These Folks Have A Plan -- And It's Working...
There has been an
unmistakable (and welcome) trend, of late, among the pilots of a
number of high performance aircraft types that has convinced (or
forced...) them to take their destiny into their own hands.
They are coming together to solve problems and concerns
collectively, rather than looking outside their ranks for guidance
and assistance (and avoiding having it forced upon them)...
and it's working. By banding together to share concerns,
information, and expertise and building a framework whereby the
free exchange of such important concepts might be dealt out swiftly
and equitably, the relative safety of a number of types of aircraft
has improved remarkably.
We've seen recent efforts from Cirrus and Lancair owners
but one of the best (and most organized) we've seen so far has been
something of a too-well-kept secret that deserves to be lauded more
widely. It also deserves to be examined and replicated
throughout an industry that is rapidly coming to grips with the
fact that type-specific, mission-oriented training and protocols
are going to be the savior of much of the more active/capable GA
aircraft types. Period.
ANN recently spent time with a number of members of
the growing Malibu/Mirage Owners and Pilots Association... an
organization that seems to be doing an admirable job of supporting
the needs of a number of Malibu/Mirage owners and has just recently
started lending similar support to owners of other single-engine
high-performance piston and turbine aircraft -- starting with
the Malibu, Mirage, Meridian & Jetprop -- and recently
adding pilots of TBM700s, PC-12s and similar birds to its roster.
It's a "birds of a feather" solution, and it's quickly becoming the
most successful model for GA to use in making its ranks safer and
more accessible.
This weekend, pilots are gathering together in a resort near the
St. Augustine, FL, airport to attend seminars, engage in Q&A
sessions, meet with other pilots and see the latest and greatest in
aero-wares in a surprisingly active trade-show. Among the
highlights of this four day event are seminars given by NASA
Astronaut Jay Apt, discussions concerning engine-out emergencies,
maintenance issues, tax/insurance, and cost issues, avionics
operations, safety reviews, M/MOPA organizational programs, and
some valuable type-specific sessions dedicated to a number of
serious high-performance birds... including some non-Piper types
such as the TBM-700 and PC-12. One particularly intriguing event
was billed as the biggest Malibu Q&A session ever, with 150
Malibu flyers expected to take part. Additionally; Piper Head
Honcho Chuck Suma showed up (by motorcycle, no less) and addressed
the group en masse to apprise them of the state of Piper Aircraft
and issues near dear and dear to both recip and turbine Piper
flyers. Of course; there were a number of family and non-flying
activities planned so that the non-pilots not only had plenty to do
but plenty of reasons of their own to join their flying family
members at this event.
M/MOPA Convention Coordinator Bill Alberts was kind enough to
invite us to spend some time with the membership of this
organization and to attend the trade-show... which was very
well-staffed by some of GA's most significant players. Obviously;
Piper was the largest vendor in evidence and their display area was
heavily oriented toward extolling the virtues and unique
capabilities of the PT-6 powered Meridian, the turbine-powered big
brother of the Malibu series. Piper displayed some convincing
exhibits that showed (quite demonstrably) the many differences
between the elder Malibu piston birds and the plethora
of changes that were necessary to extend this airframe to fit
into a turbine world. Just the display of a Meridian horizontal
stab, with the outline of the smaller Malibu stab etched within
it's confines was enough to make a pretty sharp point (that Piper
obviously wants the world to know about) that the Meridian was not
just a re-engined Malibu--but a whole new bird. Another display
emphasized Piper's adoption of Vortex Generators... credited
with helping Piper get a useful load increase that the Meridian
truly needed to maintain it's credibility as a serious but
single-pilot-manageable go-fast transport system.
Some of the other notable vendors included Eclipse Aviation, who
obviously see a ready market among high-performance single-engine
flyers for their next generation twin engine "L'il-Jet." This
bird is currently on it's way to certification and deliveries
just a few years hence--and the aviation world will never be the
same once that happens. Other vendors offered a number of engine
upgrades, including several turbine alternatives for current Malibu
owners. One, Maximus, offers the affordable Walter turbo-prop
retrofit program (for under $400K) but the most popular, by far, is
Darwin Conrad's lavishly engineered JetProp conversions (124 of
them done, to date)... recently debuting with a new generation of
PT-6 powerplants that promise better numbers than ever. The Jetprop
conversion has a number of very happy adherents who quote their
economical operating costs and top speeds as if they were bragging
about their kids.
Other companies looking to invade the Malibu/Meridian market
were staffers from EADS/Socata who promoted the many
virtues of the TBM 700 and Pilatus with their PC-12. Also in
attendance were the new owners of Extra Aircraft, talking up
the soon-to-be-certified Extra 500 -- an airplane that ANN is
particuarly anxious to fly in light of the experience we had
withthe Extra 400 piston speedster. I was pleased to see a number
of companies specializing in all manner of initial and recurrent
training programs for many of these aircraft... one of them (Roger
Aviation of Eden Prairie, MN) even smart enough to also extol the
benefits of an unusual attitude training program, as well. Each
company reported strong interest and a sense that owners and
operators of this generation of aircraft seemed more
training-oriented than most other high-performance single engine
flyers. Also in strong evidence were insurance companies, Fly-In
communities, maintenance operations, and component manufacturers
like Hartzell, Lycoming, et al.
Avionics were a major item on the trade-show floor. EFIS
superstars Avidyne and Chelton showed their wares while
Chelton went the extra mile by showing up with a recently
converted JetProp as a demo bird.... which ANN will be testing in a
day or two (a guy's gotta do what a guy's gotta do). With possibly
the most advanced EFIS system we know of (especially in terms of
the way that they have adapted HITS and terrain modeling within the
PFD... which is exquisitely done and unequaled by any other
equivalent product), as well as over 600 STCs in hand, Chelton is
uniquely positioned to capture a significant portion of the upscale
panel retrofit market. We'll have more info and an update on this
system shortly.
I was pleased to meet up with engine guru, Victor Sloan (seen
below, chatting with ANN's marketing wizard, Larry Pius), who has
been kinda low-key, of late, setting up a charter business,
attending to his Piper duties and running one of the most respected
engine shops in the business. We've been trying to talk Victor into
sharing some of his smarts with ANN for quite a while now and it
seems that we're wearing him down... so we hope to offer you some
serious advice from the guy that Bob Hoover used to keep his Shrike
engines singing happily while he was turning them every which way
but loose.
M/MOPA has impressed us this week -- and we feel that they have
more to teach us (so you may expect a follow-up on this
organization and its efforts ASAP). Looking into this group, we
note that they are very active, actually the best word is
PROactive, in terms of safety and training, hosting at least four
Malibu/Mirage Safety & Training Foundation enrichment training
programs a year. They also host an active message board on their
web site, publish a dedicated membership magazine, and host a help
line service to provide counsel and advice for pilots "on the
road." Most of all, they have become a nexus for change within a
strong group of hard-flying aviators who are coming to understand
that dedicated efforts like this organization are quickly coming to
be seen as more than just helpful, but absolutely indispensable...
and this trend is becoming pretty popular in a number of other
aviation segments... with a notable reduction in accidents and
incidents being the welcome result. Dedicated type/mission-specific
support is proving to be one of the much sought-after solutions
that aviation has needed for years -- and for Malibu/Meridian
owners (and their close cousins), M/MOPA has stepped to fill an
urgent need. Kudos to these folks... for a job well done and for
being a leader in a set of solutions that are revolutionizing the
nature and effectiveness of general aviation.
ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (04.16.24)
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