tmo

Well, maybe not right away, but yes. Rumor (and Polish wikipedia) says that N11WB (a Navajo, so TSIO-540) that crashed in Poland in 2014, killing 11 skydivers and the pilot, one survivor, was running on mogas. Left engine failed, plane crashed 4km (13000 ft) from rwy threshold. Temperatures were in the high 80's / 90's that day, and most of that summer (we grounded our club planes except for early morning / very late evening departures). No final report yet (I wonder why, but that's besides the point).

Where is the notion that a GI275 and a G5 can talk to one another (AI and HSI) coming from?

Yeah, I think it is somewhat more complicated than that, but thanks for your view, @steingar (I do mean it sincerely). What it comes down to is that there are many places around the world where 100LL is not available and Jet-A1 is. The reason for this is of secondary importance, it just is. Finding auto fuel without booze in it can also be non-trivial and non-deterministic (no guarantee that the next batch will be the same as the previous one, because the norms allow between 0 and N% of various additives, not just ethanol) - even in the US, whereas Jet-A1 just is what it is, always, the big guys make it so. All that said, of course there is nothing wrong with designing a GA device just for the US market, it is the largest in the world by far, I was just trying to point out the challenges (or perhaps opportunities) outside of the GA paradise you all have there. Hell, Rotax did it for the EU ultralight market, and is doing well. I wish my TSIO-360 was allowed to drink auto fuel, but it ain't so... One liter (0.2641729 of a US gallon) of AVGAS at my field costs $2.70; 100 octane unleaded is $1.45. Yes, I know the octane rating is counted differently for avgas and car gas, and differently in the US and the EU car gas as well. </rant off>

FWIW, the big ship / locomotive / power generator diesel cycle engines are often times 2 stroke.

When talking price yes, automotive fuel works wonderfully. Especially if you allow the ethanol-laced fuels typically found at the pumps (the Petersen STC does not, which severely limits its usefulness in current times). For the likes of me it would be perfect - literally half off. There are people base their purchases on the ability to burn automotive fuel. FWIW, there allegedly is a STC to put a Rotax engine (think ultralights / LSAs) on a C150. With automotive fuel, do remember about possible vapor lock issues, which AFAIU are specific to airframes (also noted by Petersen when talking about why their STC covers one airframe but not another). When talking fuel availability at major airports automotive fuel (mogas) probably doesn't help any, with Jet-A1 being the only thing that is available, period. I believe that is the situation in Asia and Africa as well. Do keep in mind I'm not basing this on actual first hand knowledge, but on things I've read / heard from others, some of which might have been biased by virtue of having spent money on the Thielert engines.

Wouldn't technically the G3X be the backup?

Am I reading this right that if I want both the HSI and AI to interface with the AP I need to pay an extra $1k for each? Or do they talk to each other and one talks to the AP?

With all due respect, but this seems to be a very US-centric view. If that is the only/main target market, that's fine, but I understand (not know first-hand, mind you) that the ability to burn Jet instead of AVGAS is in high demand elsewhere. So this is the engine you want to be the piston side of the hybrid? I like!

Earth days? Or Venus?

Great point that I totally missed. Thank you.

TBH Garmin did add some value to the GTNs with software updates, for example the approach guidance to VFR-only fields. While this might not be an issue stateside, with a field with an instrument approach within a stone's throw, it is over here, and the OBS trick, while useful, is much more prone to human errors than what the GTNs provide. But I'd also rather buy an IFD than a GTN, just because I've been buying AMD instead of Intel most of the time.

Isn't there a whole genre of movies about this subject?

Indeed... Now, where is the list of 3rd party APs?

I understand the unit actually has a GAD43 equivalent built-in...

@Blue on Top - is adding the extra complexity and yet unknown failure modes of a hybrid drive really a good approach? The engines are already running pretty much as efficiently as they will when powering a generator; the engine will not be any lighter, but the generator, battery and electrical engine, plus the additional required circuitry will weigh, likely lots. I can maybe see it where the extra kick from the batteries plus the generator running at full power are used for takeoff and initial climb, but things slow down later in flight, but I'm still not convinced. Do keep in mind that any of my drivel is not based on knowledge or science, just "methinks". Don't get me wrong, I couldn't be more happy to be proven / explained wrong.

Is insurance mandatory for GA in the US, or are we talking optional "collision"-type insurance?

I so want the answer to be "electric tape"

Don't forget to add a Mustang and a CV2 to the set You know, for balance...

Tesla does photo cell roof shingles, just sayin'

I sincirely hope that all the fine folks from the Mooney factory have alreday found new jobs. The job market, in general, seems to be doing great, and this is a highly specialized industry where ratings and experience do matter a lot.

For under $200k?

Didn't the Chinese (sic!) just announce they have a tokamak style fusion reactor that actually put out a little more energy than it took to get and keep it going? If not, it's coming. Yes, I know it's been coming for the past 50 or so years, but look how energy density of batteries improved in the last 10. Or efficiency of solar panels. It will all be electric soon.

VTOL

They will go after ProLine and Honeywell, that's where the people writing blank checks are... I can very well imagine a G4000 driven Citation, Honda Jet already runs the G3000, as does the SV50 and the TBM. I'm sure they are having many lunches with the folks at Pilatus...

I actually still have a RedHat 7.2 (Enigma) box running some back-end stuff... Not RHEL 7.2, RedHat 7.2. Yes, in a VM, yes, isolated from any network except from one local IP on a single port, but I probably still have the hardware it came off of in the attic somewhere, and it would boot up. They don't make them like they used to