2012 Piper Meridian: Flight to Harris Ranch, CA

[@patrickjones1614]

Great video Rich and Ken. As a Meridian owner, I can confirm the capabilities, performance and joy of flying discussed in this video of this airplane. Harris Ranch for a meal was just an added bonus. Making the step from a Cirrus SR22T to the Meridian has been a game changer in every way for us and the best decision thus far in my aircraft flying and ownership history. If you are looking to step up from a piston, this is a great option and having seen Ken's plane in person, this is a gem.

[@FlyingwithRich]

Thanks for the message!

[@davidbrcka]

Hey Patrick. I’m an owner of an SR 22t and dreaming of stepping up to a turboprop is the future. How have the operating and maintenance costs compared?

[@patrickjones1614]

@@davidbrcka Hi Dave - with the Cirrus, it felt like I was aways fixing something. Our plane was available for rent in a small fleet with other Cirrus pilots so I flew it about 150 hours a year and total usage from rentals was another 100-150 hours. Over 3 years, I felt like I spent a small fortune. Waste gate valves, AC compressor, turbos, brakes, top overhaul, you name it, I did it. With the Meridian, year 1, I went Pre Buy to Annual (12 months) with no other services or AOG events. This year, I had one AOG event where the left main gear seal went out and fluid was on the ground. Had that fixed in my hangar from High Performance Aircraft in CA within 48 hours. Otherwise, expect to (and hope to) make it to this years annual without another service. I plan on $25K a year for maintenance and so far its been accurate. I maintain this aircraft like our Cirrus, open checkbook. If it is recommended, I do it. There are so many less parts in the Turbine that makes it so much more reliable. My wife is also a pilot (not current in the last 15 years) but didn't feel comfortable in the Cirrus on longer summer or winter trips in the Cirrus. With the meridian, we take it everywhere except a recent trip from AZ to Puerto Rico for a wedding. Too much Atlantic under the plane and huge headwinds home for a 3 day trip. The Meridian will feel like you are in a different world as an owner pilot. Pressurization, FL 280 (or 300 with RVSM), Turbine, 260+ knots, and you can still take it 80 miles for a hamburger with Friends and not feel guilty. I haven't looked back once.

[@davidbrcka]

@@patrickjones1614 thanks so much for the detailed reply. Sounds like I need to step it up in the next couple years!

[@scottford3535]

@@patrickjones1614 AWESOME! I have an SR22 and my plane has been in the shop for 2 months with no end in sight dealing with parts shortages. I'm dreaming of the Miridian! I hope to step up soon!

[@N2FSU]

Great video Rich. I really enjoyed your no-frills, no distracting/annoying music approach, unlike what so many people are incorporating into aviation videos these days. This was informative and to the point. I'm a 23 year owner of a Saratoga II TC, bought brand new from the factory in 2000. My dream aircraft is a Meridian, perhaps one of these days if all goes well. Looking forward to more of your videos, fly safe!

[@FlyingwithRich]

Thank you! Very cool to have the Saratoga that long!

[@jochentreitel7397]

Bucket list item to have this plane... very informative video.

[@FlyingwithRich]

Thanks. Great airplane!

[@inquisitive980]

Thanks for the warming about another food less flight. I must say Ken’s home town is a tongue twister. Enjoyed the flight very much.

[@erichweber2526]

Very cool video. Impressed watching landing a turboprop on such a narrow runway...great airmanship! Loved the opening music, too...kept expecting to hear Depeche Mode belt out "reach out, touch faith!"

[@sportsurgeon]

Thanks for the view. I have been using 3500 feet as my minimum runway length for take off in my Meridian. Nice to know you're doing it in 2800.

[@technomentis]

That must have been the first Meridian landing at Harris Ranch, my wife's favorite fly-in restaurant. Great video. Thank you for sharing.

[@tomdewitt4148]

LOL, turboprops do exceptionally well on short fields. Many Meridians have landed at Harris Ranch.

