toto

This guy has seen the "Cougar" scene from Top Gun one too many times.

This is going to be an impossible requirement to satisfy. You can put four adults in a Mooney, but there are caveats, and full fuel on a hot day at altitude is a scenario where those would apply.

The one thing to keep in mind with the "buy" instead of "build" approach to avionics is that panel layout and functionality tend to be very subjective. If you're dead-set on buying a plane with all the upgrades done, then you also need to accept that the previous owner very likely made a bunch of decisions that you wouldn't have made yourself. They took the $80k hit on a 21st century panel, but they did it with their own set of priorities. This isn't necessarily a good thing or a bad thing. You get $80k worth of upgrades for a $40k bump in purchase price. But for people who are very particular about their panel, this may mean throwing more money at an already-upgraded plane just to get things the way you want them. Think Garmin vs Avidyne, JPI vs EI, etc.

And I guess to answer the actual question you asked... I think that using an iPad instead of a G3X will be a hell of a lot cheaper. You'll have a brand-new digital AP, a brand-new digital transponder and ADS-B in/out solution, and a couple of nice new digital radios. I have a fair amount of time now behind G5s, and they are great little units. But they definitely aren't a "glass panel," and a tablet imo is a relatively poor substitute for a G3X if money is no object. On the other hand, if money *is* an object, then your proposed solution sounds pretty good to me. You'll leap forward about 60 years in capability and it will cost you about 50% of what the full G3X solution (with EIS) would cost you.

An iPad is a hugely capable solution relative to its cost. But there's no such thing as a free lunch. Any engine display on a portable device is going to be supplementary, not primary. Ditto the use of a portable device for any sort of navigation. And because it's a portable device, there's always the possibility that it has a dead battery, or has overheated, or the dog ate it, or whatever - at the least convenient time. If you want bang for the buck, there's not much better than a tablet with an EFB app. But there are definitely trade-offs, and you just need to be comfortable with them. (This topic gets discussed on MS about once a week, and it's always lively and interesting..)

Yep, the same quote is almost certainly accurate for piston owners if you replace 10AMU with 1AMU.

No, I know you aren't looking for a turbine - I just love that quote

This reminds me of one of my favorite quotes - don't recall the original author. "Go to your bank, take out $10,000 in cash, and flush it down the toilet. If this bothers you, you can't afford a turbine-powered aircraft."

I had that same thought, but he was filed for 16k.

Given all of the developments in GA headsets, I guess that I'm in the minority.. but all I really want is the best possible hearing protection. Physical comfort is definitely a lower priority for me. I currently use an A20, but honestly I don't care about weight or clamping force or anything else as much as I care about NRR. The Bose X felt like a major step backward in passive reduction from the gel-earcup tank that they built for their Series I/II headsets. But the ENR was probably better. Then the A20 felt like another step backward in passive, with another step forward in electronics. I think that the best headset I ever wore was a DC 13.2S that I hacked with a Headsets Inc kit. The sound quality was definitely worse than a Bose, but it felt like a good balance of passive and active noise reduction. I was ultimately swayed that Bose really knows what they're doing, and that putting my hearing in their hands was a better gamble than putting my hearing in the hands of a hacked passive set. But it's astonishing how awful the PNR is on an A20 set when it loses power.

For entertainment purposes only.. there's a lot of silliness on the interwebs about how FX-322 will reverse hearing loss. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03616223

Oh, mooneyspeedshop is the site linked from the mooney.com home page... So they are maybe the "official" merchandise provider?

Are these sites authorized by Mooney? I looked quickly through each of them, and didn't see anything clearly showing that they were licensed to use the logo and other design elements. If I buy a Mooney thing, I like to know that the purchase benefits Mooney.. I have a vested interest in their success

Thanks - it looks fantastic.

You might check available hangar dimensions (if you have a choice). My T-hangar is 48' wide, which might be tight for a 43' wingspan but it's do-able.

