Tommy

Purely my own observation: almost always, those who speak ill of studying medicine are neither doctors themselves nor able to get into med in the first place. And many of these people, if presented, would've taken the opportunity without batting an eye. One thing I learnt in life is never ask advice from someone who has never done it before... If money and opportunity cost are everything, many of us wouldn't be flying at all, let alone owns a plane.

Another concern is that if you are not satisfied with the seatbelt performance or cost, are we able to remove them and install a normal seatbelt at ease? Or does that constitute significant modification to the plane?

That's a better explanation than just to say that the car interior environment is different than a GA aircraft. They are not that dissimilar. I agree that the technology used in determining the deployment of airbag may well be different but that in itself is not a reason to dismiss the effectiveness of the air bag. I doubt that there will ever be a proper research conducted to see if it really does make any difference - won't pass the ethics so all that we can rely on are retrospective and prospective anecdotal evidence. In fact FAA is quite satisfied with available evidence to allow bulkhead rows to have seating passengers provided they are fitted with seatbelt airbags.

The Mooney cabin is really no different to a street car. The air bags have been a standard safety feature on billions of cars and thousands of GA aircrafts in the last 15 years. If the problems / concerns that you mentioned are genuine and real, they would've been removed a long time ago. Billions... I am just not sure what more evidences do you need? Do you also have doubts on seatbelts and helmets?

Our cabin environment is a lot more like a normal family sedan than a race care. In a race car, the driver wear helmet so s/he does not get knocked unconscious by the steering wheel / dash / windshield - one of the few benefits offered by the air bag. Don't think helmets are viable alternatives in our case. Also the race cars are often subjected to high G manoeuvre which increases the risk of accidental deployment. For the same argument, it's probably not a good idea to fit one on a Red Bull Air Race plane. You spoke like this air bag stuff is some sort of ground breaking new technology. It has been around for many years and proven to save life. There are also plenty of test and quality standards to adhere to. In my 10 years as a critical care specialist, I never heard of airbag being an "obstruction" to the rescue effort. They are normally deployed and the bag deflates easily. The only legitimate concerns will be 1) accidental deployment but depending on how it is designed, it may well be a non-event. 2) non-deployment. Well....

Unlike the parachute, this is something we can all agree on that will save life. Any idea of how much it will cost? Parts + installation.

Would you buy all the right tool$$$, learn how to remove an appendix off YouTube, then do one on yourself? It is doable...

It's a great unit and right now it offers quite a lot more than equivalent GTN for about the same price (plus the trade-in + headset promotion now). Love the hybrid touch screen + buttons lay out. I tried to use the touch screen once in turbulence and it's down right impossible. Luckily the buttons and knobs saved the day. Am sure will be thrilled by IFD100 once I get Wifi / BT to work. The interface is vey intuitive and the predictive logic works pretty well when flight planning. Took me 1 minute to plan a SID departure -> en route -> NDB approach with hold -> missed when it took almost 7 minutes for a pilot to do the same using a FMS in a Porline Kingair that he has almost 500 hours experience with (granted it was an unfamiliar route to him). But I only have 10 hours experience with IFD 440. Just make sure you get a dealer / shop that has good connection to the company.

But it's okay to use this accident to name call someone? Lol. And to counter your point, why is it okay to proclaims one's religious belief using a fatal tragedy - aka. thoughts and prayers - but it's not okay to say the opposite? Yup, I just got back from a 7-day ban on MS for "stirring" when I did not ask for any opinions on my (lack of) belief. I never complained when people typed out their thoughts and prayers - even to families that are very unlikely to be Christians.... Thoughts and prayers don't trouble me much, what bother me the most are the speculations before NTSB report that are almost bordering as character assassination of the pilots involved.

Never ceases to amaze me how people who started the debate - I didn't ask for your opinion, did I? - and wrote a 300-plus words thesis on this subject can accuse me for "playing word games." I still don't quite understand why you think these two pilots - who flew for charitable cause - deserved to die because they are out defying gravity. Guess we will never find out because you prefer watching the paint dry... Enjoy and see ya!

Same way as I wouldn't mistake you as a stalker who can't seem to get enough of me... *Kisses* Don't even mention the "G" word, you will get a warning from the moderator!

He never said it's safer. He simply postulated the cause which is premature to say the least. Don't put words into his mouth.