[@gregoueilhe1382]

Harris Ranch fly's their PC-12 in and out of there routinely. I fly in about once every couple months. I use to fly a Seminole there. Its narrow but very open and doable. Now in just a 172. Still a great place. Show your pilots license and get 10% off your meal.. very cool!!

[@tomdewitt4148]

John Harris used to have a pro flown King Air and a T210 for himself. PC-12 replaced the KA, not sure about the T210.

[@onebravotango]

Taking to the skies in style with the 2012 Piper Meridian! Witnessing the beauty of flight on a journey to Harris Ranch, CA.

[@hawkdsl]

Still firm in believing Piper gives you the most bang for the buck. Best planes in the air. On a side note: Man, that was a tight runway!

[@FlyingwithRich]

Thanks - Meridian and Ken made that runway look easy!

[@gendaminoru3195]

@@FlyingwithRich btw Harris 3O8 here is 2820 ft x 30 ft, 30 feet wide yikes!

[@MasterCarguy44-pk2dq]

TBM has 2.5" more head room feom cockpit to the last seat inback.

[@CCitis]

Oh, a bird from up here...right on!

[@spiro5327]

Have always liked the 6 seater Pipers. The M350 is great as well being the only pressurized piston single in the market as far as i know. Enjoyed the flight. Thanks Rich & Ken

[@FlyingwithRich]

Thank you!

[@PrimeBrosEquipment]

Fantastic video! Ken is a world class pilot, I had the opportunity to fly with him a few times.

[@chriscook8076]

I used to fly a Flying Club aircraft from NAS Lemoore to Harris Ranch for lunch and then some sightseeing when I was stationed there in the early 1980s. Very cool then and really doesn’t look like it’s changed a whole lot. Nice aircraft that Meridian!

[@FlyingwithRich]

Very cool!

[@veritasmanagement18]

Great video. Love the Meridian for sure.

[@alvieprior1724]

I appreciate the discription of annual cost for operations

[@dwykejack1279]

Beautiful aircraft 1 of the best I’ve seen on this channel very Gucci interior

[@hattrickpsh]

I always enjoy your videos. I learn something from each one of them. Sweet plane!!

[@danieljones8587]

Harris Ranch & Maridian! 👍

[@danielfradd802]

Always wanted to see a meridian video - maybe a matrix too now. Great video and thanks for sharing. Looking forward to the G36 one coming up.

[@FlyingwithRich]

Thanks. F33A Bonanza coming up!

[@kod-ee-wom-pl]

Hello! Wow amazing journey 🤩 Thank you for the wonderful sharing. Have a lovely day 😊

[@FlyingwithRich]

Thanks for watching!

[@nickgalasso6086]

Love the videos Rich, this channel should have way more subs!

[@FlyingwithRich]

Thank you!

[@jameshuggins7320]

Keep up the great work, Rich. Could you dig deeper into performance on the planes? Also, may be interesting to see you do a comparison between models like you see with cars. Fly safe

[@skyepilotte11]

Beautiful aircraft...Great flight.

[@slowsteve3497]

Great stick and rudder skills.

[@FlyingwithRich]

Thanks 👍

[@J.T..]

Great one I love that plane. Thanks for the thing you sent me btw great quality. 👌

[@brianb5594]

Sweet ride! The 26 cubed is really decent performance! Love the videos as always Rich!

[@FlyingwithRich]

Thank you!

[@donlyons5279]

Great video Rich an great plane. Have a good breakfast. Keep up the great videos and I’ll keep watching

[@FlyingwithRich]

Will do - thank you!

[@williamkennedy2069]

Beautiful plane!

[@FlyingwithRich]

Agree!

[@benderaviation]

I flew here for my commercial cross country. No problem getting in but I def underestimated the challenge of finding and landing on such a small strip after nearly 3 hours of cruise.

[@kreativeflicks]

*Another great video as usual... BUT no Harris Ranch departure in a turbo prop?!?! C'mon, I feel cheated!!! LOL!*

[@FlyingwithRich]

Your right - we screwed that up! There will be another one!

