Jeff_S

That was an awesome promo video. Reminded me back in the day when I was living in Colorado and teaching skiiing for a living, every Fall the new Warren Miller film would come out and we'd get treated to all sorts of ski and athletic footage. Now amateurs can do all that in the palm of their hands.

Ditto on the skew-T logs, but since no one else posted a link to get to them, here it is: http://rucsoundings.noaa.gov/ If you're not familiar with how to use this web page and read the charts, there's a link to a tutorial at the bottom of the page. These are part of my regular flight planning any time I think there will be IMC-type weather.

I fly a Garmin 480 so I don't know much (well, anything!) about the G1000 but I do know the S-TEC 55. The methods may be similar. When using GPSS to fly the entry legs to an approach, the A/P is on Heading mode. As soon as I'm on the final approach path, I'll switch to NAV. As JoeSpeed says, this can sometimes cause a bit of swerving because the directional signal isn't as constant as the GPS. But if flying an ILS/LOC, the 480 will also switch automatically to the appropriate NAV source so I don't have to worry about that. Also, the S-TEC will switch into APR mode automatically or I can you can do it manually. GS capture should happen automatically as well (although mine is having some difficulties that are getting checked out today).

Here's an interesting one for you. My aircraft rolled off the line as a 201-AT model, for Advanced Trainer. It went to Flight Safety International and was used as a trainer for 1000 hours before being put to use as personal transportation for one of the CFIs. Although it doesn't work anymore, it has an air-driven Hobbs meter, with a small vane on the belly that would only activate the electrical circuit at a certain air speed. I'd never seen one like that before. Clearly that was used purely to measure flying time for instructional purposes, and is not directly related to engine operations or maintenance.

Gary, I supposed I was reacting more to Jetdriven's post than yours. His post clearly says that the Aviation Consumer article says there is no benefit to AvBlend, where in reality they provide quite a bit of evidence and their final conclusion is quite different than what Jetdriven claims. I think if you're going to quote a source, you ought to at least quote it correctly.

Well, this at least gave me the chance to try the new "multi-quote" feature! I too have read the Aviation Consumer report, and I think you are misrepresenting it to say they find no benefit to AvBlend. Here is the exact quote from the subtitle of the article: We can’t guarantee CamGuard or AvBlend will save you money over the long haul. But both seem to have real merit, albeit with different strengths. They go on to cite the evidence from many sources that AvBlend has shown a reduction in wear and deposits through consistent use. The article is online for any subscribers who wish to read what was actually written, as opposed to other people's opinions about what was written.

I, too, cannot answer your poll because you did not include a response in the second question that includes "don't use". However, I use Phillips 20W50 with AvBlend. I primarily use AvBlend because Jerry Manthey swore by it in the Mooney Maintenance seminar I attended last year. I fly often enough that I'm not worried about the rust prevention benefits of CamGuard. And I don't have a ton of historical data since I just purchased my 201 in January or 2010, but since I started using AvBlend my Blackstone oil reports have just kept getting better and better.

I used to try to figure this stuff out. Before they put in a self-serve pump at KPDK, most of us would fly to outlying airports to get cheaper gas. I tried to figure out the relative costs vs miles flown and even had a little spreadsheet I tried to put together. Finally decided it was too much calculating and besides, the fun was in flying anyway.

I know this is MN and not WI, but the prior owner of my plane had its panel extensively redone at Park Rapids Avionics in Park Rapids MN. The panel looks great and has worked well for me, and I know he goes there for all his work. Something to consider.

I enjoyed the video, but what's with the ominous piano music? Just this poster's opinion, but it sounded like some kind of funeral dirge!

