Skates97

John, thanks for stopping by and sharing that painting. I have always loved your work!

We've flown into the SLC area a lot over the past 7 years. I haven't gone into KSLC but have heard they are GA friendly. Depending on which family we are visiting determines where we fly into. In the Salt Lake Valley, South Valley Regional (U42) is the easiest. It can be busy but everyone seems to make good traffic calls and you can coordinate for a rental car to be there waiting. I think the overnight is around $10. The fuel is the same price if you pump it yourself or have the truck do it so we just let them fill it up. There isn't much space under the Bravo, the shelf is just above TPA but it is doable. Looking at my logs we have been there 15 times and it is my preferred airport for the Salt Lake area. You can easily get an Uber if you don't want to rent a car. If you are coming from the south stay over the 15 freeway going past the point of the mountain. It will keep you away from the restricted area over Camp Williams and away from the paragliders and powered gliders that are directly above the point. We've been into KOGD as well because it's 5 minutes from our family up that way. It is convenient if you are going to stay in Ogden, but the drive to Salt Lake is not as good as going from U42. Skypark (KBTF) is just north of KSLC, we've been there once. It's a friendly little airport but is very tight to the Bravo surface. Provo KPVU is great, they have Go Rental on sight, but they are more expensive than going into U42. We use it if we are just going to be visiting family down there but I would not use it if you are going to Salt Lake. It might not look like a drive but the traffic at the point of the mountain can be a mess. Not CA traffic mess but still a pain. It's only about 10 more minutes of flying to get to U42 and saves you 45+ minutes of driving.

Newer avionics have fans and/or heat sinks. I have had mine capped for years and never had any issues with newer avionics even in AZ in the summer when it's 110°+ on the ground.

I considered adding it to one of the other threads but thought having the thread title that an order was getting placed might be helpful instead of someone thinking it was just a discussion on the part.

Will do, I know they are different part numbers and wasn't aware that they were putting in orders for both. I'll update the original post as well.

Just waiting to wire the money when the cowling is available...

If you were on the wait list for LASAR to order an intake duct they should be contacting you if they haven't already. If you weren't on the list you have about 1-2 weeks to place an order before they submit. Yes, they are expensive and it is a 35-week lead time... They are also placing an order for the E/F which is a different part number 600115-005. This is the email from Heather at LASAR with the information regarding the B/C/D/G Models. "I have you down on my waitlist for an intake duct part number 600064-000 (B,C,D, G Models). We are about to make a purchase for these and need to know how many customers want to place the order. There is going to be a 35-week lead time once the order is placed. The price of the ducts stays the same at $672.00. If you want to place an order, we are taking deposits for half the price of the duct up front of $335.00 and once the ducts are ready to ship we will charge for the remaining cost. I’m attaching a copy of the order form that needs to be filled out and emailed back to me at this email. If you are uncomfortable sending CC info, you can leave that part out and call me on my direct line for that info (541-398-7430), all other information needs to be filled out on the form." Her email is heather@lasar.com.

A good friend used to say "Buy the best and cry once."

Agree, I'm not sure how a bunch of hours in cruise helps learning a new plane. Once settled in and leaned out there isn't a whole lot to do. When I did my transition training we did a lot of airport hopping so I would get take off, climb (short), level off, descend and land, over and over. I enjoyed going to different airports with wildly different runway lengths/widths and where you didn't have the normal landmarks on the ground. KAJO at 3200x60 looks a lot different on final than KSBD at 10,000x200. We even tried to find some where we could get cross-winds. By the time we met the dual and I moved on to the required solo hours I felt pretty good in the plane.

This was me too, I had 0 complex and only 58.6 hours total in my logbook. The transition time took care of the complex endorsement, and by the time I was done with that and the extra solo time I felt ready to take passengers.

When I started looking at prices to put a system in the plane I just kept coming back to the Inogen and that there are no refills to worry about or installation. I almost never buy the extended warranty on something, but theirs covers drops and also lifetime servicing so I paid for it. Send it back FedEx once a year for rods and filters to be replaced and any software updates. Initially I didn't think I should be concerned about dropping it, but then considered the times I have had stuff go airborne in the cabin, or hit my head, and figured I was one bad bump from it going airborne and slamming back down breaking it.

We bought an Inogen G5 and love it. I have a 12V outlet in the baggage area and just plug it in back there. With it plugged in we keep it at the highest setting, both of us on it and at 11,000' my sats are still at 98-99. Bought from Main Clinic Supply, all they need is a copy of your pilot license.

I gave up waiting and bought the A-Plex Cleaner. I used Plexus for years but after using A-Plex I like it better. It foams up much better than the Plexus and cleans well leaving no streaks. https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/cspages/cx-56955.php?clickkey=460112

I should knock on wood, but I'm 31 months and 430 hours on my GFC500 without any issues. But maybe there is a difference in the forces on the servos in a short body compared to a long body?

I replaced mine with this one. It has a cap that screws on and seals with an o-ring. You remove the cap and screw on the adapter, snug it up and drain the oil. When done remove the adapter and screw the cap back on. The only "downside" is that if you lose the adapter you can't drain the oil. It has been leak free for the five years I have had it in the plane and I just keep the adapter in a ziplock bag in the little bin with a few tools, quart of oil, etc. in my baggage compartment. https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/pnpages/05-00983.php