UteM20F

So what did your neighbor decide? It seems like his decision would be a very good data point. Also, is the yaw damper more important with a shorter body or with a longer body?

This is great info, thanks guys. Regarding the cost, we got a quote for the GFC-500 2 years ago when we did the panel, and decided to hold off because of the cost. Bad choice in retrospect! The price is about 6 AMU higher than it was just 2 years ago.

Hi folks, we just got a quote for a GFC-500 to finish up our new Garmin panel in our M20F. We've been without an autopilot since we bought the plane. It had an old S-Tec that was inop and not worth repairing. We've heard that some don't think it is worth the extra cost for the adding the rudder/yaw controls. I really have several related questions: What do the A/P yaw controls add to a plane? BTW, we don't have a rudder trim. Would this be a poor rich-man's rudder trim? Is it only for coordinating A/P turns? Or is it a damper to stop tail wagging? Both? The avionics shop claims that with a mid-body Mooney, we won't be happy without it. Do any of you with a mid-body have the GFC-500 w/o the yaw, and if so, what are your thoughts? Is it worth an extra 5 AMUs (estimate for the servos and labor) to have the yaw controls hooked up? Thanks for your help! Ute

Back to the G100UL drop-in vs. STC discussion, it might work if Congress appropriated a big chunk of money for GAMI, and in exchange GAMI sent a free STC to every airframe/engine in the registry. This would satisfy all the legality issues. Obviously it would all have to be worked out beforehand with the FAA/GAMI, and no, I don't know how they would come up with the amount of of the "big chunk of money". It seems like everybody would win with this approach. Especially if they shut down the taxpayer money-wasting PAFI/EAGLE initiatives at the same time. And if Swift or Lyondell eventually come out with a drop-in capable avgas, they may be able to go the same route.

You'll notice that I was quoting @Ibra when I mentioned the homemade tanker. According to his profile, he's from a small (and beautiful) backwater country in Europe that I visit on occasion. Maybe that is how they refer to small tanker trucks across the pond.

One photo I saw showed a large tanker truck emptying fuel into an underground tank, with the homemade GAMI truck sitting idle behind. So it would seem there is on-site storage, and the little truck is only used to drive to the planes and fill them up.

Some nice freebies for those based at RHV and E16 (Morgan Hill) are coming on Saturday, Nov 2: Free STCs and free IA signoff on the 337. And for those Bay area pilots who fly in on Saturday, they're giving away 25 gallons of G100UL. I'm not seeing many drawbacks with this kind of promotion. https://files.santaclaracounty.gov/exjcpb1466/2024-10/gami-incentive-notification-2024-10-29.pdf?VersionId=3.UKONJ6CIInkNQ4Lhxz3UYY.YfviuJi Ute

https://g100ul.com/news/g100ul-high-octane-unleaded-avgas-at-reid-hillview/ Reportedly, the cost is $6.99/gallon.

On Beechtalk, they are claiming that a semi load of G100UL was shipped to Reid Hillview (RHV) and that it will go on sale today. I hope its true. The aircraft owners out there need this option.

Thanks @Parker_Woodrufffor posting the article. This conversation, in tandem with the difficulty of insuring aging pilots, and with already inflated renewals over the last several years, makes me closer and closer to self-insuring the hull, and just buying liability insurance. It's a simple math exercise of risk vs. reward.

We're on the waiting list for the induction boot special manufacturing run by LASAR. IIRC, the cost is $610. We're expecting the new boot about the end of the year.

I'm jealous! Congratulations!

I for one am excited to try G100UL. Having read all that I can find on it, and watching about every George Braly video on youtube, I actually believe what's he's saying. I am an engineer, and like others here am naturally skeptical about any new shiny object. But, I'm also able to follow the science, and truly believe that a crankcase and oil will be MUCH cleaner without burning TEL. Thus I believe that oil changes and overhauls will become less frequent. And let it be known I generally don't trust 3 letter govt agencies, but the fact that two FAA field offices approved G100UL after each of them went through ALL of the testing criteria, I'll admit to being impressed. And I'm also impressed with the amount of testing that GAMI has done for over a decade, and nobody disputes that they have the best aviation fuel testing rig known to man. I'm impressed that the fuel that has been stored for years works perfectly. I'm impressed with the fungibility of the product, and the materials testing. I'm not concerned with the lack of "standards", knowing how such standards work. I've been involved in standards work with software many times over my career. You can't miss the hatred of GAMI that oozes out of almost everything that PAFI and EAGLE put out in their press releases. I expect that only FBOs in CA and those that operate at fields where there is another provider of fuel will be willing to provide G100UL until they are forced by the all powerful Federal Govt to stop selling 100LL, but when an FBO within a reasonable distance sells G100UL, I'll go out of my way to support them. I understand that G100UL will cost more, but it wouldn't surprise me if the price doesn't drop dramatically when there are multiple producers, distributors, and sellers of the fuel. That's just how competition and free markets are supposed to work. I guess all of this makes me a fan boy. Ute

What are the odds? We hit another small bird last night in the blackness over the desert. This one hit the leading edge and like the last one, didn't cause any damage. We didn't realize we hit it until we were cleaning off the bugs after the flight and there was this area of blood and feathers. We'd already sprayed water on it. We'll still send in the few tiny feathers and hope the Smithsonian can identify it for us. I have just under 600 hours total time, and these are the only birds I've ever hit. And both in 5-6 weeks. Ute

Thanks @0TreeLemur. We submitted the online report and sent the few pieces of feathers that remained to the email at the Smithsonian that the report specified. Today we got an email that they discovered the culprit: a green-tailed towhee (Pipilo chlorurus). It is a large sparrow, weighing about 29 grams. Truly a duck would have caused significant damage. Ute