Ragsf15e

After reading this thread, I made one of these “do not tow” signs with 1/2” pvc that fits into the nose gear. I gotta say, it scares me to have it in there because I might miss it on preflight and takeoff with it in there. I ended up tying it to a hook on my cover so they are connected. Dont save your nose gear only to destroy it when you retract the gear with the sign in!

Yeah I agree with that. In practice though I like it better because now I can set my altitude by g5 and the corresponding pressure altitude from the g5 goes to the transponder. Before there was an encoder between the altimeter and transponder. I feel like there’s less error now than before. Everything is digital and it’s all in one system.

One weird thing after first acknowledging that you’re correct the altitude on the G5 isn’t primary… the G5 is allowed to be your altitude encoder. So how the heck is my non-primary g5 altitude feeding my encoded altitude to ATC while i fly off my “primary” mechanical altimeter?! Luckily mine are within about 50’, but still, atc is seeing exactly what my g5 is showing.

Yes, I also have g5 with stec30. The gpss is internal to the g5. It’s really nice. Before the g5, I had the stec gpss installed with the AP, but that was able to be removed when the g5 went in.

Someone more knowledgeable will be along soon, but I thought i read about it being called a “sonalert” or something like that? Is it in your parts manual? I believe there’s another one for the gear warning.

Does it get capacity checked at annual? Good chance it’s below capacity mins if it’s starting noticeably slower. Do you fly ifr? Possibly worth knowing, possibly not. Up to you.

This will definitely work, just be careful of the runway length. One thing to consider is a big bounce may have launched you airborne below your normal flare speeds. She may or may not be able to flare again without power. So you can get back to a normal flare attitude but the second bounce might still be worse and lead to porpoising. Power helps put some extra air over the wing and horizontal stab but could significantly increase landing distance.

Just to be clear though, in most situations, if you bounce reasonably hard once, don’t expect it to get better on the next bounce. Go around. In deference to @steingar, there may be situations that you want to ride out (trees, waited too long, etc). If you go around at the first bounce you’ll generally be in a much better place though. As a very current corporate pilot, ex usaf instructor, cfi/cfii and with ~700hours in my F model, somehow I bounced a landing a year ago with my wife and 2 kids aboard. Spooked the crap out of me. Luckily I added power and went around immediately. I was on the ~3400’ “short” runway at our field, so full flaps. Luckily I practice the configured go around because it requires a significant push once you add full power. No harm done, but looking back, I’m really glad I didn’t try to save the landing and bounce it again. It can happen to anyone, anytime.

Don’t expect miracles. Yes a SF starts well, but if you don’t use the well developed hot start technique, it won’t start.

I have a Surefly for the last 2 years on a similar engine (m20F). It’s good. Starts easy, slightly better performance lean of peak at higher altitude (~8,500’+), no change ROP. No 500hr maintenance. I did a longer writeup in a different thread showing slightly improved lean of peak speed at higher altitude (where the advance has kicked in). Dont expect miracles. I seriously doubt you’ll see 1gph difference at same speed. I measured ~2-3kts better lop at similar ff.

SF tech support responded pretty fast. Here’s their answer: Drew The SIM utilizes a wasted spark system. One coil fires two cylinders on opposing banks. If it were a coil inside the SIM acting up it would happen on 2 opposing cylinders. My guess is if it’s an ignition issue you are probably looking at harness or plugs. Spark plugs should be gapped at .022. You will also want to check the plug resistance which should be 4K to 7K Ohms. Blue Skies Shane

It’s a Kelly on the SF. I have a Maggie on the right mag. I hadn’t heard of them when I got the SF or I would have got a Maggie.

Quick question about fuel selector valves since I'm studying for my annual in a couple months... Mine hasn't been R&R'd or overhauled since May 2012, about 800 hours. I just found the below tidbit in the mx manual. Do you guys R&R them at 500 hours or so? It seems to work ok... Thanks!

