Ragsf15e

And to be completely honest, you don’t NEED to hit activate or APR. They just take care of lots of little tasks that we use to do manually and set the autopilot modes. Example, don’t activate the approach... you can dial in the ils freq, set the hsi to vloc (green needles), set the gps steerpoint to the FAF, use OBS to set the inbound course to the faf, then deselect obs. Or you could just press “activate”. Either way, you could hand fly the approach. There is a regulatory requirement to load the approach from the gps database if you’re using the gps waypoints for navigation or dme. But hitting activate just takes care of lots of little tasks we use to do manually. “Appr” isn’t required if you’re going to handfly. It is required if you want the autopilot to enter glidepath or glideslope (GP or GS) mode.

Nope, you need to hit activate first. Activate sets up the appropriate navigation for the approach within the G1000. You need to do that even if you hand fly the approach. APR after activating will give you the correct autopilot modes. Two separate things - navigation settings and autopilot pilot modes. Yes they work together and interact, but you need to do both and work to understand what functions each does (which clearly you’re working hard on).

NAV mode on the GFC 700 is GPSS and all approaches without vertical navigation are flown in NAV mode. Approaches with vertical navigation are flown in APR mode. I don't know if APR mode uses GPSS in some manner. I suspect not. Based on this it is pretty obvious that APR mode doesn't activate an approach, but flys it. Don, this is the part that’s not how I see it... there’s no “nav” mode. There is a “nav” button. If you push the nav button, the mode you get is dependent on your current navigation data selection on the HSI and vor/loc frequency. The autopilot mode will indicate gps, vor, or loc. If GPS, yes it’s GPSS. If vor or loc, you get the raw data from the ground station. you could definitely fly non precision approaches by pushing the nav button. You’re getting the same thing. Generally I teach the habit pattern of pressing App as it doesn’t matter what type of approach you are doing. Of course, always check what standby mode(s) pop up after pushing either button to make sure you get what you want.

I don’t fully agree. “All approaches without vertical guidance are flown in Nav mode” is not what’s indicated or it’s misleading. Yes, you can push the nav button instead of the approach button but it will say “Loc” or “gps” or “vor” for the lateral guidance. Pushing the approach button automatically selects the appropriate lateral and vertical guidance modes for the approach you’ve loaded and sets them in the white autopilot standby area until they automatically switch over to the green primary guidance mode. Some of those guidance modes like loc, gps and vor could be selected with the nav button but the vertical modes cannot. If you’re in heading mode getting vectored for an ils and get “intercept the localizer inbound, maintain 4,000’”, then you’ll push nav to get just the “loc” mode instead of “app” button which will give you both loc and gs. Both will intercept the localizer but if gs is showing on the vertical side of the autopilot modes, you’ll also start down at glideslope intercept. Generally, just use approach button when cleared the approach.

Don, on your setup, what do you push to get the LOC and GS modes to activate on your autopilot? Thats what the APP button does on the GFC700.

So the Meridian I fly has the same setup. Activating the approach on the gps does certain things (ILS frequencies, nav modes, steer points, etc). However, it doesn’t set autopilot modes. The APP button sets modes like Loc, glidepath, glideslope, etc. Activate the approach on the GPS as Don said via the proc button. Activate the appropriate approach modes on the autopilot with the App button on the autopilot when cleared the approach. The approach button on the AP will give you Loc, GS, GP, etc that you wouldn’t be able to activate without pushing approach. Example... getting vectors for an ILS. Autopilot in heading mode, load/activate the approach on the gps through the g1000. When cleared the approach, hit App on AP and you’ll see LOC and GS (loc and glide slope) pop up in the autopilot mode window. They will be white until the airplane intercepts the loc and glideslope, then they will become green as the active mode. The autopilot will then intercept the loc. On a Gps approach, GP will pop up when you hit approach (glidepath). Generally, only hit approach on the autopilot when your cleared for the approach. There’s more to it than this, but I can’t type anymore on the phone, good place for an instructor in person...

