Flying the Meridian

Sam Remcho in the cockpit of his 2001 Meridian, which he acquired in 2021.

Sam Remcho has climbed through several levels of aviation. As he explained, he first started flying as a child with his dad, although Sam did not pursue aviation until his early twenties.
After deciding that he wanted to learn to fly, Remcho casually pursued the goal for nearly ten years. It wasn’t until after he moved to Idaho from his longtime home of California that his training began to take flight. He received his private pilot’s license in 2009 and his instrument rating only five months later.

He has since ascended from learning to fly and renting planes to owning aircraft. Owning an airplane has been a whole new level of aviation, he explained.

“In 2014, I struck a deal with the owner of a 2007 G1000-equipped Cessna T182T. I made a deal with him to lease the aircraft with the option to purchase it later. Then after a year, I was able to buy it. Purchasing opens a whole new world of freedom in aviation because now you more or less operate the aircraft at your whim. I was no longer restricted to being part of a club and bringing the airplane back by a certain day. And I didn’t have to worry about other people flying it. That aircraft purchase is what really opened up the world of aviation for me, as well as the [western half of the United States].”

The high elevation of his geographical operating area demonstrated to Remcho a few limitations of the aircraft. One trip, in particular, prompted him to move up into turbine ownership.

“I flew about a thousand hours in the Turbo 182. In 2021, I was flying out to Aspen for a meeting. I was up at 17,500 [feet] with cannulas in. It was a long flight, and I was getting beat up with headwinds and turbulence while trying to stay clear of the clouds, which had icing potential. I landed at Aspen, exhausted, before going into my meeting. That was no way to do business. It was not a way to operate efficiently and stay sharp.”

“That night, I went on Controller, and the second plane I saw was [N]62LT, which I own today!” Remcho enthusiastically reported.

This move came quicker than anticipated, besting his planned ownership timeline by at least a decade. But he had long dreamed of getting into turbine ownership, and it was the opportune time to do so, he recalled.

“I had not seen the plane before making a deal on it. When I first laid my eyes on this Meridian, it was amazing. It was a dream come true, as I had always dreamed of owning a turbine and flying up in the flight levels with de-icing equipment and pressurization. I always knew that was the next level of aviation that I wanted to get to. And I had a picture of a Pilatus PC-12 on my desk since 2010, so that was always my motivation in work and business.”

Remcho reported that the PA-46-500TP is the perfect aircraft for his mission, predominantly covering the western half of the United States.

“The Meridian has opened up the country for me, and I use it primarily for real estate. I focus my business efforts, multi-family investment and development around the airplane because I can get wherever quickly and on short notice. My primary flights are between the Bay Area, Seattle, Portland and Denver. Sometimes I fly as far as Texas and Florida. I also use the aircraft personally to enjoy the high-country mountains of Idaho, which also often has a business component.”
When not flying, Remcho loves being in the mountains, both as a volunteer firefighter and as a caretaker of his ranch property in eastern central California.

“I am based out of the Mariposa-Yosemite Airport (KMPI), which has a 3,300-foot paved runway at a 2,200-foot elevation. The Meridian operates great from that runway. Usually, it’s just me and a friend or business partner or two in the airplane. But a lot of times, it’s just me flying around, and I can throw all of my gear in it, whether it’s a mountain bike, snowboard, or anything else,” he stated. “On a 100-degree day, with tanks topped off and at full payload, I can be off the ground within 2,500 feet. I put 20 degrees of flaps in, taxi to the edge of the runway, turn onto the centerline, hold the brakes, and bring up power to about 1900 RPM. Then I release the brakes, keep increasing the power as I start rolling, set 1,250 lb/ft of torque, and use a little back pressure to take some weight off the nose wheel as I roll down the runway. Once at 85 knots – rotate. Pitch up. Clean up. Clear obstacles at 95 knots, settle in at 110 knots to gain altitude, and configure for cruise climb at 135 knots.”

Once airborne, the Meridian continues to impress. Coming from an unpressurized piston, Sam is extremely pleased with the turboprop’s pressurization system.

“Typically, I’ll get up to about ten thousand feet while climbing at 1,500 feet per minute. Then the plane settles off at a climb rate of about 1,300 feet per minute from 10,000 feet up to FL270 or 280. Usually, I’ll go up to those altitudes on the longer flights, and the cabin pressure is around 10,000 feet or so.”

“The pressurization system is a breeze. The controller on the lower left side of the panel, above the pilot’s left knee, is used to set pressurization. Set the dial to 500 feet above your desired altitude, and the system pressurizes the aircraft. So, if cleared to climb up to FL280, set the dial to 28,500 feet, and the aircraft pressurizes accordingly. On descent, you can step down the pressurization accordingly, so if descending to 16,000 feet, set the dial at 16,500. And then once below about 12,000 feet, I set the dial to 500 feet above my destination airport.”

“At [FL]280, I’ll be doing 260 knots, true, and fuel burn up there is around 34 gallons an hour when it’s negative 26. That is about 230 pounds an hour. That’s pretty sweet, so I like getting up high. For what this plane can do, it is one of the most efficient and economical options in the market. With full tanks and payload, I can fly about 800 nautical miles and still have about an hour of flight time remaining for reserves. From my home field, it is a little over two hours to Portland, two and a half hours to Seattle and almost three hours to Denver. Time en route depends on winds, but the Meridian can typically do these trips nonstop with comfortable reserves.”

There are many ways to think about stepping up into a turboprop or other aircraft.

“I can advise from two different perspectives. From a flying standpoint, if you are enthusiastic and dedicated, don’t limit yourself based on perceived ability. Many people think, ‘That’s a lot of airplane,’ or ‘Gosh, how am I ever going to learn to fly that?’ But I think that if you want it, if you do the right training, stay within your limits, and take the new challenge in stride, then you will do great. Do not be intimidated by the training required to fly this airplane,” Remcho optimistically advised.

“From a financial standpoint, I would say run the numbers. If you are going to use the plane and it makes sense financially, then go for it. That may be more my mindset than some other folks have, but I also considered that I would be going about a hundred knots faster than in the Turbo 182. You are gaining substantial speed, and the fuel burn is comparable. I was burning 18 gallons an hour in the 182, and now at altitude, I am burning 34 gallons. So, it is not that far off, and you open up your capability to do missions that otherwise would not have been there. And the safety factor is huge since you have de-ice equipment, you can fly above a lot of weather, and you are more comfortable with a pressurized cabin.”

Remcho concluded, “I am very happy that I made a substantial jump in capability, as opposed to getting a Mooney or a Turbo Cirrus or something else in that category with more airspeed. I am thankful that I could make the jump the way I did.”

“The Meridian is the perfect airplane for me and my missions. I love the western US, and this aircraft can take me just about everywhere I need to go without needing a fuel stop. It allows me to enjoy the comforts of a pressurized cabin and the safety of de-ice equipment, modern avionics, and a turbine engine.”

You can follow Remcho’s Meridian journey on Instagram @samremcho.