Enough Of The Excuses... Here Are Our Final Decisions On The Best Birds Of The Year

Final Compilations by ANN Editor-In-Chief/Roving Aeronaut, Jim Campbell

Each year, we put our heads together, look over reader input as well as our own reports and other sources of info and try to recognize the VERY BEST aircraft in a number of pivotal categories. This particular series will cover the aircraft we consider to be the VERY BEST of the whole breed.

The following award categories have been established:

• E-LSA Kit Category
• S-LSA RTF (Ready To Fly) Category
• Amateur-Built/Experimental Kit Category
• GA Piston-Single Engine Category
• GA Piston-Twin Engine Category
• GA Turbine-Single Engine (Turboprop)
• GA Turbine-Multi Engine (Turboprop)
• GA Turbine (Jet)
• Plane Of The Year (The Best Of Them All -- Regardless of Category)

Each year, the choices get tougher. Worse; we tend to also make it more difficult by tightening the reins on the decision making process so that it gets harder and harder to make the cut as the best in any category, much less wind up at the top of the pack as our Overall Plane Of The Year selection.

As this year came to a close, we also made some additional decisions as to what constitutes a "Best of Breed" and how wide we wanted to cast the net and wound up adding some categories to recognize some birds that truly deserved the nod. As noted in past years, it struck us that naming an overall "best" aircraft across the entire spectrum of general (or sport) aviation is probably no longer reasonable. Which isn't to say that we won't make a selection... but that we reserve the right not to do so if no specific aircraft steps to deserve the title. There are simply too many aircraft that have distinguished themselves in too many outstanding ways for one to readily be called better than the other on an overall basis. One man's perfect high-speed Hot-Rod, for instance, becomes the expensive "way too hot to handle" mistake of another pilot whose mission requirements may differ markedly. So... we're going to cop out -- just a bit, mind you. From here on out, we will name the best aircraft in individual categories, and reserve the right in the future to whittle down those categories as necessary which means that MAYBE we WON'T name an overall winner each year... and MAYBE  we will -- we're picky that way. The fact of the matter is that no one airplane is all things to all pilots, and within the spectrum that we have decided on, these are the aircraft selections that truly impressed us in each of the chosen categories -- and that each year, MAYBE there will be an overall winner... and MAYBE not.

Are we absolutely (crystal) clear on this now (grin)?

Let me also note that while aircraft that previously were named Best Of Breed in any category, or overall, are eligible for inclusion in this year's list, we have decided to make it more difficult (in our judging protocols) for a previous winner to take the top spot in our judging criteria, so that a repeat winner truly earns the distinction (and frankly, that hasn't happened in a while). And finally... we totally reserve the right to weasel out a bit and name more than one winner in a category where the margin of victory is simply too close (or subjective) to call.

That said, herewith our selections for ANN's 2009 Plane of The Year -- GA Turbine-Single

Piper Meridian PA-46-500TP (G1000 Equipped)

This is about as slick a package as there is these days... though not exactly what you'd call "inexpensive," Piper eases the pain of turbo-prop ownership by building a lovely aircraft that is about as polished as it gets... and the G1000 integration, in particular, is truly inspired.

As a matter of fact, if our fortunes allow, this is the perfect airplane to move up to from our much beloved Cirrus G3 Turbo (unless we hit the lottery... then a Piaggio Avanti or Cessna Mustang could be in our future -- we DO have our dreams).

One of the more intriguing upgrades we saw on our last visit to Piper Aircraft was the availability of the G1000 avionics suite for the PA-46-500TP Meridian six-seat single-engine turboprop aircraft. Garmin's all-glass flightdeck in the Meridian presents all flight-critical data -- from engine and flight instrumentation to navigation, communication, weather, terrain and traffic data -- digitally on three large-format, high-resolution displays.

The 15-inch multi-function display is flanked by two 10.4-inch PFDs; Garmin's Synthetic Vision Technology is also offered as standard with the application.

In addition to SVT, the G1000 suite on the Meridian includes the GFC 700 three-axis digital automatic flight control system with autopilot; dual solid-state Attitude and Heading Reference System; dual digital air-data computers; Mode S transponder with Traffic Information Service; and GWX 68 weather radar.

The ultimate package is a seriously accomplished, sweet-flying transportation system with exceptional IFR capabilities. If your travel needs require dependable, all-weather transportation for a surprisingly cost-effective cost of operation (and from a company that is truly one of the legends in GA history), the Piper Meridian has to be considered at the top of your list... as it is on ours. Highly Recommended.

FMI: www.piperaircraft.com