toto

I did 15.0 last week, and then 15.0.1 showed up today.

Just a note that the Garmin EIS is their engine information system, while EIS is also used generically for electronic ignition systems. The Garmin EIS is a good consideration for this install, but an Electroair system would be largely a separate effort.

Looks good to me.

New paint, new avionics, and a new prop for 20k? Sign me up

Yep, this is the one case where I occasionally turn on the cellular function. Getting a briefing or filing a flight plan in the middle of nowhere. I’ve actually had surprisingly good luck with rural FBOs that have functioning wifi, but a cellular iPad definitely gives you more options.

Right, I’m just saying that if you don’t pay for it, then it gives you no value at all. So you either buy the thing you don’t want that is theoretically useful (which is what I’ve got now), or you buy the thing you don’t want that can’t be used (which is what you’ve got if you don’t pay the subscription fee).

Yep, that’s right. They do use AGPS, but they don’t require that the cellular function be turned on in order to use location services. The cellular function on my iPad is turned off 99% of the time. Seriously, if I’m flying around with the cellular function turned on, my battery life is much much worse than with just location services. And that’s with a barely-used iPad that’s less than a year old.

Yep, it’s my understanding that the GPS and cellular radio are integrated into the same component. Whether it would be possible for Apple to produce an iPad with one or the other, I have no idea - but other manufacturers separate the two functions, and offer a GPS in their wifi-only tablets. The end result is that iPad consumers have to buy a cellular radio they don’t want, or go without a GPS that they do want. Apple is a hugely successful company, and I have no doubt that they make very good decisions - both for customer satisfaction and for their bottom line. They are famously unapologetic for design decisions that seem confounding at a glance, but later become a standard that other companies emulate. Anyway, I’m not trying to suggest that the GPS+cellular thing is wrong in any absolute sense. It’s just an annoyance for me to have to buy a thing that I don’t want in order to get another thing that I do want. Feels like cable tv all over again. And as carusoam pointed out, in order to buy the GPS, you have to buy another thing that requires a monthly subscription. So the cellular function is just battery-draining dead weight if you don’t pay the subscription fee.

I use the Apple Pencil to copy clearances in all cases, but I don’t use it for flight logging. I log flights in MyFlightBook, normally in the cockpit right after shutdown. And then I periodically backfill my paper logbook with all of the entries from MyFlightBook.

You can you turn on the GPS without turning on the cellular function. I never turn on the cellular function, because it seriously hurts my battery life. My opinion is that requiring a cellular iPad to get a GPS is primarily a sales gimmick to get people to spend an extra $150 on the cellular function. (I’m a person who buys the cellular iPad only for the GPS, and it’s a little bit maddening, since other manufacturers provide a GPS receiver with their wifi-only units.) But I like having fewer things bouncing around the cockpit, so I would rather spend the $150 on the cellular iPad than on something like a Bad Elf. I’m normally getting position from a GTX345, but I want the tablet to have a separate source in case the panel goes dark.

My biggest frustration with the Apple Pencil is its abysmal battery life. The pencil doesn’t work if it isn’t charged, and the charge lasts only a few hours. I have a Surface Pro with a stylus that uses a replaceable alkaline battery that lasts for about a year, and for my purposes it’s every bit as good as the Apple Pencil. The Apple Pencil is quite nice, and writes very well with zero lag. But the battery is terrible. (I haven’t used a new Pencil, I’m using the original - so the new one may be better..) Anyway, copying clearances or scribbling notes on a chart really is pretty easy. I just have to remember to charge the dang pencil so it’s there when I need it.

Usually one of three things: * Internal GPS if equipped (must be a “cellular” iPad to get the GPS) * Nav source from a panel-mount device (GTX 345 transponder is a common example) * Portable GPS like a Stratus or a Stratux (those do double duty as ADS-B receivers, but others like Bad Elf are just GPS units)

I have an iPad case with an Apple Pencil holder that keeps it visible and right next to the iPad on my knee. It still isn’t as easy as scribbling quickly on a piece of paper, but it’s close. And the cockpit is a little bit less cluttered since I have no paper, and I just have the one stylus instead of an array of pens that I used to have stuck in every possible location. The transition from giant leather Jepp binders full of approach plates to one little electronic gadget was such a massive improvement that I’m sure I’ll have a tablet sitting in my lap for the foreseeable future. So if I can use that tablet for other things (flight manual, checklists, scratchpad), it’s all gravy.

The phone briefers on Flight Service were actually really nice back in the day, because they were usually local and had very good knowledge of local conditions and procedures. But ever since the transition to an outsourced service, where you’re talking to someone in a far-away call center, it has had zero benefit vs self-briefing for me.

Nice. Much better

That's how I read the subject too. I was 100% sure that this was a "never using them again" message. But it's actually a nice pirep for what sounds like a good shop

I should probably double-check mine. Also have 2xG5 with GFC500 and no vacuum. But iirc it didn't save a huge amount of weight.

I tried

Yeah, my Archer payload is about 650 with full fuel.

Certainly possible. I'm just one (or, I guess, two) data points - in my case, the full-fuel payloads are about the same between the two aircraft. (That's assuming a 2900GW J.). I got the Mooney specifically to handle frequent cross-country trips that couldn't be done in the Archer without a stop.

The problem with the Archer isn’t the speed so much as the tank size. At 9gph, unless there’s a tail wind I’m stopping for fuel on a 500-mile trip, while the Mooney can do 500 miles without blinking, even in a moderate headwind, and have plenty of fuel to spare.

Yeah, dunno about the cruise speed. I see 110 knots even with speed mods like gap seals installed. (I’m talking about a regular <75% power setting, which is like 2525rpm at 8k.) The seating position of the Mooney is often described as “more like a Corvette” - your legs are out in front of you, the yoke is in your gut, and your seat back is often reclined. In the Piper, you’re basically sitting upright with the yoke above your knees.

I own an Archer and a J model Mooney. The Archer is a 110-knot cruiser and the Mooney is a 160-knot (ish) cruiser. If you’re just tooling around town, there’s no reason to sell the Archer. The Mooney costs more to maintain, more to insure, and it’s worse than the Piper at certain things. But it’s a *much* better cross-country airplane, and if you’re doing a 500-mile trip, you can be there before lunch in the Mooney but it might take two days in the Piper. You’ll have to stop for gas in the Piper, and it’s a very easy direct flight in the Mooney. The only way I could get my Archer to cruise at 128 knots would be to mount a JATO to the side. I file 110 and that’s usually pretty close. It does 9gph or a bit less ROP, versus the Mooney at 11gph or a bit less ROP. But the Mooney is 50 knots faster, so it will embarrass the Piper on miles per gallon. The Piper is better on grass, easier to load with its big cargo door at hip level, and the seating position is more natural for passengers than the Mooney. There is absolutely no contest if you’re looking for a traveling machine. The Mooney wins hands-down. But the speed isn’t much value for tooling around town, and the wow factor is pretty much non-existent (the average non-flyer couldn’t tell the difference between the two). Anyway, I have one of each and I’m happy to chat about the relative advantages. But my basic advice is to keep the Piper unless you’re planning on doing a lot of cross-country flights.

I’m mostly just sitting here eating popcorn, but as a part-time Piper flyer, I’ll note that a Super Cub and a Cherokee are very different aircraft

I don't mean to disparage the company or any of their efforts - but "fully STC'd" is a clear statement.