I have a 750 and a 345, and am very happy with that combo. But I really want to ditch the vacuum system, and the G3X was my preferred route. I figured that doing all the panel surgery for a G3X would warrant a discussion about the AP, so now here I am talking about doing both. I have another plane that just got a 2xG5+GFC500 for Christmas, and the Garmin AP is pretty damned impressive. It makes the old Century in my Mooney feel like a rope tied to the steering wheel. But the G5 install looks cheap to me, with two new LCDs stuck into a plastic panel. And the G3X wasn't certified back when that work was getting done. Now that the G3X is a thing, I'm much more interested in the 10.4" display with EIS than the little G5. At least I'm happy to know it's in the ballpark. Thanks for that. For now, I'm back to pestering Dynon about the HDX. At least for the weekend. But I honestly can't imagine talking myself into that much money for the G3X. I'd probably rather flip for a current-model G500TXi given the relatively small cost delta.

I contacted my avionics shop the day I saw the Garmin announcement two months ago. Finally got a real quote today, and it was quite a bit higher than I had expected (in the $55k range for G3X+EIS+GFC500+G5). Mid-30's for all that without the GFC500 (which would still require the G5 for backup attitude). Is this close to what others are being quoted for a similar setup? No need to name the shop or reveal any private details - I'm just curious whether this is in the ballpark or way outside it.

I've never so much as sat in a Malibu, but I've heard terrible things about maintenance on the really early models. (I think it was introduced in 84?) You might keep a few extra cylinders on the hat rack. For $200k, it's definitely an enticing idea to get a cabin-class pressurized turbo with FIKI and AC, but you'll probably want an extra Mooney to use while it's in the shop.

Did you do all of the work yourself (with Airtex materials)? Or did you have Airtex do the install? I keep thinking about doing this, but yours looks far better than I can imagine mine would look if I did it myself :)

I kept both for a while, but finally dropped XM because (1) the cost seemed exorbitant in light of free options available; and (2) seeing conflicting depictions of weather drove me crazy. When I'm bouncing around in the soup, I want actionable data. I feel like a Nexrad source plus a Stormscope gives me a pretty good idea of what's happening. But XM Nexrad plus FIS-B Nexrad really tested my patience, when I saw one picture on one screen and a different picture on another. There's a natural tendency to choose the more optimistic picture. Ultimately I felt like it was better to have one source and use it conservatively than to try to figure out which was the more accurate or timely depiction and then use it to make a conservative decision. (And of course it may be that the better decision would be to keep XM and drop FIS-B for the same reasons, but having spent a boatload of change on ADS-B compliance, I really wanted to use the dang thing :))

FIS-B getting better though .. https://www.avwxtraining.com/post/multi-radar-multi-sensor-system-mrms-available-at-a-fis-b-receiver-near-you

Although I suspect this is technically possible, flight plan transfer is not currently allowed via the GTX345. You'll still need the Flightstream 210.

How much have these devices changed over the years? I have a 20-plus-year-old WX1000 that I don't want to give up, but I'd love to lose the display. If I could keep the huge belly antenna and associated wiring but swap out the heads for some reasonable price, that would be fantastic. [Sorry for piling on the thread drift.]

New V35 approval includes approach-coupled AP.. NOW APPROVED FOR INSTALLATION Dynon’s certified SkyView HDX system is now STC and PMA approved for installation into the Bonanza 35 series, ushering in a new era of truly affordable, safety-enhancing integrated avionics systems for thousands of aircraft. The Bonanza approval covers Dynon’s full suite of avionics, including its three-axis autopilot with coupled approach capability. Pilots benefit from an uncluttered, elegant panel layout that reduces workload, is fun to fly behind, and enhances safety. A Dynon Certified installation is typically 50 to 80 pounds lighter than the instruments it replaces and usually allows the removal of unreliable legacy equipment like the vacuum pump. SkyView for the Bonanza 35 Series includes the following comprehensive set of features: 10” SkyView HDX display with all required primary flight instruments with integral moving map and VFR GPS Navigator Three-axis autopilot with coupled approach capability and yaw damper Engine monitor with CHTs, EGTs, fuel flow, fuel computer, and lean assist Up to two more additional displays (7” or 10” SkyView HDX display) COM Radio Mode S Transponder with 2020-Compliant ADS-B Out ADS-B In Traffic and Weather EFIS-D10A back-up flight display