Schllc

It’s hard when you start out because you don’t really understand the vernacular, you don’t know the models of avionics and which ones are to be avoided and favored. Not to mention the customized details, updates etc. so many things affect real value and get conflated with sales price. I would give two pieces of advice, One, get a friend who has owned a few aircraft, or preferably a Mooney for a few years at least, to help you avoid easy pitfalls. Two, buy the newest, nicest plane you can afford.

No, I add 50’ so my minimum alert annunciates BEFORE i hit the minimum. I’ve only had a handful of approaches where I was even close to minimums, and have never had to get below my additional 50’ threshold. Im pretty sure it has to do with how I plan. I would not say it’s what everyone should do, or that it’s better. It’s just my prerogative. I don’t have to get anywhere bad enough to break my minimums. To each their own.

I don’t want to wade into the argument of the legality, I just try to stay so far on the legal side that there isn’t a debate. I think for the average Mooney pilot, the better question is how far should the issue be pushed, and will obviously vary based on experience, proficiency and equipment. The subject of personal minimums and risk/reward should be factored in to these situations. When I am loading my approach and inputting the minimums on my g1000, I always add 50’ to the minimum DA to keep me from getting below. My personal reason is simple, if the edge of clearances is what they predicate the minimums on, I don’t want to be that close. I consider it a little bit of insurance. Just the amount we know for sure in this incident, reads like so many accident reports. It’s seldom one large foolish mistake. It’s a series of small decisions that stack and accumulate. Remember that thing we were all taught in the beginning, if you don’t know what your going to do next, you are already behind. I am very thankful they survived with minor injuries, and hope we can all learn from their mistakes. W

As absurd an example as that is, I would think there could be an indemnification agreement, or a rider on the insurance that could satisfy the liability, …. They can’t reimburse you for the expense of the plane anyway right? I’d buy a first class ticket and submit for reimbursement, then fly my plane!

I’m heavily biased, being most of my time is with the g1000. I obtained my multi rating in a Comanche with an aspen, and I absolutely hated it. I never got used it it, didn’t find it intuitive or well organized. I would never purchase one of them. But people tend to like what they get proficient with, and I’m no exception. if you have no experience with either, decide on one and get proficient with your choice, you will likely be a fan forever. I’m currently putting a complete panel in my Aerostar and I went with all garmin except for the autopilot (didn’t have a choice). Get the popcorn and watch me get raked over the coals!

Oh yes, I agree. The factory service center was the best experience I’ve ever had in aviation. I will be bringing mine there for annual when due!

Can’t wait to figure out which shop that would be!?

I always listen to the traffic ahead of me on approaches. What better information could there be at our disposal than this? My own personal minimums do everything I can to avoid any actual instrument approach much less a low ifr approach. I would have diverted upon hearing the conditions. Not saying I am right, just those are my personal min… Single pilot ifr, low ifr, in a single piston, at night, after a long day of flying, would be too many risk factors for most pilots. Like someone said earlier, he was fantastically lucky to survive, and hopefully he is sufficiently “tempered”, in the future.

The state of our genre is tenuous at best, manufactures can’t get sales to a meaningful number. Is it the cost or is it the interest? The FAA is almost the enemy of GA. Maybe not it’s not intentionally, but by design, they frustrate innovation so thoroughly, that by the time it’s “certified” its 10 years old. Where else does this occur? I mean there is nothing, not even pharmaceuticals that is this obtuse and onerous, and that has far worse consequences. As far as meaningful data for experimental vs certified…. I don’t see how useful data can be collected to be anymore specific than the aggregate. Certified will likely always be safer, just by the nature of the barriers to entry. This doesn’t mean a diligent, conscientious, competent and thorough person can’t build an experimental as safe as a certified aircraft. The can, and they do. Man’s natural state however will dictate that is the exception, not the rule. I think the best idea I’ve heard in a while was the suggestion to allow us to decertify our planes, even if you take the hit on value.. I know I can do most of what the average AP can do, and better than many of them as well. Especially if it was on the plane I planned to fly! But I am not legally allowed to, so I pay and then I check for myself after. I’ve found oil rags left in the cowling, spark plugs not tight, leaking injector lines…. Humans are fallible, it’s just natural law. It’s overdue for a serious revision/rewrite to part 91, and the rewrite to part 23 that was supposed expedite innovation needs to be given real latitude. The reality is that once a government agency gets its grip on anything, they eternally feel that the only way to justify their existence is to become more controlling. They have no competition , no oversight and no consequences for bad decisions. Look at the premise of the lawsuit the FAA brought against warbird adventures. The potential Impact it has on Experimental and LSA is huge. And all to punish something they don’t want, which people flying vintage planes. Who gave them the right to bring a suit against us? Bureaucrats should never have this kind of power.

