Skates97

I love that they finally got approval for this but I am still going to be in the wait and see market. If nothing else does come along and if I decide not to do other avionics upgrades this will be my answer for ADS-B Out. Besides the low overall cost of this option, it leaves the opportunity to wait a bit and if nothing else comes along you could buy it a year from now and install without worrying about the back log at avionics shops and not getting in before the deadline.

That's $3,000 off.... http://marketing.aspenavionics.com/acton/media/26251/aspen-july-2018-promotion-pro-pfd-7995

Am I the only one wondering what kind of stuff is going to be coming out of planes and to the used avionics market when the Skyview HDX's start going in?

Congratulations!

It's only a Com, no Nav but I like it a lot, very clear sound and crisp display. If you want Nav/Com you need the SL-30. The monitor function is great, you can listen to a 2nd frequency and if there's a transmission coming over the 1st one it automatically overrides it. It has some memory functions too to save user set frequencies and recall the last 8 active frequencies.

Most of the IFR that I see in the future is up and down through the layer out here on the coast. As for the G5's and digital AP, even if I wasn't going to get my IR and just continue to fly VFR I would be adding these in the next couple years anyway. Overkill for VFR flight? Sure it is, but just makes it more enjoyable. (Yes, I realize I am making your argument to add the waas/gpss navigator to drive it for you...) Don't have the ADSB out done yet. Waiting on some of the options that "appear" to be on the horizon. Yes, plan on keeping the plane and appreciate the advice of someone who has been down this road. The money is there but more of an issue as to where I want to spend the money right now. I would rather drop the cash on acquiring a couple more rental properties to fund my retirement. If all goes according to plan I'm hoping to retire in the next 10-15 years and be free to do whatever by the ripe old age of 60. This upgrade isn't something that has to happen right now. Perhaps I just wait on it for a bit and see what shakes out in the next little while on prices as other things come to market and people upgrade their panels with the latest and greatest and pull stuff out. I know that goes against @Marauder's "buy new" but the used SL-40 I put in from Aerodon looks like new and works great.

I appreciate the advice, but the upgrades that I have done and will do have nothing to do with increasing the resale value, they are only to benefit me and the type of flying I am doing. If I was just planning to have this pane temporarily I would change that thinking and actually probably do very little in the form of upgrades. As I am just 4 years from the last kid leaving home and my wife and I just want the plane to make regular 3-500nm trips, this one is perfect for that mission. I imagine I will be flying it until I can't fly anymore. A GNS430 for just a little more? The ones I see are all north of $4k while I can get the KLN90B for about 15% of that. It would add enroute and non-precision GPS approaches to the planes capability which currently just has VOR/ILS capability. If I do go this route, taking into account helping my avionics guy I can have the whole thing installed for less than the price of the GNS430. The money saved on that can go to dual G5's and a digital autopilot when they become available for our planes, which while don't add WAAS or GPSS they are helpful for keeping the plane right side up. I'm still not settled on which direction I'm going but just trying to look at and consider all the options.

Someone local to SoCal or on the west coast? We could make sure @MrRodgers knows about him to make sure 95V is invited to future West Coast Fly-Ins.

Thank you for coming here and sharing some thoughts.

Thanks for your insights on the updating issues. Appreciate your insight on training with just one Nav/Com. I guess I have one extra going for me with the GS. Hmm... Right now just started reading the books. Maybe I'll find a CFII and do a few hours.

Technically the only thing missing is a clock which is easily remedied, but I don't have the desire to train with just one Nav radio. I hadn't thought of that, one of the reasons to have my ideas kicked around, just to see things I hadn't considered. I am not in a huge rush for the rating and will be upgrading the plane at least somewhat before beginning the flying. We are blessed with a ton of VFR days out here. I logged 140 hours the first year I had the plane flying multiple trips from SoCal to Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and Idaho. I'm on pace to fly over 100 hours again this year so not having the rating isn't exactly slowing me down. I have changed departure times for weather but I think I only have one trip that I canceled into Phoenix and that was because the forecast (which turned out to be accurate) was for low visibility caused by widespread blowing dust so even if I had the IFR rating I wouldn't have made the flight. The KLN-90B is a panel certified GPS for non-precision approaches and I can pick one up with annunciator for well under 1 AMU.

