blaine beaven

Thanks everyone! I think it is, as suggested, just too accurate of data. I’m glad to hear it’s not uncommon, so I’ll simply continue to monitor for any abnormal indications.

Hi all, I just got my 1978J with IO-360-A3B6 back from a full panel upgrade - G3X, GTN650xi, GNC355, GFC500, etc. I'm really enjoying all of the data from the EIS system. One thing I have noticed is that my fuel pressure seems to fluctuate up and down in cruise, with no other changes being made. Is this normal? Is this a sign of something I should investigate? I did not have an engine analyzer prior to this upgrade so my benchmark was a needle on an analog gauge. Attached is a screen cap from my Fly Garmin logbook. When I do a delta analysis on Savvy over a 30 minute period it shows about a 1.9psi difference average. Any groupthink is always appreciated! Blaine

My J has a good heater, but I also fly it in -25C. What I do in the wintertime is I hang a vinyl curtain behind either the front two seats or the rear seat. I have Velcro on the interior panels that matches up with Velcro on the curtain. This effectively reduces the area I am trying to hear by 1/2 to 2/3.

Buy a battery blanket or two and zip tie them around the garden sprayer filled with fluid. Plug it in for a couple hours before your flight. All the warm fluid you could want.

Byron, I’m getting some work done on my cowls (fixing cracks, new camlocks, paint, etc). Do you have a picture of this strap and angled piece of aluminum set up I can show my mechanic? thanks,

Hey all, looking for some feedback on my options here, and if I’m missing something obvious. Thanks! Idea A Nov 26.pdf Idea C Nov 26.pdf Idea B Nov 26.pdf

Next flight, throw some gold bars behind the back seat (or something else heavy) and see what you get for a deflection. I find on my 78J that the elevator position depends on how the plane is loaded.

I’m doing a panel upgrade this fall, and it has me thinking that I’m going to put three circuit breakers on the far left side of the panel: Autopilot Pitch trim Gear motor I think these are the most likely ones that need to get pulled in an emergency, so might as well make them easy to find!

Welcome to the club! I’ve got a 1978J as well here in Saskatoon. Yours looks very nice and you’ll love flying it.

I’ve always thought something like this might be great: https://elementfire.com but I don’t know that they have FAA approval. Less space, less mess, just as effective?

Thanks for reminding me why I seldom share on this site… It’s not screwed into the plastic; as noted above it’s mounted on the steel tube frame. Defrost hoses are getting changed during the panel upgrade along with cleaning up the general rats nest of old wires. 99% of my flights are by myself. When I do have a passenger, they are rarely sitting forward enough to be close to that extinguisher. It’s solidly mounted, so they would hit it in turbulence about the same as if they hit any other part of the plane. Please, drill into your spar and hide the extinguisher under your rear passenger’s legs, a far superior location…

When I bought my 78J the extinguisher was mounted on the floor in front of the back seat. Not an easy place to reach. I moved it to mount on the side of pedestal under the instrument panel in the passenger footwell. There is a structural tube of some sort running from the throttle quadrant area to the firewall. I used two adell clamps wrapped around that tube to attach the fire extinguisher bracket. It is not at risk of being stepped on, is out of sight, and I can easily reach it from the pilot seat. I’ll try to remember to take a picture next time I am at the plane.

In case anyone was curious as to the outcome of this, during the annual this week we checked the interconnect springs. Neither are broken or weak. We swapped them to see if it made a difference and it made no difference. My mechanic presumes that the cause of the yoke "drooping" is just the nature of the geometry of the linkages and the interconnect in my particular plane. as soon as any pressure is applied to the rudder pedals the yoke centers immediately. This seems to be more a "cosmetic" issue as the plane flies fine. But if anyone else has had this happen or any other ideas I am happy to hear them. Otherwise, I'm not going to chase it down much further.

@PT20J I hope that you’re writing a book with all your experiences… you could pitch it to everyone that buys a G3X!