Not sure the year of your airplane, but the red light on my 68F isn’t “unsafe”. It indicates that the gear is up. I know this isn’t conventional on newer aircraft but that’s the way the old ones were. So green is down, red is up (and remains on all flight). If both are off, the gear are in transit or the bulbs are burned out (press to test). All that being said, yours may be a different year and be completely different. Also, what CB did you pull? Theres one hidden in the sidewall at the emergency gear crank. That one? Doubt you’re stuck, but I fly into KCXP a lot (I’m from Carson City) and I’ve had good luck with Carson Aviation in the big Hangar on the South side attached to Sterling Aviation.

I’m still not sold... Concorde says you can tell the “state of charge” from the voltage after letting it set for 4 hours after changing and reading voltage, however they are clear that the only way to check the overall health is from a capacity test.

Top voltage is a poor indicator of battery health. Need to do a full capacity check to know. That being said, I don’t doubt that the battery has issues, but top voltage, especially after charging, is not the way to tell.

The two G5s are about $5k in parts. Close to double that for an installed system with 2 x G5s. No matter what, it hurts.

Could be a relatively simple fix if it’s the senders, or maybe it’s showing that the airplane needs a full tank strip and reseal. Either way, if you plan to pursue that airplane, have a knowledge mechanic dig into that before buying. It should definitely not smell like fuel, however that is a common symptom in the Mooney. The airplane is talking to you...

Maybe not damage specially attributable to flap overspeeds, but the “flex” you mentioned in the flap mechanism is often cited as a factor in cracking near the stub spar where the flap tubes connect. There’s an expensive SB that deals with adding a doubler there if it’s cracked. I think it only applies to vintage airplanes. Having someone (who will never again step foot within a 50’ radius of your airplane) step on the flap when climbing onto the wing may also be a cause. Either way, I wouldn’t test the limits. Damage might not be apparent but it might still be expensive!

Possibly you’re right, and I definitely try not to defer maintenance, however if you try to fix every “10ish rpm” issue (.3%) on a 50 year old airplane you’re gonna be chasing your tail with little to gain.

Having a good engine monitor that shows rpm down to 10rpm is great until it’s not. Mine will often touch 2710 and turn red about rotation. I’m pretty sure the original tac needle was about 50rpm thick though so I try to ignore when possible.

Maybe early in the takeoff you might see slightly less than 2700, but by rotation it should be 2700. How far off are you?

The G5 can’t provide an attitude source for your kfc autopilot so even with 2xG5s you’ll have to keep your original attitude indicator to feed the autopilot. G5s will only provide attitude to gfc500 autopilot. They can also provide heading information to some legacy autopilots like stec.

Not sure this helps, but a new digital Zeftronics VR from Spruce is a couple hundred $$ and in stock. It’s a pretty easy switch and should last.

Just be real sure you get 100% oxygen and not “air” if you’re using a dive shop. I agree with preventing even mild hypoxia. The symptoms come on slowly, they are subtle, each person is different, and they definitely begin below 12,500’!

Thanks.

Mine had a finicky butterfly valve that was pretty easy to adjust with basic tools and no parts. Open up the air / heat mixing box attached to the firewall on copilot side and see what you’re dealing with. You either have slide or butterfly valve.

Where’d you send the servo, divider , etc? Recommend them? I’ve been searching my logs and can’t find the last overhaul. At least 1998 and 1000hrs. Maybe more. I need to overhaul this annual.

I don’t disagree with most of what you said above, but if she was gonna give him direct KEHSO, that’s an IF, not an IAF and his turn at the point would have to be less than 90 degrees. Seems from his position, it would’ve been much more?

Agree they probably messed up. They have fairly specific rules on how far before the faf they have to get you an intercept onto final. It’s weather dependent too. Either way, proceeding directly to the faf isn’t good for all the reasons above. Would’ve been tough at the time, but “request an intercept heading to final” might have got what you expected. That was probably an uncomfortable descent.

Someone smarter than me will definitely be along soon, but isn’t there an adjustment on the fuel servo to increase fuel flow? Yeah, I just took off at sea level yesterday and saw 18.5gph on takeoff roll. Chts stay below 360 in the climb. I do notice a rise in oil temp with chts, but it’s not more than about 10 degrees higher oil temp with chts at 380 vs 330.

That’s pretty high temp... vernatherm temp control working? There’s a way to test it with hot water, but one of our smart AMEs is gonna have to explain it.