Jeff_S

Having an Ovation is a lot like having sex...after every flight you get that "post-O glow!"

For what it's worth, you can fly the Ovation on several different profiles depending on your needs and mood of the day. I am firmly in the WOT camp all the way to cruise altitude. If cruise altitude gives me any MAP at 24" or below, I leave it at WOT the whole time. Engines like air. I do reduce RPM to 2600 at 1000' AGL just to cut the vibration and noise a little bit. Almost always LOP except in the last scenario below. My standard cruise config is WOT/2450, just because it seems to be a bit smoother for me there than the standard 2500. YMMV. My loafing configuration is 20"/2400 and LOP to 10.5 GPH. Even loafing I get about 150 KTAS, which coincidentally is exactly what my cruise profile was in the J! So you can fly the O like the J if you want. Finally, race configuration is WOT/2600 and about 22 GPH or wherever I need to be to keep CHTs in line. My last race gave me an average TAS of about 194 knots at this setting. So there is definitely a go-fast mode on the Ovation, but the book speed of 198 knots most likely benefitted from a perfectly tuned engine and perhaps a bit of marketing license. Remember, that was based on the original max RPM of 2500. I can't imagine any Ovation at full gross doing 198 knots at only 2500 RPM, unless there was a little downhill action on the side!

One thing to keep in mind is if you use the non-factory visors. I loved the Rosen visors on my J model, but they are not allowed (and none other exist, that i have found) because any meaningful visor will obscure the light switches when it's retracted. It's a bummer, because those crappy visors that come from the factory are useless.

I wouldn't think they would be that much different. It's fundamentally the same airplane, and from my experience even the 2007 checklist doesn't address the G1000 differences in any meaningful way. You could always try out the CheckMate product, which is what I use and was not specific to any later model.

I was seeing intermittent issues with one of the database cards. Sometimes the database would just go away. Swapped all the data onto a new card and that problem went away. (Make sure you use a 2GB card in these older MFDs...they get finicky with anything bigger than that.) I did have a weird problem a few weeks ago when installing the latest updates. I had installed all the updates and then flipped on the master, but flipped it off again very quickly (like within a second or two) because...well, it doesn't matter why. What does matter is that when I flipped the master again, the system came up shouting alarm errors because somehow GIA#1 wouldn't come online. I let it sit there for several minutes, tried recycling a few times, same problem. GIA#1 was stubbornly dormant. I even called the Garmin AOG line (it was a Sunday) and got a call back from none-other than Trek Lawler himself, but he was stumped and suggested it was time to visit a repair shop. All that talking and waiting took over a half-hour, so I just decided to give it one more try, and of course everything booted fine. And has worked perfectly since then for several flights. I just love it when these problems resolve themselves without ever explaining themselves. Gives a lot of confidence...not!

To approach this concept from a different angle, I fail to understand why showing yourself on an approach plate is all that interesting, if you have the .34 version of Garmin software. If you fly an approach with the FltPlan page active, you'll see the same graphical information, but you'll also see how far you are to the next fix in the approach AND the target altitude you need at that point. It's a much more useful view than just seeing yourself on an approach chart. And if you have SynViz, geez, just fly through the magenta (or sometimes green) boxes until you get the meatball on the airport depiction...then follow it in! I do agree that having the approach plates on a tablet is also good, in that this way you can more easily zoom and scroll to see the fine print that you won't possibly be able to see on the MFD.

The electric gear won't work without electrical power, of course. However, you have manual gear extension which will work just fine, and you have the physical gear indicator on the floor which will show you whether or not it's down.

