toto

These are both quite usable: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.javiery.rpmgauge https://apps.apple.com/us/app/engine-rpm/id340401811 (The android one is free, the iOS one is ten bucks or something.)

So he was coming over proactively to do your IFR checks two months late? I think this boils down to whether you'll have an ongoing relationship with the shop. If you'll be working with them for the foreseeable future, then you'll need to be more diplomatic.. "That's a nice Mooney you got there - shame if somethin were to happen to it." TBH, what I normally say in a misunderstanding like this, where I've known the people involved for a long time, is: "I'm happy to pay your actual cost for work that was completed. If you tell me that $400 is what you've got in this, then bill me for the $400." I've never ended up paying the $400, and it's normally zero.

Without a doubt, serving more passengers in need is a key goal for charitable aviation, and finding new and different ways to accomplish that goal is a continuous challenge. For what it's worth, I served on an AF board for many years, and aside from a very small number of paid staff, it's an all-volunteer organization. Some of those volunteers come from an aviation background, some from a healthcare background, some from business or nonprofit backgrounds, and a humbling number of them are even former passengers. To a one, those volunteers believe in the mission of the organization, and they try very hard to be good stewards of donated funds. Many of the best ideas for fundraising or organizational improvement come from volunteers, and I would encourage you to reach out to your local chapter and share your thoughts.

Do you mean that Angel Flight would reimburse pilots for their fuel? Typically Angel Flight passengers must have a financial need, so they wouldn't have the resources to pay for fuel even if reimbursement was allowed. The AF organizations themselves would only be able to provide a tiny fraction of the number of missions they provide if they were paying for fuel -- the amazing AF value proposition for donors is that they can see their donation *magnified* in services (i.e., AF can provide more value in services than the total amount donated). But this depends on volunteer pilots covering their own costs. It really is an amazing model for efficient use of donor cash, where you can say that for every $1 donated you get $3 in services provided. Compare with most charities, where overhead competes with services for fractions of that dollar.

For what it's worth, hail damage is often largely cosmetic, and repairs are often much less significant than a gear-up.

Yep. Even if an FBO doesn't have an "official" discount, they almost uniformly offer one when asked: "Hi, I just completed an Angel Flight / I'm just about to depart on an Angel Flight, and wanted to see if you offer a discount for charity flights?" Keep a business card or brochure in your flight bag to share with the FBO, and you may end up helping future volunteer pilots who didn't think to ask.

A suggestion for anyone considering their first Angel Flight.. Your chapter will very likely have one or more "frequent flyers" - individuals whose circumstances cause them to seek help from Angel Flight pilots on a regular basis. These passengers tend to be *very* familiar with small planes, and very familiar with the process. They can be great passengers for first-timers. Sometimes these passengers will be obvious from AFIDS, but sometimes not - it's worth reaching out to a mission coordinator for suggestions if you aren't seeing any.

Fwiw, the flight manual supplement is included in the service letter document that jaylw provided above. Even if you have an analog ASI, it's no big deal to remark it (instead of buying the kit). As rmag mentioned, the key thing is that the ASI must agree with the FMS.

It's definitely *not* an STC. It's part of the original type certificate.

The MSE got the 2900# max gross weight, and a few of the serial numbers prior to the MSE branding can go to 2900 with a service bulletin (which amounts to nothing more than verifying rudder balance) and a remarked airspeed indicator.

You can just take the test again. Note that if it expired this year, you might have a little leeway from FAA.. ”The FAA has determined, under the extraordinary circumstances of the COVID-19 outbreak, that it is necessary to provide reasonable regulatory relief to the specific class of individuals who have knowledge tests expiring between March 2020 and June 2020. To ensure these individuals are not penalized by having to take another knowledge test, the FAA is extending the validity of knowledge tests by a duration of three calendar months. Therefore, this SFAR will allow an individual who has a knowledge test expiring between March 2020 and June 2020 to present the expired knowledge test to show eligibility under § 61.39(a)(1) to take a practical test for a certificate or rating issued under part 61 for an additional three calendar months.[68]” https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/05/04/2020-09472/relief-for-certain-persons-and-operations-during-the-coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19-outbreak

Yeah the status thing I posted above was purely for aviation services.