At my recent annual, the AP noticed the timing was 2 degrees advanced so he backed it off to 25° before TDC. What's interesting is that I've seen a noticeable change in fuel flow rates since the annual, with my FF rates being slightly higher at peak and LOP numbers than I remember seeing before. I'm assuming this has something to do with the timing, which has altered the EGT readings at similar fuel flows. So I am now running much closer to the 10gph number at LOP values down low, which has me a bit concerned vis a vis the old 10gph rule of thumb for LOP. But the CHTs and EGTs all stay down to the levels I expect, so I assume everything is copacetic.

Just for the sake of clarity, isn't it safe to say there are no "landing" fees per se as it is a public-use airport funded by the government? It's true that the FBOs will charge a ramp fee, but that's different than a "landing" fee I believe. I ask the question because I am curious in my own right about the difference. People (non GA people) often ask me about landing fees and my stock answer has always been that our public airports don't have any, so I'm trying to validate that assumption.

Dang, another crash at Moontown. I love that little airport but it seems to have greater than its fair share of tragedy.

That seemed not too dissimilar to the Potomac approach from the north into Reagan National Airport in DC. Just with a few more hills involved.

I had a similar situation, but in my case the Stratus never received the XM radar but did receive all the other textual information. For me it's a backup to my GDL 69A in the cockpit, and it was a mostly clear day so it didn't bother me other than to tick me off a bit. I did email team@foreflight.com for their support and they suggested in that situation to totally quit the app and restart it. I went back out yesterday and tested everything and it all worked. People can say what they want about panel vs. hand held devices. My MX-20 sometimes just reboots itself, and I've had the GDL 69A occasionally just stop receiving. It's all computers and I've learned they will all glitch out occasionally. One hopes they don't just glitch out all at once!

Totally weird. You had your hands on the yoke. It looked like you were actually flying the airplane instead of letting the autopilot handle the chore. That's MACHO!

Ha, Rob, you're still hanging out at the Piper forum I see. Do they still love controversy over there?

PS8000B works beautifully and has never given any problems. I never had a Garmin 340 so I can't really compare, but the PS is a great unit.

Well, since I started this whole thread I thought I'd report my results. I've taken two flights since the annual, both really just to test all the systems and see if I can notice any difference. It does seem like my CHTs are somewhat below what I was used to, when I go LOP at 9.5 GPH in my standard flight configurations. Of course, the outside air has been a good 15° cooler this weekend as well, and so I can't keep all the variables constant. But overall I can't say I've noticed any detrimental effects either. So those 2° may just be a non-issue.

I have already dontated. That damn PayPal makes it all too easy! I hope I didn't misplace my decimal point and pay for the whole upgrade by myself!

Thus endeth the proverbial free lunch. American philanthropy just ain't what it used to be. Just kidding! Of course, like the others, happy to contribute, especially if it will help put some more "pep" in the forum. I have noticed that with all the users, performance has dragged sometimes.

My J is coming out of annual, and the A/P said one of the things he fixed was that my timing had gotten slightly advanced. Forgive me if I screw up the terminology here, but he said it was supposed to be 25 top dead center but had advanced to about 27 TDC. I remember something in one of the Mike Busch webinars about the effects of timing differences, but don't recall exactly what they were. If my timing was slightly advanced, would that make my EGT/CHTs cooler, or hotter? I'm just wondering what I should expect to see when I take her out for the test drive after annual. My A/P said I might not see much change at all, since it wasn't off by that much, but I'm curious. Thanks.

I've always noticed TAS to be noticeably higher in the cooler months for the reasons cited. Funny enough, this came up in conversation with a friend who had put his plane into the shop for a makeover in March, and didn't get it back until July. He was complaining that something they did seemed to have robbed him of speed. But the fact was simply that he had last flown it in much cooler temps and was simply remembering the March speeds as a comparison, which were higher because of the cooler temps.

I pretty much have a fully-new set as well, but if they could last 7 years on the shelf, and then another 7 years once installed, it could be worth the investment. If nothing else, they could be included in the sale of the plane if I ever decide to go to a non-Mooney (perish the thought!).

Best bet is to send a note to team@foreflight.com and ask them. They are remarkably quick with their support.