wombat

I got the R5 (with lazy susan) for my Rocket. It is nice that I can also use it for other aircraft. Example:

While I agree that this is a really cool little pump, when is the last time anyone here has had a low tire away from their home base airport that wasn't a complete flat that needed a tire or tube replaced? I've only been flying for about 16 years but I've never had it happen or seen it happen. For me, I've had one flat tire away from home base (when I was trying to pick up a new-to-me airplane) but the tube was shot so no amount of air would have helped. I've seen flat tires happen to two people away from their home base, but in both cases a tire inflator wouldn't have helped, they needed tools and parts as well (jacks, wrenches, tubes, tires) If you tie down or hangar somewhere without power this might be useful, but I wouldn't take it with me on a flight.

The shop didn't have to run any wires for my upgrade. If you have a G500 series and legacy compatible autopilot (KFC, KAP, etc) this is a great deal.

My plane is in the paint shop (ArtCraft paint) in Santa Maria California right now. Dropped it off on September 12th. They are doing both paint and interior. I'll make a thread with progress and pictures. But for now:

Finally got my GAD43e upgrade completed. No additional wires needed in my case. One hiccup in that on the GAD43e configuration page on the G500, the installer initially selected "King KAS 297" for the type, but it had to be set to the "King KAS297B". When I flew home I couldn't get it to work, then after about 30 minutes of digging online I figured out the KAS297B seemed to be necessary. So I flew back over and the installer was able to update that and now it works. I love the level-off at altitude, it's super smooth. And as I continue to age (for 25 to 35 years hopefully) I expect that will prevent me from overshooting an altitude. I wasn't sure how it would handle the altitude hold after level-off at a preselected altitude, but it does actually turn on the altitude hold mode on the autopilot. For operation, when you select an altitude or vertical speed on the G500, it notifies you to hold the ALT button to select altitude capture or V/S set and capture. When you do press and hold the vertical speed, it will set the vertical speed to your current, and then you twist the knob to adjust it. Really looking forward to selecting an altitude at a waypoint, looking at the vertical speed required on the GTN750, setting that in the G500 and watching it fly me there. It's not actually a vertical nav system like if I had the GFC500 autopilot, but it's still pretty great!!

I replaced my door seal a year or so ago and for removing the existing adhesive I used Peerco 321 adhesive remover. It was effective but slow and quite stinky. Put a layer on, wait 10 minutes, scrub/scrape/brush it off and get a little more adhesive. Then do it again. Eventually it'll all come off. The peerco material is more like a mucus than a fluid, so it was not sprayable.

Today coming back from Portland (Troutdale) I was about 202 knots then I increased power and got up to 213 knots. at 11,500' MSL

Engine: TSIO520NB (Rocket STC) ROP only so far, it tends to miss once every 10 to 30 seconds if I run LOP. Just need to spend some time investigating which cylinder is overly lean and adjusting it. I run at one of the following: 31" MP, 2,300 RPM @ 18.5 GPH (72%) 32" MP, 2,400 RPM @ 19.8 GPH. (76%) 33" MP, 2,400 RPM @ 21 GPH (78%) (Very rare) If I'm in a hurry or there are headwinds, I use the higher power settings. Otherwise the lower ones.

I don't know if there is a difference between 'electronic phased array antenna' and 'electronically-steered beam' or 'steerable antenna' but in my mind these are all basically the same thing. https://www.starlink.com/na/support/article/07621adc-9a6f-8f94-6f27-361a78cce37d says "Both Starlinks are electronic phased array antennas, meaning they can track the signal from satellites overhead without the need to physically move." https://portal.powertec.com.au/equipment/it-networking/network-devices/starlink-mini-dish-rev1#:~:text=Like its predecessors%2C Starlink Mini,ethernet reduces the weather rating). says "Starlink Mini is a satellite transceiver which uses digital beamformers and an Electronic Steerable Antenna to track and maintain connectivity with LEO satellites"

I'm agreeing with you here, but adding more emphasis. It's not just 'suspicious', it's an outright falsehood. You can't 'generate' or 'create' cold using energy the way you can make heat. All you can do is concentrate heat somewhere else. There is no way to provide power to something in an enclosed environment and have it cool the whole environment. You either move heat to somewhere else, or you generate heat.

The problem is that there were so many spam posts it made it annoying to find the real posts. There isn't anything in the spam posts for us to click on, they are not trying to scam us. They are trying to scam the AI, so when you ask Siri to call Ethiad Airlines to change your seat, it calls their scam number and not the real one.

I just got my first ever bill from vector... From landing at Santa Monica in September 2018 in a 182 I used to own. $16.44 (Plus $0.51 credit card fee) Paid

@Z W If your planned VFR flight is no longer viable, call ATC on the radio and get a clearance or land and do some actual flight planning. Don't stare inside the cockpit for 5 minutes while you play around on your iPhone. And quibbling about how much time it takes is not a good argument. Look outside. I have gotten clearances in the air many many times, it's really easy and fast. If you have to switch over to flight service... Well, switching frequencies isn't a big deal. And getting radar imagery from some random website or app over the internet to use to fly through storms? Personally, I would be extremely uncomfortable with this. Talk to ATC to find a route or turn around.

@PBonesA more critical phase of flight is short final. Let's say I want to fly VFR from KPHP to KTTD... It's 890 miles, which is near the edge of the range of my plane. According to the current weather reports, that leaves me with 11.5 gallons. When you factor in reserve fuel (18 GPH, * 30 minutes = 9 gallons). If I run one tank dry, I will have 11.5 gallons in one tank and 0 in the other. Minus 1 gallon unusable fuel. No problem, even if winds are a little worse than forecast. If I don't run one tank dry, I'll have about 6 gallons per side and risk running out on final is a real risk. Particularly if you had slightly higher headwinds than planned.

I've got a Starlink Mini. I've used it in flight. My opinion.... Meh. Not worth it for me as a pilot. If you are wanting to provide in-flight entertainment for passengers, it's amazing. For thunderstorm dodging weather info? Are you freaking crazy? Do you really want to explain to the NTSB and FAA that's what your plan was after you've had an in-flight emergency or incident or accident? Filing flight plans? Either do it on the ground or talk on the radio to ATC. If you are filing a flight plan that means you are VMC, so you need to be looking outside for other traffic. This sounds like a a bad idea that some marketing shill that isn't a pilot might put in an advertisement, like "Creating your grocery list on the laptop while you drive to the grocery store." If you are just looking for personal entertainment and staying in communication with people in flight but you are just ashamed to say that's what you want it for, well... I don't know what to tell you. Long XCs with an autopilot are kind of boring. Listen to music that is already downloaded or an audiobook or a podcast or whatever.