Ragsf15e

Yep, found it. Page 12, says 50” before it goes to 406. The self test functionality works fine without sending 406 too.

I believe you guys, but I was surprised to read in the manual that it doesn’t transmit on 406mz until something like 90 seconds after activation. I’ll try to find the exact quote. Maybe I just read it wrong. Anyway, mine has been good.

The nose wheel steering thing did seem weird for about the first 10 hours. After that, it becomes second nature and allows for very tight turns. It’s just as easy as steering the Mooney once you’re use to it.

It’s already exciting enough when you’re level! The Chief pilot at the Flightschool I worked at had to pull one on a customers airplane when they lost the engine on the way to McCall. They pulled at 2000 feet near an open area in the mountains. The first thing that happens is the airplane points straight down when the drogue shoot comes out. The occupants are thrown forward against their straps, pointing straight at the ground. It’s a very long three seconds until the rest of the explosives fire, free, the harness and the airplane levels out and floats down gently. They were both fine after landing, and that parachute is hanging in the Northwest Flightschool Hangar at Felts.

Yes, there’s a bit of “it depends” in there… for initial takeoff/climb it’s 500’-600’ depending on model. I want to say it’s 1000’ min for other conditions (level, pattern ops, etc) with an optimal/planned alt of 2000’. However it’s been a while since I flew them and I don’t recall exactly.

I’m not sure looking for a “flat” area is really important. If you need to pull the chute at low altitude (but within the envelope), you just do it. If you’re at 10k in cruise and lose the engine, sure, glide somewhere “better”. In a low altitude ejection/chute scenario, you’re usually not too concerned with exactly what’s below you.

I have trained primary students in an SR20, and it’s not terrible (other than being expensive vs a C-172). We did not do much autopilot work until after solo (around cross country training). I do think we went through the trim disconnect and some basic AP modes but I don’t remember specifically. I didn’t find the stall characteristics detracted from training. We did do some “full stalls”, but most of the new standards are to first indication. I do agree it’s less complex to fly and the checklists are much better organized than a Mooney. It also works well as an instrument trainer. 50/50 hand flown vs AP works well and students get to learn how to use advanced avionics. All in all, I liked it as a primary trainer if money wasn’t an option. That being said, I also think a C-172 is a great trainer and have recommended them to students who probably had the $$ for the Cirrus.

One big benefit to using the ahrs pfds as primary instead of vacuum is in error reporting. This cannot be overstated. If your primary vacuum adi gives up, most of them slowly roll over and die. By the time you figure it out, you can already have an unusual attitude. The ahrs pfds have some built in fault detection, can red x themselves, and can auto switch to the backup. I’m not saying that’s perfect, but it’s much better than nothing. Since it’s very unlikely both electric and vacuum would fail at them same time, a vac backup would be nice there. I would think that a completely separate ahrs system would also be fine if it is actually separate.

My gtx345 ahrs has been ok for ff, but I agree it’s not perfect. I actually think my stratus 2 was better (which I sold when I got the -345). The other obvious problem with the -345 ahrs is tgat any electrical gremlin that takes out your primary attitude system will likely take out the -345 as well. I think it comes down to personal comfort level and how much you fly IFR. 2 g5s/275s should be redundant and have battery backup. If you want more, A D3 or similar “pocket panel” can be charged and have zero connection to the airplane electronics. Finally, a vacuum attitude source can be a backup without any electrical need whatsoever. You could also use a different electric ADI with battery like @PT20J did, but it is connected to the electrical system. I have chosen to stick with just the g5s but I don’t fly much ifr.

They should have a seamless transition… I have pulled the circuit breakers on both my g5s in flight and just left them running that way for several hours. They were fine for 2 hours +. And there is zero lag when power is abruptly pulled. If you have some kind of surge or other weird electrical gremlin, who knows how seamless the transition to battery will be?

The F-15 turns very slowly and has a very big turn circle below 200kts. At 100kts, it’s all you can do to keep it from falling out of the sky. Fighting a crop duster would be aweful. Fighting an A-10 was bad enough. I did it a few times and the plan was usually to merge around 450 knots unloading whatever weapons you could get locked (heat or radar), then pull up “into the vertical” and run for your life. The only place they couldn’t point that damn gun was straight up. If you lived, you had to sneak away and make another fast pass. Trying to turn with one usually ended quickly and was embarrassing. I over g’d on the pullup on my first A-10 merge. Also embarrassing. We did practice fighting each other very slow though. Actually that can happen in a normal dogfight kind of like in the original Top Gun - “Hit the brakes and he’ll fly right by!” Anyway, you can end up parked right next to the other guy, 90kts each, full afterburner, about 40 degrees aoa, burning fuel like nobody’s business. Slight rudder weave to make a longer flight path, hold the nose up and hope the other guy doesn’t fly perfect. Often those were a draw. In combat, it could end when a wingman shows up, one gets an advantage, someone tries to leave (and dies), or one runs out of gas.

