Sandman993

Thanks for the kudos carusoam! Oh wait, that wasn’t meant for me was it?

Volcano is dormant

I guess to folks in California, size does matter. My girlfriend thinks from here [ To here ] is 6 inches. Depends on what size screen.

On the gtn 750 in my bird, there’s a detent on the edges of the frame for the express purpose of steadying your finger for data input. As for the frequency changes and screen changes, I simply have to ask it. The gtn properly set up will accept around 150 voice commands. It should, think I paid.22k installed for that gadget.

That’s my point in a nutshell... the garmin could have put everything in the autopilot, but instead, chose to break the unit into tiny pieces so they could ring every $ out of the equipment. If tt and pro pilot can put all the goodies in a small pkg... kinda makes garmins model look like hwy robbery imho. Add to that, the notion that they still to this day, advertise an autopilot for $7,000-8,000 + install that is useless without the extra equipment that costs another 10k installed... it just doesn’t sit right for me.

One of the G5’s is more difficult to install and therefore more cost than the other... I was told 6k + tax drive out. I would be disappointed to learn the phantom tt can’t fly an approach without a gadget to do the gpss work. I thought it simply received a signal from the approach plate in the ifr gps and flew that. the biggest and most important reason I wanted a digital autopilot for this single fan airplane was, the altitude hold and lateral guidance. Already get lateral guidance from the gtn 750 to century and have gpss to process the language barrier between digital to analog fly the approach. No vertical guidance. And yes, I know that gpss doesn’t work for digital to digital. perhaps us folk with the century autopilot should meet in mineral wells for an autopilot tune up party. Save ourselves some $$$. They might have a not so expensive solution to my altitude issue. As the tt drags on for years, that may become the desired outcome. if this covid crap ever gets sorted out, I intend to spend a sizable chunk of my kids inheritance on airplane gas and hotels.

I don’t mean to be a smart ass about it... back when I had the gtn installed, there was the promise of an affordable garmin digital autopilot that was going to cost 5k in the box sitting on the wing... it was going to do everything but powder your Fanny. No mention of the 10k you had to pay for two G5’s to run it or the extras to get trim. At Oshkosh 2019 garmin quoted 31,000-33,000 for a g3x touch with the autopilot and trim. That’s a far cry from 5k plus installation for the original version. My old autopilot will have to do... it’ll fly an approach as long as I manage the altitude. I can manage that. I’m fine with actually operating the ship if every time I add a gadget, it means I have to buy the airplane back. someone once said...”don’t pee on my leg and tell me it’s raining”. if you make a living installing this stuff, good on you, I don’t mean to rain on your parade. I hope you make a good living. I’m just frustrated about the company breaking the autopilot pilot into several components that costs more than promised.

So, for about $16,000 installed, you can have the “affordable” new autopilot that can do half the stuff. Add another $6k and you can get everything but trim if you already have a gtn gps. gotta hand it to garmin though, they can get their over priced products through the FAA process...unlike some companies.

You’re in NJ and I’m in Texas... gonna be more than $100 bucks to converge. If you find yourself traveling west someday, give a shout and who knows, I may show up on your six. I was at Oshkosh 18 and 19... wish I could’ve met some of the guys on here. Every time I went by the tent, they were in the middle of a meeting or a meal. So I kept going. I did share a meal with the bonanza group...once they discovered I was a Mooney driver, it was like humorous disgust. That’s ok, I ate their food like an invading raccoon and took the insults along with some charm. I felt like the poor cousin. One of the guys we were renting the house with invited me to the nanzer group meal. They were all identifiable by their pressed white shirts that had “bonanza” sewn on. Talk about organized. All fine folks...but it’s like going to an el Camino rally in a ranchero. anyway, we should endeavor to meet... I would like that.

Shhhhhhh... I’m working it.

Good deal... so I can remind you about the $100 I loaned you that time.

Ok, then what if any extra avionics do you need to install to make the autopilot functional. A quick look at the dynon site doesn’t offer that info. The adsb debacle has left me disenchanted where avionics shops are concerned, 6 months wait in line gives me a chapped hind end. Plus once they get anything certified, they don’t make em for spec... so you’ll wait 3 more mos after you commit. Practically use up an annual by the time you get all that done. I am used to and like my steam gauges... the gtn 750 and 345 adsb will suffice. again, the garmin autopilot is 25k or more flyaway. Yet they keep pitching it at 7k. They make you buy a bunch of extra stuff because they forgot to add to the unit, the electronics to run it.

You shot your wad on a C back when you was a pup? I think it’s a cheek squeeze for about everyone when they buy a new ship. Even moving up. You just buy the most you can or cannot afford. But one thing is almost certain, the first year ownership of a used aircraft is going to make one uncomfortable. And if you’re picky, it’s like your bank account has a bad case of termites.

Words of wisdom from carusoam... however, it begs the question, how many old c’s are willing to spend near 100% of their plane value to achieve a 2 axis ap that may only work on one? and that’s I think what the math looks like for garboon’s bean counters.

You’ll need two g-5’s to get everything out of the gfc. I was told 2 g-5’s were about $10,000 fly away. Does that jive with your numbers?

It’s a cost and return of $ for them. Probably not worth their efforts to get you squared away. on the guise of making airplanes safer... they become feckless... you know who I mean.

They will get approval about 2 days after I get back from mineral wells, getting the century affectionately known as “crazy Ivan” tuned up. ATC- 1 yankee echo, you seem to be off course and flying around like a moth! 1 yankee echo...nah, ship’s just doing a crazy Ivan. In an effort to make our planes safer, the goobmint is giving a maximum effort to drag out the certification process of the digital autopilot.

Wanna wager?

I’ll be filling that out ... I’m only gonna give them 5 more years to certify and then, I’m going to check some boxes!

Exactly...over promise and under deliver... the avionics creed. doo doo on a stick. this thread three yrs old yet? Gotta love it.

Looks like a bone yard.

Adsb and a part 23 rewrite the FAA won’t acknowledge. Along with a basic med that was watered down by same. fuel and many other things are on the table. buy a bicycle, you may need one in the stable. we can always ride it to the airplane, climb aboard and make that motorboat noise as we make steep make believe turns. That might be a pleasant change from the screaming typically heard on my flight deck. Usually it’s me screaming... those turns are skerrie! i’m buying an electric bicycle because I’m old and lazy...and Texas is a big place.

Geez So Cal, sorry. Meant to be humorous... not to hurt your feelings.

Apparently, albeit I don’t know how the airlines insurance and Mooney insurance correlate to each other. My buddy is a 777 captain, he says those insurance companies are so far removed from each other, he’s at a loss to explain how that could be possible. If I have it right, the low premiums and high ga loses caused a few insurance companies to stop writing ga insurance... that left a lag in the competition so whoever is left can go up and still hang onto their market share. it is possible that the higher premiums may inspire those who stopped writing policies to reconsider and therefore we can stabilize or even slightly reverse the increases. Don’t look for that to happen until they have at least one more increase next year. Maybe another after that, time will tell.