David_H

To make the below story short: I sensed "Bad JuJu" and made the trip to check the plane out anyhow. Details are below if you want to know the specifics. During a phone call I had while looking for a plane, a seller explicitly said the plane he was looking to sell had no damage history and all logs were present. Before continuing, I'll note that I had already reviewed the plane's past history prior to the call and seen prior the damage history. However, I thought it was worth a look at the Logs to see if the repairs matched up. Sometimes things get overlooked... so I schedule a time to come look the plane over in person and review the logs. I made the trip, arrived, and proceeded to inspect the log books. I started reviewing the latest Logs (most important) and working my way back through the years. I didn't discover that the earlier logs were missing until I hit the "Logs Missing Prior to XXXX" entry. Owner asks if I'm ready to take the plane up. I didn't want to find out what else he "forgot" to tell me. I left as soon as possible and wondered why I allowed myself to waste so much time. Due to that experience, I always look at the earliest Log Book first, just to make sure there are no surprises there... then jump to the current Logs to ensure I don't waste my time again. Most importantly, I won't give a second look if any "Bad JuJu" is present.

You may have read too much into Igor_U's statement. It looked as though as he was trying to be helpful to everyone, just as it appears that you are.

A 78J comes up for sale as prices are being discussed... on a 78J in another thread. What a coincidence.

Wow... not going to comment on this.

That decal looks good. Nice work. I bet that an M decal would look good as well.

That makes perfect sense Jesse. I can now see where I misunderstood your post.

Just to be crystal clear, I have no personal experience with either of these shops. They could really be stand-up operations. Since there's no data available for Mooney installs yet (perfectly understandable), the Cessna and Piper installs could provide some indication of how this thing could possibly go. Is it possible to hear how much time those installs are really taking?

One approach isn't necessarily better than the other... but the same approaches can't be applied together. The final bill rarely comes back under quoted price. There's always something found that wasn't expected. It just seems as if quotes are generated based on finding something unexpected... then increased once something unexpected is found.

Since you have past experience installing these... was the 18hr average accurate for Cessnas or Pipers?

Some models will be harder to work on than others and panels wiring condition will affect install times. Everyone can agree about that as well as it being good that TT is bringing competition to the autopilot market. The 18 hr "average install time" published in 2018 put many under the impression that TT knew what they were talking about since they'd been working on the project for a while. Of course the Mooney application wasn't in the mix at that time... but the increase is significant.

How does install times increase as a product matures? There's a distinct smell in the air. Expensive perfume... or perhaps something else.

Drapo makes a very good point. This is a significant change/deviation from the first post.

... a foldout calendar, heh.

Maybe. Predicting potential value of equipment that far out seems rather risky given the current environment. Nobody knows what avionics we'll see in 10 years.

Others can post what panel upgrades can bring back to you... but it's highly unlikely that you will get a 1 to 1 investment return on avionics upgrades. You would likely need to fly the invested value out of the plane to feel good about the purchase. IMHO there isn't anything wrong with the panel you have. If you're tired of it... let it go for a reasonable price and enjoy being part of it going to a owner that would enjoy it.

This looks like a conversation pointing to a J or a K to me.

Mooney, Bonanza, Cessna, Cirrus, Piper, HP, Complex... none of that really makes any difference when a poor departure decision is made. The motives and circumstances really make no difference once the no-go point has passed. There is not a recovery procedure available for a poor departure decision. I think about this every time I line up with the runway and do my last heading check with the Compass, DG, and RW numbers painted in front of me.

Onlookers say boiling water... while those in the water say Hot Tub. That said, I could really be missing out on the hot tub experience and not know it. One thing is for certain... I strongly agree that Taxi diagrams should be standard for safety considerations.

Wow... FF's pricing structure never made any sense to me. It's the reason I chose other EFBs. I think of a frog in boiling water. I suppose it's why I really don't understand the FF model since I never hopped into the pot.

Isn't the new ADSB mandate that 's being force implemented going to suffer from these kinds of "tests"? It sounds funny when I say it aloud: You must have a GPS source to be ADSB compliant... but the government reserves the right to completely disable it.

I just received the Fusion 46L I ordered this week and plan to see how well it works soon. I haven't installed it yet... so I'm unable to report on an improvement. However, I expect to be very pleased if the specs are anywhere close to accurate. I ordered mine through the Aero-Lites website. The shipping was fast and the light arrived in good condition. The quality looks to be fairly good just by holding it in my hand.

You could make the drawings you have available and save me the trouble. That said, I also understand if you prefer not to.

It would fall under the umbrella of owner produced part. If a person had access to the drawings, they could have a set made locally and install them. It's not pleasant (or safe) when the cam "loses" it's one good position and reclines... not looking to make a profit.

I planned to develop a set of CAD drawings to freely share the files so they can be used by local hangar elves. I'll need to find some that can be measured first though. However, I suppose it's possible to have a few additional cam sets machined whenever I have mine done. The cam sets Sabremech made in the past were nice if your looking to get some shipped to you ready to go. They were a little pricey in my opinion... but looked to be very well thought out.