I agree runaway trim could be bad, and pulling CBs is required to stop it permanently, holding down the AP disconnect switch which is right near your finger will also remove power from the trim. Thats step one, fly, look for the right CBs. Im not saying it’s easy or good, but the AP disconnect is important there.

While not optimal, you can “land” under the chute in some pretty rough places and it’s survivable. I would prefer to land with zero drift in the middle of the 18th green on a nice soft golf course, but really trees, hills, suburbia, etc should still be survivable. I would feel bad injuring someone on the ground, but that might be low chance? We had one out of KSFF that pulled in the mts near Mccall idaho and they were fine although it ended up in a relatively flat area.

Ha! That’s awesome! Well he was either messing around with you or ATC was frantically giving him traffic calls? I have to say, a Mooney nose on at 5 miles is pretty tough to see! Were you on the same ATC frequency as him? A quick “Fox 2!” Call from a few miles (Aim-9 missile shot) or “Tracking!” From closer (guns) would be appropriate and appreciated…

One thing I’ve thought about if I ever get to redesign my avionics architecture is putting in a switch to directly connect a radio and possibly the audio panel to the battery. So something similar to a “clearance” or “emer” switch found on some other models (Pa-46T has an “emer”). In its normal mode, the switch would leave everything on avionics buss power, but in emer, it would give you 1 radio. I’m confident in my multiple battery powered ADIs staying on, and I can navigate and probably even fly a poor man’s approach with an ipad or phone, but it would be so much better to be able to talk to ATC. I realize you could have a spectacular failure that even negates this, but then you should have a handheld and be ready to be 90% comm out.

Wow, new truss that fast is awesome! Hope it’s not too hard to find someone to do it. I imagine the airplane can’t be moved…

They were the list of Artcraft preferred shops as well.

Mine is much older and they are mostly gone. My IA said something similar to yours, so I haven’t worried about it.

That’s a win! when we first bought we used it for a long series of Dr Appts 3 hours away and saved tons of time! We also lived in the absolute middle of nowhere and used it for lots of fun weekend getaways. Once you’ve set the hook, tell her about your thoughts on safety upgrades, like a new autopilot, G3X, etc! Just don’t relax. Sometimes it only takes one bad experience to sour someone. We don’t fly after noon in the summer to avoid turbulence and I’m pretty careful about staying away from rain or gusty winds because those can be scary for passengers in a small plane even if they aren’t safety issues. If you cancel for “safety” once in a while due to weather, she’ll be even more impressed in your new means of safe travel!

He’s fine. He’s got his green veggies there too… pickle!

He’s in the Bay area, so maybe he’s that low? Usually people use ROP for break in just to achieve high enough power and cooling. Doing it lop is a little bit more specific because it could be harder to achieve high power while being lean enough to stay cool depending on your altitude.

What @Maraudersaid exactly. Big ticket items are (assuming no corrosion) - engine and avionics. Paint and interior look nice and are more obvious but cost half or less of the first two.

Well that’s awesome that the factory has them. I mean it’s obviously expensive, but a used one is gonna have to be in pretty good condition to want that over new… you don’t want to go through this again anytime soon…

I agree with others about the 430w (I have a 430w with G5s). I would keep that if I already have it because it’s great. However, I would not install one if it wasn’t already there. The 355 (or 375) isn’t that much more, but you get a lot more utility, and it will last and be supported longer. You can use a Wi-Fi iPad for much more real estate and depending on which equipment you have, that iPad will be able to transfer flight plans to your GPS and it will have all the ADSB in and out on it. additionally, if you put in a 430W now, the mounting bracket and wiring is different than for a 355. If the 430 goes out and is no longer supported, you might be redoing your panel again to get another GPS in there.

i’ve never had to do this yet, but I’m curious why you went with a new one instead of having AWI or some other shop repair your old one? I thought there was a significant price difference?