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well, I like to watch planes - a lot, and the scenery is beautiful and the guy is a sympathetic character and the wife is kinda cute and the daughter is kinda cute but the show basically sucks if you ask me.. I know you didn't.. too much fake drama, too much repeated content after each commercial, too much voice over. LAME. Pretty much par for the course for Discovery Channel these days. I stopped watching. And that says something as I will watch almost ANYTHING with an airplane in it - been that way since I was 8 and I'm 56 headed for 57 now.. just one man's opinion Why can't we have a show about a charter outfit somewhere in the lower 48? or a flight instruction school? or NetJet pilots? or corporate pilots? or even FREAKIN Airline pilots? Any of these would be an interesting topic for a season or two if done with the right approach and skip the fake, induced drama.. stepping down from the soapbox..

Quote: FullyArticulate Does anyone have experience with active traffic systems? Avidyne TAS-600? Garmin GTS-800? Please share your experiences on accuracy, false negatives, and false positives.

Quote: jelswick Sorry to hear you're moving out of the area, Mike, but wish you luck with the move back to CT. We'll have a Sporty's Hot Dog there in your honor then this spring.

Quote: jelswick Mike are you based at Blue Ash? Our company (Sogeti) is right across the street and loved flying there for meetings until someone at corporate afraid of airplanes/liability put the k'bosh on that for those of us that fly...too bad. Blue Ash let me walk out of the airport and right across the street to the hotel and office. And let me know the next time there's a mini-meet at I69. I'm always in the mood for Sporty's hot dogs!

In late November I had an Aspen PFD1000 and EA100 installed in my 2000 Ovation 2, replacing and removing my King KI256, KG102, KMT112, KR87, Sandel SN3308 and the rest of my entire vacuum system. I gained 34 lbs of useful load, and hopefully the reliability of electronic vs iron gyros. Unfortunately I suffered 2 failures of the infant mortality type and poor performance of the EA100 coupled to my KFC225 AP. After making an initial post or two of the WTF!! variety I elected to remain silent on all matters Aspen until they had a fair chance to resolve my problems. They have proved to be excellent for support. When my PFD1000 spontaneously reset on it's maiden flight they had a replacement unit to me within days - the only delay being a short one so that we could have a unit with the latest software revision. The PFD has been rock solid since then - about 40 flight hours. Aspen has been communicative, responsive and responsible all up the chain - from tech support to field service to sales to the CEO. None have ducked and dodged, all made the appropriate noises of mea-culpa, and all worked hard to "make it right". Stuff happens - I'm not sure what more one could ask for when it does. My EA100 also suffered an initial failure and was replaced immediately. That unit worked OK for approx. 30 hrs but had poor performance in pitch and exhibited a continual "hunting" en-route - I likened this to the install of this device being akin to removing my KFC225 and replacing it with a Stec55x - rate based sucks! Aspen refined the software for the AP adapter to more closely mimic the analog output of the KI256 it was meant to replace - I was able to get that software loaded end of Jan, but due to horrendous wx patterns and equally horrendous personal scheduling I didn't have the opportunity to test it until this past week. It's good and I am happy to now say that I'm a very happy and satisfied customer. With about 40 hrs on the PFD though all kinds of wx, including IMC, ice, moderate turbulence (butt leaves seat, head hits roof), and in and around some very congested airspace (NYC, Washington DC) I'll state that this is a great device and a worthy replacement for my Sandel. With about 9 hours on the new EA100 software load it behaves as if it was always there - ie; it's like we put the KFC225 I always had back into the airplane - smooth, accurate and robust. No porpoise, no hunting, no jerking in smooth air or rough. I flew a route of KISZ-KLKU-KBDR on Monday and then KBDR-KISZ on Friday. The flight from ISZ-LKU was a climb through 4000' of ice into smooth air on top and a 60kt tailwind - the airplane was making 245kts across the ground. Midway across the Blue Ridge Mountains I flew through and extended area of moderate turbulence that required me to hand fly, hang out the speed brakes and the gear in cruise and I was still doing 200kts GS! After landing Louisa County with winds 18G35 variable from 260-300 (rwy27) I picked up my passenger (Senor Uphoff) and set off to Bridgeport. We encountered continuous light to moderate chop at various altitudes and landed rw29 with winds of 290@22G34. Friday I flew back to OH - my 3 hr trip took 4 hrs as now I had the 60kts on the nose, not the tail! Although forecasts were for light to moderate turbulence the entire route, I only encountered a few small areas of same and by changing altitudes up and down was able to remain in basically smooth air most of the trip. I couldn't get away from the headwinds though! Landed Blue Ash rwy 24 with winds 300-340@12G18 - direct xwind and somewhat "sporting". The Aspen/KFC225 combo worked flawlessly the entire trip - AP disconnecting in turbulence only twice (although I hand-flew the worst of it). I'm a happy chappy. Aspen good - go get you some. (usual disclaimer - dont work for them, dont have stock, they didn't pay me to say this, Peter Lyons is not my brother-in-law, etc).

I landed Monday KLKU rwy 27 winds 260-300@18G35 original plan was to land at KCHO rwy 21 - changed destination to KLKU to stack the deck in my favor. later that day landed at KBDR rwy 29 winds 290@22G34 yesterday landed KISZ rwy 24 winds 300-350@12G18 - direct xwind when I landed - windsock straight out from the right. Sorry to hear about Daniel's crash and very glad he's OK.

