Mooney in Oz

Mooney - 23 hours due to medical issues. ATR72-600 - 120 hours also due to medical issues. Don't get old. Beech 400 started life as the Mitsubishi Diamond. The Mitsubishi MU-2 turboprop has the same - spoilers, no ailerons.

2018 - Not much flying during the first 9 months due to medical issues. 2019- Hopefully make it to the Mooney Summit.

Hey Fred. That AV-20 looks a nice addition to your panel. Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all you MSers from down under!

Sometimes the quick visits turn out to be the best.

Good luck with that.

I could not find that statement on their website, although I may have missed it. The following is why I had them sent around the world for engraving: In large and bold font Smooth Front as advertised:

All of my switch covers that were previously Klixon are from Shapeways, advertised as a 20TC (v0.6) smooth front. At best the switches are only just satisfactory for the following reasons: Quality Control - Although the switch covers are advertised as having a smooth surface, this is not true and it shows. The overall quality varied from unsatisfactory to only just satisfactory. The rough surface also made engraving difficult. A few of the switch covers were too loose after fitment and had to be altered by adding tape for a secure fit. These are advertised as a direct replacement of the Klixon covers. Other issues: Although Shapeways has an impressive website, all it is are 2 sales staff that operate in an office to answer only email inquires and take orders. Switch cover manufacture is outsourced to more than 1 manufacturer, hence the difference in quality amongst the covers and overall lack of QC. Shapeways are only contactable via email. There is no phone contact. Shapeways have a strict policy of sending the switches to the credit card holder who then has to have them engraved. They will not send them to your choice of engraver or anyone else due to a previous credit card fraud issue. I virtually pleaded with the sales guy to provide me with a contact number to speak to a manager and plead my case from Australia to have them send the switch covers to Aircraft Engravers (engravers.net) in Connecticut, but they would not budge. I ended up paying for them to be freighted to me half way across the world and then without opening the package, I freighted them to Aircraft Engravers half way across the world again. This is probably an easier process in the USA, but you would still be subject to the same freighting to and fro. I sent the switch covers to Aircraft Engravers as I could not find a suitable engraver here in Australia due to 3D printing being a new concept and did not want to risk ruin. I also read good posts about them here on the forum. The only good experience I had was dealing with Wayne Cahoon, the owner of Aircraft Engravers. Very reputable, professional and humble man in my opinion. He contacted me and sent photos of the finished product, stating the difficulty he had engraving the switch covers and he would be happy to order some more in and do it all again. I told him to send what he had as I could not fault the engraving. Wayne also offered to contact me if a much better product came along to see if I was interested in a replacement set and further offered to order them himself to avoid the freight fiasco. I felt compelled to ring him and profusely thank him for his service. You folks are very fortunate to have a guy of his calibre to call upon for professional aircraft engraving in the USA. I wish businesses operated like that here. Having said all of the above the switch covers still look better than what was replaced. I know the OP is inquiring about ETA covers, but I just wanted to share my experience with Shapeways. I wish I had waited for @Ah-1 Cobra Pilot to release his switch covers. You live and learn.

The way to react quickly enough Richard, is similar to what you do each time you take off in your Mooney and where you will go in the event of an engine out. In a twin it is also knowing exactly what you do and where you will go after going over it in your head before the takeoff roll. In other words, during every takeoff expect an engine to fail and know precisely what you'll do about it. The more pressing problem is after you clean it up and achieve control, how will the aircraft, assuming a basic GA twin, perform on one engine regardless of what the performance charts indicate, which are predicated on an optimal operating engine and flown by a very current test pilot.

DMAX should get the award for coming up with the funniest Mooney name. When I was a participant on the Mooney email list, which DMAX was a contributor and still is I believe, there was a guessing game amongst the contributors as to what should be the name of the forthcoming new model. Don's suggestion was the Mooney Orgasmo. It was finally named the Mooney Acclaim.

I feel your pain as the Aussie dollar is about the same value and being down under, we also get reamed by freight costs. Which way you choose, go either with all Garmin or Avidyne and Aspen. This is simply due to Garmin's proprietary stance on most of their equipment, otherwise be prepared for compatibility grief. I decided to go with Aspen and Avidyne, which makes me a very happy chappy.

Thank you Bennett. I understand those with us with Aspens should not have a problem as the interface is more between the navigator and autopilot plus there is good co-operation between Aspen and Genesys.

Bennett, Are there any plans for VNAV capability for the 3100 provided it is connected to a capable navigator - in my case an IFD? I am not talking about LPV approaches, I'm referring to VNAV descents whereby it can lock onto a glide slope type indicator until an altitude is reached by a certain distance whether by entering the altitude manually, conforming with a STAR, other ATC requirement or just wanting to be at an altitude for any constraint purpose. I ask this as in the brochure it mentions GPS VNAV capability with no elaboration, but in the POH the only mention of VNAV is in reference to a LNAV/VNAV or LPV approach (GPSL & GPSV). I also notice there is no VNAV button on the control unit. Thanks for chiming in.

