Steve W

If it's like the guys who wired my Mooney, it's 5 feet to get to the antenna and 95 feet under the panel occupying all the possible space.

Replacing the battery wouldn't be a problem, it wasn't a lifesaver to begin with, thus the only real option was to replace it with something else, either the Lifesaver or another unit, or buy a special backup battery like the MidContinent MD420 for nearly the same price. And I like the extended battery life for the RC Allen digital anyway. The hardest part is to find someplace to fit the damn battery.

I'm installing an RC Allen 2610 (not the 2610P) and their battery for my backup to my eventual Glass Panel. No Pitot Static or GPS dependency. The previous owner had a Mid Continent electric AI as the backup but a battery for it was almost as much as the RC Allen unit and battery. They didn't buy the lifesaver with built-in battery for some reason.

There are plenty of sites(ok, at least one) who aggregate ADS-B data without using anything from the FAA and without blocking anything.

I see my policy of not living in cities continues to work in my favor, although it was about an 18 month wait for a $200/mo hangar.

And now I can give my update, although it's many months before my plane will be flying again I did get my new AeroLEDs SunSpot 36 4596 Landing Light and the SunSpot 36 4587 Taxi light installed finally. Replacing the existing pair of GE 4596 lights in one wing. I also cleaned up the cover considerably. Subjectively the Landing light is brighter than the original with a larger pattern. The Taxi Light is slightly dimmer than the hot spot on the original but with a much larger pattern. Once the plane is flying again I'll try this somewhere outside where the differences are easier to test. Taxi Landing

And progress.... I guess... Of course this just means I need to start routing the wires for the engine monitor so when the engine comes back the A&P can hook it up.

I'd think the landing gear pucks would also need to be possibly replaced after sitting that long.

BeechTalk says December 2018. But as the KI300 it requires(or Aspen, G500) is not even shipping yet, my guess would be December 2020 at the earliest. If you have no glass now then I think for many the G5+GFC 500 will be a better upgrade. If you already have something that works with it then it may make sense.

There's the plunger and the button(or cap). Most people just use the plunger as the button and omit the cap. In the photo the plunger is broken so it will require a whole new fancy $8 switch.

I really wish I had a ton of money and I could afford all these LED landing lights and do a shoot-out as one is never sure how 'candlepower' or for that matter 'lumens' are measured. The Sunspot 36 45xx from Aeroleds show about double the candlepower but at about 4x the power draw(which I already bought a pair since they're still well below 50% of the existing light power draw), but who knows how anyone is measuring it. And then the Whelens show double the candlepower at the same power draw in the PAR-46 vs the PAR-36.

So, mine came back today, looks correct but I have no wiring to test it with. I sent it ground, arrived Friday, shipped out Tuesday next day air and arrived today, no charge. After all the horror stories I was expecting it to come back next year with a $300 bill.

Personally I just want them to launch the app that's being discussed to get full clearances without playing the telephone game.

I can't imagine they wouldn't flip the screen. The only thing is I guess they could charge something for it(mine is being done for free).

I wanted to mention on the JPI that I just found out last week if the buttons are in the wrong place for how you want to mount it/if it's not how they recommend mounting it for best viewing angle you can send it back to them and they'll flip the screen. This is annoyingly only spelled out in the pilots guide and not in the install manual which only cryptically mentions it. I was going to have to go vertical instead of upside down horizontal but instead mine is now on the way to them to get it made so I can use it horizontally. I wish I had known this before I ordered as I'm sure they could have shipped it that way. But it's not like I don't still have 3000 feet of wire to get installed first.

Another possibility would be to panel dock something like an aera 796 or a 660. 'Aviation grade', more supportable with software updates, etc.

Man, that's a lot of wires...

From Trek's post over at BeechTalk: The G5 does not require a GPS to work. It works better and to a higher performance level when a good source of GPS is available, but this is not strictly required and users shouldn’t think performance will noticeably suffer if it doesn’t have GPS.The G5 corrects gyro drift using prioritized sources of data in this order.1. Internal GPS receiver2. External GPS from GNS/GTN over MapMX3. Air data https://www.beechtalk.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=131594&start=75

Not that hard to explain. Dragged onto a flat bed tow truck, moved to spot, slid back onto the ground. It's easy to get a tow truck to get a plane off the runway, not so quick or easy to find something that can actually lift an aircraft so you can get the gear down. And even if they did lift it to move it, there's still a good chance there was no one familiar enough with Mooneys around to put the gear down, or the lift straps were in the way, or one of 37 other possibilities.

Should have come out to Newport today, BBQ every Saturday noon to 1... Not that you'll see my Mooney sitting sadly on the ramp any more, at least my shame is hidden now.

I ended up going with the JPI EDM 900. Originally I wanted the EI CGR-30P, but the same problems I needed a second gauge either at least for the fuel level or a full CGR-30C. The 900 was $1000 less than having both instruments, and for now I don't need to do any panel cutting, tentative plan is to redo the panel next year. Here's the worlds worst mock-up. Behind the 900 was the Electric Backup AI, which had no battery, so I'm switching to the RC Allen electronic w/ battery over in the TC position.

That answers where the alert LED can go for now. The most important part is figuring out if I can match Mooney beige. Nah, not the cluster gauge, just the Tach MP and EGT. There is already an Insight and the factory EGT, so the EGT hole in the exhaust would have to be plugged(or the probe abandoned). The Tach doesn't look like it conflicts as far as sensor location, and the MP will just need a Tee. Now, who knows, maybe next year those will get ripped out too.

I have an EDM 900 on the way to get installed while the engine is off, but my current plan is to keep the stock EGT, Tach and MP just as a backup and so I don't have even more panel holes with filler plates. (This year, EDM 900, next year re-cut panel... maybe)

Mine went up $200... but I didn't manage to make 100 Mooney hours and I broke the plane. So not nearly as bad as I was expecting.

Considering the 2015 announced KI-300 still isn't shipping yet, I'm not going to be holding my breath. And really, I'd rather have the Garmin full replacement, but we'll see when that hits Mooneyland.