Skates97

Was at a fly-in that had an IFR rated AirCam, beautiful plane. I was wondering if you needed a rain jacket for water coming around the sides of the windscreen and hitting you.

If I had the money (to buy/maintain/operate) I've always loved the Beech Staggerwing.

I think you meant GNC355. I have it in my plane and love it. It's only GPS/COM, no ground based nav but is easy to use and has been very reliable.

The RCA 2610-3 is a great little unit. I replaced my old T/B with one. You can get it with a battery. Not sure the total life, but on a VFR flight a few years ago back from St George I turned the brightness down to about 60% and pulled the breaker on it to see how long it would last. A little over two hours later when we landed at KFUL I think it still had about 30-40% battery left from what I remember. https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/pnpages/10-06437.php?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw4MSzBhC8ARIsAPFOuyU2tgc0ZAOBYvAl5UcM2-FYlK0nttDnulqoLMJ0qqLnjmAGXZ2PBO8aAmEQEALw_wcB

I was there in 2021 with a friend and 2023 with my wife. Flew Fisk both times and camped by the plane. Too many other commitments this year including a kid getting married in Sept and one in Oct that are eating up the vacation time to get there this year, but will likely be back in 2025 (unless we fly to Alaska next year instead). I wrote up all of it, getting there, the show, and getting home. 2021 Oshkosh - Getting There 2021 Oshkosh - The Show 2021 Oshkosh - Getting out of Dodge 2023 Oshkosh - The Journey There 2023 Oshkosh - Round Up 2023 Oshkosh - Award and Getting Home

I have the exhaust off my 1965 from when I replaced it with a powerflow. If you're still looking I can take pictures tomorrow.

Sorry to hear about the service. They have usually been pretty good, but the last time I was there they ignored me because they were preoccupied with a jet (which I expect...) Great picture! I've never come in that direction, I'm always coming up from the south.

Also from the same publication: "Alert areas are established to inform nonparticipating pilots of areas that contain a high volume of pilot training operations, or an unusual type of aeronautical activity, that they might not otherwise expect to encounter. Pilots are advised to be particularly alert when flying in these areas." So... we need to be alert when in those areas and relaxed in other areas? I've never transited one but sounds like they're trying to say there may be more going on than you would expect in a particular area.

Apparently GA isn't dead, it's just become an exponentially more expensive club.

The question is if it would be more frequent flying without a way out/in when it is cloudy. I like @Greg Ellis's suggestion to ask your potential hangar mates what their experience has been dealing with no approaches. I'm not sure the process and how long it takes but you could also try to get RNAV approaches built. I have a good friend that keeps his plane at Bear Lake County (1U7) up in Idaho and they recently got RNAV approaches to two runways.

Agree with both of you, but in this instance I ordered Don's video back when I bought my Mooney and am glad I did. It is very well done and was helpful. I shared it with a hangar neighbor when he sold his Cherokee and bought a Mooney and he said he found it extremely helpful too.

Try Airmark Engines in FL. I have an engine sitting at my mechanics waiting for him to swap it out starting next week. It came from Airmark. I originally had an order in with Airpower with a 12-14 month wait time. 12 months went by and when I reached out to them they said it would be another 7 months... So I went looking for alternatives. Airmark had an O-360-A1D core. They gave me a price with a 7-9 week turn around time for the overhaul. I canceled the order with Airpower, got my deposit back, and placed the order with Airmark. Eight weeks later it was done and shipped.

Thanks, it was a couple 14-15 hour Saturdays and 3-4 hours every night after work. When I ordered the PMA450B I also ordered the harness which came with everything including headphone jacks prewired which was a huge help.

Long delays at avionics shops have been the norm for a long time. I wouldn't expect to find an avionics shop that would work with me on an install, but my local AP/IA on the field is always willing.

Currently Garmin is the answer. If/when Dynon is approved it looks like a nice option, but that is a big if/when. I was on a waitlist for the Trutrack for years. When the GFC500 was on the horizon for approval in the short body Mooneys I decided I would just go the Garmin route and put in the G5's and GNC355. A few months later the GFC500 approval was final and I made the first appointment I could get and it went into the shop for the autopilot. I've been flying with it now for three years and 450+ hours and no regrets. In my opinion it is a very capable IFR setup. The nice thing about all Garmin is that it uses a CAN bus which really simplifies the installation.

I have built a good relationship with my AP/IA. I'll talk to him about a problem or upgrade and often he will say "that's in your wheelhouse" and provide instruction, oversight, etc... The first avionics I did was replacing the transponder. It was an easy one as I had the harness pre-made. The next job was the big one. I put in two G5's, a GNC355, upgraded the EDM830 to an EDM900, CiES fuel senders, and a PMA450B audio panel. There were a few moments where I thought "I wonder how much it will cost to have someone fix all this if it doesn't work." I went slow, double and triple checked everything as I went, and it all worked. I think I was down for 2-3 weeks which is much better than the 6 months my friend's plane was down for a similar avionics upgrade.

My plane had an ancient magnetometer in a bracket that spanned side to side. It was already level so I just cut a piece of aluminum to mount the G5 magnetometer to and mounted it to the bracket.

At our dealerships we have 4K cameras on the service drives covering all angles and the service advisors do a walk around video of the vehicle when it arrives. We still have people that claim that scratch/dent in the side of their vehicle "wasn't there" when they arrived. the cameras have more than paid for themselves in the false claims. Then they have also shown when it was our fault and we pony up for the repairs.

I also have one of these silicone mats to use as a fuel mat on the wing. It is not very heavy, rolls up and folds in half. I cut a hole in it about 3/4 of the way back, just long enough that it hangs over the leading edge. The only downside is that because it isn't very heavy if it is windy the wind can pick it up and blow it off the wing. https://a.co/d/cXIFDo8

Tom, Thanks for sharing the link, so grateful you and Beth are okay. I remember seeing your plane at Osh in 2021, it was beautiful. Still hoping to meet up one of these days.

When I got tired of the indefinite backorder of Plexus and started to get low I tried out the A-Plex and have been very happy with it. https://www.aircraftspruce.com/pages/cs/plexiglascleaners/cx-56955.php

This was the first thing I did when we got our plane. Best upgrade that I hope to never need.

This is something to be aware of, the battery packs can go wonky if they get dropped. Also keep an eye to see if it starts to look deformed (swelling up), it's warning you that bad things are likely going to happen soon.

I have the same setup for power to my Stratux going to a USB outlet.