SA_F_2015_04_

46 SA Flyer

pitch and high airspeed, by introducing a

correcting force while still providing the pilot

with feel. For example, once I rolled the

aircraft past 45 degrees of bank I became

aware of a subtle resistance through the

yoke. At 60 degrees the sensation was

no longer subtle but a quite substantial

self-righting force, and although I could

have either physically over-powered it or

temporarily disabled the system by pressing

the AP disconnect or CWS (Control Wheel

Steering) buttons, the sensible (and logical)

course of action was to just let go and

let it sort itself out, which it promptly did

by returning to straight-and-level flight.

Intrigued, I try a few more excursions in roll

and then move onto various pitch angles,

and once again (this time at 15 degrees

nose down and 17 degrees nose up) I

sense the self-righting force through the

yoke.

Should you be hand-flying and become

incapacitated – possibly by illness or

vertigo – and begin to feel you are losing

control, all you or the person sitting next

to you has to do is punch the blue ‘LVL’ on

the panel. This automatically engages the

AP and returns the aircraft to straight-and-

level flight. This is all very impressive, as

the important point to remember here is

that should the ESP activate, it is entirely

automatic, while engaging the ‘LVL’ mode

only requires one clearly marked button to

be pushed. Furthermore, if the ESP has

been engaged for a significant length of

time (it’s quite complicated, but essentially

it’s any ten seconds in a 20-second period)

then the AP auto-engages in level mode.

A further enhancement of the

GFC-700’s capabilities is that the AP’s

engagement envelope has been expanded

significantly and it can engage up to

+/-50 degrees in pitch and 75 degrees in

roll. Now, some of you may be thinking

“this is all well and good, but if the pilot is

temporarily incapacitated and the non-pilot

passenger has punched the ‘LVL’ button,

what’s to stop it stalling?” Patience – I was

coming to that.

Under Craig’s direction, I press the

aforementioned ‘LVL’ button and then draw

the power lever back to idle. The airspeed

bleeds away as the AP initially maintains

straight-and-level flight, and then as the

airspeed becomes dangerously low and the

angle of attack increases the Underspeed

Protection (USP) kicks in and smoothly

lowers the nose to maintain the speed at

around five knots above the value at which

it would stall. I was hugely impressed – and

even more so when Craig explains that the

enhanced AFCS also provides for coupled

go-arounds. If you just hit the TOGA (take-

off/go-around) button on the power lever

the AP levels the wings and pitches the

nose up nine degrees, but if the published

missed approach procedure is loaded and

active the AP will fly it, all the pilot has to do

is push the NAV button on the AP controller.

And should you be sufficiently remiss to

press TOGA but neglect to increase power,

the USP system automatically pitches the

aircraft to maintain an IAS just above stall

warning activation. Frankly, I found the

whole thing rather incredible – as systems

boasting this level of sophistication are

typically only found in giant jetliners, not GA

aircraft with six seats and only one engine.

Descending rapidly back towards Vero

Beach it suddenly occurred to me that I

hadn’t even thought about the new digital

pressurisation system. It functions so

smoothly that I was completely oblivious of

its presence. The cabin pressurisation runs

at 5.6psi, which equates to a cabin altitude

of approximately 10,000 ft when the aircraft

is at its certified operating ceiling of 30,000

ft.

A power setting of 55% torque and a

speed of 100 kt seems about right on the

downwind leg, and as we pass abeam

the numbers I select the first stage of

flap and lower the undercarriage before

commencing the turn onto base and going

to Flap 2. As we turn final the long cowling

somewhat blocks my view of the runway,

but full flap smoothly pitches the nose

down, greatly improving the view.

Easing the power lever back to 25%

torque drops the speed to 90 kt, but I’m

momentarily distracted by an Archer in front

of us that the Traffic Advisory System has

detected but neither Craig nor I can see.

I allow the M500 to dip slightly below the

glideslope but quickly retrieve the situation

with some power, take the power back off

on short final and cross the fence bang

on the Vref of 85 kt. All I have to do now

is land, but I make the same mistake as

with the Mirage and Matrix and try for a

fully held-off landing, with its associated

prolonged float. Get that wing in ground

effect and it just doesn’t want to stop flying.

With all three wheels eventually on the

runway I pull the power lever into ‘Reverse’.

The engine bellows hoarsely and within

seconds we’ve lost 40 kt and I move the

power lever back into idle to avoid prop

erosion.

CONCLUSION

Later that evening I make a few notes,

think about what I’ve just seen and begin to

realise just how important – and influential

• the latest aircraft from Piper might be.
  And these technologies will continue to
  mature, to the extent that, one day, the ‘LVL’
  button may be replaced by an ‘EMERG’
  button that literally flies the M500 to the
  nearest suitable airfield and lands it. This
  isn’t the same as the concept of pilotless
  airliners, but simply an emergency feature.
  Can you imagine what a confidence booster
  this would be for nervous passengers?
  Remember that the M500 is a single-pilot
  machine.
  Way back in 1939, Piper practically
  created practical General Aviation with the
  immortal J-3 Cub. Now, some 76 years
  later, Piper has quite possibly taken aviation
  safety to (if you’ll pardon the pun) another
  level.

Systems boasting this level

of sophistication are typically

only found in giant jetliners

Vortex generators along the wing.

A new addition to the PA-46 type.

j

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