a

small scoop in front of the windscreen. And

if you’re still wondering what sort of engine

lurks beneath that smooth cowling, the two

huge exhausts sprouting from both sides

dispel any doubt – it’s a variant of the most

successful turboprop ever made – the Pratt

& Whitney Canada PT6.

This particular version of the famous

free-turbine engine is the PT6A-42A, and

although it is capable of producing 850 shp

at sea level in ISA (International Standard

Atmosphere), on the M500 it’s flat-rated

to 500 shp. This confers two significant

advantages: It leads a very under-stressed

existence (and is consequently very

reliable), and can continue to produce its

full rated power right up to around 25,000

feet, unlike many other engines, which

experience a considerable drop-off in

power at altitude. It turns a four-bladed

Hartzell propeller and is fed from two wing

tanks with a combined capacity of 644

litres.

This is a ‘cabin class’ aeroplane. Up

the airstair, through the sumptuous cabin

and into the cockpit and I immediately see

that – as Jackie had implied – most of the

differences between earlier PA-46s and

the M500 are in the cockpit. The MFD has

been reduced in size (from 15 inches to 12)

and the panel is better for it. On the Matrix

the MFD was so big that it almost distracted

you from the ten-inch PFD. The panel just

looks better balanced with the smaller

MFD, and it has also allowed the autopilot

controller to be moved up from underneath

the MFD to just below the glareshield.

Whether this is what drove Piper’s

engineers to scale down the MFD or is

FLIGHT TEST

It can continue to

produce its FULL RATED

POWER RIGHT UP TO

AROUND 25,000 FEET