GMBrown

Just in case chasing the grounds doesn't help, I had a similar experience with my Garmin 530. Just as I approached the airport I couldn't communicate with the tower. I could hear them, but they couldn't hear me. It happened on a couple longer flights. It turns out that the 530 was over heating. A dedicated air hose to the back of the 530 had fallen away from the radio. I hooked it back up and that solved the problem.

Ed at https://www.kx-155.com may be making new displays for the 155. You can reach him at email at "ED@KX-155.com" or at the phone numbers on his website. If the 165 uses the same display, you might find what you're looking for with Ed. I bought a like new 155 from him. works great.

I have used CAVU at RAL for several things. And always had a good experience at a fair price.

Foothill Aircraft on cable is a MSC. Haven't used them so I have no opinion. I use Maintenance One on RAL. Not a MSC but they service my K, and before I bought the K, they maintained my C. Good guys.

The other shop we looked at was in Texas, don't remember the name off hand, and they wanted $25K for the basic IRAN and it went up from there. The Visalia shop, LyCon was half that and very easy to work with. And they'll come get the engine. :)

Tim's was my first thought and my mechanic's first call. They are going out of business and aren't accepting any more engines. Talked to LyCon and they sound great and reasonable. My mechanic also has heard good thing about them. Only apparent down-side is the projected 8 month time frame. Oh well.

Corona Engines is close by but they aren't answering their phones or emails so not sure they're still around. I'll check out Ly-con in Visalia. Thanks for the suggestions.

Looking for recommendations for an engine shop for an IRAN. I'm in SoCal but will go where I need to. I'm coming up empty so far.

For your KFC 200 nightmare to end, contact Bevan. (Jake@BevanAviation)

My 67 Camero has a diaphragm driven by a rod that ran off a cam on the crankshaft. (327 CI V8)

My K (1980) has a CG of 44. From the factory was 43. The moment for your plane appears to be incorrect. It should be in the vicinity of 89,000. My from the factory moment was 89,337. So I question his nose figure of -9420. If the moment was actually positive (i.e. +9420), then the cg would be 37518 + 35550 + 9420 = 82488. Which would make an empty weight CG of 42.8. Well within the envelope. Looks like a typo in the Nose Arm. It should be plus 15, not negative. Just conjecture but it would make the numbers fit the factory specs.

I didn't see that you had the intercooler, so yes, you're max MP would typically be in the 36"-37" range. I haven't seen the 38" figure before but if your POH says your max MP is 38", then I would run with that.

Not the expert, but as a K owner without the Intercooler or Merlyn (but soon to have the Merlyn installed) it is my understanding that the reduction to 36" for recommended max MP is for the intercooler only and there is no reason to reduce to 36" with the Merlyn only. If you don't have the intercooler and you're running with 36" at take off, you are discarding 4 inches of MP that you could be using.

If you want O2 training on the west coast, Edwards AFB installed a new high altitude chamber in 2017 (Bldg 1250) and it is available for civilians. Contact the training center at 661-277-3958/3978 for details/scheduling.

I had that happen twice. As I approached the field after an hour's flight at night, I lost my primary radio (GNS 530). That gets your attention. The tower could not hear me, but I could hear them fine. Switched to secondary radio, an old King that I had refurbished, and landed no problem. Once on the ground, the tower could hear me fine. Turns out the 530 didnt have any fan connected to the fan port on the back. I had the fan hooked up and it hasn't happened again. My avionics guy thinks the radio got too hot.

just gotta ask... Are the rigging boards the same across the models? Are the K boards the same as the C boards, for example?

The M20K 231 boards are different than the C boards, correct? I have C boards you could use if they are the same ones usable for the K.

I've been up in the tower at RAL twice over the last couple years. Just wanted to talk about some things and they seem to appreciate that I took the time to come up and talk to them. Good guys.

Aaron- Is the top of the fuel in your tank, when full, below or above the flap? I f above, how far? To the wing??? I also have 36 per side, but am loath to fill above too far above the flap.

The POH and TCM specify a minimum oil level of 5 quarts for the K. I let the oil level get to 6 then add a qt. I get better than 10 hours per qt and measure the oil at least 2-3 days after the flight, otherwise, per above discussion, you will end up putting more oil in the plane than you want.

If not sold, I would be interested in the CDT/TIT, RPM and MP gauges.

My K

A few more tips: - When you fly over the mountains at 2000 feet or better, cross ridges at a 45 degree angle if possible. this allows a shorter way out if there are adverse winds on the other side of the ridge. - by all means take the lower ground to pass over, but stay above 2000 feet above the surrounding terrain since winds will still be present and lower ground will have more, focused, stronger winds. - stay well away from lenticular clouds since they indicate strong winds above the terrain. - Be aware that in windy conditions, not only lenticular winds are a threat, but that the wind sets up waves that can affect you in clear air, miles downwind as the wind undulate on their way. - as you cross the mountains be sensitive to what is happening on the other side of the ridge. Is the granite on the other side of the ridge growing (you are staying above the terrain) or is the other side getting smaller (you're sinking in respect to altitude.) - When flying up slope terrain, don't fly beyond the "point of no return". I.e. the point beyond which, if the engine power is off, the plane can still turn around, - corollary of the last point, always enter canyons on one side, not the middle. This gives you more room to turn, and never fly so far up a canyon that you don't have enough room to turn back and escape down slope. If you can find a copy of Sparky Imeson's excellent book "Mountain Flying Bible and Flight Operations Handbook" you will have the best source of info out there.

Flight Aware has a flight for N30EV from SAF to a point "near" Peoria this morning. It lasted almost 5 hours at approximately 15,000 feet and total flight miles was indicated to be 967 miles. That's a long haul for a K. The track looks normal until the last portion of flight when ADSB data shows substantial fluctuation in airspeed as it descended. Fuel and/or Carbon Monoxide come immediately to mind. There was also some cumulus buildup and potentially T-Storm weather just north of the area. Maybe sometime in 2023 we'll know what happened. Beautiful plane. Sad.

Send it to Bevans in Kansas. 316-946-4870.