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Another update. At annual (with a 3rd shop A&P/IA), brake fluid was discovered to not have been fully flushed, was way overdue for a change. Fluid was described as gummy. Master cylinder needs to be rebuilt. Ended up with 3rd shop as plane was in for avionics refit when annual expired. Good thing too as it looks like they found the problem. If it comes back working well then I likely found the problem. I thought it had been flushed, but maybe not. Need to double check the logbooks.

I like to be proactive in understanding issues. Agree the magnetometer calibration and database mismatches are easily solved issues by the installer. Just trying to get educated on what the RS-232 issue could be. The navigator was powered on and everything else appeared to be working. I could even see HSI input on G3X from the navigator. Probably just misconfiguration like you say. I'll check with the installer after the annual is complete.

See attached photo

Does anyone have any experience with the RS-232 issue I am seeing? Is that likely to be fixed by a DB upgrade or is this a missing / broken physical connection. I had understood that RS-232 is a backup bus for the IFR GPS to talk to the G3X.

New Magneto to arrive Monday. Finger crossed.

That's a good idea getting a passenger involved. I can't wait to try it. Just waiting for a new dual magneto... Any day now.

There are a couple items I switch around on the checkmate checklists and lots of different opinions on when to do things. IIRC checkmate checklists have you open cowlflaps immediately prior to shutting down. But I have to close them before securing anyway. So I just close the cowl flaps before shutting down

Thanks! PM sent

This is a great idea. I think I’ll try it.

Nice. Are there any checklist files you could share or anyone that has them? Trying to short circuit what will likely be a day of fiddling / installing them on the G3X.

That's kind of cool. How quickly does it run through the checklist items?

You are right, the pre-flight would be mostly not in front of the instrument panel. But all of the other checklists are. Runup, Before Takeoff, Climb, Cruise, Descent, Before Landing, After Landing, Shutdown. The in flight ones are relatively simple to memorize, I'll give you that also. I usually don't use a written checklist in the air as flying and fumbling a piece of paper doesn't usually result in very good flying, but perhaps with an AP + integration with G3X this becomes a lot easier / more manageable. I did appreciate the checklist in the G1000 the one time I used it. Emergency procedures could be useful as well to have, especially if I can get the checklist to auto popup on engine out. I also saw an example of someone putting performance data into a checklist (you can make notes / display plain text). Could be interesting to have a cruise schedule listed (I know many people fly square, but optimal values in my POH aren't precisely square and of course vary with altitude).

Question for the group. I see G3X supports checklists, but I could not find any for Mooney. It looks like you can create them with a tool. I was planning to copy the checklist from the POH or checkmate checklist and load it to the G3X Touch with that tool. I searched but was surprised to not find anything.

Unfortunately this is more like sitting inside of a gas can at this point. They are going to look at it. Seems to be worse after the fuel senders were replaced, hopefully that's all it is and the avionics shop can take care of it quickly.

Good to know about #1. Love #2, I'll get a few different colors once she's running again.

I also noticed fuel smell in the cockpit. I believe this is an old issue, but it was pretty strong this time. Also noticed some dampness in right rear passenger footwell. Seems like I have a leak. The odd thing is I had a canopy cover over it covering the door, baggage door, and antennas. So I wonder where it would have leaked.

Saw the install today, looks pretty good. A couple issues I noticed. 1. While the CDI did read from the GNX 375, the flightplan did not crossfill 2. Getting an RS-232 error. 3. Magnetometer was not calibrated (perhaps that is something happens while flying) Guessing 1 and 2 could be related and because of the database mismatch between the units. Everything else looked good so far. Ultimate test will be when I get to fly it. Hopefully in a couple weeks. Love the LEMO even just sitting on the ground. No need to turn the controller for the Bose headset on and off. One less thing to worry about and 100% worth it. I believe that part was Only ~.5AMU for 2 plugs. Can't beat that. I agree about the circuit breaker switches. They are much less affirmative in their engagement than the toggles I have used in the past. Too late on that one, I'll make a mental note for another airplane. These are going to be more than fine.

Thanks. I'm so close, just a little more waiting

Avionics are done. I am planning to drive up to see it Monday. Why see it and not pick it up or test fly it? AP had sent my dual mag out for overhaul, mine was 18 years and 600 hours since last overhaul (one of many items not identified on the pre-buy). The overhauled mag is apparently bad, the engine wouldn't start reliably after install. This is alarming by itself, aren't these kinds of critical parts supposed to be thoroughly tested before being sent out to customers? I guess I thought that was a portion of the premium of these parts. On top of that the annual is expired due to all of the delays over the last year, and the IA is going to give it an annual next (another compounding effect of the prior delays). Welcome to another 2-3 week delay. I dare not figure out my cost per hour this year given all of the down time . My welcome to aircraft ownership has been dragging on for almost a year now . It's a long story, this was fortunately not the annual from hell, but a series of unfortunate events. Admittedly some of these were self-inflicted. Starting with an overhauled engine, mechanic that sold his business suddenly, new prop, overhauled oil cooler, overhauled prop governor, and all of these things identified IN SEQUENCE instead of up front. That plus a few modifications I asked for on the panel upgrade (new switches primarily), and several items the shop forgot about from the last quote and resulted in a hell of a lot of delays. I was supposed to fly it for ~6 months before putting the new panel in, but ended up just having it available for 1 month. I really really hope I am close to the end on this one. I just want to fly it, lol. Everything is new, just work. Starting to think I need to stop swapping parts out . Oh yeah... Never buy an airplane that has been sitting for 18 months. It's ALWAYS worse than you think. The thing that keeps me going is the thought that this will be one hell of a machine when I am done, and a worthy tribute to the late prior owner.

Everything powered up.

I actually wanted to replace all 3 of those switches with a toggle. But the shop didn’t want to change out the master and alt field switches. They were concerned about liability should something happen. They had a concern about those switches being mentioned in the POH and it being a problem if the POH didn't match the cockpit. I like the toggles because it’s easy to see if they are on or off at a glance, and they engage very affirmatively. I believe the Cessna master switch is the same size should I need to swap that out in the future. Agree having avionics master a different switch type makes it less likely to turn off accidentally, but the toggles are easier to catch your fingers on. Location is a big factor in that also. In one of the 172s I trained in, the avionics master is next to the trim (it’s a toggle also). Ask me how many times my finger hit that one off while reaching for the trim. Every time I hadn’t flown that one in a while it would happen at least once. I won’t have that problem at least. Loving the way this is turning out. I can’t wait to fly it!

More progress. Coming together quickly now.

Some of the new switches I got are circuit breaker switches. Now I know why.

Looking more there are definitely a few differences. I don't have breakers for Nav lights Recog lights Strobe lights Boost Pump Pitot heat AV Master Nav 2 The airplane's original panel didn't either. Perhaps some of these are handled with circuit breaker switches.

Interesting. Looks like your config differs from mine with a JPI for instance. Maybe some of mine are consolidated for those kinds of reasons.