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Single engine, single pilot, IFR, mountain flying at night after a long week at work with gotta-get-there-quicky-itis is not a good combination. It may work most of the time, but every one of those factors carries a risk. Combine all of them and the statistics aren't good. My vote is leave Saturday at daybreak after a good night's rest. You'll cover the 300 nm and be there by 9-10 a.m.

RAIM is calculated in the receiver itself so if you have an outage due to RAIM it would be annunciated. WAAS satellites in addition to sending their ephemerides also transmit GPS constellation integrity information (derived from ground-based integrity monitoring stations) to users so that RAIM calculations aren’t necessarily required. Legacy ILS uses two separate radio transmitters near the runway. Two separate receivers in the plane process the localizer and glide slope signals. Sometimes one part fails, so it is possible to lose the GS but still have localizer guidance. Integrity monitoring of ILS is done by ground based equipment. If the self test fails, the Morse identifier is removed — that’s why we listen to the audio during an ILS approach. You listen during every ILS approach, right? Me either. RNAV GPS approach horizontal and vertical steering data are calculated in the receiver based on the aircraft and runway 4-dimensional location estimates. (Except for aircraft carriers runway locations tend to be stable). It’s not possible to “lose” only the GS portion on an LPV or LNAV+V approach. If the calculated z axis accuracy is reduced, generally due to GDOP, the receiver is required to step down from providing vertical guidance. In that case it could annunciate LNAV instead of LPV at the FAF inbound. My long winded nerdy lecture done I’ll agree with others: Check the entire RF path from box to antenna. Look at the grounding under GPS antenna. If your GPS coax is older than a decade replace it with the correct RG-400. Ensure the coaxial cable loss is within the limits specified in the install manual. Consider a new GPS antenna and make sure it’s well located for sky view and distance from com antennas. The GPS antennas are the most important antennas on your plane: Don’t be a CB on those vital parts. PS In a decade of flying with a pair of GNS530 and now GTN750 I have never seen the two display disagreements—except inside the hangar where the aft GPS antenna on #2 is more blocked.

Sounds like you must have a signal strength or signal loss issue in the form of coax to antenna or antenna problem. A change of coax was often required for the WAAS upgrade. But what you are describing is not at all normal. A good installation will never experience this. I much prefer the easier LPV over the ILS. Don't give up. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Had the local sign/print shop printed it. Took the a day to do that.

Watch garmin for more bundle pricing on the stuff they already have certified once the GFC is available. I think they are already bundling dual G5s.

They look pretty nice, the interior parts are first rate, great wat to modernize the interior.

I think people are already in a holding pattern for anything avionics related. They need to come strong out of the gate and grab every inch of market share possible.

At that price why bother. Because the Garmin GFC500 is going to be a hell of an auto pilot. I flew a GFC 700 in an Acclaim once. I think it’s pure magic; it was smoother than the Boeing 737 and it even had Flight level change and envelope protection.

Hi Scott, I’m not sure what part of the mod has helped my temps the most, new baffling, cowling, or cowl flap modification. I still have some more work that we’re experimenting with on the cowl flap exit air. We’ll see how we do on Matt’s. I expect some issue to cause me to scratch my head and then struggle to fix. Thanks, David

I'm sure you are aware of it but those dollies better have large diameter tires. Conventional car dollies have small wheels and they really don't work at all on gravel.

Here’s the next bit of upgrade for QH’s panel upgrade. I found a good deal on a used Aera 660 on eBay. Out goes the old 296 and in will go the Aera. What I’m thinking about now is: 1) Aera 660 to be hard wired to try GNS-430 (probably via a parallel RS-232 MapMx output). It will also Bluetooth to the flightstream 210 for flight plan sync / updates. It will not get XM weather from the flight stream 210 like an iPad running GP could. It can show traffic via RS-232 to either an adsb receiver or a TISA connection to a GTX transponder. It does have aural terrain and obstacle alerting - something that only the IFD line of certificated receivers has so far (which is nice). It will also display synth vis up front and center from the FS-210 adahars. 2) Install the new GDL-52R ($200 or so rebate from XM). I can hard wire this to the existing XM antenna and use my current “what’s this antenna” spot on my belly for an adsb antenna 3) Remove the GDL-69. Plan to sell. Sell the GPSMap 296 and my Stratus As well. Will be somewhat “cost neutral”. I’ll keep XM Weather and gain adsb traffic in a somewhat permanent panel mount format. I’ll be able to keep TIS-A traffic (which works in my local area) displayed on the GNS-430W 4) Install the second G5 HSI. With this I will remove the GI-106A and have a spot for either a turn coordinator or a stormscope. In the end my panel will look something like @jetdriven and @Beccas without the Sandle or the GTN but with a dual G5. And then we’ll be all set for when the autopilots get STCd... The little hands are my daughter who just turned 4 and knows righty tightly lefty loosey. She wants to be a “fixer” and a ballerina when she grows up.

