http://www.saflyermag.comthat. Barely ten minutes after brake release
I level-off at 12,500 ft above the Atlantic.
The centre of the M500’s operating
altitude is the mid-20s (it is cleared to
operate up to FL300) and at these altitudes
it will comfortably cruise at a TAS of about
255 kt while burning around 230 lb of jet
fuel an hour. With a maximum fuel load of
1135 lb (although the size of the fuel tanks
is measured by volume, fuel uplifted and
fuel consumed is calculated by mass) the
M500 has a range of about 1,000 nm plus a
45-minute reserve. Of course, if you fill the
tanks you can’t fill the seats, but most – if
not all – aircraft in this class require some
sort of compromise regarding utilisation of
the useful load.
The beauty of operating a turboprop is
that you’re ideally placed to make the best
use of the upper winds, and this is where
features such as XM weather and having
all the systems (including the new digital
pressurisation system) fully integrated is a
real win. The G1000 can even manage your
descent for you, which can be very useful
when you’re clipping along at 30,000 ft with
a groundspeed of 300 kt. Just give it the
desired altitude to be achieved by a specific
waypoint, and it will work out the vertical
profile and even include a Top of Descent
point. This really is a serious travelling
machine, designed for people who have
some serious travelling to do.
However, the purpose of today’s flight
is not to confirm its cruise characteristics
or VNAV capabilities but to explore the
virtues of its enhanced Autopilot Flight
Control System (AFCS) – and I’m extremely
eager to find out just what this powerful
new AFCS can actually do. While we’ve
been climbing up to our operating altitude
Craig has given me a brief ‘refresher’ on the
system, and as he has been instrumental in
its development he knows it ‘inside-out’.
Usually I’d explore the slow flight and
stall characteristics before digging any
further into the envelope, but as the M500
has essentially the same wing (and similar
wing loadings) as the Matrix and Mirage,
I am familiar with its behaviour, so with
Craig’s approval (and with an attentive Rich
paying close attention from the cabin) I
start with a look at the Electronic Stability
Protection, or ESP.
It uses the same actuators, processors
and sensors as the GFC-700 autopilot,
but functions independently of the AP and
actually only comes into play when the AP
is disengaged and the pilot is hand-flying. It
is automatically disabled below 200 ft AGL.
Essentially it operates in three modes: roll,
Most of the differences between earlier
PA46s and the M500 are in the cockpit.Passengers travel in comfort in the M500's sumptuous
cabin. Cabin pressurisation runs at 5.6psi, equating to
10,000 ft cabin altitude at 30,000 ft.