apenney

I had the same experience all Winter with my LEDs. I never had the incandescents in the wing as they were converted before my ownership.

Yeah, the damage reminds me of the Aloha Air decompression incident many years ago.

https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/2-planes-collide-mid-air-over-cherry-creek-state-park-no-reported-injuries-officials-say copied the following from a Facebook post about it. "DENVER – There were no injuries reported after two airplanes collided mid-air over Cherry Creek State Park, leading one of them to crash in a field and another to land safely, South Metro Fire Rescue said. UPDATE 12 May 4:28pm new additional info Accident: Key Lime SW4 and private aircraft at Denver on May 12th 2021, midair collision A Key Lime Air Swearingen SA-226 Metro II, registration N280KL performing flight KG-970 from Salida,CO to Denver Centennial,CO (USA), was on a visual approach to Centennial's runway 17L cleared for the approach and was descending through 6400 feet about 3nm north of the threshold runway 17L. A private Cirrus SR-22, registration N416DJ, was also on approach to Denver Centennial descending through 6400 feet about 3nm north of the threshold of runway 17R. The two aircraft collided, the Cirrus apparently struck across through the fuselage of the Metroliner just above the wings taking out the whole cabin section at that point. The crew declared emergency on tower frequency reporting their right hand engine had failed and reported they saw another aircraft on parachute going down. After landing the crew advised, it had definitely been a mid air collision. The Cirrus pilot activated their parachute and landed in a field nearby with no injuries. The crew of the Metroliner managed to land the aircraft at Cenntennial Airport. The Cirrus ended up about 2.7nm north of runway 17L in the area of the Cherry Creek Reservoir. The local Sheriffs Office gave the location between E. Bellevue Ave and S. Cherry Creek Drive."

Do you know if the wing strobes need to be replaced as well or would a mixed system work together?

Curious about this. My tail strobe stopped working and I'm told it needs a new power supply...was quoted about $1000 for that alone. What is the conversion to remove those power supplies?

My XM radio is thru my 796. It used to be quiet but still loud enough to enjoy. 796 volume was always on 10 though. Had to change my XM antenna recently and now the volume is even lower and in addition to that there is a static/distortion that I can hear with volume peaks. If I reduce the 796 volume or my audio panel volume for the XM radio, the static/distortion spikes disappear. At any level though, I can barely hear the audio. For talk/news, it is barely audible, for music if I know the tune than I can enjoy it but otherwise its a strain to hear. Not sure where the problem is.

@CAV Ice I wonder if extreme cold might compromise the sealant if it was originally applied at the factory? The fill stub looked clean though when the hose was off of it. Thanks for the direction!

There is some tension when opening the door. In fact, it wants to close when I let go of the open fill door. I tried to pull a little on the hose as it goes to the TKS tank but there isn't any extra to pull toward the fill door.

Ok thanks for the suggestion! Will work on it.

yes

Yeah, I feel most comfortable with having FIKI. I suppose inadvertent TKS can be just as effective but has the issues of shorter duration of use if the tank is smaller and lack of pump and alternator redundancy. I think it’s a personal risk management decision and technically flying into known ice isn’t officially approved with inadvertent systems... unless there is something about your system that I’m not aware of. You have the advantage of being able to shoot thru icing with your particular Lancair...which changes your risk calculation maybe? In any event, I’m happy to have any TKS and it has made winter flying more fun and I haven’t had to cancel any flights so far. Just one divert. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This is what I use. It is a battery minder and also an external power unit for running avionics when plugged into the power port on the left side of my plane. I had the charging portion of things installed in my TKS fill door so that maintains/desulfates/charges the batteries. There are different versions with or without the battery minder portion. Its a little pricey but serves both purposes of being a GPU and battery maintainer/charger. https://www.audioauthority.com/page/gpu_home

In January I went to fill my Bravo with TKS and as I started to pour it into the fill port, I noticed that it sounded different...louder and with splashes. After a half gallon or so I could hear something draining under the belly drain....TKS. Crap. So I stopped filling and looked into the fill port and something looked different. I opened the left side panel and could see that the hose and hose clamp that secures it to the fill port had come off. I reattached and secured it and problem fixed. I learned to looked into the fill port from then on and as long as I could see the ribs of the hose then I knew it was still attached. Also, there is a little bit of resistance when opening the fill port door and less if the hose is detached. Well the hose came off again the other day. I reattached it but wondering if there is something else that I should do to prevent it from happening again...kind of a pain to get in there to reattach, especially when away from my home airport in an unheated hangar in the Michigan UP. Theoretically, TKS could back flow too if the hose dipped below the tank level?