This is yet another great example of people who said they will ignore you yet can't leave you alone...

You are right, the fact that 20 million children died of natural causes each year doesn't disapprove the existence of a Spinozan god but disapprove an omnipotent, omnipresent, and benevolent god. Now care to define what sort of god you believe in and what abilities does he possess if you wish to play an apologist? I found this statement rather distasteful. I hope you are not suggesting that part of the reason these two pilots were out there flying was to defy the laws of gravity... Victim-blaming much?

Asymmetric operation in itself will not cause the crash - though some may argue a very underpowered twin like Tecnam, a crash is almost guaranteed if you lose one - but it's definitely a contributing factor. A big one when everything stacks against you - inexperienced pilot + heavy load + left engine + poor weather + low altitude + slow speed etc. The discussion here is not about the risk of asymmetric operation - a tad bit ironic on a Mooney forum too! Lol - but it's about the injustice of lives lost for a charitable action. It's just another thing to prove that god does not exist. Now that's a slightly more worthy debate than asymmetric operation - can be done, has been done, but doesn't mean it's easy. Besides, we don't even know if it's the improper asymmetric operation that caused the accident.

Is this one of those heated debates caused by the lack of definition to start with? Somehow I had the feeling that both Jose and Jim are right. Jose is saying left uncorrected, asymmetric operation at take off will often lead to severe yaw with subseqnet roll especially with a left engine failure. Jim is saying if corrected, that would not happen.

Good point. I think I did have it in Appr / Arm mode. Where do you normally switch from Nav to Appro mode, Ron? Thanks

So it turns out to be my lateral axis board defect on my KFC computer. The shop replaced it with their own board and it seems like the situation is much better. It steers the plane pretty much spot on en route. However it's far from perfect. I shot an RNAV approach and I activated NAV / CPLD mode then activated the leg when prompted by IFD440. Then set the CDI to the course heading. The CDI showed the deviation correctly and FD commanded the turn but it was so slow (bank angle of 10 degree or less) that I flew right pass the magenta line for almost 1 or 2 miles! Can't possibly imagine doing this in IMC. I can possibly get around this by activating the leg and turning the CDI course a lot earlier but then I will still be flying a big arc that will take me 1 or 2 miles away from the intended course. I don't think my vertical / lateral separation from the ground can be guaranteed! Am I doing something wrong? Or does this replacement board need tweaking? Or a hands-free RNAV approach is not possible with IFD440 + KFC200 (Gosh, I hope not!!) ? Thanks guys!

Do you guys always prime the area even if it's just a small chip? Any youtube videos out there showing the process? Thanks

I am just wondering how do you guys touch up small paint chips? Thanks!

Better swing it on the jack to test it out. You don't want to take any chances with a possible gear problem.

Enjoy your time here @Warren Safe trip!

Can I trouble you with a photo to go with your description please? Thanks Tony!

Of course flare is also for slow down. It's also to put the main wheels on the tarmac first. I don't want to sound like telling you how to suck egg like what you just did but, with same power setting, a flare with increasing AOA WILL slow you down (and you will either climb "ie. ballooning" if you have excess airspeed or maintain level flight if you don't have excess air speed ie. "holding off"). Once you slow down to stall speed (critical AOA) - hopefully it's only a few inches above the runway - you plant your wheels. If it doesn't slow you down, then what else is slowing down at the final stage of your landing. You are already at idle power and full flaps. Ground effect simply means it will take longer for you to bleed off that airspeed - ie SLOW DOWN. I have never come across with any instructors that says "now you are transitioning to ground effect" during landing as if it's a deliberate act. You can be in the ground effect whether you flare or not and at any speed but flaring to slow down and ready the wheels is a deliberate act that takes good judgement. The POH has already taken that into consideration when it publishes the landing distance required. So it's our job as pilots to fly the number and flare at the right time not thinking about "ground effect."

That's why I learnt to have a short final call out and the first item on the list is "on speed" And if the air speed is more than 80 knots I do everything I can to get below it unless I have lots of runway plus it's a windy day. Follow by "gear down" "full flaps" "full prop" "runway XX clear to land" I also trim it to reduce the amount of pulling back needed as I transition to flare. Yes it does mean that I need to push in hard if I need to go around - difficult but not impossible - but I am much rather enjoying the benefit of having some degree of finesse 99 landings than of slightly easier go around in 1 landing out of 100.