StinkBug

It might have an internal GPS, it might not. The advertising materials leave out an awful lot of details. When I bought and installed mine I was told in no uncertain terms that a WAAS GPS source was required to make it legal. I can also tell you that when I power down my 430 I lose all heading and ground speed info.

And OSH just so happens to be on the west side of that body of water, so it still works :-p

I had a G5 installed a couple months ago to replace a failing AI, and I absolutely love the thing. Just read through this thread and thought I'd comment on a few things. First, I've seen absolutely nothing indicating that the Certified G5 has an internal gps. Everything I have seen indicates that you either need the optional antenna, or a feed from another certified GPS source. I already had a 430w, so just pulled from there. On my install the G5 comes on with the master, but will show big red X's over the heading and ground speed until the 430 powers up and has signal. If that takes too long, or if signal is lost for some reason the X's will go away, but so will those portions of the display. They have always come right back when GPS was restored though. Per the STC the HSI display is disabled, but it's literally a couple button presses away from being enabled again. I found it by accident while poking around the setup menu. To get to the menu simply press in on the knob then power up. From there you can play with everything, just be careful not to screw any of the important settings up. All that said, I don't find much use in the HSI display. The AI screen gives you a heading bug if you're following a GPS track, and the only time the HSI display would be useful is flying IFR where the AI is really much more important. There seem to be some HUGE variations in cost out there. I called a bunch of shops and talked to a lot of people locally before deciding on an installer. I ended up buying the unit direct from Aircraft Spruce because they had the shortest lead time. All the shops were being told a month or more from garmin, and I had a dead AI and trips planned. Normally my installer wouldn't install something he didn't sell, but he made an exception for me because of the circumstances. Part of the deal was that he was going to bill me straight labor time though, so I couldn't hold him to an estimate. As it turned out he hit the estimate anyways. I had him install the G5, do my IFR certs (which were due) and also add the interconnect data cable to make my 496 and 430 talk to each other. Total bill was roughly $900, about $600 of that was the G5 install. At the time that shop had only done a couple, and most of the shops I called were giving what seemed like wild guesses at time to install. All in all I'm thrilled with the shop that did the job. He was super straightforward with me, actually scheduled a specific time and date, got it done quickly and ended up being cheaper than all the other quotes as well.

I've noticed that passenger side storm windows are often an option on replacement windows. Never seen one come with one originally though.

Part of the problem last year was the weather. It was quite low overcast saturday and into sunday morning, so all the people that had hoped to get there early got stuck at other area airports. Once the field started reporting VFR there was a massive rush of aircraft. Dunno if that contributed to the parking problem or not, but it is what delayed the Caravan arrival and caused a lot of traffic in the arrival. Also as I remember there was a large chunk of area north of 09/27 that was really soft and muddy making it unusable for parking aircraft. Depending on weather leading up to the event that could of course happen again. We can control a lot of things, but weather isn't one of them.

The north 40 parking is first come first served. They start with the south east side of 09/27 and just start moving west. When they run out of parking south of the runway they move to the north west corner and start moving east. Arriving close to the time the caravan lands is your best bet at parking close, but really anything in the north 40 is probably close enough.

FYI, the shirt order has gone in, and we should see them soon!

If I make a full stop landing I'm on the runway just as long if not longer since I have to find an exit and clear the runway, and that corporate jet is waiting just as long for me to get there. Your point is a poor one. Also, if I do a full stop taxi back I've now added to the line on the ground, and the jet on the taxiway behind me has to wait that much longer. TnG is more efficient for everybody. If the tower needs to depart faster traffic behind me they simply ask me to offset my upwind. Happens all the time. If they have IFR traffic on the approach they ask me to extend my downwind or take a short approach. Sequencing is their job, and at my field they are pretty damn good at mixing Cessna 150s with Gulfstreams.