I commute weekly in my FIKI Bravo from KUES (just outside of Milwaukee) to KIWD (Ironwood) and it usually takes 1-1.5 hrs depending on the winds and I run ROP so 18-19 gph. During the Winter months, a visual approach at KIWD is definitely the exception for the times that I'm flying. When I had my F, I couldn't make the trip during the Winter months or when there were any icing conditions. Now it is just a matter of careful flight planning. This season I had to divert once to Rhinelander after I went missed at IWD ILS which was below minimums. So, it has been night and day for my commute. I like FIKI for passing thru icing conditions on climb/descent but with the 6 gallons of TKS, it is nice to know that I could make the trip even with max flow TKS if I was somehow stuck flying in the soup with icing for the duration. For my route, there are lots of landing options, if the conditions get beyond the capability of the TKS system. So, if you want to make the trip to the UP with consistency during the icing months/conditions, then FIKI would be a must have in my opinion.

Thanks for for reaching out though.

Just got a message from them and they found that there was a loose screw that was arcing. It was loose because there was no lock washer apparently.

I became owner of my Bravo about 6 months ago. A great plane and other than a few hiccups needing to be addressed, no major issues. During the last several weeks however, I've noticed a few weird things. My Terra radar altimeter has been intermittently making a warning signal when in straight and level cruise flight. I didn't think anything of it. Then about 2 weeks ago, I was climbing and my two Garmins (540/430) and the entire panel it seemed, went blank for a split second but then returned online after reboot - I had to reenter my flight plan. I coincidentalIy was pulling my heat vent open at that time. I didnt' know what to think at that point and it was so brief it was almost a non-event...but we know that is burying my head in the sand. Finished that 1 1/2 hour flight uneventfully. I frankly forgot about that moment (bad to let that happen) and then on my way back to the UP last Sunday, during my descent there was a longer power loss to the panel that started by taking the GPS offline and seeing the dead reckoning only pop up on the Garmins. I noticed the autopilot had disengaged as well and I only had the two Aspens working I'm assuming off of battery power. My transponder was still working but I think it indicated no 1030 or something along those lines. I was busy trying to figure out what was going on. Breakers all fine. While I was checking the breakers I'm not sure why but I tapped the entire breaker panel with my hand lightly and everything came online again. I re-engaged the AP and landed. On the ground I tapped the panel multiple times and I could reproduce the problem each time either taking power off or back on. Yesterday I got the plane back to my home airport and my avionics shop took this video. Now they're digging around to figure out what the source of the problem is. They were concerned that no breaker popped after seeing this. The alarm in the video is the Terra.

Yeah and check this out...it can handle more than most people if you manage your sail area appropriately.

Speaking of fluid leaking....I was filling with TKS the other day and the sound was different than usual....like pouring something into a plastic container and loud. After about 3/4 gallon I stopped when I noticed a rapid flow of fluid coming out of a drain under the fuselage. So I opened up the left side access panel and discovered the the fill hose had detached from the fill port. The hose clamp had slipped off apparently and I was pouring TKS into that space - yikes! I reattached the hose. I will now look down into the fill port to verify that the hose is still attached before filling.

That was coming into KIWD - Ironwood, MI just south of Lake Superior on the Michigan Upper Peninsula. Lots of lake effect in the area. Averages about 200" of snow per year.

That has been my experience as well...though for only my 6 months of ownership vs your decades

Is needing to back off MP on descent considered a normal finding then, even with normally functioning density and differential controllers?

I moved up from a '76 F to my Bravo and FIKI has made a huge difference for me. I love the turbo too. GPH is much higher but its worth it to me.

Thanks!