Brian E.

Great PIREP--thanks for sharing. Keep us up to date on the plug situation. All issues considered would you recommend switching to Surefly or staying with the legacy mags?

Thanks for all the replies. I'm really trying to get away from all of the legacy gear and clean up the panel and not have to fix things twice. I see more GPS approaches at the places that I fly than VORs and more GPS/VOR than ILS ten fold. This leads me to question the need to invest in a secondary and tertiary navigation means.

Yes, I'm curious if the above outage will have an effect on ATL, CLT, CHS, etc. That's a big swath of airspace with decent traffic in it.

@rbridgesGood point on the radio as I've heard the 155s are better sounding than most modern radios. I also realize they are old radios and Comm 1 is losing the top segment of the 1st digit occasionally--transmits and receives well. Comm 2 is money, display is clear and knobs are smooth. I was going to use a GTR225 to replace Comm. My goals was to get in and get our and not have to go back any time soon.

Happy holidays - I'm getting close to narrowing down my avionics shop as I try to bring my M20C up to date. I currently have 2 KX155s feeding a dual VOR setup with one that has a glideslope. I'm second guessing my choice to replace both KXs with modern radios and pull both VORs and replace with a GNX375. The only reason I'm wavering is due to the IFR weather alternate requirements for WAAS equipped aircraft. WIth that in mind I'm reconsidering installing a navigator that will take advantage of the VOR and ILS antenna such as an Avidyne 440 or 540. To help frame this a bit better I'm not necessarily looking to shoot approaches to minimums and really think that non-precision alternate minimums should be sufficient but I wanted another perspective to ensure I'm not being short sighted.

Here's pics of the system including: -breather sleeve that reaches past the whistle hole - the dipstick tube stopper - and the overall set-up Again, it was a reasonably quick project. Cheers, brian

I use one of the KT-G3-A USA 4G GSM variants that has the high amperage relays. Unfortunately due to the low New England Winter temps I can't leave it on all the time and send a text 6 hours before flying. Next I need to configure channel 2 to fire up a ceramic heater to warm the cabin and avionics. I'd prefer some sort of duct like a start cart that feeds through the pilots window. A simple man can only dream...

The answer to the question is: more efficiently than any B, C or P brand aircraft! Seriously--good work and nice write up. I've been looking for pics of these mods, would appreciate any that you have,

Whhaaaattttt? Shows what I know about GA. If the Comanche's tail faced the right way it would be perfect

@tmoI used a stopper from Home Depot for the air injection via the dipstick tube. I brought 3 and returned 2. I believe the one I used was about 1" across the top.I had some 1/4" copper tubing that I "drilled" a hole through the stopper with. On the whistle tube I used the same 1/4" copper tubing and made a sleeve out of some old fuel injected fuel line. The sleeve was about 4" - 6" which covered the whistle vent and allowed the suction side to occur before then. I will take pictures the next time I'm at the hangar. On the external side of the copper line I epoxied 1/8" barbs to the copper tubing to connect to the rest of the system. BTW, I started with an open look system in mind and decided that a closed loop was best* and it didn't require that much more work--maybe 2 - 3 hours in total including thinking & scratching (aka engineering), digging for parts, and epoxy drying. *an open loop system is a losing battle for the silica since the drying capacity of the silica is limited and the open system is working against an unlimited amount of moisture.

I redently built a DIY closed loop dehumidifier based off of the Barker Aircraft design. I modified the concept using two 1 gallon mason jars and a continuous pump. The first jar has kitty litter to catch oil vapors, the second has the silica for drying. Spent $10 on the pump and maybe $15 on the silica. We'll see how it works over time.

Definitely CB. On the bright side it looks like shipping is normally $20 so that's a 1% savings!

You can descend below the MDA/DA to 100 ft above the TDZE provided you have the approach lights in sight. To go below 100 ft above the TDZE you need the other 9 listed visual references.

Following. Have the 2 channel high current version but would like the sensor as well.

I like you gear warning indicator!

Part of my larger end game is cleaning up unused antennas while improving radio performance. I've been looking at combining antennas, eliminating unnecessary ones while trying to be aerodynamic efficient. I didn't see any quantifiable data in the Comant antenna catalog other than "low drag" design. I also found this drag formula which was too much for me at this time in the morning : D=1/2CDρV2A (this was poorly cut and pasted--don't go engineering anything with it!) As a bridge between absolute quantifiable science and subjective assessments. I found a soaring website that has the following data on transponder antennas. Rod style transponder antenna has 0.41 lb @ 250 mph. They then have a note that purports, "Note: The blade style antennas below are more expensive, but they have about 1/5 the drag of this rod and ball antenna." Blade style transponder or DME antenna has 0.09 lbs @ 250 mph. So what the practical impact at the speeds a C model (with the guppy mouth, flap gaps, etc) operates? Probably negligible...but like -a- I'm not a CFI, aero engineer or anything else relevant to this discussion...

Good to know---very interested in the HDX.

My Loran is far back by the dorsal fin. Would that be considered a unobstructed view of the sky suitable for GPS installation?

Damn--well done!

I can only dream of GPS at this point!

Actually they are not that dirty. The paint is plum worn off...

-a- Nothing of consequence in the logs. They are woefully lacking avionics info. Radio info yes, nothing on antennas...

Good words. I haven't got that far and may not. As noted in my first post, I'm contemplating getting out of the KX155 business while I can. But wanted to better understand the current configuration I have on top of the plane for antennas since no two were alike. Thanks for the thoughts,

Curious why my two VHF antennas are different. Is one model better than the other? BTW, as you can imagine they all use RG-58 cable. The reason I ask about the difference is that I get somewhat difference performance from my two radios. I know I need to inspect or replace cabling , antenna connections and the antenna ground planes...

The Comant 109 is a VHF antenna. Would it serve both VHF comms or would I expect there to be an antenna for each VHF radio?