Sat in the mockup of the 6 seat pressurized turboprop. Great cabin and ergonomics for entry. Initial specs are few but looks like target of 260kts but range and useful loads seem low. 2 mil given as target price.
Check it out of Cessna booth.

Single engine?

At that price they are going to be competing with the PC-12 which is formidable competition.

I agree. And there's already a 6 seat turbo prop out there. I dunno. I feel I'd try to copy the PC12 and bring it to market for less money.

Yes single engine.

Single turbo prop for $2mil? Isn't the Citation Mustang only $2.6?

New TBM is at 3.4 million, I thought PC 12 was more like 4 million. That puts it at 1/2 the price. Definitely appears to be much more airplane than Meridan.

It wont compete with the PC12, mostly aiming at the Meridian market, $$ looks low at $2m for a new design. Nice to have more competition in this segment.

Missed it today, will need to check it up tomorrow.
What engine will they be using, PT6 or RR500?

It's a mock up that sits on one side of tent. There was no comment when I ask which engine.

Anybody have a pic? Googled but couldn't find a story or a pic.

Did it look like aluminum construction or carbon fiber?

The Mustang and the TBM 850 already are direct competitiors in that specific preformance/price target. I doubt Cessna will try to make a TBM killer. The competition comes down to the twin vs single arguement, with the Mustang coming up short in range and operating costs, but long on "jet appeal". Cessna is probably targeting the lower preformance Meridian market in this case.

Engine choice is everything and it appears they aren't saying, which means they are only sticking their toe in the water for now. Meridian deliveries are only in the 30/yr. range, so they clearly don't want to split the existing market. Piper has some vulnerabilities, especially in the parts and service network.

The entry, single turboprop market might become more viable with a stronger player in the field. It's something I'm highly interested in, and this might be an answer for potential Meridian buyers that are sitting on the sidelines.

The logical choice would be a PT6 but GE is in that market now with their revamped Walter. They are looking hard for OEMs to help launch the GE H80 which is fairly equivalent to a PT6A-42. It looks like Cessna is trying to play the two suppliers against each other. That could go a long way towards keeping the cost in check.

If they can come up with an airframe with a reasonable range an payload at that price point they will take a lot of market share from Piper, or increase the market, I think.

I looked at the TBM and Piper yesterday. They are not in the same league at all.

I don't know how the market overall is doing but I suspect not great. The TBM guys said you can get immediate delivery and they are offering "free" maintenance on all bu consumables for 5 years or 1,000 hours. And the starting advertised price is $3.2...

TBM has been offering their 5 year free maintenance program for the last couple of years. It makes their operating comparisons look a lot better. Even with free maintenance....the fuel, engine and landing gear reserves, insurance, etc. makes them $147,000/yr. for 200 hrs with an owner/operator (as quoted by TBM). Even with their maintenance special, 5 years X operating, plus $1,000,000 for depreciation, plus broker fee to get out, and add the cost of money, that makes the total out of pocket of over $2 million for the short, 5 year memory!

More range and payload over a Meridian = more HP. I seriously doubt they can hit a $2 mil price point and beat Piper's 500 HP. I suspect their price point isn't written in stone and it will creep up fast if it outpreforms a Meridian.

News like this gets sure gets us excited. By the 15th post, a TN Bonanza starts looking a little bit better!