Ok, first off, using the power of my EDM-930 engine monitor, I now know that this has been happening for over a year. The engine runs smooth, starts easy, etc. LOP or ROP, the engine seems fine. There is a SF Mag on the left and a standard mag on the right. Why does the #4 EGT rise so much more than the others during the mag check? Here's what I know... My mechanic says the plugs all get rotated at annual. This was happening before my last annual. This cylinder was actually overhauled at last annual and it was happening before/after that. The SF is 2 years old and the harness (Kelly) was new with the SF. This cylinder is my leanest running cylinder, but not grossly lean (I have GAMIs to about 0.4 spread) (Green is rpm, purple is #4 egt)

Certainly anecdotal, but I have Tempest fine wires installed by the previous owner, 8 years and 750 hours ago. Knock on wood, I’ve never had to put any thought into spark plug issues during that time.

I think he just meant that he worries more about dropping the fine wires because they are 3x expensive ($120 ea?!), not because massives don’t break when dropped.

I would be careful with this. It’s not exactly wrong, but you will eventually get the hang of a hot start with the mixture in cutoff. When that doesn’t work, then flood it and start that way. Theres a bit higher chance of a tailpipe fire when you flood it. Done right, there’s a lot of extra fuel. There are one or two folks on MS who’ve had it happen. I’d say I get a good start ~95% of the time on the first try. Very rarely I will have to flood it. Occasionally if it’s been 3-4 hours so it’s warm, ill try a hot start, if that doesn’t work, normal prime start, if that fails, flood it. I almost never get to the flood start. Last, once you flood it, you’re committed, but If you try a hot start first, you can still flood it and try that next. Can’t go the other way though.

One other thing… since your issue is “all or nothing” for delivering current/voltage from the alternator, it’s unlikely to be a corroded connection. Something stops working completely. Maybe that helps, maybe it doesn’t, but I wouldn’t be sanding connections on this one. I’d be looking at the VR, alternator, master switch, field cb, and alt cb. Probably in roughly that order. Of course I’m neither a mechanic or ee. Free advice is, well, free!

Ouch, intermittent ones are tough. Probably no way to troubleshoot it when it’s working normal. The jumper that caused my issues is in my panel CBs copilot side. There are 3 bus bars there. Jumpers between them. The mx manual for my 68 calls them power bus, aux bus and something else. Someone else added an avionics bus at some point. If you have the problem and can check the field wire into the alternator (you can check this without the engine running, but you won’t know if the problem is occurring or not). It should be 1-2v below bus. If you can force the problem and check alternator output and field wire input that would speak volumes. Theres a reasonable troubleshooting guide on Zeftronics website. Good luck!

You making the stock winged version sound better and better!

Or use a bicycle tire patch?

Plus the labor to R&R it and inspect all the linkage thoroughly back to the rudder. Oh and the airplane better be in a hangar the whole month you’re waiting.

Very interesting. I’m guessing there’s a good mix of factors helping us improve… probably decreased total hours flown being a big part. Improved weather and flight planning -1990s on. Improved airborne situational awareness ~2014 on (adsb in). Maybe improved training and recurrent training mixed in there from ~1995 onwards. Someone should pull the most recent Nall report graph for all of GA and compare. I think it looks similar. Definitely an interesting graph, thanks!

Jeez, after all that, maybe you should just go when the winged version and not worry about special tools or tearing them up? Maybe they don’t look perfect, but they open easily, secure reasonably, and probably only cost 2-3kts.

Two things… v = i x r (voltage equals current x resistance) means under no/low current, you may see 12 volts even if you have a significant source of resistance. When you put a lot of current through there (cranking the starter), the voltage will then drop precipitously at the point of resistance. So yeah, you’ll need to see why that’s dropping so far. Maybe as easy as an old battery? But could easily be corroded connections. Second, some items will have a voltage source all the time, but not a ground to complete the circuit. A good example is the master solenoid. It’s got positive connection to the battery all the time (even when off). The master switch supplies ground to complete the circuit. I don’t know if the sos is like that, but it’s definitely possible.