Many a pilot aspires to own an aircraft with more power, speed, and room; one that sports a pressurised cabin, enabling above the weather, flight-level travel. The Piper PA-46 M350 promises all that.
Nick Jones, from Airflite, the Piper authorised dealer in Australia, offered me an M350 flight. It would be a 748-nm, non-stop, IFR trip from Moorabbin to Archerfield. The immaculate red and white 2016 example (registration withheld at the request of the owner), was one I’d admired from afar for years. Having previously flown the more expensive M600 turbine version of the same design, the performance of the six-cylinder, fuel injected, turbo-charged Lycoming TIO-540 version would be interesting.
My guide was international ferry pilot, Stuart Caling, who was to fly the aircraft onwards to the USA.
Background
The…