Firebird2xc

So long as somebody gives the airplane a good new home, eh? I scraped up the extra cash to make a possible offer but was out of the country then locked down under Irma. C'est la vie- sometimes the timing just isn't there.

Like corpses left to rot. This has never sat well with me.

Guess sarcasm doesn't translate well on the internet. Mea culpa.

Glad you find it useful. My windows are all boarded up so that's how I'm 'peeking outside'...

Fair enough. I suppose there's enough wind around without adding politics to the bluster. Just got a tornado warning in the NE quadrant that said to take immediate shelter. Then it got REALLY scary and the power flickered- NO WIFI! I also am pretty sure I just saw my ex wife fly by on a bicycle... (Hopefully nobody takes any of this too seriously... My lame humor is just helping me pass the time.)

If you're interested to see how it looks later when it rolls through, here's a local webcam link. http://www.evsjupiter.com/ Some thoughtful genius sent out some quality vibes just before curfew. Might be on the beach a while... LOL

I was almost on a little island in Europe. Had to scurry back to ATH and come home to prep for the storm. The most annoying thing about Irma right now is that it has effectively stuck me unable to continue airplane shopping... for at least a week or two. I'll be glad to see it pass us.

I have the opposite scenario- I have a plane and no hangar. That said, I plan on plugging and covering the airplane I do finally put in it every time. T-hangars are known to leak, and birds, rodents, and insects always find a way in when they really want it. I figure a bird's nest in my engine cowling or a mud dauber hive blocking my pitot tube would scrub a flight pretty quick. I've also been told radio thieves have at times broken in to hangars looking for eBay fodder. A covered bird offers up a little less to see for a would be avionics dealer...

I'll probably never file for higher than 11,000 or 12,000 unless weather dictates the need. Other than initial climb performance I'd likely not benefit much from a turbo, but I'm not going to dismiss it without doing the research. As it stands a well equipped J model is all the plane I'll likely need.

Good points all around and you're right- it's not the turbo that had issues so much as the -GB engine. I read somewhere to avoid them. I guess I won't rule out K models yet- I'll just have to do the CBA for the extra maintenance costs and fuel burn.

Thank you for clarifying. I think and a good mid-time J at the range you mentioned seems pretty reasonable. I'll have to just be a little more patient.

Good advice. I think I better know what I actually do want- I think I just made the mistake that some of the planes listed were an accurate representation of good airplanes when they were not. I just needed a moment to adjust my thinking and come to terms with the idea of what must be spent to actually get what I want.

I actually agree with everything you said. Especially the stuff about instruments. Now that glass replacements can be had for comparable overhaul cost, vaccuum driven six packs with mechanical gyros are done. I insist on IFR GPS capability as well. That's the baseline standard now, in my opinion. Looks like the "buy once, cry once" adage REALLY applies here.

Don't beat yourself up. The really bad pilots make mistakes like that and then write them off with excuses. You are holding yourself accountable and seeking wisdom. If I may make a suggestion, I think you'd really benefit from some chair flying and some concentrated standardization. You can put together (or your CFI if you aren't sure) a core set of functional flows and checklists. Sit in the seat in the hangar, or at home in a chair with a reasonable mockup of your panel and practice procedures. Do this until you can run them from memory, then use the checklists anyways. Make callouts to yourself just like you were a two pilot crew. Make sure you're really looking and checking indications when you need to. Drill until you cannot get it wrong... and this goes double for emergency procedures. All of this will reduce mental load in high workload or critical moments. Standardization with scripted flows is how a lot of professional aviation does it and it does a lot to help manage things. I think it would help.

It would appear I need to cowboy up and follow your example.