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I learned my most useful life skills and lessons in shop classes. Without them, I wouldn't be who or where I am today.

I don't have any input on what may have caused that but, I do have a question for you. What airport did you fly into to go to Glacier? I love it up there and my wife has never been. It's one of the first places I'd like to take her when I get my private and instrument ratings.

I appreciate this input. That 8 knots makes a big difference, for me anyway. The biggest issue I have is that the plane does not want to both slow down and descend at the same time and, as you alluded, you have to pull power a lot sooner than you do in a lot of others. Once I get my airspeed dialed in and the descent actually starts, I'm usually in pretty good shape. I use the gear to help slow me down, like speed brakes, they're the first part of my setup in the pattern and I sometimes drop them before entering downwind just to help me slow down when I'm not doing pattern work. I'm sure with more time, I'll get better at managing the airspeed, these things are just so dang slick that it requires some effort to get them slowed down. My actual touchdowns have been pretty good, I think that part of the Mooney landing is actually easier than the trainers in a lot of ways (as long as your speed is right), it's just getting airspeed and descent dialed in for final that is giving me some fits right now, especially if flying laps. I've been shooting for 90 on downwind, 85 on base, 80 on final and 75 once the runway is assured. This usually means throttle to 1500 at the 1,000' marks on downwind and then usually going almost to idle almost as soon as I turn final. I try to trim up on final, especially after introducing the last of the flaps, both to help with the airspeed and to make the flare less dramatic and reduce the chance of ballooning. I'm just a lowly 50 hour student with a hair over 30 hours in my C though, so I'm constantly reading and trying to learn from others, as well as trying different things when I'm not getting the results I want. I'm always open to more helpful suggestions from those of you that have more experience with this than I do, which is almost everyone here.

I bought my C to finish my PPL in, nobody would even quote insurance for me while still a student. They all said they will not cover a student pilot in a retract, end of discussion, thanks for calling. I could afford to pay cash and self-insure, so that's what I did and am doing. I've got 30 hours in it so far (16 of them being a trip from Tx to Ga and back last week) and I don't regret the decision at all, I absolutely love this bird. There is a lot to manage in the pattern when you're practicing landings and pounding them out one after another, especially since this plane is so much faster than a trainer, so I'm extending downwind to slow things down and not feel rushed. Other than that, I haven't really felt that it was that much more work than the Cherokee I was flying before and again, in the pattern the thing that's really increasing the workload is the speed of the plane, find a way to slow things down and it gets easier. I say do it if you can, I think you'll be glad you did in the long run.

Stopped for fuel at KMEI heading home and they parked me here. Sent from my Pixel 6a using Tapatalk

Mine has a habit of doing that also. Hopefully we'll get some ideas to fix it. Sent from my Pixel 6a using Tapatalk

That’s my CFI/ CFII. I rag on him about it all the time…lol

They’re in there, they just make it really difficult to reach across the cockpit to get to the AP or shade the fuel flow meter so I can read it in the sun so, they tend to get removed in cruise. The lap belt stays on, shoulder belt hooks to it independently and is used in taxi, takeoff, landing or turbulence.

When you’re in the front looking into the cockpit, like the camera is, the door is on the left.

Not right how?

My CFI, his GF and I took the 63 C from KERV to 3J7, with a stop at KAEX for fuel and a bathroom break. Headwinds we're absolute murder, they dropped cruise from 160-165MPH down to 110-120MPH but, it still beat a Cessna...lol Just a few pics from the trip, sunrise (we left at 5AM), a couple in La and a neat 2400' grass strip on an island in a river somewhere in Al (I think). I really wanted to land on that island but, with 3 people, luggage and 200# of fuel still on board, I wasn't sure we could get back off of it. We originally planned to land around 1:30 but didn't make it until 3:00, the wind forecast really deteriorated for us overnight. Heading back on Friday, wind forecast looks a lot more favorable, I hope it holds. It was really nice being able to fly to an airport 15 miles from my destination instead of going into ATL and making a 1.5 hour drive, after dealing with TSA and all the other fun stuff involved in commercial air travel. I don't think I'm ever going to go commercial again, at least not if I can avoid it. Sent from my Pixel 6a using Tapatalk