I'm in exactly the same boat, and I'm just over it. I'm at a point where it's worth the fine wire money to me not to have to tell passengers we're scrubbing the flight while sitting in the run up area because a plug is fouled. It doesn't happen *often*, but often enough to be incredibly annoying. My biggest concern is about mx personnel dropping a C-note on the floor. Anyhoo.. the best price I found on Tempest plugs was at QAA. Spruce had a competitive price during the Oshkosh promo, but that ended yesterday. Now there's no one close to QAA. (If you've found something better, please do tell :))

Garmin just declared the incident resolved...

I got a status update this morning that fly.garmin and pilot data services were down again at about 9:15ET, then back up about 10:30. I suspect they now have mitigation in place and are switching back to primary production.

I use a wet microfiber cloth to wash, one section at a time, and use a dry cloth to wipe off the excess wax residue. If the "washing" cloth starts to get visibly dirty, I swap it for a new one and continue. Never had any problems with scratching. It does a nice job.

+1 for Wash Wax All. This is the only product I ever use, and all you need is a spray bottle and some microfiber cloths. It's fantastic. https://washwax.com/collections/wash-wax-all

The last update I saw from Garmin suggested that things are mostly working now on the aviation side..

Yeah, they are fighting a ransomware attack. https://mooneyspace.com/topic/35157-whoops-ransomware-at-garmin/ My understanding is that the AFMS controls your discretion in this area. I believe that all current Garmin navigators require a current navdata database to be used under IFR. I'm not aware of a GTN cutoff date for loading approaches. The GTN units will stop displaying chart images after a period of time, but you can still load an approach for training under VFR as long as it's in the database. ETA: Here's my AFMS guidance about navdata, and the expiration chart from the pilot manual.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/garmin-services-and-production-go-down-after-ransomware-attack/

I haven't seen enough disassembled engines to comment, but there were no issues with the crank or the case. New ECi Titan cylinders turned out to be a giant PitA, with a 50-hour recurring AD. Which means that owner oil changes now realistically can't be done without having an A&P perform a compression test every time. So the 2500hr decision was completely arbitrary (essentially thinking "well, that's 500 free hours - don't get greedy"), and now it burns more oil with worse compression and a recurring AD ...

This all sounds like the right calculus. I overhauled an engine at 2500 hours that was running absolutely perfectly. The thinking was that it couldn't keep going forever, and since the plan was to keep flying it for the foreseeable future, an overhaul was the best way to ensure long-term reliability. That said, oil burn and compression have been consistently worse since the overhaul (about 1000 hours ago) and I've wondered many times whether it was the right decision.

Yep, the free service during Covid is a nice introduction to Savvy during the downturn. I've looked at that page a couple of times, and the dates are kind of confusing. They say it will be offered through June and then they say you can enroll until September. Probably just a typo.

Got the official email from Savvy today that the service is terminated: "We’re writing to let you know that your Global Aircraft Breakdown Assistance (ABA) coverage, provided by SavvyAviation, will expire when your Global Aerospace aircraft insurance renews in 30 days. As you may have heard, Global Aerospace has discontinued its offer of free Aircraft Breakdown Assistance coverage to all Global policyholders renewing after midnight on 31 December 2019. Because we’d love to keep you as a Savvy client, we are offering you the opportunity to renew your Aircraft Breakdown Assistance coverage at a drastically reduced rate (one-third the regular fee) for an additional year of service when your current subscription comes up for renewal: $49/year for single engine aircraft (vs. $149/year normally) $69/year for twin engine aircraft (vs. $199/year normally) Alternatively, we’re offering you the chance to upgrade your service to one of our comprehensive maintenance programs (SavvyMx or SavvyQA) at a 50% discount from the regular fee for the first year. Both of these programs include Aircraft Breakdown Assistance coverage at no additional cost. IMPORTANT: These special offers are available on or before the end of your current Global Aerospace aircraft policy term. After that date, regular fees will apply."