I have a 55X and Aspen, both with GPSS. I can use either. As you say, it depends how it is configured.

I also have all of the above - in a Line up checklist.

Hey Ziggy. That video was so crisp and clear when I viewed it on my 27" iMac I felt as though I was sitting on your horizontal stab looking forward. Was the camera mounted on top or underneath your stab?

Hi Larry. On page 2 of the above previous thread you will see a post and photos of my set up. I have an 80 J and had my mechanic remake my cowl flap mechanism by fitting a vernier system which enables me to select any cowl flap position I want for the exact same reason you mention. He had to obtain what we call an engineering order here in Australia to make it legal, this would be similar to your 337 system I believe. If you want to go this route then talk to your mechanic about the legalities. You'll be able to select any setting you like, just like the electric system of later models except it will be mechanical without having to replace an expensive, electrical motor when it eventually stops working. I had mine modified about 9 years ago and have not had this problem and I cannot feel any vibration. You won't need them open every time you fly and I only use mine to keep the CHTs under 380 degrees. In addition to the above, about a year before the modification I had to purchase a new cowl flap for the left side (opposite side from the exhaust) from Mooney and was provided one with the shape that fits around the exhaust, so that both cowl flaps look the same and this also improved cooling. Unless it has changed since, Mooney does not provide the old, flat bottom surface cowl flap that you may still have. You may also have to look at the condition of your baffles. If your hottest is the No. 1 cylinder then check if your mechanic can cut away from the top, the horizontal metal baffle by about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch. You can easily see this across the fins as you look into the cowl air intake on the passenger side. That should keep it that cylinder about 20 to 30 degrees cooler.

I wonder if he had any passengers with him?

I see your point Scott and agree as I did what you are saying. However there are owners who are satisfied with what they have, which still is a very capable navigator and can either not afford the capital and install cost of a GTN or IFD or they simply may not want to do so at this time while Jepp are still supporting the units. My wild guess is the value of the boxes will reduce further because of this announcement by Garmin. The same will probably happen to a much larger degree when Garmin eventually pull the support plug from the 530/430 boxes as there are so many of these units out in the wild , but that is many years away.

Discontinuity was a typical name used in most FMC/S's (Flight Management Computer or Systems) in those days following insertion of an instrument approach, say a RNAV approach whereby Discontinuity is displayed after the destination, followed by the selected IAF and the remaining waypoints. The user had to select Direct to the IAF to get rid of 'Discontinuity', however this was a convoluted process that should have been simple. Despite that shortcoming, the 480's are solid and reliable that have always had a good following by those who learnt to understand the units, albeit not as popular as the 430's as those are easier to use. These days the latest navigators are much easier to use, well at least the Avidyne IFD's are and not that much different in that 'Gap in Route' is displayed following insertion of an instrument approach instead of 'Discontinuity'. All that is needed is to select either 'Activate' or direct to the IAF, which is very easy as it should be. Not sure what the GTN's do, but I suspect something similar as I believe all FMC/S's use the same protocol, including those fitted in heavy turboprops and jets. Those of you who still retain a 480 and still wish to do so into the future would be wise to follow @Ned Gravel suggestion and perhaps join the Yahoo support group as mentioned by @whiskytango in case of required component replacement. @Alan Fox is another good resource. The GNS480/CNX80 was marketed as a FMC/S and I believe the first GA 146 approved unit in the world. It was even used in UPS's big iron B767's.

A few days ago, Garmin released the following Service Advisory re the GNS480/CNX80 series navigator. https://www.garmin.com/en-US/aviationalerts/service-advisory-1874-gns-480-cnx-80-end-of-service-life/ A great unit. I had mine for 14 years with never any problem with it. Traded it on a IFD440 to compliment my IFD540 as I knew the imminent service life was soon to be. Database updates will still be available from Jepp for who knows how long.

How fortunate are us, of which there are not too many, who do not live in the USA/Canada to have access to such helpful advice from Anthony and the rest of you guys and girls on this forum to the extent that it feels like I am conversing with friends and that is despite not having had the pleasure of personally meeting any of you, except for the one and only @donkaye, who I do consider a friend. In a couple of days I will meet for the first time another legend, @mike_elliott. Anthony, from the opposite side of the world, congrats on almost reaching a milestone with never aggressive, respectful, always polite (even in disagreement) and knowledgeable posts that no doubt reflects your nature. You are more than appreciated. I know there are many others on this forum who deserve similar accolades, but this thread is yours. (I wish there was a thumbs up emoji)

That is one beautiful and impressive looking Mooney. It looks like you also have TKS - a very capable J. Please tell me it lives in a hangar.

Nice and shiny belly you have there.

You would think so Jose, however one of our company aircraft passed one at FL140.