[@mikercflyer7383]

Great place to stop, of course we did it driving on the way to Rancho Cordova, one thing you don’t get when you fly only when you drive in the summer is the Aroma 😂😂😂

[@dryreed]

Not true! You can smell it all too well from the air! Perhaps not for as long.

[@Dunwyche]

o0oo .. Love the Piper. Thx Rich and Ken!

[@FlyingwithRich]

Thank you!

[@mrkc10]

Dang I’m jealous! Now I’m hungry 🤩 Great video Rich.

[@FlyingwithRich]

Thank you!

[@garypollard6784]

Just starting to explore upgrade options from my Mooney Ovation 3. What's the difference in annual costs between a meridian and a Baron 58?

[@TheShays]

Considering a Meridian myself. This was detailed and helpful, thank you. 👍

[@FlyingwithRich]

Thanks for watching!

[@MattMorris481]

If I had a meridian, I couldn’t even afford one tire but if I could and was going to upgrade it would be the TBM 850 or 900 series maybe a PC-12. I think that turboprops are better than anything else I mean jets are nice but there’s just something about turboprops.

[@Onemattressatatime]

Aaa that’s all the Canadian I know, Great video thank you for sharing

[@LimaFoxtrot]

Great video. Who makes your sunglasses?

[@FlyingwithRich]

Thanks. Flying Eyes!

[@sampopfly6284]

Your videos are great Rich. Cant wait to fly out to Harris Ranch sometime for a tasty breakfast or maybe a steak!

[@FlyingwithRich]

Have fun!

[@movingart8026]

Thanks for the video, Rich! I was wondering when a Meridian would pull up to OCR. I enjoyed it 😊

[@FlyingwithRich]

Thank you!

[@flyingrv6]

Flew a Meridian and always was interesting getting in the left seat at 260lbs.

[@FlyingwithRich]

😯

[@frankjablonski9403]

Great video Rich. Thanks

[@FlyingwithRich]

Thanks for watching!

[@mr.ginnationfunlifestyle3891]

Very nice video. Nice airplane ✈️. I don’t like the cockpit. To small, no pilot door to get in. Still today new they don’t get one. So there are nice alternatives to it like the TBM, Epic and so on. But besides that a nice jetprop. 👍Interesting like always from Rich. Only mark I had to complain. The radio bla bla while your customer tell the story. That’s a bit disturbing. Maybe you can work on that? I noticed that in other videos as well. If possible would be a nice game changer. Good luck to the Citation Mustang, a well done awesome choice. ❤😊☀️

[@joeertz3809]

Hey Rich, you ever fly an Aerostar and have you ever had one on the channel

[@FlyingwithRich]

Have not flown an Aerostar or had one on the channel.

[@Cessna210Guy]

Hey Rich, I am a Cessna 210 owner looking to upgrade soon. We settled on the 210 vs a Bonanza for the room, I'm 6'8" so fitting in planes can be an issue. How is the room in the front of the Meridian? I've heard they are tight, but have not ever sat in one yet. Thanks for another great video!

[@yohanauguuste]

room upfront is not too bad. But you'll have serious problems hopping over the spar to get in the seat.

[@surferonhigh71]

great video, awesome aircraft!

[@FlyingwithRich]

Thank you.

[@jd-ku3iw]

Looks fun to fly

[@ohwell2790]

Remember now he went to a jet, must be nice. I am 80 so can't fly without a check pilot anymore. May look at a ultra light maybe a Aero light 103.

[@ohwell2790]

Well, Rich did not get a 103, but did get a motorcycle instead to keep busy doin something. A friend just bought a 1964 C-150 so get to keep flying at some level, right seat. The reason for having to give up flying had a major heart attack( over 40% of heart mussel died ) and had a triple bypass surgery and can not pass the physical obviously. Still active and wanted something fun to do. Keep life interesting and keep going. Enjoy all your videos.