Love the design. Just ordered 2

Touch and goes IMO have one valid use, to save time. When you're practicing landings at a very busy airport they can be used to save a LOT of time. The caveat is that you need to make it a point to do them carefully and be aware of potential dangers. My home airport can get really busy, and when I was training we did a lot of full stop taxi backs. Sometimes this meant landing the plane once, then sitting in a line for 20 minutes. That means at best I'd get 4 landings in during my hour of instruction time. Doing TnGs you can get that same number in under 30minutes easily. Yes, people get rushed and screw them up. People have pulled the gear handle instead of the flap handle. This is why it's important to not rush things. Like I said in my previous post, treat it like a regular landing, slow to a stable speed, reconfigure, then go. If the runway is long you have plenty of time to do this safely. Another thing many forget about is that "cleared for the option" includes stop and go as an option. Land, stop, reconfigure, take off. Skip the long line at the hold short bars. Now that I own the plane, have lots of time in it, and am not staring at the hobbs I have little use for touch and goes, but when you're paying over $2 a minute for a rental, they can be quite valuable.

I rarely do touch and goes, but since I almost never use flaps for takeoff it's a pretty simple affair. Treat it like any other landing, and use all the same setting I normally would. After landing retract flaps, apply power and perform a normal take off. The key is not to rush it. I only do them at my home airport with 5000' of runway, so I can land get totally stable and take my time reconfiguring.

Count me in for 2

If anybody is interested I have an icebox brand cooler that I'm looking to sell. Not because it doesn't work, it works great, but because I have a second one and don't need 2. The one I'm selling has the wireless controller and you can separately control the fan and pump. If I don't sell it before leaving I'll probably bring it to Oshkosh to sell there, so easy delivery for caravan folks. As for draining, I always just pull the return hose out the baggage door and turn on the pump to drain onto the ramp. This is also how I gained my caravan callsign "Puddles"

First thing I added to the plane, and dollar for dollar probably the best modification you could make.

Update: I'm putting in the order monday so if you want shirts and haven't already let me know, let me know.

I've been very fond of Hooker Harnesses since long before I was into aviation. I've been heavily involved in off-road racing for many years and years back we caught wind of the company after getting sick of belts that constantly loosen up during a race. When you're going fast in the dirt it's important to be TIGHT in the seat. They had some fantastic ratcheting belts that apparently were originally developed for aerobatics that completely solved our issues. I won't race in anything else anymore.

Some might, but they would be wrong

This is the logo that'll be on the shirts, large on the back, smaller on the chest. You're a bit on the wrong coast, but if you really wanna represent the Best Coast I don't have a problem putting you on the list :-p

I sent out an email a few days ago to the google group, but I know not everyone is on there. We're getting ready to have a run of shirts done with the Best Coast logo, and need to get a count of who wants them. Price is $10 each and I'll deliver to MSN. Shoot me an email with size and number of shirts if you'd like to be put on the list. stnkbg1@gmail.com Thanks! -Puddles

Shoot, I just bought 2 of these on ebay a couple weeks ago. Good luck with the sale. I think I paid around $65/each for mine, and the o-rings were shot/missing.

I've been a little late in starting my planning this year, as things have been a little busy with my business and this whole becoming a dad thing. I honestly did not think I'd be able to go, but I have now registered and talked my buddy Wayne into joining me again as well. Looking forward to seeing you all there!

o69 is a great place. I try to visit every couple months to see friends in the area.

I'd be willing to bet that if he spent the extra couple dollars for good quality vinyl he'd have an easier time peeling them off. The adhesives used in the higher end wrap vinyls are pretty amazing. little grooves that allow bubbles and trapped air to effortlessly escape, holds on tight when you need it to, but can be peeled off. The vinyl itself is pretty amazing too. I've had pieces that were so stretched and crumpled from handling that they look like trash, and a little heat flattens it all right back out. For registration numbers the difference in cost between cheap vinyl and the good stuff would probably only be a few bucks, and be well worth it in saved headache.

All the graphics on the new Cessnas are vinyl, as are the tail numbers, as well as the graphics on a lot of other current production planes. I did a partial wrap to cover the 70's brown and gold stripes on my C. Still looks as good as the day I did it roughly a year and several hundred flight hours later. I've had it through an annual and several different A&P's. They all commented positively on the results. It sits outside on a tie down too.

Been busy racing Jeeps and changing diapers.