One doesn't have to purchase the optional wood armrest if one thinks they are old freightliner looking but could get the optional leather ones instead if that would make one happier, or get none at all

Flight home into Gillespie last Sunday... The sky was awesome and I have some great footage. Too bad we can't stop in midair!

I might have missed this in prior posts or Foreflight videos. But last night I was working on the IFD100 trainer app and had my other iPad running foreflight. They were both logged onto my house WiFi and I realized the IFD100 was sending the simulated flight into the Foreflight app. It as giving me eta’s terrain info and everything as if I was flying. I was pretty shocked at first and then actually got to enjoy playing around with the Foreflight app with real world flying from the safety of my couch. If everyone knows about this then I guess I’m late to the party. But if you don’t and have the Avidyne IFD systems and Foreflight or looking for a reason to go with an Avidyne IFD radio here is another reason. I enjoy the setup more and more. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I came up with another idea for a headset hanger after searching for ideas led me to this thread. I bought a 6" flag pole rope cleat and attached it to the top of the tube in the center of the windscreen. Amazingly simple, and works great! Sorry about the picture orientation, I"m not smart enough to know how to rotate them on here. Cheers, Rick

Ha, that is one of the best lines I have read here lately. That is almost like saying after I pay for this one upgrade...

soon! I have my IFR checkride in december.... finally. After im done with all that practice I can play again.

Don’t forget if you tanker up, you’ll be carrying 60 pounds plus the weight of the new bags. Might nip a little off of your speed. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Verify your GNS 530W has the latest software. Latest revision address some of these issues. https://www.garmin.com/en-US/aviationalerts/service-bulletin-1317-gps-400wgnc-420wgns-430wgps-500wgns-530w-series-units-software-upgrade-to-main/ José

I consider the range and speed of my Mooney to be significant safety features. As @Bartman said, a lot can happen when traveling 300nm. And the Mooney gives me the flexibility to change plans and go somewhere else when weather dictates. I also always have the option of going somewhere else and often times the speed allows me to make an end run around the weather and get in ahead of it. And on the subject of fatigue and trying to get somewhere after a long week of work... None of us should ever fly if our head isn't in the game. I've flown my 252 between the Bay Area, California and Austin, TX. I'll leave mid-afternoon after working all week and get to Austin just after midnight. I find it very relaxing and so nice to climb in the plane, put work away for a few hours, while I climb into the flight levels and head for home in peace and quiet. Stress, pressure to "get there", deadlines, etc. are all dangerous to our type of flying. But they are dangerous even without weather, mountains, winter, or darkness. And so another nice thing about flying ourselves is the flexibility to cancel... and we can cancel anytime from before the trip to just before landing.

