toto

I'm well into year #2 with the breakdown assistance benefit. I've had a couple of away-from-home situations, but both minor and it seemed unnecessary to get a third party involved versus just talking with a local mechanic. If the local mechanic wanted to pull a cylinder or something, I wouldn't hesitate to call Savvy. Note that this benefit only costs about $100/year, so not worth making an insurance company selection over unless the price delta is below that amount.

For anyone interested, here's Garmin's autoland patent application from 2017. They covered a lot of ground, and considered human factors like "what should we be showing on the screen for the non-pilot passenger when the autoland thingy takes control and starts talking to ATC?" Garmin-Autoland-Patent-US20170249852A1.pdf

He's flying a PT.

Diamond was pretty far along with their autoland tech back in 2015 (planned to release it with the DA62 iirc). But they ran into some certification snags or something and backed away.

Dunno. The avionics shop said that they could not install it anywhere else, because the location was specified by the PA28 STC.

That sounds about what I would expect. My plane looks perfect from about 10 feet, but there are little tiny things like scratches near the cowl fasteners that irritate me. The only paint chips I have are on rivet heads, and from another thread I had an interesting recommendation to use an eyedropper with touch-up paint for those. That's probably the limit of my painting ability.

Out of curiosity, any idea what a paint shop would charge for a laundry list of very small touch-up items? If it was less than an AMU, I might be tempted to go that route, since I'd be likely to end up needing professional help after trying to touch up my plane with a brush anyway

Yep. Well, so much for that

One thing I discovered is that you have to put the SD card in the slot before the unit is powered on. (I'm sure this is in the handbook.) I tried a whole bunch of times to update using various SD cards, with no success, until I realized that I was doing it wrong

I'm not sure if this was about my post or if you were just responding to the topic of the poll in general. I certainly wasn't taking a position against these flights. I was just asking whether it would be possible for the organizations to stay in business if they didn't have paid flights as a funding source.

I think that the classic/antique/warbird associations are amazing, and they are absolutely essential to keeping these aircraft in flying condition. But it does seem hard for a layperson to judge the risks associated with these flights and make anything close to an informed decision. Is it possible for the associations to make enough money on static displays and flight demonstrations alone? (I.e., without the paid flights?)

In a PA28, the location was prescribed by the STC and could not be changed. It's inconvenient (near the pilot's left knee - particularly hard to see from the right seat). But the avionics shop said there were no other options. I suspect that other types have more flexibility in the installation manual. But in any event, it is type specific.

I know nothing about CC fraud protection measures, but I also never ever ever carry cash, and I'm completely at the mercy of a self serve credit card reader. I've never had a decline at a functioning self serve pump, but I've had a few broken pumps that required phone calls and FBO gymnastics to get sorted. I suspect that a pattern of purchases at self serve pumps close to home would help your odds when you use one on the road. A lot of these purchases ring up with very similar vendor names (Phillips Aviation or Exxon Aviation or whatever).

We should start buying popcorn now. Sooner or later, this guy is going to Google the tail number, and this is going to get entertaining.

Yeah, it's hard to see how the numbers make any sense at all. If you bought an equivalent all-Garmin panel (let's say a 2x10" G500TXi, a 750/650 combo, GFC500 with a G5, and a transponder), you're probably somewhere in the neighborhood of $100k installed. Add in $1500/year for subscriptions over five years, and you're still under $110k. So with BK, you're paying in the neighborhood of an $85k premium. I don't know how many avionics shops will finance installations, but you can probably find a bank that would do it. In any case, an $85k premium for a BK panel seems ludicrous. For the money, I'd venture that every single reader of this board would rather buy an $85k Mooney with an original panel and add $110k worth of Garmin or Avidyne toys.

Found this on the interwebs. Seems like an interesting idea, but more for the bizjet maintenance plan crowd. N612215000000 TOTAL AVIONICS PLAN TAP15072019v2.pdf

I'm not on BT, so I don't have any context. Is this really a $195k avionics upgrade? It doesn't come with a Bonanza?

If it were me, I wouldn't want an uninsured aircraft to move an inch while I was negotiating a purchase. Too many prickly risk of loss issues. Especially when the cowl contains a bucket of rust with a puddle of dinosaur juice at the bottom.

Is this an actual owner of a regular certificated aircraft who had an install done by an avionics shop? Does anyone know the back story? If this were an experimental category plane, say an avionics testbed, then this might be a very different conversation.

91.225 [] (g) Requests for ATC authorized deviations from the requirements of this section must be made to the ATC facility having jurisdiction over the concerned airspace within the time periods specified as follows: (1) For operation of an aircraft with an inoperative ADS-B Out, to the airport of ultimate destination, including any intermediate stops, or to proceed to a place where suitable repairs can be made or both, the request may be made at any time. (2) For operation of an aircraft that is not equipped with ADS-B Out, the request must be made at least 1 hour before the proposed operation.

I just meant a deviation from the rule, which is essentially a temporary waiver of the requirement.

Right, but my understanding was that if your aircraft is equipped with ADS-B out, you must be broadcasting all the time unless you have been granted a deviation from ATC. I think they'll give you a deviation, but it would require making some arrangements before departing VFR.

For what it's worth, the Young Eagles program also now requires background checks for all pilots. It's done when the pilot first signs up to volunteer, and then again on some recurring interval. I believe that EAA pays for the background checks at a negotiated bulk rate. There is no cost to the volunteer (except in the form of EAA membership dues). https://www.eaa.org/eaa/youth/youth-protection-policy-and-program

I've had to do this a few times over the years. Day VFR presents no regulatory problems, depending on the airspace, but I do always carry a handheld transceiver with fresh batteries just in case. It has occurred to me that this sort of thing becomes complicated after January 1, when there are far fewer places you can fly with no electrical system (since you'll need to be broadcasting ADS-B out or have separate prearranged authorization).

Out of curiosity, do they do a flat-rate CMEL, or pay by the hour?