Ragsf15e

Depends on the country of course, but I’ll never forget flying from Egypt to Kuwait… tanker took us just past the red sea, topped the two of us off and went back to Spain. Route was across northern Saudi. Up until the tanker left, they had all the comms on vhf, but we were uhf only at the time. They gave us a freq, the route, and “comms aren’t real good right here but you should be able to contact them on 336.2 in ~50 miles.” Then that beautiful big KC-10 did a 180 and it got really quiet. Next thing I see is the WSO in #1s jet with about 8 feet of map in a 3 foot cockpit. He was covered in charts. Probably looking for more frequencies because we couldn’t talk to anyone, but we quickly started getting yelled at on several frequencies including guard. Some of it was even in English which was great except when we heard things like “American fighter jets, you very bad!” and “you not clearance!” My flight lead tried to communicate, but we never really got through. Well that went on for what seemed like about 40 minutes until we got close to Kuwait. My flight lead looked at me at one point and shrugged his shoulders? Still no reliable comms or really any clearance. We just assumed the “super power, coming through!” Mindset and crossed into kuwuait, called up AlJaber tower and got a real live American controller who cleared us to land. Good memories…

So did it end up being just a new SW version in the G5/G3X or is it more than that?

That makes sense. I think there’s a bracket conversion that happens when you switch to the Weldon 8163a which would make it “distasteful” to switch back to the Dukes. Nice that you had a compatible replacement available.

I did find the Weldon 8163A on Aeromoters website, so worth a call. One of our earlier threads mentioned doing an exchange with them if they have one sitting there. Apparently, they’ve been really helpful in the past.

For some reason I thought there were versions without the “plastic” vanes, but I don’t have any documentation for that.

Was yours the same 8163A? I thought Aeromoters overhauled those? Going back to a Dukes would require “unmodifying” the brackets, no?

@M20Doc is the best there is up there. How big is canada though?

If you look at a G5 “compatibility chart” from Garmin, you’ll find a check mark in the box under kfc200. Unfortunately this isn’t the whole answer. It’s compatible with the heading function as you initially mentioned and will provide gpss. It is not compatible with the attitude input required by your kfc200. You need to keep the original attitude indicator or use a gi275 which is fully compatible.

I wouldn’t jump to a new alternator too quick… they usually go a long time. Definitely worth the troubleshooting, especially at the field and power terminal attachment at the alternator. I’m very suspicious of a complete system failure on the first flight after annual. Did they capacity check the battery though? I wouldn’t have expected to have it that low right away. Was it charging at takeoff?

Couple observations… good compressions indicate the valves working well, but could still have a blowby issue past rings. That area can be “sealed” with oil giving good compressions. The evidence will be along the left side of the belly behind your breather. Look closely at the belly under the pilot seat. Even with some blowby, that’s not necessarily terrible. Just gotta wash the belly and add some oil. What type cylinders do you have? What color is the stripe on them? Is the hatching still on the cylinder walls? i use about 6hrs/qt. I’ve been as low as 3 when I was having some cylinder issues. Money and a new cylinder fixed that. 1300hr engine 1998 OH, chrome cylinders.

Yeah I wouldn’t normally drain my battery that much, but if my alternator dies imc, I’m gonna want my 30ah available!

I was wondering the same thing… how does a 15ah battery last longer than a ~30ah battery in an emergency regardless of what chemistry it is?

Also here’s some of the guidelines for pilots from the AIM. I think the highlights are key in the “grey area”situations. “Any other conditions that could adversely affect flight safety.” You won’t see pilots getting in trouble for declaring an emergency with a situation that is too minor. It’s good to get the help before you really need it bad.

Yeah for sure. Id say most people are a little hesitant to declare an emergency. I’m opposite that. If I’m imc and the airplane isn’t working perfectly, I’m declaring. You can also get a block and no gyro vectors to final while you’re cranking. Someone else watching your altitude is a good thing.

Somewhere around the IAF on a nice “T” RNAV apch? Probably want to be really sure you’ll be able to break out above mins before getting it down…

Interesting that they could miss some traffic? Are you in an area without TISB? I would think tis b traffic would fill in any aircraft the stratux or freeflight didn’t pick up directly?

GI275s do have some more capabilities than G5s (like syn vis and a flight path marker) and they fit in existing instrument holes without cuttIng. A lot depends on what you want to accomplish. G5s work better with G3x if that’s in your future. GI-275s work better with some legacy autopilots, but they both work fine with Gfc500. The battery on G5s lasts much longer than a -275 if that’s important to you. At least in theory… G5 is usually about 4 hours, 1 hour is minimum allowed. GI-275 is certified for 30 minutes.

One of the better aspects of g100ul was that it can be mixed at any percentage with 100ll. What that will mean for actual operations though? Good question.

Yep, this is where it’s handy to have a hanger neighbor IA who occasionally needs help carrying a random wing or holding a light for him. Actually getting the software off Garmin’s site and putting it into the G5s is 10 minutes. I did print out a new AFMS.

Free for the G5s.

Interesting, I have a Truephone prepaid plan I’m using on an old isocket (3g) and they said they’re no longer selling prepaid sims. They’re about the only ones left with some 3g where i live though, so I’ll see how long my $5 lasts… maybe years?

Definitely depends on if you want your panel avionics to get adsb in or just your portables. Good cost difference there. you might look for a place under the dash where you could mount the Stratux to the frame with Velcro or zip ties and hardwire a USB cable - maybe power from your cigarette lighter. I have thought of doing this with a Sentry. One nice thing is that if you have an ahrs on your portable, that is a good back up to all your panel avionics as long as it’s firmly mounted. If you go this route, you’ll get adsb to your portables for low cost. Maybe invest in a “better than Stratux”? Sentry has CO, ahrs and adsb in.

Well, since it has its own internal voltage regulator and warning system, it might be prudent to check how it works with some of the various systems. It’s probably fine, but the Surefly mag system is hardwired to the battery and has a very small draw, even when everything is shut down. Im sure it’s probably fine, I was just saying that it’s up to the installer to determine any conflict between different STCs during installation.

Ha, yeah, that got painted there after a fellow USAF pilot, who should have known better, stepped on the flap. Funny that the crack at the flap tube connection was caught at the very next annual. I got to pay a couple AMUs to get the SB Doubler in there.

Good question… deconflicting STCs is left up to the installer…