Sunday Maybe. Got an email FAA Safety Team | Safer Skies Through Education You have asked us to notify you when a seminar is scheduled that meets your criteria. The following seminar may be of interest to you: "FAA Hypoxia Training in the PROTE December 7 thru 10" Topic: Experience your personal hypoxia symptoms in the FAA’s Portable Reduced Oxygen Training Enclosure (PROTE). On Thursday, December 7, 2017 at 09:00 Central Standard Time Location: Western Airways Located at Sugar Land Regional Airport 100 Jim Davidson Dr. Sugar Land, TX 77498 Select Number: SW0079613 Description: The PROTE (Portable Oxygen Training Enclosure) is a traveling altitude "chamber" which is capable of producing hypoxic environments at ground level by altering the fraction of ambient oxygen. This avoids some of the risks associated with pressurized altitude chamber training. How to sign up- Hypoxia training will be available at the Sugar Land Regional Airport from Dec 7 thru 10th. For a “flight time” reservation please send an email request to houstonfaasteam@gmail.com . Please include the following information: name, e-mail address, contact phone number, request for day and whether you prefer an AM or PM slot. Due to the number of pilots expected to participate we will do our best to grant your requested time. Requirements- 1.You must be at least 18 years old. 2. Have a minimum 3rd class medical or Basic Med (if you are using Basic Med bring your most current physician checklist) 3. No signing up a "group" , each e-mail request should be for one individual. To view further details and registration information for this seminar, click here. The sponsor for this seminar is: FAASTeam The FAA Safety Team (FAASTeam) is committed to providing equal access to this meeting/event for all participants. If you need alternative formats or services because of a disability, please communicate your request as soon as possible with the person in the 'Contact Information' area of the meeting/event notice. Note that two weeks is usually required to arrange services. The following credit(s) are available for the WINGS/AMT Programs: Basic Knowledge 3 - 1 Credit Click here to view the WINGS help page

They installed excess cable in mine too. When I questioned it, because it looks sloppy to me, they said they needed a certain length to get the correct impedance. I think it’s normal to have excess. cheers, Dan

I know... I'm just trying to passive aggressively venting frustration with those pilots who tell me I shouldn't be doing something that is perfectly legal, common, and acceptable, just because THEY think it's dangerous. I know plenty of pilots who just stay in the pattern and only take off if it's calm, clear, and sunny. Good for them. But it's not me. Flying is dangerous. Flying single engine is more dangerous. But we're pilots, it's what we do. Get over it.

This is the best part of traveling by Mooney. Sleep in my own comfy bed and still get to where I need to go by breakfast. Cheers, Dan

Smooth, cold air? What's not to like? With a capable plane, flying up in the flight levels, a current and competent pilot at the controls, sounds fine to me.

Mine was 10/9/65, so not 'line' sisters .

The silver part is the anti ice mast

The north-south roads to the west and the east are both State Routes and at that point ODOT (permits, flagmen, wide load contractors) and the State Police gets involved. I measured each of the gates on the rural road between the State Routes along the south boundary and they are all between 23' 6" and 24' 1". Somebody made the *fine* design decision that the road leading into the Business Airpark (with a direct shot to the FBO maintenance hangar) required a center median with planted trees bounded by decorative brick walls flanking the entrance. We did some testing with orange cones set 23' apart yesterday and think we figured out how to implement Yooper and mooniac15u's advice.

I don't know, no numbers on the EGT gauge, but it was 7 marks below the * which is pretty close to where it normally peaks. I can't wait to take a long enough trip to try some of this out and get an accurate fuel burn number. Plan is to get to cruise, switch to full tank for an hour, then switch back. When I refill that tank, I should know my fuel burn for that altitude/RPM/MP setting. I'll report back and let you all know what I'm getting.

An option, but only if they want to upset their customers. $6500 now and then $4500 in 6-12 months... recipe for disaster. The problem with these stand alone autopilot options is the lack of integration options in the future. Dynon will only STC their entire system. Garmin will likely do the same when they release a competing product, and they will. I suspect that will use a GFC500.

I like those wood arm rests!! And if I ever didn’t like those arm rests, Bruce’s mechanism for attachment makes it easy to remove and change them over to something else. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Is that a Shar Pei?

I think she’s runnin’ a little rich of peak... still a little rough though.

