gsxrpilot

Everyone's entitled to start and run a business. For Gary, this is one of the ways he makes his living. He's not an Avidyne employee. This is no different than a CFI charging for his services as I see it. I didn't have any problem using the UserGuides Avidyne includes with the product. I thought they were very clear, easy to use, and comprehensive. But then as an old guy, I'm familiar with reading books. If you need it in video format, then Gary has built a nice business, providing that. But you're gonna pay for it. Of course lots of content if offered "free" on Youtube. But without a sufficiently large audience for IFD training videos, they wouldn't generate the ad revenue that other content providers earn. Personally I'd rather pay for content I can really use, rather than deal with ads, and all the scraping of personal data that goes along with "free" content. If you're paying for something, you're a customer. If you're getting something for free, you're the product. I'd rather not be the product for Google to sell to other companies.

Yes we can! ... but I'll have a really nice bottle of Tequila

I probably got this from Ross five years ago. And it's become my SOP. (Current Altitude - Pattern Altitude) X 2 = Minutes out to start the descent. And I always add 2 to 5 minutes for the increased speed and to arrive at the pattern slowed down. And I always use trim, not throttle to get the 500 ft/min down.

Good point. The G5 installed as an HSI, can not fulfill the requirement for a required backup AI. And actually the STC doesn't seem to allow the G5 to be used as a backup AI at all, but many of us have done it anyway without any issues getting it approved. But if you don't need a backup AI, or are not required to have a backup AI and just install a G5 as your HSI, in the event your AI fails, it takes a single button push to convert your HSI to an AI which can get you down through the soup and back on the ground.

In my line of work, I'm traveling almost full time. My minimum standard is typically 24 hr room service. I don't ever use it, but that's the standard for lodging. Quite a few managers of some high end Starwood properties around the world, have become friends of mine. But once a year, I drag out the tent, sleeping bags, folding chairs, etc. and go sleep in the grass next to my airplane. I like waking up to the sound of the 12 cylinder Merlins in formation rolling for take off. I like sitting around with friends in the evening, under the stars, talking about all things flying. With a few beers, or a really good scotch and good friends I haven't seen since last year.

We actually do know and have data, and I've seen in myself. Go to Ada, OK and have a look for yourself. As for anecdotal evidence, I fly a turbo. I'm regularly descending this way out of the flight levels. I also don't sit on the ramp with the prop spinning just to "cool down the turbo", also a myth. I'm coming up on TBO with all my original cylinders and turbo.

I for one, think you've got a good plan. And certainly ditch the DME. It doesn't do anything the IFD540 can't do better and easier.

Well I'm gonna jump in a disagree with every one else. First of all I don't believe in the myth of shock cooling. It's been thoroughly debunked and a needless concern. I'm sure some other very experience Mooney drivers will weigh in shortly in agreement. Once having dispensed with the shock cooling garbage, you can just trim the nose down and recover all the time you spent climbing. I just monitor the VSI to ensure I stay below VNE if in smooth air, or out of the yellow arc if in bumpy air. Leave the throttle and mixture right where it is and trim for 500 ft/min down, sit back and enjoy the speed. This means you do need to start your descent a bit earlier than you might think. It's not difficult to go from 160 TAS to 190 TAS in the descent. So start down a bit sooner. Upon arriving at pattern altitude, pull the throttle back to 15" and level off. It will slow right down.

I don't ever buy avionics of any kind without talking to Chase at @Avionics Source. If there's a deal to be had, Chase will let you know.

I'm not sure it's the MOST important. But is sure seems like a good way to compare apples to apples. I would love to see some proper calculations or a spread sheet on this... But I believe that if limited to Certificated Four-place Piston Singles, the 252 Encore and the M20J can move X pounds further on less gas than just about any other airplane. You can always spend more on gas to get there faster. And for many that figures prominently in the equation. If I could afford the care and feeding, I'd fly a Bravo. And I almost bought an Eagle instead of my 252. I'd be curious as to how the Eagle stacks up to the 252 in that equation.

I was thinking the same thing. Did you have your engine monitor in "normalized" mode? Did you notice a nice even EGT rise on each mag?

At the end of the M20K run, Mooney was building the Encore variant. These are "Factory Encores". At the same time, Mooney released a drawing which if followed, can convert a 252 to an Encore. It involves brakes, an additional 10 hp, and control surface weights. The reason it's a popular conversion for 252 owners is the additional 230 lbs of useful load that comes with the conversion.

I stand corrected. That's a really good useful load. And actually 252's don't have good useful load. It's only after they've been converted to Encore's that they can get close to 1100 useful.

Bravo's and Acclaims are nice two person personal airliners, but they don't have the useful load or the range of the 252 Encore. As @N231BN said, you need a 231 or 252 Encore to get the useful load you need. In my 252 if you loaded 600 lbs of people/luggage, you could still cary 68 gal of fuel. That would give you an easy 5 hours of range or 1100 miles. Here is what that flight would look like in my 252 with 600 lbs of people/stuff. It would never take more than one stop. This would be in the flight levels. But it could be done lower as well.

