toto

Background: I had a fantastic relationship with a fantastic A&P/IA for almost 20 years. He worked a regular shop job during the day, but would moonlight evenings and weekends. Everything that needed to be done, was done owner-assist, and I learned a ton about aircraft maintenance. Fast-forward to now. My mechanic friend has retired and moved out of state. I've used a few local shops for odds and ends, and a shop on the field for the past two annuals. People who use big maintenance shops all the time are probably accustomed to this, but it's been a stressful transition for me. I like being able to spend time understanding how the pieces fit together, and I like doing research, ordering parts, etc. With a big shop, it's always a different person turning the wrench, and often they'll have a half dozen planes in various states of repair at any time. Anyway, I'd love to find a good Mooney mechanic in the Kansas City area. If you know of a freelancer who will work in the hangar, great. If you have a recommendation on a solo or smallish shop, that's also welcomed. Really anything from anyone who has a good relationship with a mechanic who knows Mooneys, please reply or PM me.

That very same switch cost me almost 3AMU. (Don't ask.) Concorde battery was about 18mos old, had to be replaced. Why they don't have the dome light wired into the master, I have no idea.

So I drove the two hours... Turns out that they had just overfilled the tank, and the float was at the top because that's where the fuel was. Everything seems solidly attached and the fuel reading is correct. Apparently the fueler panicked because he thought that the float was "an ice cube," so he told his supervisor and they called me. Anyway, seems like no harm done. Aside from an extra gallon of fuel that spilled all over the ground when I opened the cap. Thanks all for your help!!

Interesting. I may have to get in there with a mirror at some point to understand exactly where the sender arm normally sits.

Just received a call from the FBO that filled my tanks - they said that "your plane had a plastic buoy that floated to the top, right onto the fuel cap." It's not clear to me whether the float is detached, or whether the sending arm just happened to be positioned immediately under the cap. I've had zero problems with fuel read, either on the in-wing gauges or on the panel. I have searched the archives for this specific question, but haven't found anything. I suspect that the FBO is calling out of an abundance of caution, and the sender is still functioning correctly, but I'm hoping that someone familiar with these units can advise whether there is cause for concern. I haven't seen the "buoy" myself, and I'm about two hours away from the plane, so I can't easily look at it to verify. ETA: Talked to the FBO again, and I clarified the comment about the buoy. He said that it's the sender arm under the fuel cap - I'm guessing that this is the sender for the little wing gauge, and not for the panel gauge.

I always stop at Kinkos on the way home from the AME to laminate the new cert. It takes about 5 minutes. I always photocopy it right before cutting, folding, and laminating, and since the ink is all black anyway, I have a non-laminated copy that looks indistinguishable from the laminated one. But I've never had anyone say anything about it.

Interesting. I actually thought it was a nice differentiator. I renewed two policies this past year with Global, and stayed with them despite slightly lower quotes from other carriers - in part because of the Savvy benefit.

They had some sort of problem with their PayPal subscriptions and I believe they are in the process of switching to a new payment provider. You may have to renew with a check by mail.

Others on this board know far more than I do about this topic, but I think the risk is little changed from a year ago. Most of us have never purchased a part from the factory, and the few parts that aren't available from third party manufacturers are pretty easy to find in salvage.

Unfortunately the info page clarifies that the FS510 is sold separately. https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/606798

The timeline was pretty close - I seem to recall doing the GNS WAAS upgrade in about 2005, which was about 7 years into the product life. But adding WAAS is a huge improvement in capability, and resolution/processor speed is much smaller in comparison.

It's a slide-in replacement, but that still means that an avionics shop removes the old radio, puts the new one in, and fills out paperwork. In the simplest case, there will be a nonzero install cost.

Well, you know what I mean. If the delta with install is ten grand, then a faster processor and higher resolution isn't all that interesting. If it's two grand, then sign me up.

I'm super curious about upgrade pricing for existing installs. If anyone hears a price from a shop, I'd love to know what it is.

It's kind of bizarre. They could have just stuck a Flightstream 510 in there, put some electrical tape over it, and said "now with wifi included." But seriously, what does "optimal wireless connectivity" mean if it doesn't include anything wireless?

Yep. There's no doubt that the system can be overpowered (I believe that that's the same point @jetdriven was making). I really just meant to say that this isn't purely an "inadvertent entry into an unusual attitude" system, but one that will actively try to prevent the pilot from doing something dangerous. My own efforts to stall against the ESP were during the post-install test flights of the GFC, where I wanted to see what would happen if I attempted to enter a stall with the ESP active. Without trying to overpower the system, it definitely prevented me from stalling using normal control pressures. (This is especially weird, because - as mentioned above - the autopilot is OFF while it's fighting your attempts to stall.)

Definitely a crosswind for a 18/36 runway: KOJC 311753Z 27009G20KT 10SM CLR 03/M05 A3003 RMK AO2 SLP177 T00281050 10028 21022 50001

Fwiw.. the Garmin ESP is always on - the stall scenarios I mentioned are all with the AP switched "off." These are automated corrections for manual errors. (You can manually disable ESP, but it automatically re-enables at next power-up.)

Dunno. I've definitely *tried* to stall the plane with ESP enabled, and I failed

With the GFC500, you can't even practice a departure stall -- the ESP starts pushing nose-down before the stall warning goes. You have to turn off ESP for training, or you'll never stall the plane. (This is purely based on my own experience with the GFC500 - I have no idea whether extreme nose-high trim was a design consideration..)

https://mooneyspace.com/topic/32770-accident-in-johnson-county-kansas-mooney-m20-s/

ASN has this now. https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/231853 Discussion on Reddit suggests a strong pitch-up on takeoff. https://www.reddit.com/r/flying/comments/eia133/aircraft_down_at_kojc/ This has made me curious about the envelope protection function in modern APs. If equipped with a GFC500 or similar, is the AP capable of overcoming a massive out-of-trim condition? (Seems more likely to help in the seat slide scenario, but I don't know what the force limits are with ESP.)

That's where mine is. The POH refers to it as an "hour meter" which I equate to tach time. I use my watch for flight time.

Definitely go with Century. You can get a brand new Century 2000 today, tried and true and available for the J model. https://www.centuryflight.com/products/systems/century-2000-autopilot.html It's only 20 grand from Sarasota (plus another 5k or so depending on which vacuum direction instrument you want). https://sarasotaavionics.com/avionics/century-2000 I suspect you could get this installed for 10k or so - we're talking only 35 AMU for the whole shebang.

Looks like two links got mashed together? https://www.flyingmag.com/story/news/mooney-workers-return/