In the J, the slip is your friend if you are too high. I remember several years ago I was getting some mountain flying instruction in my J. We were returning into Longmont airport and I miscalculated the airport elevation in my head and started the pattern at 2000' AGL. The instructor asked my intentions, to which I replied "I'm going to slip into a landing." I don't know if he was scared or impressed, but he didn't say much on final and we crossed the threshold on speed and altitude no problem. He also signed my logbook, so I guess I did okay. I'm not recommending that, by the way...I was a lot cockier in my early flying career, and this led to some things I had to correct when I moved into the Ovation. As noted above, approach speed is key, and with full flaps a Mooney will safely go a lot slower than many people feel comfortable with. I think it's because we get used to the heavy feel of the controls when a Mooney is cruising, and when we slow it down the controls get mushy and it feels weird. Learn to fly the Mooney slow and landing is not as much of a problem.

Been there, done that. My J also had a seeping panel in that same spot, although it didn't pool like the OP's has. Due to the PITA factor of removing the wing walk and fixing the problem, I simply chose to keep that fuel tank at a level where it wouldn't seep. If I did have to fill up the tanks for a trip, I always made sure to use the right tank first to get it down below seepage level. Due to my flight profiles this was never a hardship, but if you need to keep your tanks full for some reason then it will need to be fixed.

Situation Update: I was punked! I am very happy, AND very apologetic, to say that I have determined this letter was indeed an elaborate practical joke gone awry. The MAPA Safety group was not involved in any way, so I want everyone to please realize this. Go ahead and send them money! The offender has been warned that I have no timeline for my response...patience is one of my virtues. I promise the world that I won't impugn the reputation of any real person when I do come up with my revenge. Happy Holidays to all!

I have sent the un-redacted letter to the Safety Foundation for their investigation, which includes the full name and address of the sender. If it is a hoax, then a very good one, and while I may feel like an idiot for getting punked (jury's still out there) hopefully this will help track down the truth. In fairness, I do have a fellow MSpace friend with whom I share the odd practical joke, but this one had none of his earmarks and the level of information was so specific as to be very believable. We shall see!

I appreciate everyone's comments. I can assure you that the letter was not sent by an imposter. I just redacted the personal info because, as I said, my intention was not to drag that individual through the mud. But if you've ever attended a MAPA Safety Foundation clinic, their identity is probably not a mystery. As to a direct response to the individual, I could have done that...I decided it would be more impactful to let the community respond...I'm sure it will get back to MAPA Safety Foundation at some point, if it hasn't already. Cheers!

I received two different requests for charitable contributions yesterday. Both are attached. Guess which one I will NOT be contributing to now or forever in the future! In a show of charity, I did redact any identifiable information from the offending document as I have no desire to drag the individual personally through the mud, and I hope that in some way it was an attempt at humor gone awry. But still, the attitude demonstrated in the letter seems ill-advised if the goal is to actually encourage participation and donations. Give me the kind, gentle and inclusive approach of the Mooney Summit any day! Happy holidays to all my MooneySpace friends. Jeff

KFHB Fernandina Beach FL. I know of at least four. 2 Ovations (one is mine). 1 Bravo. 1 C or F model (can't remember which)

I can oblige that request! We use the Mutt-Muffs for our yorkie, although as at least one other poster has noted, we had to supplement the straps to help keep it in place. Since he's such a little guy (in stature, not attitude!) we were able to just cut the cuff off a pair of pantyhose and fit that around the muffs to give them some more staying power. I've heard that dogs whose ears naturally flop over are getting the bulk of the same protection, but Rocket's ears usually stick up and even when they're relaxed they don't cover his aural canal very well, so I'm happy to give them a little extra protection.

This may not be helpful since you don't have the original paint colors, but you might try http://www.aerotouchups.com to see if they can help you. I have been able to get exact matches from them based on the paint colors in the original logs, but even without that they may be able to help.

For me it's the panel indicator. I've seen others replace with LED, so I may try to go that route. I assume there's a 28V version of the one someone linked above.

I noticed my Gear Down bulb had failed during the summer, so I had the shop replace it when it went in for some follow up work after the annual. Now I notice it's burned out again. So when something happens twice, I have to ask myself, coincidence? It could just be a run of bad luck, but should I be looking for a more systematic problem that would cause this, such as a shorting wire? I'm curious what others have experienced. Thanks!