It will display traffic but not weather on the 750. That may change with future software updates. As Clarence mentioned, it will display both traffic & weather on the Aspens and through the WiFi modules to a number of iPad apps but not Garmin Pilot. Personally, I think the best feature of the 9000 is the ATAS system. When she triggers, it’s a real threat and by providing direction, distance and relative position to my plane, it is helpfully finding either the TIS-B or TAS traffic. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Haha oh Byron, at least I've met you in person and know you're a pretty nice dude, not arrogant as all your posts appear on here. @Shadrach is right, actually I just turned 28 but close enough . If you really want to know I have been doing this stuff for about 10 years, and I have had my IA for about 4. I have a Bachelors in aviation maintenance. I have personally torn down and reassembled about 6 engines from start to finish, including that on my own airplane. I've repaired and replaced cylinders, and I can guarantee I have signed off more annuals than either of you. I've done major sheetmetal jobs, avionics installations and paint work. I've crossed the Atlantic twice in a turboprop. I'm a commercial ASEL guy trying to get my first flying gig currently. But I'll stop before I inflate my ego anymore. I have never once pretended to be an expert, and have gone out of my way to mention if previous useless discussions with my friend Ross. I never attacked anyone on here, including Mike B. I was simply stating that you can't take everything he says so literally, as some of you clearly do. He is definitely a smart guy and he challenges the norm which isn't always a bad thing either. He provides a great service to a lot of pilots. I sure as hell am not going to try and argue technical points about red boxes, LOP vs ROP, etc...I will leave that to you guys and I will stick to the basics. These pointless personal attacks on me here just cement why I never spend much time on here. You all spend all your time arguing back and forth over BS here while almost never providing anything useful to those of us who post looking for useful information.

Last Sunday took a nice flight to VCB to begin the Christmas season. beautiful weather and as always Snoopy showed us how much he prefers the cold of winter. heading home climbing for vfr 6500 there were many clouds forming and things got pretty bumpy the bottoms were at about 6500 so chose to go lower. I really cant believe how much more performance I get when things are nice an cool outside. now to solve my radio transmit problem

Read the service manual. It calls for draining all useable fuel and oil, (I suspect a lot of heavy Mooney's are forgetting the ~15lbs in the nose they forgot to take out) then leveling and using a plumbob prior to weighing. Your A&P will need to verify then numbers and record model and serial of the equipment used to weigh the plane. My rough weights are as follows (using Arlyn Scales): Nose: 498.0 lbs Left: 533.9 lbs Right: 527.5 lbs Old empty Weight: 1,573.7 lbs New Empty Weight: 1,559.4 lbs Old Useful Load: 1,001.3 lbs New Useful Load: 1,015.6 lbs I still need to level and do CG calculations

That will look very nice. The Aera660 map is an outstanding piece of kit. It’s almost the same as a second GTN750 map.

no budget for overtime ? Make sure you get a parade permit and a building permit if you remove any fencing

I am not an aviation maintenance technician. However, years ago I did some time in a full service repair station. I would like to think that I can appreciate the immense responsibility that those who put signature to log book carry every day. There is little incentive for an A&P/IA to venture off the beaten path...and then there are folks like Mike Busch. He is a pioneer because he challenges the status quo. No one has ever become notable by being agreeable. There are others; the gents at APS and GAMI come to mind. Those guys have become who they are (in a word celebrity AMTs) by challenging the status quo with data driven analysis that in many cases have revised commonly used procedures and installations. Think for a moment how revolutionary some of these individuals have been...I've witnessed how they've been treated for daring to challenge convention. For years I watched Walt Atkinson (APS instructor and colleague of G. Braly) get flamed on various web boards while trying to help people understand for free what APS now charges thousands. Flamed by experienced pilots, not ignoramuses...well as it turns out for all of their experience and bravado, almost everything Walt was saying was correct; so maybe they were ignoramuses. I have seen the same with Mike Busch. It takes the courage of your convictions to run two Continentals to 4000+ hours...in all kinds of weather. In my opinion, the problem is not whether one agrees or disagrees with Mike Busch, it's that there seems to be some resentment of those challenging some of the current dogma...er uh...I mean practices. I don't think thuat's necessarily bad if it's done with careful study. We are in an age that allows us to log and share data like never before. It's no wonder that new ground is being broken. Mike Busch isn't making mechanics look bad, mechanics make themselves look bad. If a customer asks you if their Lyc 4 cyl can go 4000 hours on a bottom end given that Mr. Busch did it with a TSIO520. Articulate a reasoned position...even if it's simply "we've never done that and it makes me uncomfortable". Ad hominem attacks (and that's all I've seen here) diminish your position not strengthen it.

