gsxrpilot

The thing is that it very well might work perfectly. But with certificated airplanes and STC's, it depends on who's applying for the STC (Garmin) and what they want to include in the filing. Garmin has consistently taken the approach of releasing STC's with nothing but Garmin connections. Therefore even though the connection would likely work fine, it's not a legal installation or configuration. As the big dog on the block, Garmin doesn't have to add King autopilots to their STC filing, and then there's nothing we can do about it. I'm sure I'd feel differently if I didn't have $50K of non-gamin stuff in my panel already.

When the G3X was announced I read everything I could find on it, I also dialed in and listened/watched both of the Garmin webinars on the product as well. I was also able to ask questions. I came away from that week of research with the real understanding that to get max benefit, and even all the features, I'd have to have a 100% Garmin panel. The G3X has a very attractive price and is a great piece of kit. But unless you already have a full Garmin panel, it's not nearly as attractive financially. Consequently it's dropped off my interest list altogether.

Did you replace the compass? Or did you just remove it? I'd love to ditch my compass

Oshkosh?

I'll volunteer my 252 for that little 250hp turboprop. It actually might work to stick that little engine on the nose of an RV-14.

Hey, I'm trying to get in on the same course. We might be in class together.

One can't be choosy with hangars. They are rarely available.

I'm not familiar with the red cube? We went through all the contacts and cleaned, reset pins, etc. So I'm confident in the connections. It's got to be the transducer failing.

You are most likely correct. An WX-500 in the tail would display nicely on the IFD540 or the soon to be installed Aspen MFD. I just need to find a good deal on one. I've not paid retail for anything in this 252 and can't start now

Yes we have. I've always wanted to live in Colorado, and finally in a weak moment, my Texas wife agreed to a move to Denver. We bought a house in the Sloans Lake neighborhood and have moved in... Well mostly moved in. I have to go back to Austin and drive the car, my wife, and the dog to Denver next weekend.

Yes, that's the one issue I was having on the flight up here. I think the fuel transducer is going out. On the ground it reads correctly, but then in flight at low altitudes it goes to zero or even a red X over the fuel flow. Then oddly enough, above 13K ft. it comes back and works just fine. But by then the JPI realizes that it doesn't have a good starting point and can't give a fuel to destination. On the descent through 13K, it blanks out again. So if anyone wants to recommend a good Mooney shop in the Denver area, I think I need a new fuel transducer.

It's a "portable" hangar. It's meant to be unfolded, set up, and staked down. Of course this one has been staked down in this spot for more than 20 years, and probably closer to 40 years. One of my first improvements will be to pour a proper concrete floor. It's just the original asphalt or bitumen as you might call it. The ramp has been resurfaced many times, but not inside the hangar. And the floor is in pretty poor shape. This particular model, was designed to hold a King Air. So it's a bit oversized for the Mooney, but I won't complain.

This document is an excellent resource for getting to know LOP. Go fly and follow this procedure. It will help you learn where your plane is LOP and get comfortable with it. After doing it this way a few times, you'll know where to pull the mixture and can do it in a matter of seconds. The main suggestion I'd make is to be high enough altitude so that you're at only about 65% power. At that low power setting, you can't do any damage to the engine no matter how slowly you move the mixture in and out. SavvyAnalysisFlightTestProfiles.pdf

Yeah, like parking your Porsche 911.

This! This is what Mooneys are really good at. That is a lot of territory to cover and visit in just a week!

There's a lot of research to do on this topic. @kortopates and @Parker_Woodruff are good resources as they've gone through this already. I can help you as well as I'm in the middle of it. But the short answer is you have to get a hold of a Mooney drawing that details the part numbers for all the pieces you need. As you noted, you'll have to upgrade the brakes to dual piston calipers. That opens a whole can of worms that includes new disks, master cylinder, and gear doors to fit around the new calipers. You'll also need new/larger counter weights for the control surfaces. The gear doors and counter weights can be bought from Mooney... when they have them in stock. The brake parts can probably be source from Aircraft Spruce. The drawing is very difficult to find, and I don't have one myself. Converting a 252 to an Encore is certainly a worthy effort and will increase the value of the plane. But it's gonna take a lot of research on your part to make it happen.