Better question is why would one choose a circling approach over an r-nav in low ifr?

I have only had one bad experience with a shop, and I don’t think my issue was quality of work, it’s more the predatory nature of how they managed the work. If I had one complaint about the industry in general it’s just communication. It’s a function of our society today, but it’s also the nature of the laws. Once people have your plane opened up, you have very little leverage, and most shops know this, so they communicate based on their convenience, not with a service oriented perspective. You aren’t going anywhere, so they don’t have to care. Even the good ones know this and it changes their behavior. it was hard to adjust to, but once I understood it got easier to tolerate. it is what it is…. Find a guy you trust, ask them their process, apply a reality curve and add some to that, and set a good expectation. Makes it all a lot easier. for me anyway…

Sometimes it’s bc old nav data is on the bottom card. most certain way to correct is to format all three cards. make sure you only put nav data on the top card, and reinstall all db on both bottom cards. the new concierge makes you go through the nav data step each time so you could use two top cards, or just don’t reinstall the nav data on the second card updates. this takes a while bc flite charts and the 9 second arc or 4.9 second arc db are huge, but always fixes the problem…

Hard to answer that question without understanding all the circumstances for each flight. Mountains, nighttime, populated areas, water, familiarity with the area, currency, reason for low ifr and other weather conditions, etc. I tend to avoid the multiplier factors, and gauge the risk of the one or two I consider mitigated risks. example, I fly from south Florida to Louisiana regularly. Low ifr over half of that route, with plenty or fuel reserve, daytime flight, over a very familiar route, when I am current, would be an acceptable risk for me. If I added the possibility of encroaching into night flight, marginal range because of load, or possibility of icing, on top of those conditions, I’d probably reschedule. I have always thought that this was the genesis of personal minimums. Make the rules when you don’t have anything riding on them, and then adhere to your minimums.

I always used the metering devices that stepped up the flow by altitude. I never considered the actual volume. I do know with the conserver system I’ve never had sinuses dry out. the other benefit is the tank lasts forever!

Did you mean that g1000 models and beyond have no TO flap setting? Because they actually do, or did you mean just the Vspeed?

Some people have issues with cannula's drying the sinuses, and some do not. I am like you, mine dry out to the point of nosebleeds the day after with constant flow systems. However, with the conserver systems like precise flight, and mountain aire, I have zero issues. In fact, I flew from Florida to Oregon and back over seven days, all flights above 16k, which turned out to be about 26 hours of flying, with the precise flight system. Not only did i return with a little over half the o2 in the tank. I didn't have any problems at all with dry sinus. 1000 thumbs up for conserver systems.

The main AP head was replaced several times with different units. Do you think they just looked at the board type that was returned as a reference, instead of the make and model, each time it was replaced? Is the trim wheel supposed to be stiff when the AP is off? I have only had a few intermittent AP problems on my moonies, and I don't really recall if the trim wheel is stiff when it is off.... Shouldn't the servos go into "neutral" when the power is off? (I am going to fly today and test that btw) I went back to look at the logs that I had (through 2020). There were 12 instances of either computer replacement/overhaul or trim servo replacement/overhaul in 13 years. That really sounds like a mechanical problem causing the electronic failures, but it’s just a quasi educated guess… Either way, the plane was really nice, and had a really high UL for the equipment, which is why it was so tempting. I sure hope this takes care of your gremlins.

