In the late 1970s, there was demand, or at least perceived demand, for new, even-better-performing top-of-the line singles. All three of the Big Three manufacturers were working on entries, though Beechcraft didn’t pursue certification of its single-engine pressurized Baron derivative.
Cessna’s pressurized model, the P210N, beat Piper’s largely clean-sheet Malibu to market by a year, but because Cessna had been building 210s and turbo 210s for around a decade by then, it had a healthy head start. With its distinctive smaller windows, the pressurized model was fast, high-flying (a ceiling of FL250) and could carry a decent load, but it was a complicated single-pilot aircraft to fly. Still, it was a sales success. Cessna built almost 900 of them, the last in 1986, when the company discontinued its piston aircraft production for a decade. The P210, expensive to produce and with a small market, wasn’t reintroduced when Cessna brought back a limited number of piston singles a decade later.
The P-model from Piper had essentially the same goals as Cessna did for its high-winger, but Piper designers accomplished them differently. When it hit the market in 1979, the original Piper PA-46 Malibu, powered by a Continental turbocharged engine, was a revelation if not a revolution. Built with a new type certificate, the Malibu offered pressurized comfort up to the plane’s ceiling of 25,000 feet and an immense range of around 1,500 nm to go along with a more satisfying, club-seating passenger compartment in back. Piper still produces a version of the Malibu, now called the M600. Today’s version, called the M350, is powered by a more powerful Lycoming engine. It is the only pressurized piston single in production.
