231MJ

If you've been tracking their AP certification progress (like I have), you may have noticed the Seneca and Bonanza 36, A36 have been making progress - the progress bars are moving! I think the 182 bar has also made some progress. Unfortunately, the Mooney bar has not moved in some time. I can only hope that once they get the Seneca and Bonanza certifications pushed out they can put more resources on Mooney. I wish there was more meaningful dialogue coming from Dynon about the Mooney certification but let's not give up. Those of us that are committed to Dynon just need to keep pressure on them. They do monitor the Dynon Certified forum and I encourage anyone interested in Dynon to join the forum and communicate with Dynon. NotarPilot and I met on that forum and it would be good to see more of you on that forum also.

And he makes really nice panels - get him to send you pictures or perhaps he will post a few here..come on, Don.

It's going to be about 70 hours. That included removing the old avionics (autopilot, stormscope, MX20, GX50, standby vacuum and all the round dials). I installed the Garmin GTX335 myself and while the install was successful, it took many hours so I'm satisfied with the 70 hours the shop is taking to do this up-grade.

You can put the engine monitor on the 10" display (on the bottom of the display is where I have seen it most often) but it looks too crowded (to me) and a full PFD and map seems appealing plus the 7" display can be back-up to the 10" display. The AP is not Dynon only and to be IRF legal you need to have a different navigator - that's why I have the SL30 and GPS 175.

It's not done yet but wanted to share progress on the Dynon up-grade. Ignore the right side of the radio stack - that will be a future 7" Dynon display for the engine monitoring system. Also ignore the black panel under the radio stack - that will be a gray panel when I do the engine monitor. I'm doing this progressively - waiting for Dynon to certify the autopilot for the Mooney, when that's certified the right side will be done. There's a blanking plate where the AP controls will go. Note that there are some Garmin products in the radio stack, which play well with Dynon (I hope!) - I did not want the wrath of Don Kaye coming down on me (just kidding, Don). So far, so good. I'll post a more complete PIREP when it's done and flying.

I also just had the standby vacuum system removed but kept the engine driven pump just for the speedbrakes. My speedbrakes have always worked well but they are a little slow to fully deploy at idle speed but I only use them in some descent situations which is not at engine idle speed. (I also use them when I want to show a rider how cool they are...they really are cool!) I suspect there are going to be a lot of standby vacuum systems for sale on ebay over the next few years and going for a bargain price! +8,000 for not switching vacuum to electric speedbrakes

Has anyone noticed that there are more Mooney's for sale or is it just me? I don't recall seeing so many listed on Controller.

Greg Baker is an authorized installer of Dynon products and he has spoken favorably about Dynon in the past. I believe (and sincerely hope) that he is talking about Dynon. Jump in here, Greg.

Jesse, you probably have good (reliable) contacts at Dynon. What are they telling you about the certification of the autopilot? They post that the certification might be by the end of this year - do you think that's close? I took a chance and I'm having the HDX system installed hoping that the autopilot will be available in the next year or so (I can fly without the AP for a while but not for ever). Hope I didn't mess this up.

I recall seeing seat rails on ebay a few days ago

Here's what the inserts look like, incase anyone is interested.

a man with one altimeter can tell you what altitude he's at, a man with 3 altimeters has no idea

Steve, that's a great looking 252 and a lot of money has already been spent on the up-grades all of us would like to have. I think it's reasonably priced. Before I acquired my K I had an E and the E was great below 12,000' but it was hard to get performance above that altitude. The turbo makes a big difference in not only performance but peace of mind, knowing on a hot day you can climb out of Tahoe or Denver or Las Vegas with little difficulty. The MB is a great engine, I've been happy with mine (except the new mags I had to buy recently but that's not Continental's fault). Go for it and enjoy.

tmo, I'll try to get a CADD drawing of the new panel and post. It will probably be 2 weeks or so from now.

Thanks, carusoam. I found 'em at LASAR - they come in a strip of 4 but you're right, it's got to be somebody's standard part. I like supporting LASAR when I can, Dan in parts has been very helpful with my silly little needs and if they have it they ship the same day. Great support, IMO. The strip goes to the powder coater along with the new panel.

Anyone know where to get the rocker switch inserts shown below? I'm removing two rocker switches and these look better than something I might make myself. I checked Spruce and Chief Aircraft - no joy. Thanks. BTY, this is a really nice panel.

I'm having one installed in a 231 right now. It's in the tear-out phase. New panel will look something like this.

This is what the layout looks like in a 231. Mine is in the shop now - it's in the tear-out phase.

Thanks for the ideas. Those are some great looking panels (and the interior, PJ). Talked to the wife, we're gonna pass on the turquoise (but it was tempting). It's going to be light gray. Shop says it takes 3-4 weeks to cut and powder coat a panel. Seems like a long time - anyone have a source that works quicker (and can put the bend in the bottom of the panel)?

231MJ is going in for a Dynon up-grade tomorrow. I'll almost be vacuumless except the speedbrakes but at least I can remove the standby vacuum pump. I'm really looking forward to the up-grade, last upgrade was a complete Apollo stack, which I thought would be my last avionics package - boy was I naïve. I'm having all new panels made and that gives me a chance to change panel color. I'm leaning toward light gray, the new interior from Aero Comfort is gray leather so the match would be pleasant (I think) but I'm wondering if I'm missing something - most new panels I see are still black. Is there a technical reason most panels are black? I'll post pictures of the old panel and new panel as the work progress under a different post - for those that are interested. Any questions about the Dynon up-grade, send me an email.

The Dynon EMS plus a 7" screen is about $5K. The JPI 930 is a little more but JPI specializes in EMS and that might be better in the long run. The Dynon stuff is really cool and I think they will only get better. When I call Dynon they are completely responsive, their on-line documentation is excellent and their ability to integrate with other suppliers far exceeds other manufactures (like big-G). Plus the training on you tube is extremely helpful. I'm impressed.

I might go with the EMS vs. the JPI, just not sure yet. I'm concerned about using up HDX screen space with the engine functions but that may not be a valid concern. In any case, I'm sticking with the existing engine gauges/dials for a year or two. After 20 years for flying round dials, it's going to be a big enough step moving to glass - one step at a time.

Here's my Dynon layout - sorry I can't rotate the picture, tech challenged. Plane goes to the shop late April. The wiring for the autopilot will be completed now and the servos installed after certification (which I hope is soon).

There's at least one cannon plug that also need to be removed. If you have prop deice there are more. Getting the CB panel to move any significant distance is not an easy task.