Has this changed yet, and the GI 275 is able to drive an autopilot with a G3X? I’m going to order equipment next week for my avionics upgrade and wondering about GI 275 v G5. Thanks!

I was riding backseat in a piper Aztec about 20 years ago during my training (I was only flying on empty legs). Shortly after takeoff, still during climb and within 2 miles of the runway, the passenger next to the door noticed the handle wasn’t all the way forward, and decided to remedy that. Unfortunately he pulled it in the wrong direction and it popped open. It felt like we dropped about 150 feet almost immediately. The door never came open more than a couple inches. It got super windy and loud, and the pilot turned back to the runway. He was distracted enough he forgot to put the gear down and when on final I was able to yell at him to put it down. My thought on the initial drop is that the open door managed to blank out a good chunk of the right elevator given our speed and angle of climb. It was scary, and it’s not surprising that people get flustered and ball a plane up when this happens.

When I read about your initial power loss it reminds me of a situation I had where I had flown somewhere in the morning, the plane sat in the sun all day, I refueled - but not filled - in the hot afternoon. On the flight home climbed up high and had some bumps (hot summer day). About a minute after I put the nose down to decend, there was a change in sound and power output that lasted about 5 seconds. I spent some money chasing this phantom. Checked fuel injectors, spark plugs, valve clearances, scoped cylinders etc. The best explanation I received was from the owner of an engine rebuild shop. He said that flying home likely washed the condensation off the walls and ceiling of the tank into the fuel, they took time to condense, it settled into the low point, and when I put the nose down to descend it sucked in some water. His advice was that if I’m fuelling, fuel earlier in the day, shake the wings and let it rest for 10 or so minutes before sumping. On the topic of the stiff mixture cable, I had the same problem at another time, and it was a fuel servo that was failing. Confirmed that by disconnecting mixture cable and then it moved smoothly. The arm on the fuel servo it connected to did not move smoothly, and was indicative of further internal failures. Good luck!

When I bought my plane in 2014 my mechanic noticed that the overboard hose from my separator didn’t have a “Jesus hole” in it. Basically, about 6” above the bottom of the firewall, before the curve of the metal end of the hose that comes out the cowl flap, he drilled a small hole. The idea being that if the end of the hose freezes up, the pressure can still escape without blowing out any seals in the engine. The hole in the cowling shouldn’t freeze up. And there is enough vacuum/pressure that in normal conditions it doesn’t leak. I’ve never noticed any mess or residue around the Jesus hole, so I assume I have yet to freeze it up despite flying in some pretty cold temps.

I’m well aware I can crack the door and pop the window - but I’d like to consider retrofitting a blower motor so hopefully someone with that experience can pass it on. When the panel is pulled apart I am going to replace hoses, check connections etc to ensure I’m optimizing what I have. Thanks!

It’s actually less about the heat in the winter… more for airflow on the ground on hot summer days. I am doing a panel upgrade and want to put some eyeball vents in the dash; thinking if I tie them into the defroster lines and put a blower I may get some cooling air on the wife and kids in the summer on a hot day. But would be useful for defrost on the ground in the winter too perhaps?

On page 6 21-40-00 of the M20J IPC it makes reference to a retrofit kit to add a defroster fan. Google doesn’t turn up much; do these exist? Has anyone done this? I would like to add some more air movement in the ventilation system if possible. I have a 1978J 24-0471 so I should be eligible by serial number. Thanks!

Ah - my plane has no shoulder harnesses in the rear.

How are you supposed to attach that to the ceiling? The only cargo attach points are on the floor

@Pinecone this looks like it will be an awesome upgrade. Many well wishes for a painless experience. Are you going to keep your stormscope? I am planning an upgrade similar to yours. I currently have a WX8 that I have found quite useful in the summer, but there is limited real estate in these panels… would be happy to hear your opinion on keeping it or not.