JohnB

That was my response too, that’s a sweet airplane. Looks like it was just a gear up with no injuries, maybe due to the usual reason. Hope they get her back up and running, as there’s not too many of them left in service.

That is very interesting Don and great video to demonstrate. Looks like it does get better the closer you get to DA. Could it be a sensitivity change issue with the g5 not switching to precision altitude correction soon enough? I had a somewhat similar issue with course changes on my autopilot with wide Back and forth oscillations in course on AP corrections in GPSS mode( was actually less in NAV mode) , which my avionics shop fixed by altering the sensitivity. He said it was something to do with going from the previous analog autopilot input to digital one with the Garmin installed units. Hope you get this fixed, this looks annoying!

A big +1 on that one Mlm. In my opinion, Aspen has the best, most capable backup solution out there so far and is very useful routinely as a secondary nav/ situational instrument when everything is working.

Aspen is certified as a backup unit (or a primary unit) for our airplanes. I purchased the Aspen Pro Evolution which has a long battery life. The TXi is certified as a primary unit and with the correct additions will drive the autopilot. I would not be able to have both systems run my autopilot as Garmin’s systems won’t drive Aspens autopilot system. If you must have both of your systems run your autopilot, you would need to have both be Garmin and get a g5 and create a switch. The switch can be a weak link or point of failure of your autopilot system from what I have heard, but I do know some people who have installed them without problems so far. My rationale is if my primary went down, due to something like electrical failure, my autopilot would be down anyways, and the Aspen has far more emergency navigational capacity than any other backup system I have seen out there and would allow me to navigate via my last gps course AND have a fully functioning DG, where as the G5 would only give you DG information with no navigational capacity in case of electrical failure.

You do have to calibrate your AOA flying close to your stall speeds , and other speeds and configurations which is clearly outlined in the instructions. (Much easier to do if you have two pilots, one flying and one hitting the cal buttons) but once you do it, it’s done and you will then get warnings well before your airplane starts to buffet or feel any different, and also well before your stall horn sounds.

I have an AOA I installed a few years ago (Alpha systems with Valkyrie HUD) and I can say it is HUGELY helpful. After flying with it for a few years, it becomes your indicator for landing speed near the numbers to achieve nearly perfect landings everytime, and on landing nowadays, I use my airspeed indicator to setup the approach, but then when I'm well on it, my AOA becomes pretty much primary for airspeed, not having to correct for weight. Several other bonuses Alerts you when you are getting slightly slow, well before any stall speed like in turns, or climbs, so the odds of a base to final turn disaster are markedly reduced by an audible alert Gives you your best glide angle/speed by just looking at a value so in case I ever had engine out, I know my glide speed would be right on target for maximal glide. Easier to view rather than your airspeed indicator when landing, and when you get good at it, you can use different AOA values for different landing types (soft field, short field, gusty field, flaps, no flaps etc) Having a HUD is just cool (+100 cool points) No but seriously, I think having an AOA and using it adds lots of safety to your flying in the crucial periods of landing, climbing and maneuvering at lower altitudes.

This is horribly tragic. Points out though controllers expect that we will maintain our own terrain clearance in VFR conditions, and this controller probably forgot that it was nighttime, and the terrain is invisible, and he/she was trying to keep the airplane out of Bravo airspace arrivals. In flying out of there, I know the space between the top of the terrain and the bottom of the busy Bravo is pretty narrow, where the controllers like to keep GA pilots in, even if you're IFR. Looks like if he had been vectored a few degrees left, this wouldn't have happened, but that path looks like that's near an arrival path in to LAS. Needless to say it can happen, I have as I'm sure many of you like me have had controllers give you a vector that points you to a terrain feature, then they might forget about you, where I usually call back and request a climb for upcoming terrain which gets their attention. This also points out that at night, you need to be at or above the MEA for that entire sector, or at least the MOCA for the section before being comfortable with accepting vectors that a controller might give you.

Ha! Adding to the thread of another standby and full vacuum system available. I even replaced my standby vacuum pump about a year before I took it all out and went digital. You probably have already locked one up with the other offers, but ok to pm me if not no worries!

Don, what happened to your display? Did they need to Replace a module or the display itself?

