1hr of ground school should take care of that ("the onset of hypoxia up high is quicker"), all the other stuff is practical and belongs in the type.
Exactly. If you are going to buy a TBM, you would normally do the factory course. It would be a bit silly not to, because these people know the plane better than anybody else will.
So anything engine specific will be covered in that.
The engine management is not hard and a lot more straightforward than doing high perf flying with a piston engine. It's just different.
Anyway, in FAA-land, there is no HPA Rating. AFAICT you need the HP signoff (being more than 200HP
- gosh even I have that one) and then you are good to go. It is the insurance company that will set the real rules there....
Understanding global climate is a load of bollox, because nobody uses that knowledge to make a go/no-go decision. One makes the decision on published tafs, metars, sigwx maybe, MSLP, that kind of stuff. I have spent years trying to work out the best ways to make weather decisions and have come to the conclusion that "understanding weather" is an almost complete waste of time for a pilot because the forecasters are paid to do that job 24/7 and if you can outperform them with a statistical significance then you will make enough to buy a TBM850 in no time at all
I now think the IR images are by far the best guide to what is up there, enroute. Anyway that is not relevant...