Rick Junkin

You will be fine, I didn't mean to dissuade you from going in there. 90% of the time you'll find it pretty quiet. Just take a good look at the airspace and the field notes before hand and be head's up once you get to the pattern. Plan to head west out of the VFR pattern if things don't look/feel right and that will keep you out of the Bravo. Just be mindful of KSUS class D to the west if you execute that pattern bailout option. It's more like a private airpark environment. There is a grass runway 90 degrees to the main hard surface runway, and the tail draggers will also land in the grass parallel to and west of the hard runway. All of the hangars are individually owned and on land leased from the airport owner so the folks based there tend to be a pretty tight group. Many of them are retired and the airport is their hangout. Lots of warbirds, and there's a museum on the field. Give them a call before you go and they can tell you where to park and what fees they have now. I think it was $5 a night with the first night free with fuel purchase.

@AndreiC I lived in St Louis/St Charles for 25 years and was based at Spirit for 6 years. I also flew out of KSET and 1H0 before moving to Spirit. We now go in to St Louis Regional KALN when we go back to visit family. No tie down or airport fees, and Enterprise will stage a rental car there for you. It’s a bit of a trek but I like the airport. 1H0 is a privately owned airport that’s open to the public. You won’t get any line support and it isn’t obvious where the transient tie downs are (on the ramp just south of the fuel pump) but the fuel is always reasonable for the area. I’ve never arranged a rental car there but Uber is plentiful. Pay particular attention to the airspace, there’s an irregularly shaped 1,700’ shelf under the STL class B that can get pretty crowded on a VFR day. And there are a number of good old boys who’ve been there for a long time and operate as they like at “their” airport, so keep your eyes and ears open. I still fly into 1H0 occasionally for day trips/meetings in St Charles and it always works out well.

The part you have circled is the throttle position microswitch for the gear warning. Here are the appropriate pages from the IPC. The bracket is #8, the microswitch assembly is #13. My guess is that either the bracket/switch is loose and moving around, or there's possibly interference with the throttle cable from something else that's moving and causing the throttle cable to flex. From your description it sounds like the switch, bracket, or throttle cable position need to be adjusted so that the switch is actuated 1/4" from the throttle idle position. Once you are able to get that right it may remove any other issue that's causing the switch to actuate. My gear warning stopped working because the roller on the microswitch arm had developed a flat spot and didn't have enough throw to actuate the switch. That's something else to look at that could be causing variability in your system.

In answer to your primary question, my technique is to deploy speed brakes at minimum power for conditions and slow to Va, then retract brakes and adjust power to hold the desired airspeed. Once you get your gear warning switch properly adjusted you will be able to get down to 18” or less without triggering the gear warning. Now I have a question . 135KIAS at 20”/2200 in level flight sounds fast. That’s my power setting for pattern entry and I get about 115-120KIAS in level flight, LOP. Have you had your airspeed calibrated recently? Or cross-checked it with calculation against GPS ground speed? I’m not saying it’s wrong but if correct then your airplane is way slipperier than mine!

Here’s a picture of the bracket. The microswitch is mounted to the back of the bracket, and you can see the wheel of the microswitch that rides on the throttle cable in the red circle. There is a second microswitch in the same area that turns on the boost pump at full throttle. Don’t confuse the two. The boost pump switch does NOT ride on the throttle cable. The bracket is located on the bottom right side of the rear of the engine beneath the oil cooler and air ducting.

Fortunately no! I studied the configuration documentation before jumping in to the systems so I’d know what to stay away from. My background makes me inclined to “tinker”, which is NOT a good thing in this case.

This is correct. The gear warning horn should be either on or off and not changing unless you change the throttle position. It sounds like the bracket that the throttle position micro switch is mounted to is loose and floating around a bit, or something is interfering with it when you make other adjustments.

Yup, mine are both connected as well. I was getting an echo on the 500 foot callout, which I then disabled on the GTN. I didn’t realize that isn’t in compliance with the STC so I just learned something from you, again .

@Glen Davis I have a G3X and 650Xi and get all of the audio alerts you mentioned. You definitely do NOT need to spend $$$ on TAWS to get the basic alerts. Most alerts are redundant on the G3X/650Xi so I have everything activated on the G3X and the redundant alerts turned off on the 650Xi. This is probably backwards but the way I chose to do it. It requires access to the configuration menus on both boxes, which is easy to access (hold the MENU/HOME buttons in and power up the boxes until the config mode displays). I don’t recommend doing this, especially on your GTN750, if you haven’t seen it before and don’t have the install documentation to guide you. It doesn’t take much to push a wrong selection and mess up some important systems interface settings. I’d ask your installation shop why they didn’t activate the alerts. If they push back show them the G3X Pilot Guide sections that describe the alerts you are supposed to get. There are enough of us here who have worked through this that can help you get to where you want to be.

