Randyb

I just upgraded my 2007 Mooney Acclaim (with the Garmin G1000) to WAAS by adding a GIA63W and the VNAV MFD . Does any body have any insights, tips, or tricks on using it? So far, I blown away by how good it is but I'd like to learn to use it confidently while in hard IFR

I am upgrading my 2007 G1000 non was acclaim to the GIA 63W Plus V nav. In April, 2019 the cost from don Maxwell is about $36,000. I don't need WAAS approaches where I live, but I've noticed that our local LDA has not functioned for several months. The FAA wants to phase ground based navigation out. Next year the SWR for will go too, I've been told. Since my plane was made by a predecessor Mooney company I am speculating that Mooney International won't certify the G1000 Nxi for my airframe. Since the G100 is part of the type certificate, If I didn't get the full waas now, I might never have it and my plane will be severely handicapped because Garmin has stoped production of the GIA63W. So I decided to hedge my bet. some upgrade units are still available from Cessna etc, but they won't last much longer.

I have 1200 hours on my acclaim. So far I topped 1 cylinder only because the mechanic was misguided and held my plane hostage. At 1200 hours I’m using 1qt oil per 3 to 4 hours down from 1 qt every 8 to 10 hours. the engine is 11 years old and is flown 100 hours per year. Compression is from 62 to 72. I usually fly at 14500 with 28” and 2400 rpm. I keep TIT at 1600 and CHT below 400 and burn 14.1 gallons in cruise LOP at 180 kts. Going ROP burns about 18 gallons and adds 10 KTS ROP gives me 10 extra KTS for 4 gallons or almost $20 per hour more LOP saves about $1800 per year in fuel and lord knows how much in engine repairs