![]() ![]() The pilot was no novice with 7,100 total hours and 4,190 hours in TBMs over the last 20 years. I’ll give you an example of why this is true.Ī commercial-rated pilot and his wife were cruising along at FL280 in their new TBM 900, en route from Rochester, New York, to Naples, Florida. The turboprop singles are easy enough to fly but there is a lot more to operating them than, for example, a Bonanza. ![]() Insurance companies will require initial and probably recurrent training but that is likely less demanding than type rating training though the schools would probably dispute that fact. (Turboprop twins don’t either until they top 12,500 pounds MTOW). One of the lures of the personal turboprop single is that it doesn’t require an FAA type rating to fly. Some would put the Pilatus PC-12 in there as well, but it is a much bigger airplane and is more widely used in utility, medical, charter and airline flying than by affluent couples flying from up north to Naples, Florida. ![]() I’m talking about the Socata TBM airplanes and the Piper PA46-500TP Meridian, the latest version of which is known as the M600. Turboprops are pricey, even with one engine. Never happened but there are two single-engine turboprop “personal” airplanes out there right now and if you want to know how the price compares with a Bonanza, it doesn’t. We always dreamed of a turbine-powered pressurized Bonanza that would fly for about the same cost as a piston-powered Bonanza.
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