@Max ClarkI have a complete G3X checklist built for my Bravo. I'll try to upload it to the file area of the site. Happy to email it to you. It could simplify your organizing task. I specifically tailored and condensed my checklists for each phase of flight to fit on one page on the G3X, which limits you to something like 11 lines per page. The emergency procedures I input as written, to include notes, cautions and warnings. EDIT: I was able to upload it. Here's the direct link

@Max Clark Sure, no problem. This year I transitioned to tracking all the data electronically so I'll include the spreadsheet I use for that too. The source spreadsheet documents are in Apple Numbers format and when I converted them to Excel for upload here it moved some stuff around, and the electronic tracking spreadsheet lost conditional formatting features. Let me know if you want the Numbers files and I'll get them to you. Cheers, Rick N1088F Paper Flight and Squawk Log large format excel.xlsxN1088F Paper Flight and Squawk Log 5.5x8.5 excel.xlsx1 - N1088F Inspections, Flight & Squawk Log copy excel.xlsx

At 3:30 in this Hartzell video they show the radial and axial clearance limit tables from the overhaul manual. That should get you in the ballpark if not spot on. Cheers, Rick EDIT: Screen shot of the tables

My thought is it could contain the more useful specific G3X information and it would eliminate the need to sort through extraneous mentions that come up when you search for G3X or some combination with G3X using the search function.

Are there enough of us with the G3X installed (or about to be installed) to warrant a separate G3X Touch forum to compile and build a consolidated knowledge base? There's lots of good practical information here about installation, operation and issues/troubleshooting but it can be hard to find, especially if you're looking for something specific. Anyone else interested? Poll to follow. EDIT: ok, so the system put the poll first

Does anyone have insight on what Garmin is up to this year? I ask because there hasn't been a new software release for the G3X Touch in 5-6 months for either the STC or experimental s/w. I've had mine since September 2023 and had done 3-4 updates, one about every other month or so, through September 2024. And now nothing. This was during the period of addressing the GFC500 servo issues but they were also migrating other capabilities from the experimental s/w. I'm hoping to see more of that, most notably the EIS normalize mode and programmable dynamic engine instrument indications (that one's a stretch, I know). I'm wondering if there is any activity on the G3X software development team. Or is there something else in the mill that is getting the development effort focus? I'm not looking for speculation. I'd like to hear from someone who can share any available non-IP first hand info on what Garmin has in store for us.

Sorry for the thread creep. Where’s the ATL VFR corridor? I’m only familiar with the flyways.

It may be easier to get a Tango route established as a preferred IFR routing for transit, and then request to follow that same track VFR. The Atlanta Bravo has a Tango route (T319) that also essentially provides a pathway for VFR traffic to transit the Bravo at midfield perpendicular to the runways. I haven't done it a lot, maybe 6 times, but I've never been denied VFR transit of the Bravo tracking along T319. I've always been above 6,000' so that may be a factor.

Ironically, I have those unsealed gaps around my starter and left alternator and yet my CHTs are even and well controlled. The right alternator has seals around it. In my case I'm not going to fix what isn't broken, but I can see how adding some seals in those areas could make a difference for an engine with cooling problems.

My airplane had all new baffles and baffles seals in 2014, and I keep a close eye out for keeping the seals in good shape and all of them folding the right direction when the cowling goes on. I had a small tear in the back seal at one point that caused about a 15 degree increase on #6 as I recall. Once it was repaired the temp came back down. One thing I’ve noticed is my CHTs are tighter LOP than ROP. The ROP spread can be 30+ degrees while LOP is always less than about 15 degrees and usually around 10.

I participated in the insurance data submission program with Foreflight when they were building this capability. They asked for a copy of my policy, so they have all of the qualifiers along with my premium. Since they have my policy information I didn't have to input any additional data to see that my premium is in the "good deal" range (Thanks @Parker_Woodruff!) @redbaron1982 did you need to fill out a survey of some kind to get the assessment of your premium? If so, can you share what details they asked for? I think that would give us some insight on the level of detail the Foreflight algorithm uses for the premium comparisons and perhaps answer some of Parker' questions. EDIT: I did a little investigating on the Foreflight tool and found this when I started through the process of uploading policy information. As expected, it appears they are only comparing the very basic data at this point.

@CCAS I configured my stack just like your first example, GMC 507 on the top and GMA 345 on the bottom, and I really like it. I have my G5 between my PFD and the radio stack and use it for altimeter adjustments, and use the heading and altitude knobs on the GMC 507 right beside it for those adjustments rather than the knobs or the touch screen on the PFD. The audio panel on the bottom has worked out great as well, especially with the frequency color coding on the PFD to show me which radio/freq is active. I'm starting to transition to the PFD touch screen (I have a G3X) for the autopilot controls, and already use it for all of my radio freq changes. Eventually I'll get to where the G3X and the G5 are my primary interfaces and the radio stack is secondary, excepting the audio panel and flight plan manipulation on the 650Xi. But right now I'm still using familiar button operation on the GMC 507 most of the time until I get more comfortable doing everything on the G3X.

The OP is looking for input from someone who has installed a new muffler on a J recently. A post from that person would actually be helpful.

@skyfarer There are two MSCs near us (I'm in Gatlinburg TN). Cole Aviation (706) 271-0222 at KDNN in Dalton Georgia and AGL Aviation (828) 391-8645 at KMRN in Morganton NC. You might give them both a call and see what they have to say about fitting your need. AGL has changed ownership since my last annual there but I've heard good things about the new owner. Lynn Mace, the previous owner, is a solid guy and now works at Maxwell's. Cole Aviation has a good rep but I don't know how versed they are with our Bravo turbo system. Both are within an hour and a half of Louisville by Mooney.

@IvanP I have a MP gauge that was working when removed for my panel redux. Let me know if you decide to go the replacement route and I'll make you a deal.

Guardian CO detector https://www.guardianavionics.com/guardian-aero-451-101-panel-co-detector-certified-norsee