mooniac58

Craig, I did see your nice Mooney parked in Oshkosh, was hoping to meet you. Your plane and panel is certainly a model for all of us aspire to. I will stay with Garmin mainly cause it's paid for. As I progress through my learning curve, I'm sure there will be many things I will change if I do this again. I did choose the MVP-50 primarily because I got better service, and I did ask for the remote display sadly EI don't have it. I will be attempting to move my MVP-50 to the center stack or to the left of the G500. I will also add a Glideslope indicator if possible, more for my own comfort level than any thing else plus I will have a back up nav if the 500 ever goes black. Ah, I saw the EDM930 in your mock up so I assumed that was what you were using. I agree on the service with JPI - I hear nothing but bad things about them. Luckily I have not had to work with them so far, so I cannot personally back this up. My shop installs far more EI MVP-50's for this very reason though. I got your business card in my tent at OSH and called it a few times at the show - I think I left a voicemail too. Perhaps next year or at another fly-in! I was getting close to replacing my GNS430W with a GTN650 but you know - I have played with the one at my shop and while it looks great - it is oddly lagging - like you go to type in a bunch of letters quickly and it gets laggy and backed up - like it has either too weak of a CPU or perhaps the code is not as efficient as it could be (hopefully this is the case since it would be easier to patch the software!). Then when I saw the Connected Panel stuff at OSH I am now leaning towards the KSN770 beacuse it will be amazing to hit one button in ForeFlight and have my entire flight plan beamed into my panel - drool

There is actually 2 hours (conservatively) of battery backup (required by the FAA to be my backups). The PFD has a 30 minute battery built in (as all Aspen tubes do) and the MFD has a 90 minute battery blind mounted in the panel. I actually had a regulator failure just after takeoff (cough, cough) VFR on a 1.5 hour flight and went to backup batteries - I got 55 minutes from the PFD and after 45 minutes my MFD showed 88% capacity on the large battery. Talking to Peter Lyons the FAA requires them to test the batteries in the most extreme of temperatures which is why the estimates are so low. However, despite all this a second alternator would still be added peace of mind in a 100% electrical ship. I don't think I can do it anyways - but it is surely one of the appealing things in a 252.

Also remember you will get a remote display with the EDM930 that you place above your glass screens. This will give you your MP and RPM during normal times and alert you to anything outside the norm if that should happen. You can see this in the picture attached. It seems you have your heart set on Garmin - but do consider that with Aspen you could do away with all your backup instruments (only the external AI is required) - this allows you to get that engine computer into your primary left side pilot panel.

I am installing a Lycoming factory reman in my M20J model next month. I decided to go for the two single mags to replace my A3B6D engine with the single mag housing. The "dual" mag label is confusing though and some people think this means it has two separate mags & housings and others think you mean the all-in-one housing with a single shaft. I had to pay a $3800 fee for a "dissimilar core" from Lycoming - they would not budge on this at all - and we fought them forever. The really unnerving thing is the "D" core is considered more valuable (new engine price is more)...so there is no logic in this other than Lycoming sees an opportunity to gauge you and takes it. I really want the extra redundancy of a second mag with all of its own parts. I agree that in some ways this increases the odds of failure (like more cylinders or more engines) - however what happens when you have the failure is very different. With the "D" engine your engine is going to quit - with the separate mags you will be running with 50% of your spark plugs out. For this same reason I would like a second alternator - especially with an all-glass no-vacuum system ;-)

This is possible, but currently I don't have that kind of accurate data on the users. So step 1 would be to somehow force everyone to select a city/state/country the next time they login, etc.

I will look into it. One thing that I see happening is people doing a copy/paste from other web pages, this can break the entire site if incomplete or incompatible HTML are in your post.

