PA-46 Malibu Meridian
Flight Crew Instrument
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 45; Flight Crew Total 2500; Flight Crew Type 1100
Other / Unknown
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural FAR; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence
Flight Crew Took Evasive Action
Weather; Human Factors
I was flying over Denver then over the Rockies in the early afternoon. We were at FL260. Our briefing gave us no suggestion of convective activity. On the weather Datalink there was no suggestion of convection. Yet on my onboard radar there were buildups in front of me that suggested significant convective activity. We were IMC. The tops were around FL280. I asked for this to get over the cloud cover and visually avoid any convective activity. We broke out at FL280 and continued on our route west. The activity was below us. We were able to stay out of significant weather by climbing to FL280. Our limitations on the aircraft are a maximum altitude of FL270. Due to the confusion between our radar and the data link I felt it was appropriate to climb above the weather for safety reasons. When the tops were appropriate we descended to FL260. This was exceeding the aircraft limitations for safety reasons. The plane is capable of flight at this level without damage.
PA46 pilot at FL260 reports detecting convective activity using on board Radar when none was forecast nor was it being displayed by weather datalink [Nexrad]. The decision is made to climb to FL280; out of IMC to visually avoid the cells; which is above the designed service ceiling for the PA46.