I reviewed the log books on your plane a few weeks before you purchased. The main computer for the autopilot had been changed several times, I also noticed the recurring trim problem. I couldn’t help but think those two were related and I saw no resolution or even evidence of diagnostics beyond changing electronic components. If I’m not mistaken Airmart actually had to service the autopilot immediately after they purchased and listed the plane. I suspected an underlying issue and asked them to warranty the repair for a year after purchase to make sure that they fixed the problem and they declined. I hope the correct servo was the root of the problem, but find it hard to believe after all the years and services that this was the issue. That being said, my experience with Weber, as well as their reputation would suggest they are more thorough than most.

One trick I learned is after drilling out the rivets of the old pieces of baffling. Lay the old baffling on top of the new one, and use it as a template to punch your rivet holes. I punched the first hole, then put a rivet in the two baffling pieces before punching the next hole. This keeps the two perfectly aligned all the way down the line. My pieces fit perfectly.

I do not think it will be different this time. I believe what you describe is the most likely scenario. What I do believe will be different is the impact to the airplane market. there appears to be few enough planes, and ample supply of wealthy people to at least mitigate the collapse in that area. That being said, I’m not optimistic short term about the economy. We are in for rough times….

This has certainly been the historical cycle. I believe a shift will come as well, but I don’t think it will follow traditional patterns. I think it will be much milder. My reasons for this are one, there are more being destroyed every year than made, of certified aircraft anyway. Two, Covid has changed our culture for good, and many more people have “discovered” this modality of travel. Three, airlines suck, and I don’t mean like they have always sucked, but it’s awful now. Remember, there are only about 170k registered pistons in existence. if you take out the flight schools, the hangar queens and the ramp rats, what’s left? Maybe 80k planes? If 1/2 of 1% of people in the US want an airplane, there are 120,000 too few planes. Insurance has skyrocketed, interests rates are astronomical, fuel has doubled in, parts are hard to get, maintenance is more difficult than ever to get done and even with all this, the market is still strong. I think an adjustment is coming too, but I don’t believe it will be like the collapses we have seen in the past… One caveat to my theory, if fuel is banned all bets are off. Then the collapse will turn them all to scrap metal.

Bernoulli’s principle would suggest differently. The fact that there is a turbine restricting the flow of air raises the pressure, which increases the temperature. To be fair, and perhaps what you meant in your comment is that given the temps we are talking about, the increase is probably negligible, but it most certainly, is not neutral or cooling. The turbo concentrates heat simply based on its purpose, location and function. It most certainly creates heat as well, simply by the compression and increased pressure, but these are again, negligible compared to exhaust gasses. I guess it’s fair to say that the combustion/exhaust cycle is the origin of the heat, but it is focused and intensified in the turbo by receiving all cylinders cycles. I’m not sure we aren’t all saying the same thing….

Two thumbs up for Paul at Maxwell to do the upgrade. He knows all the details and has done two planes for me. The vnav is great if you are regularly flying in the higher flight levels, unfortunately most air traffic controllers do not provide descent at PD for our pistons, so on the Mooney it doesn’t get used very much, if at all. One thing I noted from the OP is that he asked if Adsb in/out with waas is available for the g1000. In fact it’s required for Adsb, but that waas is only for the transponder and doesn’t provide waas for navigation. Not sure if that was part of the original question.

Semantics… The turbo is a mass of metal where hot exhaust gasses are forced past a fan blade that drives a compressor on the other side of the shaft which is compressing air. It also receives every single exhaust gas cycle of the three cylinders (six for the bravo) with no break between, which means the egt probes experience 1 cycle for every three of the turbo. It is simple thermodynamics There is nothing in the assembly that comprises the “turbo” that does not concentrate, and convect heat. It does not surprise me that the TIT would be hotter than an egt.

The turbo is a compressor. The gas is concentrated and compressed. This cannot help but generate heat.