toto

I used an app called TinyScanner to make a very high quality PDF of my flight manual. I never ever ever touch the real one (which sits in a seat back pocket and does not move). It takes a little while to do, but the app is great about reorienting the pages and adjusting contrast for readability. You basically just flip through the book, snapping a picture of each page, and then process the whole thing at the end. It took me about an hour, one time, and I haven't given it another thought. https://apps.apple.com/td/app/tiny-scanner-plus/id556500145 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.appxy.tinyscanner&hl=en&gl=US

Not sure if this is already widely known. My GP subscription was up, and I went to renew yesterday. Garmin charges $159 for the "IFR" Premium/Pro version, plus sales tax and other fees that for me totaled about $176 buying direct. Anyway, I found that you can buy either the VFR "Standard" or the IFR "Pro" version on Aircraft Spruce and they charge no taxes or other fees. The total savings for me buying on Aircraft Spruce versus buying direct from Garmin was about $24 for the IFR version. https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/avpages/garminapppro.php It took a day for them to email me the purchase code, but otherwise no big deal. 24 bucks is 24 bucks.

AOPA sold all of their accounts to Assured Partners, which is a much larger organization and has been on an acquisition binge. Service has definitely suffered. AP is still an AOPA "partner," so theoretically your premium still supports AOPA.

That's really very clever.

There's an Ercoupe on Controller .. I know nothing about these aircraft, but looks like the right price range. https://www.controller.com/listing/for-sale/190988841/1946-ercoupe-415-c-piston-single-aircraft

I don't have much experience with the antique LSAs, but it might be worth looking at the Part 103 ultralights. Some of those aircraft are impressively equipped (including with a BRS, if that's your thing), and can be had for $30k ish brand new. ETA: The Part 103s probably don't accomplish your sport pilot training requirement, so I'll withdraw my suggestion but leave it here for posterity

It's Ron - he's the local DPE for folks in KC. Looks like gsxr got his ticket signed a few hundred feet from my hangar

There's also this thing. https://formafunnel.com/

For whatever it's worth..

More expensive than flythissim by $600, less than a Redbird by a grand. I'd love to be able to stay paper current at home, but six grand is still a lot for a PC-based flight simulator.

I'm going to try to link directly to your post with the photos... Wish me luck.

The only thing the 210 has that the 510 doesn't have is a built-in AHRS. If you aren't using that, then you shouldn't need the 210.

I don't think that's completely fair. A G3X install is going to be very unique to your aircraft and is likely part of a panel overhaul project with one big invoice. The G3X itself is just a giant G5, and if you had a big empty spot on your panel it wouldn't cost a lot to install. But the options you choose for your project could drive it 10s of AMUs in either direction. I doubt seriously that anyone on MS has installed a G3X MFD by itself, without removing or installing any other hardware. If the panel itself is $10k, and you're just adding it to an empty spot, I'd say plan on a $13k project. This assumes a 10" G3X, which isn't your only option.

There are a few good threads on the G3X Touch, and a few MS members who have done the install with great insights. You might try "G3X Touch" in the search box, since that's the newish certified unit.

It's an unfortunate design decision, in any case - a little spring that can take out both primary and secondary gear extension functions.

I think it's basically an Arrow or a Cutlass. It's a step-up model in the same line.

They're saying FAA approval by the end of 2021.

After today's update, I only seem to get snippets of posts in my email notifications. Is there a setting to restore the full text?

Yeah, I dunno either. If the perception from New Mooney is that you have to have a chute at all costs, then having a chute as a factory option is an absolute minimum requirement. There are a whole bunch of LSAs that offer a BRS as an option, and a lot of those buyers opt out because they don't want to give up the payload. It may well be that there is no significant value to a gross weight increase without the chute, but that doesn't mean it doesn't carry marketing weight

Yeah, it depends on how much all the BRS stuff weighs and how much of that is accomplished with reduction in other areas. If the BRS itself is 150 pounds and they get that from a gross weight increase on the type cert, but they have had to shave another 250 pounds to add the beefy gear and seats, you could potentially opt out of the parachute and get a 150-pound paper increase for a cold day with some extra bags. And get the crashworthiness benefits for "free."

With the exception of the G1000 upgrade, it feels like most of the enhancements they're talking about are about adding a parachute. You have to beef up the gear (and, presumably, the seats) for impact absorption. The beefy gear, beefy seats, and the ballistic thingamajig all add weight, so you have to figure out a gross weight increase that will allow adding the new stuff without leaving a passenger at home.

The key insight into the new Mooney business plan, afaict, is that Mooney==M20. There are thousands of M20 airframes, and at this point it's fair to say that the company's core competence is all things M20. Taking an incremental approach to supporting and improving that airframe is a very reasonable path forward, and it's the most predictable path from a capex perspective.

Just saw this article in my AOPA email. It's one of the few that appears to have independent quotes from Jonny Pollack and Don Maxwell. https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2020/september/03/pilots-aircraft-owners-buy-mooney-international Almost every other article I've seen is just quoting the press release on the Mooney home page.

I had never heard of this obnoxious little spring until I read the 2013 thread here on MS, which has great input from Don Kaye and others. There's a new article in this month's Mooney Flyer about the actuator spring, worth a quick read to refresh painful memories. My least favorite technical topics are single points of failure with safety implications. Yay. SBM20-282-A.pdf

Yeah, the spelling errors are no big deal - but it did seem like "Kerrville" was a term that people are likely to search for on MS. And it's easy enough to fix