The Mooney has been relocated to her new home in the Denver area. I'm very fortunate to have found a hangar at BJC. It's a Porta-Port T hangar that's designed to hold a King Air. Needless to say, I don't have to watch the wingtips, pushing her into the hangar. I'd hoped to leave early on Saturday and fly straight through from Austin to Denver. But there were a few little things we were trying to sort out on the plane before leaving SWTA, JD and his crew. I also wanted to update my Avidyne IFD540 to the latest software version. So after all that stuff, I didn't actually get away until about 3:30pm. By that time, the usual line of storms had formed right across my path. I've always believed the best weather backup I have with my Mooney is speed, altitude and range. So while a couple of other friends canceled a flight to Denver in a Sundowner, (Beech Cherokee), I went ahead and launched. This isn't a perfect depiction of the weather at the time I was crossing those storms. And I actually couldn't see the gap through them due to haze, an overcast, and multiple layers. But a combination of ATC, and ADS-B weather on the IFD540 and ForeFlight gave me confidence to venture through. I was at FL220 and could see the ground the whole time. Here's the IFD540 as I'm most of the way through the gap. Just a word about the IFD540 and the new 10.2.3.1 software update. I did the update myself and it went through perfectly. On the long list of new features is better integration with ForeFlight. I like using ForeFlight for logging, and filing flight plans. I also just like the interface. I also really like having traffic and weather displayed on the iPad. It's a large screen and the pinch/zoom is nice as well. Previously the IFD540 would "talk" to ForeFlight but only for transfer of flight plans. With the new update, it also shares all ADS-B data with ForeFlight as well. The weather depiction is amazing and no need for a Stratus to keep charged or stuck to the window. It also now depicts Cloud Tops. On ForeFlight, just choose your altitude with a slider and see any clouds in your path that reach higher. Similarly there is an Icing depiction. As I was descending into Raton for fuel, right at 16,000 there was a little patch of clouds directly in my path. The temperature was -1C. It was a small cloud, but I thought I probably should ask for a deviation instead of going through it. After getting the deviation approved, I brought up the Icing depiction on ForeFlight. Sure enough, moving the slider to 16,000 ft brought up a blue patch of ice right in my path. Needless to say, I'm very happy with the 10.2.3.1 upgrade. No stratus and yet I had full ADS-B traffic and weather shared from the panel to ForeFlight on my iPad. There was a minor hiccup with the upgrade. It wipes out a number of settings. I took pictures of all the settings pages with my phone before starting the upgrade and good thing I did. One of the pages it wiped out was the transponder configuration page. As I took off, IFR out of Smithville, ATC asked me to reset my transponder. Thats when I noticed it was indicating standby so I pushed Alt, and it immediately reverted to Standby. I canceled IFR and fussed around with it and then headed back to Smithville. On the ground I was able to boot into maintenance mode and find the transponder page. It was all blank. So copying the picture on my phone, I input all the parameters for the remote transponder. That solved it and I took off again, this time everything working. I'm having one other issue with the Mooney, but that will be another post. Speaking of speed and range, here's the obligatory picture of going FAST while just sipping the GAS. The KFC150 is holding altitude as best it can in some light turbulence.

"A man with a watch knows what time it is. A man with two watches is never sure." One more reason to install gauges that are certified Primary and remove the old stuff.

For those of us that love flying across the country in these airplanes, would you mind posting your entire route? Just the list of airports would be great.

Just to echo what everyone else is saying... with the gauges you have, you really don't know what your temperatures are. Therefore to protect your engine/investment, you need to leave yourself a pretty wide margin by running at lower power settings, planning shorter legs, gentler climbs, etc. Our ability to monitor engine parameters has come a long way since 1965. Things to think about when buying an engine monitor. Certified Primary is good as you're not competing between required factory gauges that are typically wrong, and new accurate gauges that can't be certified. Even if you just get an engine monitor for EGT/CHT's, get one that is Primary for those functions so the factory CHT gauge can be removed. Data logging is paramount. Being able to upload data to the free SavvyAnalysis site will save countless hours/dollars in troubleshooting. Ease of use and readability ensures you'll use it more, which will lead to better engine management, and early warning of issues. Including fuel flow or even fuel gauges can allow you to make better use of your traveling Mooney by safely increasing the range significantly. There are three engine monitors that I believe meet these requirements. In order from cheap too expensive. Insight G2 - Primary for EGT/CHT, the easiest data logging of any engine monitor, full color screen, easy to use fuel flow function, additional features such as carb temp. EDM 900 - Primary for all engine gauges, good data logging, full color screen, includes both fuel flow as well as gauges. Pair with CiES digital senders for max benefit. EI MVP-50 - Top of the line, all options, fully configurable, large screen.

A 1964 C with the rounded windows and the sloped 201 windshield, with the 201 wingtips to add that extra touch.

Ok, that's funny. I know it's not easy to laugh in this situation, but good onya for that. I think an important point that everyone should think about is that entire bulleted list is derived from a data logging engine monitor. Without one, it would likely take many hours of A&P services to troubleshoot. As you've already had done, to minimal effect. I know everyone knows me around here for this one soapbox, but I can't imagine why anyone would own an airplane without a good engine monitor.

I just joined Angel Flight West. I've been a member of the same group here in Texas and regularly fly missions. It's a great way to use the plane and go flying.

We have an Austin Pilots FB page where I post every time we go out to fly formation. I'm always trying to fill that right seat. It is just much more fun to have company.

Yep. I have a Sensorcon stuck to the ceiling and a Guardian in the panel.