I'm not an expert on this but, I've been doing quite a bit of research on Dynon recently and what I've come to is that the GPSS is not going to come from the Dynon at all. In your case, it would be the GPS providing info to the GI275 which would then feed GPSS info to the AP. The Dynon SkyView HDX GPS is only suitable for VFR so you'll have to have an IFR GPS if you intend to use it in IMC. At least, that's how I understand it, I could be off base though. I hope I am and someone will give us both a better answer. I've been considering an HDX with a GPS 175 and a G5 to drive my STEC, the problem is that the G5 STC requires it be primary unless it's backup to another Garmin product so I'm not really sure what my solution is. Plus, no matter what, Dynon requires the D10A as a backup AI. Sent from my Pixel 6a using Tapatalk

This is what I have in mine, I think it was something built by whoever originally installed it.

I've actually already got a Garmin 175 that's going to replace it, I just need to get everything else nailed down and scheduled with the avionics guy. I made it back to the plane this afternoon and put it back in with the same result as before so I'm going to pull the avionics access panel off and connect pins 21 and 33 so that I've got a GPS to use for the next month or so and then I'll drop it off to get everything upgraded. I just want to make sure the avionics guy has all the parts in hand before we open anything up so he can get it turned around fairly quickly.

It won't power up, 30 years is a good run... Sent from my Pixel 6a using Tapatalk

Grounding Pin 33 isn't working but connecting 21 to 33 does so, I'm guessing there's something wrong with this unit. I'm going to try it in the plane one more time just to be sure and if it still doesn't work with the switch, I'll pull the avionics cover panel off and connect 21 to 33 until I can get the Garmin 175 installed. I guess if I do that it'll mean I can't fly RNAV for now. Sent from my Pixel 6a using Tapatalk

Maybe this is my answer, I'm going to try applying ground and see what it does. I'll let you guys know if the magic smoke escapes or not. I'm just posting this as I work through in case someone else needs help with a 30 year old GPS later...lol

Thanks, I somehow missed that in the Pilot's manual. So it looks like Pin 33 is what switches modes, the question is how is it switched? I would bet that a voltage signal is sent to the pin to toggle between the 2 or, one mode is + and the other is -, I just don't know what the voltage or values should be and I'm afraid to experiment with it and releasing the magic smoke...

What manual did you find this in? I wasn't able to find the error in either the Pilot's manual or the Installation manual. There actually is a switch on the annunciator panel in the plane and it was doing the same thing there. I tried that switch in both positions with no luck on either one. I did pull some breakers when I was messing with it to prevent running the battery down so I'm wondering now if maybe I inadvertently pulled one that needed to be on. I'll try it again in the morning with everything on like normal and see if it makes a difference. If not, I guess I'll try a factor reset and see if that helps. I tried resetting it on teh bench but evidently, it needs a GPS signal to perform one and I don't have an antenna here to hook up to it, unfortunately.

I came across this KLN90B to use in place of my dead one until I can schedule the GPS175 install. Unfortunately though, it bolts up and allows me to set the altimeter then goes to this screen and I can't seem to get it to go away. Nothing I touch, push or turn gets any response. Does anyone have any ideas? Sent from my Pixel 6a using Tapatalk

That's absolutely tragic. I do have to say though, mad respect to the pilot for managing to land a plane while having a heart attack.

The SAM is also mine, it isn't a new failure though, it was like that when I bought and had been for a while before I got it. It still controls the AP as it should, you just can't read the display unless you hold your head at exactly the right angle and say the magic words. Replacing it is more of a want than a need.

Exactly. I was flying a 172 where I would consider the rudders more steering guidance on the ground than actual steering. Compared to that, the Mooney is VERY sensitive. I think he said he was flying a tailwheel so, it's going to be a HUGE difference.

Ours is the CTAF frequency so at least you have to know something about aviation to get in. Sent from my Pixel 6a using Tapatalk

I find with my C that the rudders are pretty responsive on the ground. I typically just need to put a little right rudder in to go in a straight line, especially on takeoff or landing rollout. If I start veering to the right, I just ease the pressure off the right rudder and it straightens itself out. It just takes small corrections to get it going the right way, there's not a lot of slop in it so don't overreact.