Piper PA 46-350P
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The Malibu Mirage, Piper's 1989 revision of the Malibu with a 350 hp Lycoming replacing the troublesome Continental, a higher gross weight and a strengthened structure. It is a pressurised, six-seat, cabin-class single that cruises at 213 knots in the low flight levels with over 1,300 nautical miles of range, and for an owner-pilot it is close to the most aeroplane available without moving to a turbine. The engine never changed, but the aeroplane around it did. A 1995 or later aircraft has a glass windscreen in place of the heated acrylic one, 1996 moved most of the switches to an overhead console, and from 1999 the Mirage got the stronger wing designed for the turboprop Meridian. The panel is the biggest divide: through 2004 it is conventional instruments, mostly Bendix/King; the Avidyne Entegra glass panel came in for 2005; and the Garmin G1000 with the GFC 700 autopilot replaced it from 2009. In 2015 the same aeroplane was renamed the M350, and it continued in production under this designation with the G1000 NXi from 2018, so the fleet does not end in 2015 even though the Mirage name does.
The Lycoming is a considerable improvement on the Continental it replaced but it is still a large turbocharged engine working hard at altitude, and it is expensive to overhaul with a history of cylinder issues if operated carelessly. Pressurisation, deice equipment, retractable gear and a complex fuel system all add to the annual. The aeroplane is fast and slippery and demands real energy management; the type's accident record includes loss-of-control events involving pilots who moved up too quickly. Formal initial and recurrent training is effectively mandatory for insurance. Many Mirages have been converted to turboprop power under the JetPROP supplemental type certificate, which changes everything about them.
Variants of the Piper PA-46 Malibu, Mirage and Matrix
- PA-46-310P · 1984 · 213 active
- PA 46-350P · 1989 · 486 active · this page
- PA46R-350T · 2008 · 101 active
Also consider
- Cessna T210MScore 22.3/50 · 6 seats · 197 kt
- Beechcraft B36TCScore 21.7/50 · 6 seats · 190 kt
- Cessna TU206GScore 27.7/50 · 6 seats · 164 kt
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- Piper PA 46-350P
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What it is
| Seats | 6 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tricycle |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Lycoming TIO-540-AE2A (turbocharged) |
| Horsepower | 350 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | FAR23 |
| Production start | 1989 |
| Production end | 2015 |
| Endorsements required | complex;high-performance |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 213 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 1,345 nm |
| Service ceiling | 25,000 ft |
| Climb rate | 1,218 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 58 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | 2,100 ft |
| Landing over 50 ft | 1,800 ft |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 6 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 1,540 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 820 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 4,340 lb |
| Empty weight | 2,800 lb |
| Usable fuel | 120 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 20.3 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $346,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $1,450,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 1,800 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $62,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $88,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 746 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 486 |
| Median year built | 2000.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 36 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 7 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 74.071 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 55.562 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 175 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 36.013 |
| Airworthiness directives | 16 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 1 |
| Rate confidence | ok |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 486 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 486 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 486 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 5-6 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | 2.4 of 101 |
| Severity | 3.1 of 102 |
| Access | 4.4 of 103 |
| Support | 9.3 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 9.7 of 105 |
| Overall (sum of the categories shown) | 28.9 out of 506 |
These record scores treat Piper PA 46-350P as one design with the same aircraft registered under other names: it includes 179 aircraft registered under PIPER AIRCRAFT INC; includes the record of aircraft once registered under PIPER/HOV-AIRE INC. Prices are not combined.
- Accident record: class median 38.8 · 75 models in class.
- Severity: class median 16.67.
- Access: class median 1,826.5.
- Support: class median 87.
- Liquidity: class median 17.96.
- Each of the five categories places the model within its peer class, from 0 (the worst of the class) to 10 (the best): a position among comparable models, not a grade. The overall score is the sum of the categories shown that are scored, out of 10 for each (50 when all five are); it is given only when at least 4 of the five are scored, and it can be set against another model's only when both are in the same peer class and scored on the same categories. When accident record and severity cannot be scored because the model has too few records, the other three give a partial score out of 30, labelled as such; it is never set against a full score.
Data as of: FAA registry Sep 28 · NTSB Oct 2 · ADs Oct 6 · scores Sep 30