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Paul Beck at WeepNoMore says he located some and will send me a pair. You may want to email him since he said he had six (I got the first two). Eric

Quote: JimR

One of you guys or girls in the know may have an idea where I can get the rubber strap with two holes that holds the fuel cap to the tank neck. Mine turned hard and the ends have cracked. I figure that an MSC may have it but I was hoping to click and buy it on the web somewhere. Anyone have an idea?

I was surprised that Avidyne could make them pin and rack compatible with Garmin because I assumed that they had some patent/trademark protection on that configuration. Perhaps a rack is not protectible. In any event, if the unit is good they have a great strategy -- an upgrade is always a lot more fun when it just slides in.

Lets now talk about the debt ceiling.

The only good thing about the involuntary chaperone is that the kid was a nice kid and really got a thrill by getting to fly first class since I am certain his family situation would not accomodate that under any circumstance. Even though Paul did great with the paint I am still likely repainting the bird in the next year or so. I just need a little break since I have just dropped this last bucket of money on the plane. Funny thing, for me, is that I will probably just paint it white again but your plane sure looks good.

There was virtually no damage and Paul did touch up the screw heads and seams when he finished.

Back to the real point behind the post, here are a few pictures of Paul's good work.

Ok, I am usually a rah rah SWA guy since I live in Texas but you guys gotta hear this because it may be a sign that SWA is losing its luster: My flight 1401 was from HOU to DEN to MSP departing at 6:20 p.m. on Saturday night and I went SWA because I have a ton of frequent flier miles. Although the flight was on time we were held on the ground in HOU for other connecting passengers for almost 50 minutes. I asked if we would make the DEN to MSP leg because it was a close connection. I told them quite clearly that I would just get off and fly up the next day if there was an issue. The SWA gate agent came aboard and said no problem, they will hold the DEN to MSP plane because it was the last flight. Well with the benefit of a heavy hand on the throttles and perhaps favorable winds we landed in DEN 3 minutes before the DEN to MSP was scheduled to depart. I was the first one off the plane and I went to the gate and arrived exactly at the scheduled departure time. As I walked up they were pulling the jetway back and, you guessed it, they would not return the jetway or allow us to board the plane. I can't imagine that a rule exists from the FAA preventing them from returning the jetway but maybe someone smarter than me knows. In any event, here was the worst part, there was an unescorted 10 year old kid on the connection who got dumped off with me. Believe it or not the gate agent asked me to chaperone this kid for the night since the next SWA flight didn't leave until 11:55 the next day and they had no person available to watch the kid. Well, I called the kids parents and asked them whether they wanted me (a total stranger) to watch their kid for the night and I got appointed. I thought that it was bizarre that SWA would ask me to watch a strange kiddo but I agreed -- I could not believe that they were going to release this kid to me. The situation then got worse because I noticed on the monitor that there was a Frontier flight to MSP still sitting at the gate (albeit in a different terminal). I asked SWA gate agent to try and call Frontier and see if they could get me (now us) on the Frontier flight. The SWA agent said that she was not allowed to call other airlines but I could do it myself. I learned, but was not surprised, that a reservation agent has no ability to get in touch with the gate agent to see if they could hold the flight while we switched terminals -- I gave up. Bad customer service is one thing -- this was bizarre. As I was facing my prospects for the evening, I asked SWA if, at least, they would put us on the Delta flight first thing in the morning so I could get on to MSP. I know that SWA can issue credits for other airline travel but they wouldn't even discuss it. We didn't even get a travel voucher on SWA for this hassle. In the end, I didn't want to wait until 11:55 the next day for the SWA flight so I bought two full fare tickets for my new 10 year old friend and I -- he likes flying First Class. I can promise you one thing, the 10 year old kid will remember this trip for a long time. I gave this same story to SWA through their website -- I will post whatever they respond.

Dave, look away from the light and you will be fine, just don't touch one because Garmin must coat the screen with gottahavit.

Ok, except for the traffic ticket, Southwest Airlines screwing up my connecting flight, and a $300 dollar limo ride for the return (that was my choice after the damed traffic ticket) the Weep No More deal was awesome. I picked the plane up today and it was clean, the plane didn't smell like fuel, and my paint looked fine. Paul Beck was a great person to deal with and he finished the plane exactly when he said that he would. Paul even painted the screw heads back so that it doesn't look like we have even been in there. I have my fingers crossed that the seal job holds for a long time but my sense is that it will without the crossed fingers. And, Paul tells me that there is no need to cross my fingers. I can say that in the 1100 mile crossing today that there are no blue streaks anywhere and my fuel gauges now appear to work. It is a pleasure to deal with a company that accomplishes what it promised even if it is in the middle of nowhere (no offense intended to those of you not from Texas). If anyone wants the inside info on going there please give me a call. I do know the driver to hire and which connections not to try -- boycot if at all possible the people at SWA. Seriously, I think it was money, lots of it, well spent since I hope to no longer worry about a stinky cabin.

I like the 750/650 units and I now have 10 hours behind them having flow the Eagle from Houston to Wilmar and back. My only thing negative is that I still like entering the frequencies when ATC calls it through the round knobs. If I didn't have to put the "1" in on the keypad I would like it better but in my opinion the round knobs rule. Notwithstanding that the 750/650 is a big improvement. I really like the ability to learn about the airport that I am landing in a common sense way and just by touching the screen I cna find out all the detail about the airspace.