Yes, you will need an ADSB IN source. Avidyne offers several options. I installed the IFD540 + AXP322 + SkyTrax100. The SkyTrax is the ADSB IN and puts traffic and weather on the IFD540 screen. It also outputs the same traffic and weather to ForeFlight over the built in IFD540 wifi. It looks like the SkyTrax100 has a retail price of $2500. You might get a discount on that. It looks like if you buy the IFD550, Avidyne will throw in both the AXP322 and the SkyTrax100, but that's $5500 more than the 540. I like the NGT9000 because it's a dual band ADSB in/out solution. The SkyTrax is only a single band IN receiver. I should sell you my SkyTrax and go buy the NGT9000 but that might be a bit much for me to bite off this summer with all the other stuff already scheduled.

We love our Mooneys around here but I think you're looking for an A36. I flew an F33A for awhile and the W&B is a pain in the ass and makes the useful load pretty useless. Your budget allows you to get into an Acclaim which would give you all the speed you want. Or that budget also allows you to get into a very nice 252 Encore which will have better useful load than the Acclaim and still give you 200 knot speed in the flight levels. It will have built in O2 in the tail and will have longer legs than the Acclaim as well. I fly a 252 and get as much as 205 knots true on 14 gph or 190 knots true at 9.5 gph. That's up high on the O2. Down in the thick air, I'm 175 true on 14 gph or 165 on 9.5 gph. My standard tanks are 76 gal for an easy 6.5 hours of range. Extended tanks will give you 106 gal. which will require a pee bottle or relief tube. Mooneys are great two person and all the luggage you want, airplanes. Although the back seats in my 252 are some of the most comfortable seats in a small piston single airplane. Most 252 Encores will have just over 1000 lbs useful. The turbo's won't be bothered by the 4000 ft elevation even on hot days. 2300 ft will be pretty tight even at sea level when fully loaded. If you're gonna be at Oshkosh, we'll be happy to show you some up close and you can sit in them and talk speeds and fuel burn.

Give it up @Bob_Belville, @RogueOne has been trolling all speed data for years on this forum. I've got plenty of pictures of my M20C in straight and level flight above 150 knots true, but no use posting them here.

"Trees? What Trees" And he only use half of that strip.

@Bob_Belville has a few more Mooney hours than I... and all my friends put together but there's no question the best short field/soft field Mooney would be an M20Echo.

Still very proud and privileged to be in the small group who have flown that amazing bird. A true bucket list airplane and experience!

I'm afraid that if I was in this situation, that I would be slow to "declare and emergency". Now if I get a loud bang and the prop stops, or departs the airplane, or if my windshield is covered in oil, then I'd probably be quick. But if the engine was stumbling, surging, unable to make full power, etc... I'm afraid I'd be slow to declare and would spend too much time troubleshooting and not leave myself enough time to find a good spot. I can imagine if this were me... I'd have said, yeah DVT is busy, I'll head to Glendale, completely overconfident in my ability to nurse the engine along and get where I want to go... I'm not proud of this, just humbled by it...

Which I still maintain is a good thing and in no way disparaging of the pilot. We all benefit from a discussion that reveals ALL the possible scenarios and helps us think through them now on the ground so we can make better decisions in the air. I have learned from this discussion already, about the concept of having the NRST page already loaded on my Navigator prior to takeoff. This is new information to me and something I hadn't thought about. I'll certainly see how this works on my very next flight. Again, no disrespect at all to the pilot here, I will assume that he did everything he could under the conditions, and likely better than I would have done under the same conditions. But I want to learn and this is a learning opportunity for all of us

Maintenance, well maintained.

I think your plan is pretty solid. Just put stuff in now and then rearrange the panel better when you do the final install of glass and autopilot. So the location of the audio panel doesn't matter at this point. I'd put it wherever it's cheapest to put it. The jury is still out for me on the AV20S. I haven't relocated it to a straight position yet so it's still pretty worthless in my panel. I have a panel upgrade coming in August as well and will likely relocate it then. I think Brian Lloyd has one as well and while he's commented that the AoA is junk, you might check in with him on the AI portion. PM me for contact details. I agree with @Bob_Belville that the CYA100 is a great little unit and for an AoA is very cost effective. I had one in my M20C and it was excellent. I mostly agree with @carusoam regarding relying on portable devices... but one note. With the IFD540's new software, the Stratus is no longer needed. Of course this assumes you still have power to the IFD, but the integration with ForeFlight is so good now that my Stratus hasn't left the house this year. I do believe my iPad is a good worst case backup with my iPhone backing it up as well. I know that Avidyne is running a special where they include the AXP322 remote for free with the IFD540. But I'd at least investigate the L3 NGT9000 remote as well. Talk to @Avionics Source about any deals for that combo. If the NGT9000 isn't viable, think about adding the SkyTrax100 to your install for ADSB in as well. Just my $0.02

No one knows for sure, or those who do won't say for fear of liability. It's always the same issue. My best guess is that the over centers were adjusted incorrectly and way out of spec. That meant there was a lot of extra stress on the 50+ year old truss and it broke. When that manual gear is in good condition, and adjusted properly, it's pretty bullet proof.