EricJ

So today they clarified that their position is that because the Avidyne schematic does not show a switch between the unit and the autopilot, there cannot be one without them assuming liability for putting one there. I pointed out that at a minimum they should tell people that they will delete a very common item that was already installed sometime *before* their airplane is taken apart in their hangar. I'll try talking to Avidyne tech support about it.

The IFD STC doesn't allow connection of a 2nd nav to the autopilot. Installation of a NAV1/NAV2 switch presents liability danger to the installer. Because... One of the managing technicians says he was on a flight where the crew flew an approach with the wrong nav selected and therefore he doesn't want to install a switch that makes that possible.

New gps install plus a new audio panel and a G5 HSI. Previous stack was a KX170B and a TKM 170C. The TKM will stay as nav2/com2. They don't want to hook the TKM to the autopilot for reasons of which I am skeptical. The Century III autopilot previously had a NAV1/NAV2 switch, and they want to delete that so that only the IFD540 is connected to the autopilot. I want to retain the capability of driving the autopilot with NAV2.

My installer is claiming that the STC for the IFD540 precludes it from having a second nav connected to the autopilot. In other words, they say my NAV1/NAV2 switch for my autopilot input must be deleted. I've looked in the online literature that I can find and can't find anything to support this claim. I'm skeptical about this for a number of reasons and don't want to lose the ability to drive the autopilot with NAV2 if I don't have to. Has anybody else had any experience with this? Another source that has done it said that the restriction may be valid if the other nav is also an Avidyne, but that's not the case for me.

I'm sure it'll happen somehow and I'm looking forward to it, but the ADS-B network probably won't have enough bandwidth to handle that, especially if/when it expands services like expected.

Especially for somebody looking for good, long-lasting UV protection, a polymer is probably going to be vastly superior to a carnauba wax. I'm in the process of sorting this out myself. My airplane was heavily oxidized from sitting outside in Nevada for a couple of decades, and I've managed to polish a decent finish back into it and bring the colors back out. I haven't wanted to put carnauba on it since it doesn't last very long (and is often a lot more work), so have been researching polymers that are suitable for aircraft. So far I'm leaning toward Meguiars premium finish stuff, and I haven't found a reason not to do it yet. At some point I'll have to polish the whole thing again and then wax it with something, I just want it to be something that will actually last a while.

WiFi.

It has always been so, even when Cronkite was on the air. Society and markets and regulations and management have changed, though, so here we are.

I do look forward to when digital comm becomes more widely used. It'll open up a lot of additional capabilities and improve comm reliability. https://www.faa.gov/nextgen/where_we_are_now/nextgen_update/progress_and_plans/data_comm/

Bummer. I wrote to him eons ago (in the 70s) when I was a teenager and got a personal letter back from him. I still have that somewhere.

I had a similar thing in an Arrow I used to rent, but it turned out it was just that whoever flew it previously flew it at night and had turned the lights down. I'd done a go-around to sort it out and figured it out on downwind, but it was definitely one of those "hmmmm...let's sort this out..." moments.

I recall an article in some aviation magazine many decades ago talking about what drove Vne in various aircraft; in one the windshield caved in, in another the side windows blew out, etc. Does flutter drive it in most airplanes? Does anybody know what actually drives Vne in Mooneys? Is there actually a flutter inducement, and if so, which surface?

https://app.ntsb.gov/pdfgenerator/ReportGeneratorFile.ashx?EventID=20180410X32846&AKey=1&RType=Prelim&IType=FA I think previous pics of the panel that were going around weren't bad. It seemed like a very nicely equipped airplane. My take on the latest report: ATP/CFI flying the right seat at night in a barely familiar airplane with a student pilot in the left seat, the airplane was likely overloaded with excessive rearward CG and a density altitude around 3340' or so. The panel may have contributed, but I think there were other driving factors. Still sad.

FWIW, my insurance only required two hours transition training , most of which was spent in the pattern doing landings and taxi-backs, with the gear kept extended for all of the pattern work. The next morning I flew it 7.7 hours home, the first leg being a 5.2 hour non-stop. Very fun. And ever time I see your user name it reminds me of a long-time Ukrainian g/f I had that called me zaitchik.

HSI with an IFD540.

There are existing installations of the G5 and IFD out flying around with good success, and my airplane is in the middle of just such an installation right now. I don't have a personal pirep as the installation isn't complete, but based on other installs and my avionics shop's opinion there shouldn't be any issues and all the expected functions should be there.

Not sure a sectional would be better in that case.

My hanger is 40' wide, which is still pretty tight. 39' would be even more challenging. I'm fortunate that there's an electrical junction box and some conduit right at the center of the top of the back wall, so I just keep the tail lined up with that when pushing it back in, which has worked great so far. I find if I'm looking at ground marks it's a little trickier to get it in efficiently. I helped my neighbor push their Bonanza back the other day and was helping to spot the wingtips and figured out that, crap, it's not a Mooney it's a total non-issue to get this thing in the hangar.

Supposedly it's a contraction of snot and garbage and has military origins. I'd never heard it before, either. I feel like my life experience has expanded a bit.

I had a friend who had an engine failure on takeoff in a C150 while instructing and managed to make an impossible turn and land back on the runway. It was her first significant emergency and one of her comments afterward was that she always wondered how well she'd react when something like that happened and she was glad that it wasn't as hard as she thought to keep it together. She did handle it like a pro, I was mostly surprised that she'd doubted herself previously.

There's a small likelihood that there'll be an increased likelihood of an electronic fault due to an alpha particle upset as altitude increases, but that doesn't seem to be a big issue at GA altitudes in the middle- to low-FLs.

The airplane had over 7000 hours on it, so a design flaw would have shown up a lot earlier, and would be exhibited in other aircraft of the same type. Since the airplane wasn't anything close to new, had changed hands a few times, and had a LOT of hours on it, the storage, use, and maintenance history can play a big part in the condition of the aircraft. It is far more likely that the airplane had an age- or storage- or maintenance-induced- or whatever- related condition that had been missed in previous inspections. It's not like that hasn't happened before, to any make or type of aircraft, including Mooneys, including Mooney cases that have been archived here.

You're good. Keep the penny, it's all copper and worth more than face value.

Very cool! I got a ride in one a couple of years ago and it was awesome. Much fun.

If I'm reading that right the only thing that "converts" an A1B6D to an A3B6D is moving the bushings to reclock the prop by 60 degrees. I think my motor is still marked as an A1B6D (I'll have to confirm that), but during the last annual on my airplane (just before I bought it) there was a Big Deal about a previous PPI discovering that the prop was clocked wrong and the IA moved it. I wonder if he moved it back or whether it's in the A1 or A3 position. I'm half hoping it's wrong so that I can move it and it'll get smoother.