I haven't bought a plane from Jimmy but I have, on occasion, talked with him about selling my Eagle. I am not a seller yet but based upon what I have heard he is the guy. My decision to sell coordinates every time I add another gizmo just to confirm how much money I am losing with these panel upgrades. Allsmiles is entitled to his opinion for sure but everything that I have seen suggests that his experience is not representative.

I say let's put together an owner's syndicate and buy the parts business -- the Commander guys did it (albeit it was a failure but their ownership was smaller). I'd be curious just to see if we can get to a price because the current ownership must be pretty strong financially since they avoided bankruptcy. In any event, it may be a good time to try because I'll bet that the current ownership is seeing the picture pretty clearly that the economy is not going to favor airplane production in the near term and the parts business is the only viable asset right now -- they can keep the type certificate. If anyone wants to jump in feet first let me know. Being realistic, the business would likely have to stay in Kerrville because if you saw the factory you would know that the machinery would be awfully expensive to move.

Cris, that looks great. My Eagle is at Wilmar getting the tanks done right now. I hope that my paint survives the process ok but if it doesn't I will follow your lead.

I have owned two Beech planes, a Baron and a Bonanza and I would be pulling your leg if I didn't say that I loved both of the planes. My main contrast is that the Mooney feels a lot sportier in flight and is definitely a better performer on a MPG basis. The other thing that has been a real positive for the Mooney is that we have, in Texas, a great maintenance shop in Don Maxwell. As for the maintenance expense itself there were some real expensive Beech parts but I have found some expensive Mooney parts as well. If you melt the exhaust covers on the bottom of the cowl on an Eagle they set you back about $1500 for a ten in piece of plastic. My main advice is that you can't go wrong either way, just buy the best plane that you can afford.

If Obama had sent me a stimulus check I would have sent it back.

Flew the Eagle nonstop from KHOU to KBDH to leave the plane with Paul Beck at Weepnomore for a reseal job. Made the trip in 5 hours. In that 5 hours the 650/750 and I got some serious togetherness time. You can never justify blowing money on a lot of electronics because they are often just minor improvements on the predecessor. I think the 650/750 is kind of like the microwave when we got one back in the 1970's -- all we new how to use it at first was to make hot water -- big deal. Use the new GTN's for a few hours and they really are a big improvement in the ease of operation and the screen is a lot easier to see. My favorite part is that you can now touch the screen and instantly know what that object is or how high the airspace may be. But, Jose is certainly right, new electronics arent going to make the plane faster or fill up the tanks. But come on, its still cool.

Txbyker, I saw your Mooney at Avionics Unlimited and it is a beautiful bird. Who did your paint -- it was a nice looking job. The guys at Avionics Unlimited are a great bunch. I took Marshall on the test flight and we were climbing out at 1500 fpm at 175 kts over the ground (of course I had a 10 knot tailwind). We leveled off for the test flight at 3000 feet in under two minutes and were in level cruise at 190 kts over the ground. We then did a high speed descent to the field to test the intercept ability of the autopilot. I don't want to admit, however, how much fuel we were burning at $7.00 per gallon of KHOU fuel. I am taking the plane on Friday to Wilmar to have the tanks redone since I am tired of chasing weeps and being unable to put in full fuel. That should give me a good chance to get acclimated to the new equipment. The one thing that I can tell is that it is just going to take a while to erase my head of 530 logic and reprogram to the new deal. I do like the dual set up. This system will last a year or two until the STC issues for the G2000 retrofit. I have some mental defect that always makes me want the new toy. Garmin tells me that it is coming and that willl be a huge deal. I figure that I have one more money bomb to blow up on the Mooney before I do a Meridian/TBM.

I change every 25 hours or so. In my old barron, where you could see the engine more easily I went longer. I like shorter period just because you can see the engine.

Picked up the Eagle today with its new GTN750 and 650. I also put in the new audio panel Model 35. I had it done at Avionics Unlimited in Conroe and they did a really nice job. They solved a frustrating audio issue with the old radios and delivered it to me squawk free. I am not sure that they are any easier to use than the 530/430 but the screen is awesome and flight plan creation is tremendously easier. I also like the way the audio panel and transponder all work through the front of the 750. I am glad, however, that it still has a knob to enter frequencies when it is bumpy. There is a lot of information overload with these new units but they are a lot more intuitive than the 530/430. I do not like, however, the way you input frequencies because you have to put in the 1 and any trailing zeros -- I have no clue why Garmin didn't put a function in to auto populate the first number. I still think that the knob turning for frequencies may be easier. I traded in the two year old 530/430/347 and left today with a 750/650/35 and left $13,000 with tax at Avionics Unlimited. I thought that was a pretty fair price.

Garmin issued today a Pilotpak deal. If you have a G500, GTN750, GTN 650 the annual subscription is now $849. That is a considerable savings over all of the subscriptions together. FYI. 56FM

I am not sure if this is new information or not but Jeppesen is now selling a logical bundle for the GTN 750/650 with a G500. I am not sure of the pricing but it has to be better than any other alternative. I assume that Garmin will offer the same deal on its website but I didn't see it there yet. Here is the link. http://jeppdirect.jeppesen.com/main/...id=sem90018883

I landed once at a friend's ranch that supposedly had a well manicured turf runway -- it wasn't. In addition, it had trees at each end and was pretty short. I brought the plane in extra slow and had a hard landing which taught me that my gauge (on my S model) is whether you bend the spring that holds the main gear door closed. The spring can get bent as the middle gear door (the one on the wheel) rotates with the suspension. Other than that there was no other issue with the plane and it didn't cause any tank leaks. Now, in my own ignorance I don't know if your plane has the middle gear door.