@Bob5151F Hi Bob. That's correct...just pull the Com2 and Nav2/GPS2 breakers. The instructions say that if you're still having trouble you can try pulling the AHRS breaker (the "GRS" in the instructions) but this wasn't needed. As to formatting, yes, I used FAT32 but I had formatted that card on the Mac. In fact it was one of my two Log/Checklist cards that I rotate in the MFD slot, so I knew it was readable. I just cleared the old files and copied the mag/var files onto it. Hope that helps!

Happy to update everyone that the Rev F instructions worked just fine. I had a 2GB card (Transcend brand) that I had loaded up with the files on my Mac. The Rev F instructions are still wrong in this regard...the only file you download from Garmin is a .exe file so there's no way to get at them from a Mac without either a Windows PC or special programming software that can extract files. Or you can download a trial version of Parallels, which is what I did, however, for some reason the Garmin extractor still didn't like the SD card so I just extracted them to a thumb drive and then copied them to the card manually. At any rate, once you get the card built, just follow the instructions in Rev F. Where is says to pull power to the GIA2, we pulled both the Com2 and Nav2/GPS2 breakers, and this worked. The process does exactly what the instructions say it will do. And it only took 5 minutes or less, so no need for ground power. Hope this helps everyone else...good luck!

I agree on @GeeBee's point! To @Bob5151F and others, I've been told to pull the AHRS and Nav2/GPS2 breakers and this should shut power to the GIA2 as suggested in the new Service Advisory. Also, apparently you can pull the MFD breaker as well, especially if you don't have ground power...I'm assuming this is to conserve battery power. I'll be trying this all out tomorrow and will post my results.

Folks, there is a Rev F version of the Service Advisory now, which I have attached here. It adds specific instructions to pull the circuit breaker for the GIA#2 prior to starting the system. However, on the panel, there are breakers for both Com2 and Nav2/GPS2, so which of those is the GIA? Or is it both of them? I appreciate your thoughts. Thanks! Jeff Garmin SA 1612F.pdf

@PaulMHi Paul, not sure what's going on here and I appreciate you may see diminishing returns in helping me! But I downloaded that .tar file and tried to run the command in Terminal, here is what I get: jeff@New-iMac Downloads % tar xvfz 006-B1330-04.tar.gz tar: Error opening archive: Failed to open '006-B1330-04.tar.gz' For clarity, I'm running Catalina 10.15.7 on an iMac, but in a purely user mode (no Developer tools installed that I know of). If you have any other ideas I'd appreciate them, but also I don't need to waste your time. I can get it done on a Windows machine at some point I'm sure. Thanks! Jeff

@PaulM Paul, I'm getting the following error when I try this in Terminal window: New-iMac:006-B1330-04 jeff$ 7z x ../006-B1330-04.exe -bash: 7z: command not found I copied your text in exactly to make sure I hadn't missed anything. Any ideas?

To all those with G1000 systems, the latest Nav database updates contains an update to the built in magnetic variation database that should run when you load the new Nav database. However, as best I can tell, most or all of us Mooney G1000 people will see a failure. My buddy Dave Lincoln showed it to me first, and I experienced the same thing last night. There is a Garmin service advisory (https://s23634.pcdn.co/en-US/aviationalerts/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/1612E.pdf) which includes steps to download a different file onto an SD-card and run the update from there. I haven't been able to do this because it REQUIRES a Windows machine to run a .exe file to extract the database, and we are a Mac-only house now. I can get around that, but I'd be curious to hear from anyone who has gone through this process with either success or failure. If you are in this situation, you can just skip the mag/dev database load dialogue that will come up when you energize the system...we have until the end of next year to make it happen. But I'd appreciate anyone's feedback. Thanks!