In 1983, Piper Aircraft Company created quite a stir when it introduced the first in the Malibu series of high-performance piston singles. The early models — those powered by Continental 310-horsepower TSIO-520 engines — racked up 400 sales. The Malibu was Piper's first non-derivative new design in years, and its sleek looks, 208-knot cruise speeds, and cabin-class styling turned a lot of heads. The next step in the Malibu evolution came in 1989, when the Malibu Mirage series was introduced. The Mirage replaced the straight Malibu's Continental engine with a Lycoming TIO-540, 350-horsepower powerplant. Gone, too, was the recommendation to cruise Malibus at 50-degree lean-of-peak TIT (turbine inlet temperature) power settings, a practice that was blamed for numerous premature engine repairs and outright engine stoppages among the Continental-powered fleet. As of August 2006, more than 570 Mirages have been built.
The Mirage's latest enhancement is a big one: Avidyne's three-screen FlightMax Entegra avionics suite is now standard equipment. In this regard, the Mirage joins the rest of the Entegra-standard-equipped Piper fleet. The FlightMax Entegra is standard on Piper's Saratoga IITC and IIHP, Seneca V, and top-of-the-line Meridian, a 500-shp turboprop single. The Entegra's a $48,000 option on new 6Xs and 6XTs, Warriors, Archers, Arrows, and Seminoles.
The Entegra is perhaps the most intuitive, easy to use of the latest generation of glass cockpits. Two 10.4-inch (diagonal) primary flight displays (PFDs) are front-and-center at the pilot and copilot positions, a 10.4-inch multifunction display (MFD) takes center stage, and two Garmin GNS 430s provide both VHF com and nav capabilities. A Meggitt/S-Tec System Fifty-Five X serves as the autopilot and flight control system. The standard equipment package includes a dual ADAHRS (air data and attitude heading reference system) installation, a Garmin GTX 330 transponder with traffic information service, and an Honeywell Bendix/King RDR 2000 airborne weather radar with vertical profiling. A known-icing-approved ice protection system also is standard, as is air conditioning and a 5.5-psid pressurization system that yields a sea-level cabin to 12,300 feet msl, and an 8,000-foot cabin at the airplane's 25,000-foot maximum operating altitude.
The FlightMax Entegra uses a series of soft keys that let the pilot configure a screen or call up information. On the PFDs, keys include those for selecting bearing pointers, nav sources, and altitude and heading bugs. On the MFD, keys are provided for traffic and datalink weather depictions, radar views, and decluttering of map features. TAWS (terrain awareness and warning system), engine management, and fuel totalizer pages can also be called up. Engine-trend monitoring is available via downloading of engine data from the MFD. Quick-reference thumbnail views of time-speed-distance, engine data summaries, and navigation information are posted at the corners of the displays.
What else could you ask for in such a well-stocked panel? Not much, except for the $63,000, optional Honeywell Integrated Hazard Awareness System (IHAS 8000) with WX-500 Stormscope. Or the $9,290 Avidyne MultiLink System, which feeds XM Satellite Weather to the MFD, and the $3,490 CMax system, which puts Jeppesen electronic approach charts on the MFD.
With this kind of capability, the Mirage seems set to retain its title as the king of the big-cabin pressurized piston singles. The base price of the 224-knot, 1,044-nm airplane is $1.1 million. For more information, visit the Web site.
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Links to additional information about Avidyne may be found on AOPA Online.
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