I can tell you that Aspen has taken a huge chunk out of Garmins plans for the G500. My local shop has installed 52 Aspen displays and 2 G500/G600 systems. Now we are also in the backyard of Aspen down in ABQ, which likely plays influence - but I think most customers sit the two products side by side and realize they can have more features, more reliability, more flexibility, more safety/redundancy and better operating costs with an Aspen flight deck. I got a chance recently to play with Aspen SVT and it is very cool and innovative. One of the things I liked best is it will allow me to pull up a pure SVT view on one of my many MFD panels. This will allow you to keep a clean AI/HSI on your PFD and still have a "view outside" on your MFD - no one else has done this in the glass panel world yet. Of course you can still have the SVT appear behind your AI/HSI ala Garmin style, but I like the more robust choices Aspen gives you. This is one of the cool things about an Aspen 2500 (3 screen) setup is you will look at one pilot to the next and because the sky is the limit with configuration you will find that each pilot sets up their screen layout to fit their unique flying style or their particular mission. With the G500 you have the AI/HSI on your PFD and they you can have one thing on your MFD...if you want an approach plate up then you just lost your map overlay, or your weather, etc. I generally fly in these configs: VFR/CRUISE: - PFD (AI/HSI) - MFD1 (Traffic (upper left panel), Terrain (upper right panel), Heading up VFR color map at 25 mile zoom (lower panel) - MFD2 (XM Weather reports or dark IFR map in North-up config @ 150 mile zoom) IFR/APPROACH: - PFD (AI/HSI) - MFD1 (Traffic (upper left panel), Terrain (upper right panel), Heading up IFR dark map at 25 mile zoom (lower panel) - MFD2 (Geo ref approach plate) You just cannot get the situational awareness with a G500 that the above configurations provide. About a month ago I had to shoot a VOR circling approach into KSAF with 5/8 visibility in smoke - using the IFR approach configuration above. The level of situational awareness I had was incredible. There is something extra reassuring about seeing your aircraft right over the plate as well as following the magenta course lines on the top down vector map. Allsmiles you mentioned G500 has "bigger screens" that is not actually true, they are just wider, square inches is about the same as the Aspens are longer and thinner. Another valid point is the HSI on the Aspens is actually larger than Garmins. Lastly with Aspen you can have 3 screens (as I do) for about the same price installed as two G500 screens - which gives you whole mess more screen space and display options. Garmin builds great stuff. I think the G500/600 is nice, but in my opinion it just does not stack up next to what the Aspen units are able to deliver at the same pricepoint. I really like their 750/650 GTN models and will likely upgrade my radio stack to this one day as well (at least a 650 in place of my 430 for sure).

I think if Obama gets his way it will take another downturn. He is trying hard to do away with the tax incentives on businesses purchasing aircraft - which is probably the only thing that kept GA aircraft companies from going under during the recession. Obama is using the "we hate rich guys, their corporations and their jets" mantra to drum up support with the American "sheeple" when the truth is it was also a huge push to get little businesses to step out and buy Cirrus, Mooney, Beech, Piper, etc. AOPA covered it recently here: http://www.aopa.org/advocacy/articles/2011/110629obama_vilifies_aircraft_praises_ga_manufacturers.html

I added a bunch of weight actually and I am not 100% sure this is not just the scales being off at the shop (or the last scales I was weighed on being off). According to my shop I gained 50lbs, which makes no sense to me. The vaccuum system was removed, the old ADF antanae was removed, the Aspen screens are very light and replaced 6 steam gauges, the panel is essentially the same. We added the Stec-55 autopilot and its servos, we added the TAS-600 Avidyne traffic system and the XM Weather module in the tail, but it would be hard to imagine all the weight came from just that. At some point down the road I plan on doing another weigh in to see if I get a different result. Basically my aircraft now weights about 100lbs more than it did when it left the factory. That seems hard to believe with a panel that clean. Plus I have upgrade to the Plane Power lightweight alternator and Skytech lightweight starter. Go figure!