I've been kicking around some ideas in my head for quite awhile now and thought I would throw it out there for the masses to comment on... I am going to pursue my IFR, mainly for the convenience of going up or down through the low marine layer we see along the coast here. The reality is that here in the west clouds in the summer time often mean convective activity and in the winter icing so there aren't a lot of long flights in the soup in my future. For our typical mission our little D/C is the perfect plane and we won't be outgrowing it with only one 14 yo kid left at home. My plane is not currently equipped for IFR. I know there are many here that would not fly IFR without a WAAS GPS of whatever variation in the panel but while I would love to put an IFD 440/540 in the panel I just see it as overkill for my mission and money that could be spent elsewhere, like adding in a Tru Trak autopilot when those are available for our Mooneys. Right now in the panel I have: Nav/Com - Narco 12D with glideslope hooked up to a VOR head (Yes, ancient tech but still functioning) Com - Garmin SL-40 Thinking of adding: KLN-90B or similar (Yes, still ancient tech but from what I read still very capable for what I am looking for and combined with the situational awareness that comes on my tablets I think it serves my needs) Dual G5's - I need an HSI/CDI if I put in a KLN-90B and would rather put that money toward the G5 HSI instead of buying a CDI to put in the panel. Will a KLN-90B interface with a G5 HSI? While the mechanical AI works (recently overhauled) I would fell better about having a G5 or similar in the panel and not reliant on the vacuum system. I like the Aspen but to put in an IFR version it is much more than the dual G5 setup. In my mind going this route would improve the safety supplied by the instruments taking the vacuum pump out of the equation and at the same time get me setup for IFR. I am aware that the mission creep is real and you are all likely to contribute to it, but please toss out your opinions. I'd love to hear from those who have flown with a the KNL-90B or similar GPS as well as those that are still flying around IFR without a 430/650 etc... in their panel. Oh, and before the usual "Spend your money on an engine monitor" suggestions are made I already put an EDM-830 in the panel.

Mine leaks from somewhere in the top front corner. Looking in that access panel I can see it coming down slowly along that corner. There have been others on here that have posted seeing leaks in that general area. I am sure that it could be patched, but just because it is leaking in that area doesn't mean the leak is right there. In my case the tanks were resealed about 4 years ago by Wetwingologists. I contacted the owner who said it was an easy fix for him (it's what he does for a living) and he would cover it under warranty but I have to get the plane to him on the other side of the country. Do you have a hangar? While you are deciding what to do you could fill the tank to near the top and then stick a rag up in the hole hanging down which will keep the fuel from running back down the wing to the belly. Let it sit for a few days and come back to see where the fuel level is at when it stops leaking. At least then you know how full you can fill without it leaking. That is how I came up with the 20 gallons that I can put in without any issues. I will probably just live with mine that way for awhile. With 20 in the right and 26 in the left I can stay in the air long enough and still land with about an hour of fuel reserve. After 3 1/2 to 4 hours I like to get out, stretch my legs, and use the restroom.

Does it look like this? If so that is a weep hole and you can remove that panel right next to it to see the front of the tank. On mine if I fill it over 20 gallons in the right tank it leaks down the front corner, pools up a little and then runs out of that hole. It isn't enough of a headache right now to worry about fixing so I just don't put over 20 gallons in that tank.

Someone else had one that they had done differently that I came across I think on the forums here but I can't remember where it was.

I think of the MSC's a lot like the three auto dealerships that we have. The dealerships are great, the shops are good, the technicians are trained and have access to all of the information that comes from the manufacturer. However, there are some technicians that I will let work on my car and others that I don't want touching it and that is based on years of knowing who is who and what kind of work they do. If I had that level of information about who at the MSC is turning the wrench I might feel different and be comfortable just dropping the plane off to them. But as it is, I do most of what needs to be done on my plane myself and have an IA keep an eye on me. If it is beyond what I can/want do (recent prop governor replacement for example) I have a local shop on the field that does it and I do my own inspection after they are done looking at everything they touched to see if there is anything missing or that looks out of place before taking it for a post maintenance shake down flight.

I didn't but will look the next time I go back. The landing was one of my better ones. If I am going into someplace for the first time or someplace a little more challenging short/narrow my landings are much better than some of the ones at my home airport. I know it's because I am not as relaxed and focusing more, a lesson to always remain focused even if it's someplace we've landed a 100+ times...

