Oldguy

Anyone in the security field will tell you this is a "when" and not an "if" scenario for most companies. The critical item, just like flying, is to have a plan of what to do when the emergency occurs. Spending all of your money on protection and none on recovery planning is common as many execs are told to "buy this" and "hire these consultants" to develop protection and then are stunned when a breach occurs. Seen this way too many times to be shocked.

I believe @Alan Fox might be one to provide you with some realistic numbers.

One thing you may consider: if you have the invoice from the alternator change out, check and see if you were charged for the coupler. I doubt it would be a freebie. If it is not on the invoice, might be a place to start looking. Not any type of mechanic, but a pilot who wants to know what I spend money on that could have gone for 100LL.

May I ask where you got it done?

When I was filling SCUBA tanks at my dive shop, we placed them in a drum of water covering up to the shoulder of the bottle being filled. The water fulfilled two purposes: It helped keep the temperature of the bottle being filled lower as the tank will heat up as the increase in pressure generates heat. This also tends to make the filled bottle closer to the filled pressure when taken out of the water. Otherwise, the cooling of the bottle will drop the pressure and your final pressure will not be as high as you thought it was. Should a bottle ever rupture, the water will absorb much of the force. It will still make a mess, but you will probably come away with all of your original parts. And thinking about this, do our oxygen tanks have rupture discs the same as SCUBA tanks? Tank valves for diving have calibrated copper discs which will rupture when the internal pressure exceeds a certain percentage of the maximum allowed pressure in the cylinder. These were built into the valve to avoid a tank explosion solely from a tank being over pressurized.

KMA 24 includes tray and connector.

United VSI. Working when removed for Aspen upgrade.

Replaced when upgrading to Aspen and KAS 297B. Last certification 12/26/2016.

Low hours since O/H by Bob Bramble. Before the O/H, I did not realize they were supposed to spin up in 5 seconds or less! Working well when removed and used to drive my KAP 150.

Removed for my Aspen upgrade. Very smooth and solid. Connectors included. Working well when removed.

Removed from the panel to be replaced by a Garmin 255A. Includes tray and connector. Working when removed.

So sorry to hear about this. Bob was the quintessential pilot we aspire to be. RIP Bob.

No, be the guy who trains his staff well enough they can do the work today they aspire to do in the future. There. That sounds better than just dumping it on them.

Ordered mine last night.

Maybe it's just me, but I am really impressed you can pull your rpm back to around 300.

There needs to be a place serving adult beverages where we meet so we can continue this discussion. Sounds extremely interesting. Let me know if you get down to SNF or the Mooney Summit next year. I'll buy the first round.

That would also remove the problem of having the bellows give up and trying to find a replacement part, which I believe is/was made by Brittain. Who was it that came up with the electric step retraction replacement for the vacuum ones? Here is another potential opportunity covering more than just Mooneys!

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I was a nuclear engineering major with deep interest in quantum mechanics. Required mucho math/calculus and other foreign languages. Gave it up for something simpler like writing O/S code for B1 Orange Book systems.

I can see where it has the LVL function, but I do not recall reading about a function similar to the ESP capability of the GFC 500. Also, I figured you would get the IFF statement...

And I have never heard a Mooney owner say "No, I have way too much useful load. Just leave that in the plane."

It could be done, as you can probably flip on your backup pump with the master on and the engine off, and your speed brakes will work. I would imagine it would take some vacuum line plumbing, but then would you only turn on your backup pump when you want to pop your speed brakes? I would think the motor running the standby pump is not rated for continuous use for every flight and eats up 12+ lbs. of UL. Then, instead of just putting up your speed brakes, you would have to turn on the backup pump, pop your speed brakes, drop the speed brakes, and turn off the standby pump. Seems like a lot of opportunities for an interruption to the process to cause a problem. Like @gsxrpilot, I took out all my vacuum instruments and the standby pump but left the engine mounted one connected solely to my speed brakes. They operate the way they always have, I gained 12 lbs. of UL, and if my vacuum pump fails, it affects nothing I need to keep the plane right-side up. Just a thought.

I am still holding out hope the KFC 230 (AeroCruze 230) will show up with integration to the Aspen panels. I know it is currently available for our planes IFF (for @aviatoreb) you have either the legacy King instrumentation or the KI 300 and 310 replacements. The Aspen integration is supposed to remove the KEA 130 and KAS 297B requirements for the KFC 230, but according to what @alextstone posted he was told by BK, that is not likely to happen in 2020. Right now my panel is getting to look a little Franken-panely with the two Aspens, the KAS 297, the EDM, and everything else. While I would love to cut a new panel and clean up what I have, I cannot see doing it only to have to cut another one again WHEN the 230 is released with Aspen integration.

Throw in your location and ask if someone is close and would allow you to ride with them. You may be surprised. We love to fly our birds and tempt others to join us.

Hey @GMike. How about a Rajay turbo F for those times when you want to get over the mountains? You might want to check out this one that is being sold due to impending family expansion. I think it meets all of the advice about engine time, AP, GPS, etc.

This indicator is used with a KX-165 without a GS. Requires an external VOR/LOC converter such as the 165, KNS-80, and KNS-81 have. WIll also work with remote converters KN-72 and KN-77. Does NOT work with the KX-155. Buyer pays shipping.