I did. In fact, before I went to my shop I was 100% sold on having a G500. Once you start looking at the two there is no comparison in my opinion. Let me give you the hit list I came up with: - Aspen with a PFD/MFD (2 screens) is completely redundent. Each display has its own ADHARS unit (this is the brain of your glass system that knows your pitch, roll, wind computer, etc, etc). If your PFD ADHARS or anything in that system fails you just press the REV button and your are back online in a fully isolated system. With a G500 if your ADHARS unit dies your whole glass panel just died. - Due to the above item, you can remove the vaccuum from your aircraft if your aircraft type certificate allows for this (Mooney does). - With Aspen you only need a backup AI (no altimter or airspeed required). In my case, this was the only reason I could move my engine computer into the left pilots panel. - Aspen lets you do a lot more at the same time. Each screen can split into 1, 2 or 3 panels letting you set each one to what you want. G500 requires you to look at one thing at a time. With a full 3 screen system I have be looking at 8 things at once if I choose to. With G500 3 is the max. - Battery backups. The Aspens each have 30 minute battery backups (that really last about 50 minutes in my experience) plus I have the optional 2 hour battery on my MFD. - GPS Backup - in the event of a primary GPS failure (ie your 530 or 430) your Aspen has a built in GPS that will take over so you can complete your flight without a hitch. This saves you a lot of $$ if you would normally have two GPS units to cover this kind of failure - Costs of add ons and upgrades. Aspen does not charge you an arm and leg for everything. Geo approach plates are 1/3 the cost of Garmin, SVT is $3000 compared to $5000, and most updates Aspen offers are free of charge. XM weather was about half the cost of the Garmin solution. - Great company. Aspen support is second to no one. If you have a problem with your unit a new one is on your shops front door the next morning, no problem. - Data handling. If your G500 geo plates expire (you failed to update them in their 28 day cycle) you will not be able to load them. With Aspens, you can still use them but get a warning they are expired. The only two things I could find better on the G500 when I looked at the two side by side was: - XM Radio - the Garmin XM receiver and G500 will let you play XM radio stations into your audio panel - Aestetics. I really do like the look of the two wider (but shorter) screens. However, now that I have the 3 Aspen screens I like it much better overall, and I have much more power and flexibility than I would ever have with a G500. Also note that while the G500 seems cheaper than three Aspen screens (the Evolution 2500 package) - at the end of the day you will come out about even. This is because the G500 is a very labor intensive install (about 100-120 hours in a Mooney). Aspens are significantly less, especially if you forgo the panel re-cut and just drop them in your old 6-pack holes.

After you logout and back in let me know if this happens again. It might require each person seeing this to logout/in in order to clear the old cookies from your browser that are likely the problem. Thanks!

Thanks for the post dmevans! I never really thought of that angle and I guess I don't have to with a non-turbo bird...but seems valid enough! When the day finally comes that I have the resources/articles section done we might all benefit if you prepared a feature outlining things from the persective of a ATC and Mooney pilot.

I am thinking that perhaps another horn shares the breaker with the stall horn. In my aircraft (87J) the wiring harness is shared for the gear/stall horns - and I don't have a breaker for the gear horn, so my guess would be they might share this breaker? Unfortunately I cannot easily test this theory in my aircraft on the ground, otherwise I would run down to my hangar to check this for you.

I am looking into both issues now. The iPad is a little trickier...the ipad browser is not very feature rich and hence does not allow for things like the fancy editor we use for posting. I will likely just have to swap in a textbox for plaintext only.

Hey guys, I have done a bit of work on the site today trying to help the problem of people getting logged in as other users. I have made a few changes and added some diagnostics routines. For now I just need people to report to me when they see themselves logged in as someone else. Please email me directly at admin@mmorpg.com if you see this. Thank you! Craig

Me too docket! Along with a nasty letter! It's kind of like a thief robbing you naked and shipping you back one of your socks as an apology

Yep, again the guy that originally programmed this forum was pretty short sighted. He used a "small integer" datatype to reference post and topic IDs. Small integers have a 2 byte data limit and once a number goes over ~32,000 it will blow up. Apparently the original programmer thought that no forum using this system would ever have more than 32,000 posts So it worked fine until our post count went over this limit. This was not specific to you - everyone was seeing it.