Page 21 - Dec18T

Screens can be either full or split, and anything can be seemingly presented anywhere. Want the approach plate on the PFD? Not a problem – split the screen and pop it up. Like vertical and horizontal ra- dar? Ditto – you can have both presented at the same time on different screens. Want to go basic and just have flight in- formation in front of you? Easy.
You can display so much data before you that it is quite simple to put your fa- vorite data on a particular screen. I have a standard setup that I like: approach plate on the far left in the PFD, flight instru- ments on the right side of the PFD, the map view on the left side of the MFD, and the radar on the right. Once I put the info on the screen in the TBM, I did not have to change screens. With some other avionics suites, you have to shift data on the fewer (or singular) screens, effec- tively removing some data from view. In the G3000, there’s so much screen space that everything is in front of you and few changes are required.
But let’s get to it – how fast will it re- allyfly?WilltheTBM900seriesactually cruise at 325 KTAS?
I recently trained with a client for his “mentor training” and we flew from Texas up to the Pacific Northwest, and then on to Alaska. We routinely saw 325 KTAS during the trip, and even saw 330 KTAS at optimal altitudes and temperatures. For this article, I contacted some of my TBM clients, and they too report seeing speeds like this regularly. While some airplanes have sales reports with inflated cruise numbers, the TBM series is as-advertised. I also asked several of my clients who own TBM 930s why they bought one. Although asked separately, the answers were very similar from each client.
“This was the only single-engine tur- bine airplane that can carry four-plus people with bags, go 1,000-plus nm, and land on a 3,000-foot strip,” related one cli- ent. “I’m a big guy, and I can’t get over the spar on some of the other turbines, so the pilot door was the deciding factor,” said an- other. “I like to be able to keep the power up in the descent, making the final por- tions of my trips faster,” reported a third.
Every single client I asked said in one way or another, “I want to go as fast as possible, but I don’t want the expense of a jet.”
When David departed KJSO, several of the locals (including me) went to the runway edge to watch the TBM depar- ture. We all tried to figure out the place to be to get the best view. Of course, that placement depended upon how quickly the TBM would leave the ground. We set up at midfield, and all of us were amazed to see the 930 lift off in just over 1,000 feet of runway, and then climb like the proverbial bat. Once it was out of sight, we continued to stand and discuss the TBM and came up with the same conclusion, “What an airplane!”
Joe Casey is an FAA-DPE and an ATP, CFI, CFII (A/H), MEI, CFIG, CFIH, as well as a U.S. Army UH-60 standardization instructor/exam- iner. An MMOPA Board member, he has been a PA46 instructor for 16-plus years and has accumulat- ed 12,000-plus hours of flight time, 5,500 of which has been in the PA46. Contact Joe at: www.flycasey.com, by email at joe@flycasey.com, or by phone at 903.721.9549.
AOPA Financial
1/2 Page Island
December 2018
TWIN & TURBINE • 19