I stopped by last night to check in on the progress, WOW! It looks awesome. Chris @Marauder will have one heck of a nice interior when it is all finished up. The quality of the new plastics and the simple way they attach is amazing, and making me pretty darn envious. Bruce reminds me a bit of a friendly mad scientist, the stuff he is doing is all modern and with new materials/techniques that Mooney could have only dreamed of when they built this F. I really hope he is able to sell more of these interiors to us Mooniacs!

Sell the 35 and buy a nice FIKI ovation or bravo. Start saving for a TBM and fly as much as possible.

Good clarification that underscores just how applicable this theory is!

Seeing this and knowing the issue, I would pass along advice I got from a demolitions instructor: “There are few problems that can’t be solved with a suitable application of high explosive, although there may be consequences, as to which, see preceding rule...”, but there’s actually a guy on here who thinks acknowledging someone else’s attempts at humor is obstructive. So I won’t. Promise.

If the plane won't go through the gate for what ever reason, maybe you'd be better off indexing down one fence post from the gate, take down that post and remove it then roll back the fencing and move the plane through the opening? It would be cheaper than removing/reinstalling a hinged post as they need a better foundation and are heavier than the regular post. Just a thought.

Pull it up to the gate at an angle where one wing will just clear the gate post ant the other side fuselage is near the other gate post with that wing outside the fence. Swing the one wing through and start moving back and forth turning the nose wheel each direction during this short move with one wing in and one out until you have sideways moved the plane enough to swing the other wing past the other gate post. I put airplanes in parades and special off airport events for years. I can get a plane through a gate faster than you could jack it up to put dollies under it. Tom

Had a couple interesting moments in 10 hours of flying this weekend with controllers. I got my clearance to Spruce Creek (south of Daytona Beach) on the ramp at KOSU (Ohio State University Airport, just outside Columbus OH). I had filed FL270 and was given 3,000', expect 270 in 10 minutes. After I thought about it a minute, I called the ground controller back at OSU and asked "how long before I will get higher, I will be to 3,000' in about a minute?" He responds that will be up to Columbus Approach, but I believe I planted the seed. The Lancair is on steroids in colder weather, and to get the gear in the wells before passing 120 knots, the climb angle looks like a rocket (initially about 4,000' a minute). I got handed over the departure before crossing the end of the runway. Coming out of Spruce yesterday, they will never give you your clearance (or allow you into their Class C airspace) until you have flown out from under the ring (under 1200' no less). Anyway, I finally call them when I'm climbing just west of their precious Class C and get my filed ROYES CRG KOSU route as filed, but radar vectors to Royes. I'm climbing pretty fast, which helps get them moving handing me off to the next controller. I got the north DAB approach controller for just a minute or two and then was handed off to JAX center. Reporting up JAX Center says "cleared to destination, via Ann Arbor.... KOSU" (Ann Arbor is a long ways north of Columbus OH). I look at my passenger (Joe) and said "what did he say?" He heard the same thing so I call back and ask him to repeat the "intermediate way point to me". He laughs and says, Ann Arbor, then KOSU.......GO BLUE!!! After a few laughs I verify I can go direct to KOSU and report, I'm actually a Michigander, I'm dropping an Ohio State guy off before going home. BTW, this is the morning after the OSU / Wisconsin Big 10 championship game. When he handed me off 10 minutes later I heard "GO BLUE" one more time and a laugh. He must be from up north. Good thing I didn't tell him I'm a MSU fan (Lansing)!! I would have got KOSU via Atlantic City. Nice to see a controller having fun. Tom

Does this fog make my tail look skinny? That weak front that came through Thursday stalled around the Florida panhandle left some serious fog. An 8 am departure changed to an 12:30 departure. It was green to the west. The tower is hidden in the fog across the field

Had a good time flying around the state today. Participated in the Operation Good Cheer hauling presents to people in need. Had a nice Acclaim land at Pontiac (PTK) while I was getting registered. Took off into beautiful weather headed to Traverse City (TVC). Spent most of the time under the hood hand flying and was pretty tired after a few approaches on the way home. All in all a great way to spend a Saturday.

love this