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In addition to business, adventure reigns high on Shawn’s mission use which includes backcountry flying and international trips.
biggest being the nearly two dozen countries he has personally flown to as pilot in command. The list includes The Bahamas, France, Spain, Iceland, Czech Republic, Greenland, Sweden, Belize, Colombia, Ecuador, as well others in the Caribbean, Central America and Europe. Perhaps the most special on the growing list is Northern Ireland, where he and his wife, Margaret, got married last year after flying there in the TBM.
Trips such as these were at the forefront of Shawn’s mind as he considered moving up from his prior airplane: a 2006 Piper Meridian (PA-46- 500TP). He said, “The Meridian was a great plane for me. It was economical and easy to fly. But it was range limited, and I knew that I wanted to fly longer legs and reliably across the pond with more comfortable fuel margins. The TBM allows me to save a fuel stop going coast to coast from the Meridian.”
in 2016 and currently focuses on real estate investing. Existing and potential investments are spread across the country, from Biloxi to Seattle to Atlanta, with his home base being Reno/ Tahoe International Airport (KRNO). During the longer trips, he will typically fly at FL280 and cruise at approximately 280 to 290 knots, seeing a 55 gallon per hour fuel flow. “It checks all of the boxes for me – range, speed and payload,” Linch said.
Typically, on personal flights, it will just be Shawn, his wife, their Pomeranian mix (Lucy), and occasionally some
So, with the primary goal of increasing his mission’s range, including adding frequent trips across the Atlantic, he weighed several different models. The two leading forerunners were the Cessna Citation Mustang and the TBM 850. But as luck would have it, another model became a viable possibility. With a new paint job, updated interior and recently installed Garmin G600 avionics (with Dual 750s), TBM serial number 202 was an attractive third option for Linch. These key features, coupled with a lower acquisition cost, made purchasing the 700B an easy decision.
Shawn has a lot of good things to say about the airplane that he has flown for three years. But he said the best way to explain his overall sentiment is through the words of a fellow TBMOPA (TBM Owners and Pilots Association) member in a forum post: “[Compared to new TBMs], the TBM 700 series is 80 percent of the plane at 25 percent of the price.”
Shawn flies around 350 hours per year, with roughly 50 percent of his trips for business. He sold the granite company
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friends. They fly to a variety of destinations within the United States and abroad. With the 700B’s competitive landing distance, Shawn has been able to fly to multiple destinations his previous airplanes wouldn’t be able to reach easily. He explained, “The TBM is an amazing airplane for hot, high and short fields. In addition, it can carry a good payload for trips 800 nm and below.”
Now commanding a 700 shp PT6A-64, Shawn is afforded several benefits compared to his previous bird, including 30 additional knots (max cruise), 250 lbs additional payload (on an 800 nm trip), and 418 nm more of range. Characteristics like these allow the adventure-seeking pilot to continue striving for “epicness.”
With that in mind, he encourages fellow aviators to challenge themselves within the cockpit just as he aims to do whenever possible. “Flying to foreign countries, and especially crossing the Atlantic, can seem pretty overwhelming at first. It definitely did for me. But in reality, all it takes is a little more preparation and
Outside of the TBM, Shawn enjoys scenic flying in his Carbon Cub FX3 and Robinson R44 II.