When I got my plane it came with some custom ones that had nice little sewn edges and velcro to hole them in place. After a little while I scrapped them and did exactly what Paul said and it provides much better cooling. For the piece that goes in the windscreen I made it a little larger and cut it in half, makes it easier to slide in from each side than try to work the whole thing between the center post and the windscreen and it overlaps a little in the middle. Instead of rolling them I just toss them in the baggage compartment in between my little travel box that has my spare oil, tools, etc, and the back seat. They fit perfect there and then they also stay flat making it easier to put in. When I bought the kool scoop for the window I just cut a slit in that one to allow it to fit. My son is the one that puts them in when we land while I put the tie downs on so I took a sharpie and wrote RR, LR, RF, etc... on them along with an arrow for up/front to make it easy to I leave them in while I am getting everything situated right up until I get ready to start the engine. If it is really hot out I often leave the back ones in while flying, similar to the curtains some have in their planes but with better heat reflecting properties.

Flew up to Big Bear on the 4th. It was my first time landing there, although I have flown over it a couple of times. The density altitude when we left was 8,780' but I was pleasantly surprised to see that we were off the ground at about 1,300' of ground run and seeing about 300 fpm climb. http://intothesky.us/2018/07/04/july-4th-big-bear-ca/

The Instrument Procedures Handbook and Instrument Flying Handbook showed up on my coffee table a couple of weeks ago. The plan is to do some studying and save up some funds so that by the time I'm ready to pass the written I'll have the money to upgrade avionics and begin lessons. Then I can let the Mrs know another home upgrade is going into the plane... Not in a huge rush to do it but it's always nice to be learning something.

After a lot of reading on multiple forums about other's experiences I thought it was a distinct possibility that it would be more expensive to overhaul than replace. That, coupled with the potential downtime led me to just buy the PCU 5000. Because I wasn't having overspeed problems, just an oil leak, I was able to fly until my A&P was able to pull it into their shop and replace it one morning last week. No down time and an upgraded part. It is much smaller and a little bit lighter.

My wife has loved the Mooney from the first flight. She was in fact the one that originally said "You've always wanted to fly and we have two grand kids coming a couple months apart, you should just get your license and we'll buy a plane." I started lessons two days later. Not sure where you have the $700 from. The PCU 5000 for my plane was $2,400 + labor, however given no guarantee that my old one (original on the plane rebuilt in 1977 and 1997) could be rebuilt or how much it would be to rebuild it I figured it was worth it to upgrade. I have a friend that used to say "Buy the best and cry once." I have taken that same position on a number of purchases in my life and have never regretted it long term when I did.

New PCU 5000 governor is installed. I took her for a flight up to Big Bear yesterday to get breakfast. Operated perfectly and seems to respond faster than my old governor to changes. It was dead on without any fluctuations (my old one would fluctuate by 20-30 rpm but the only reason I knew that was because of the JPI, with the tach on the RH side of the panel it's hard to notice small changes like that). I did only see 2,680 on take off both at my home field and up at Big Bear, but again if I didn't have the JPI I wouldn't have known the difference on the old mechanical tach. I think it solved the oil leak situation. When I got back and opened the cowl I found a couple oil spots that looked like they had dripped but I'm hoping that it was just old oil that had blown around on my speedy descent. I'll know for sure after cleaning those up and a couple more flights. It definitely solved part of the issue as that little indented shelf in the firewall under the governor would have had some oil on it after past flights but it was clean and dry after this one. Funny side note. My wife talks about repairs/upgrades to the plane in terms of house improvements. When I showed her the old governor in the box and the new one on the plane she said "That's what my bathroom remodel looks like." Fortunately she loves flying in our plane, and really likes to see family and the grand-kids. Add in that the last couple times she went to UT to see the grand-kids without me and flew Delta it was not the most pleasant experience. She mentioned more than once that she wished I had been able to fly her instead. Maybe I can work that angle for another upgrade...

I borrowed from a lot of different designs to make mine. I am thinking of adding a second heater core so that the air passes through two of them, I think it will cool it a little better but haven't tried it yet. The link for a step-by-step build of my A/C and window tinting is in my signature.

My little homemade ac does what I need it to with 20lbs of ice in it. A couple weeks ago we left Chandler and it was 106 outside. While it didn't cool the cabin I did have cool air blowing in me which helped until I got up to 10,500' where it was 60 degrees and the outside vents kept me cool.