That too! And the double worry about what would happen if a fire started to approach AND the airport were down! Either way.. looks like hopefully ill get her back Monday before the actual shutdown. (fingers crossed) Yes. I still would support shutting the lines down in high winds. Its gotta be tough for a CEO. Thanks @ilovecornfields for the CEOs statement, that's got to be a tough job. If you shut the lines down, you get angry customers, if you don't shut the lines down and there's a major fire and lines are blamed, you get angry customers with burned properties.

I heard that from their LARGE fire that Lakeport had a few years ago, that winds were high, and the power was NOT shut off, and it is thought that a downed power line due to the winds was a major culprit to the start of those fires which burned hundreds of acres. SO if being out of power will help prevent a MAJOR fire disaster, I'm all for it. And maybe LASAR will get a generator or two to continue electricity during any power outages imposed to prevent a fire? (hint hint)

I'm particularly following this info, as my airplane Trillian is up there right now getting her annual!

That is interesting, I'll have to see if that's the same on mine next high flight. What I do is if I know im going to go high, I turn on the heater at a low altitude before it gets chilly and just leave it on, so when I get up to altitude its already comfy. Yes all vents, side and overhead vents need to be closed which takes an effort to remember to close all of them. I also noticed that I was getting some air into my door seals, so I installed inflatable door seals which Im not sure you can get anymore which helped dramatically with noise but also kept it warmer on going higher.

I am surprised many times by checking my O2 saturation’s. Just last week I noticed a headache (my tell sign of hypoxia I learned from doing a hypoxia chamber training event) at 8,000 feet on a reasonably warm day. Put on my O2 sat meter and was at 88%! I previously used 9,000 feet as the point I’m putting on O2, as that was the number that trained fit Military pilots were tested and they were average 90%. Now I’m going to check at 7,000 and above so the vibrating sensor idea I really like. If anyone gets one, can you set the O2 sat you want an alert below? The viatomtec sensor sounds like a GREAT idea, and I’ll be shopping for one. BTW, I think everyone should do the hypoxia chamber, prote or other just to learn your early symptoms, different for everyone.

Hmm looks like I’ll have to research this a bit more before jumping in to a purchase. Or perhaps figure out how to do my own oxygen from my shared hangar. Hmmm

You sold me on the O2D2, I think I’ll need to get one of these. Do you have a part number of the small regulator between the ceiling port and their unit? If you remember who you talked to at Mountain high that might be very useful for me to get mine installed.

If they’re really cool, you can do this

Hey Paul! I might need some of these. Know where I can find a picture? Tried Lasar website

Nope, still need those to fly! Just the items in the list. Still using those as well, but you may want to check out this thread.

Good comments! Yes that's normal. One of the things I've noticed is that as our monitoring gauge accuracy goes up with the newer digital engine monitoring instruments, we end up discovering and worrying about a lot of things that aren't problems because we can now read them more accurately compared to the analog needles. (I'll admit, I did this for a while for some non problems when I went digital) But also, if there is a problem, we should be able to pick it up a lot quicker nowadays! Paws

That's not entirely accurate. If you have significant heart rate slowing, or pauses in your heart rate during sleeping hours, this could be due to undiagnosed sleep apnea. But true, untreated sleep apnea can also contribute to formation of other abnormal heart rhythms, like the ones you mentioned. I think you're absolutely right here about the back door approach you mentioned. A holter could be used as a screening tool for other abnormal heart rhythms that could cause sudden incapacitation, not just picking up people who may have sleep apnea, but would be a ridiculous requirement to mandate its use for no good indication. Here is the FAA's word on this topic https://www.faa.gov/news/fact_sheets/news_story.cfm?newsId=18156 There are some valid concerns of letting people who have UNtreated sleep apnea fly, as there have been accidents related to pilots with sleep apnea falling asleep while flying crashing later. The sleepiness is one of the problems that can completely go away with treatment. (By the way, wearing oxygen cannulas in your plane or anywhere else won't fix this problem) Bottom line, if you do have significant sleep apnea, Get it treated. And yes, you may have to prove that you're using your device, and it's effective to keep on flying which you should. But, you'll live longer and have better quality. Paws

Keep em going! Strong work Preston!

That is infracool knowledge Andy. I’ve done lots of upgrades to my Trillian, as soon as Garmin or someone comes out with the infinite improbability drive (IID 420) my upgrades will be complete

That is correct Andy. Only the froopy would truly understand this though.. and a digital watch won’t help.

Trillian! Named after a character in one of my favorite books, and progression from Billion, a great dog my Mom named, tribute to all!