[@richardgreen7811]

Rich ... I realize after watching the channel for a long time that much of the channel's production is geared toward aircraft sales as well as being greatly informative. "IF" you take requests ... I'd love to see You review the Shorts Tucano (demilled advanced turbine trainer for the RAF) which is readily available at RS Warbirds (Cutter Aviation) at Deer Valley Airport in Phoenix. I'll bet they would relish the opportunity to get the publicity and it would also help promote Your channel. I specify the "Shorts" version (manufactured in Ireland) because Embraer produces a similar version, manufactured in South America, but is powered by the Pratt & Whitney versus the Garrett -12.

[@FlyingwithRich]

Would love to fly it!

[@richardgreen7811]

@@FlyingwithRich I'm going to contact them.

[@justicebdone]

Another great vid Rich!! The Meridian is one of my fav looking planes. What kind of headroom did she have. I've seen some comments that at 6'1" I'd be bumping my noggin pretty bad though. Is there any truth to that imo

[@FlyingwithRich]

A lot depends on you build. We had a client who was 6’4” who did fine but shorter client didn’t like the fit. 6’1” I think should be fine.

[@justicebdone]

@@FlyingwithRichthank you!! I've never minded the contortion to get into seats... I hate bumping my Clark's though it's just annoying lol

[@marc.wrutgers6704]

You Guys should show how you climb in that Airplane lol

[@CatchMeNever]

What’s the difference between this and m600 sls ? A more powerful turbine, and more useful load? Or something else

[@FlyingwithRich]

G3000 avionics vs G1000 as well.

[@CatchMeNever]

@@FlyingwithRich Wow, do your customers find that to be worth the extra $1m in MSRP? I would be curious about the take rate they get beween those 2 models. I dont have the money to buy one, but I would pay for a flight next time you are up in the SF Bay area with anything.

[@FlyingwithRich]

Piper delivered 41 M600s and 9 M500 (Meridians) in 2022 so seems like the preference is pretty clear! Send me an e-mail and we’ll try to connect when I make it up there again.

[@robertbass9032]

Nice trip for that "$100 dollar hamburger" ... ;) ( I'm kinda of a biscuits and sausage gravy snob & Harris Ranch has the Best !!! )

[@SgtHulka_III]

more like $1,000 steaks 😀

[@ca_pilot]

Okay Rich, now the challenge is on, can you stick a Mustang at 3O8? :)

[@FlyingwithRich]

Mustang will do it. Likely weight restricted on take-off, but certainly doable in the Mustang.

[@RAo-hx8jc]

A lot of money for no room that cesssna 421C was beautiful perfect plane .

[@Tugyankreel]

Wasn’t expecting 250lbs per hour

[@FlyingwithRich]

I think the benchmark for the Meridians is 260 lbs/hr (40GPH) at FL260 and 260 KTAS.

[@FlightSimDude]

👍

[@FlyingwithRich]

👍

[@WilliamStoneIntraNotions]

Pilots get a 10% discount at Harris Ranch

[@FlyingwithRich]

I forgot about that!

[@gendaminoru3195]

Oh man! Don't be dissing on Flo's Best $100 chili cheese omelettes, btw Harris 3O8 here is 2820 ft x 30 ft, 30 feet wide yikes!

[@drpando]

Would love a series on how to put myself in the position that "Ken" managed to find himself in to be able to afford this lifestyle. Any monkey can get his pilots license and IFR rating, PAYING for it is ALWAYS the challenge. How did Ken do it? Only hint he provides is the "farm" he lived on when he was a kid. So then - parents owned a "farm".. 10,000 acre cattle ranch or what? Not poor to start with.

[@heavyizthacrown-5842]

7:11 Cruising at 140kts? No thanks

[@MattMorris481]

I was just wondering what you’re trying to say?

[@JMGlider]

Climbing at 140 KIAS at FL240... It is a powerfull single engine aircraft.

[@MasterCarguy44-pk2dq]

Im 6ft, these piper turbines are to tight inside. Rubbing the top of my head.

[@alexanderdavidson7837]

Talk about narrow!