Piper M600 Earns FAA Type Certification

Piper’s newly certified M600 features more power and improved avionics. Piper

Piper’s M600 single-engine turboprop achieved FAA type certification last week, adding a new model to the Vero Beach, Florida, manufacturer’s lineup that features more power and improved avionics.

The $2.853 million M600 features the same Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6-42A engine as the Piper M500, but power has been boosted from 500 to 600 shp, giving the new model significantly improved performance.

The M600’s mtow is 6,000 pounds, up from the M500’s 5,092 pounds, allowing the M600 to carry more fuel – 260 gallons versus 170 gallons in the M500. Piper has increased the M600’s maximum range to 1,484 nm, up from a projected 1,200 nm (and 1,000 nm for the M500). Max cruise speed is 274 ktas, an improvement over the M500's 260 ktas.

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The M600 also features Garmin G3000 avionics with two GTC 570 touchscreen controllers mounted below the center MFD. The G3000 package adds an enhanced HSI feature, which allows overlay of information such as moving map, Garmin SafeTaxi, flight plan route, Metars, Nexrad imagery, weather radar and more.

Other avionics features include emergency descent mode, electronic stability protection, level mode button and underspeed/overspeed protection. An Aspen Evolution backup display is mounted to the left of the pilot’s PFD.

Look for a full flight report on the M600 in an upcoming issue of Flying.