Just as an FYI, I have had an email conversation with Tracy and 1. he's OK, 2. he's not a complete beginner as many have assumed from his carrying a student pilot certificate. I don't know much more detail - You'd have to ask him. Here is a guy who is one of us - he's a pilot (student pilots are pilots too) and a Mooney driver and for those of you like me - an Ovation driver. When he made a mistake that he couldn't recover from (by all accounts he attempted to go around too late and was too low and clipped the fence) he made a conscious decision to put it in the ditch instead of the houses. Why not give him some encouragement?

BTW - the pilot is on this list - TRACY - he asked a question recently about fuel flow on his 1999 M20R if you have a question about what happened or want to send him a note of encouragement maybe send him a private message? I bet he feels terrible - I know I would.

N64FM M20R 1999 Ovation 29-0193 registered to Green Oak LLP, Corpus Christi TX on 10/25/2010

Quote: acronut I was in a Falcon 50 yesterday and going into Morristown. It was the other pilots leg and he always slows to VREF wayyyy early on final. There we were doing aboout 115kts on a 3 mile final. There was a long body Mooney entering the downwind. I'm sure it made his day when the controller said "Mooney ***** slow to follow the Falcon Jet". Lol I looked at the other pilot laughed my butt off and said "told ya you slow this thing down too soon!" Figured the pilot might be on this site and enjoy the other cockpit conversation. Kendal

Quote: mooneygirl We adopted Lucy Lucas from Woods Humane Society shortly before Thanksgiving. We knew we were going to fly from KSMX to O70 [about 1.5 hours Mooney time] to be with my folks. We purchased a great carrier for $25 on Craiglist and into the carrier Lucy went. She was VERY vocal about the carrier, the entire 20 minutes to the airport. And then she kept it up in the airplane. Mitch flew because I thought I better sit right seat in case. She yowled and yowled. Mitch was annoyed and then she just settled down. I gave him my best "I told you so" look meaning I knew she would eventually settle down. NOT. Upon glancing back, she was out of the carrier sitting on the back seat happy as a clam. The only problem with our beautiful Lucy Lucas Aviation Cat, is she doesn't like the carrier. She does seem to get the most vocal while climbing and descending, would guess it is ear pressure.

Quote: Sven When I brought our super-docile cat to the vet for the first time, I didn't think I would need a cage. By the time I pulled away and was 50 feet from my house, the heretofore always-mellow cat found its way to my lap, dug its very sharp claws into my grionitals, screamed very loud and proceeded to urinate in my lap. Remembering what my instructor said, "Fly the van!" I proceeded to aviate, navigate, then communicate. I drove back into the garage. I made sure the garage door was shut before opening my van door and then released the cat and a pain induced scream myself. My lap "caught" all the cat weewee so I saved the upholstery. But my shorts, my manlies, and my self esteem were all destroyed. I took a quick shower, found a sturdy box and packaging tape and still made to the vet on time. They found my story much more entertaining than I did. Our cat is never flying for any reason. And now you know why.

We're planning on moving from OH to CT in March - anyone have experience with transporting a cat (8 months old then) across state lines? :-)

Quote: ovation0219 I have a wing tip strobe out i replaced the bulb does anyone know where the power supply is? the service manual showes it bolted to the inspection plate just inboard from wing tip. Mine is not there on either wing. I have two ovations on the field and neither has the power supply on the inspection plate. anyone know where they mounted it? I have a 2000 Ovation 2

Quote: TLSDriver That is why I am suprised by the negative comments. It seems like TIS is on the way out and ADS-B is on the way in. I don't think I should invest in a technology that is fading into the sunset. I think the local shops are saying there is a great deal of risk being on the bleeding edge. Not sure what the middle looks like.

I installed Aspen PFD1000 Pro and EA100 autopilot adapter late November and have approx 30hrs on it now. I completely removed my vacuum system. After an initial series of failures - both of the PFD and EA100 - they appear to be stable at this point. I am unhappy with the EA100 as regards accuracy and smoothness but there is a software fix that I am hoping to get loaded this Friday so I will let you know if that improves things. The symptoms I am seeing are some jerkiness in pitch, "hunting" en-route and inability to capture final approach course from a large angle intercept. These are all issues that did not exist before the Aspen install in my airplane. That said - Aspen has been terrific on support, and I am hoping that this software load will resolve my issue. It's been difficult for me to get things squared away quickly due to a combination of bad wx, holidays and my schedule. I gained 34lbs of useful load and - while it remains to be proven over time - solid state reliability. I am very happy to have an ADC and love digital readouts and tapes etc. My Sandel display felt a bit less cluttered but that is essentially nit picking. More to come..

Quote: ELT He wants me to use ALL equipment on the aircraft <snip>

I have been into all these airports with a 201 42B - Goodspeed - East Haddam CT - 2400x50 http://www.airnav.com/airport/42B W75 - Hummel Field, Saluda VA - 2270x45 http://www.airnav.com/airport/W75 since closed - N04 Griswold CT - 1800x50

Quote: craigsteffen Most enthusiast groups and mailing lists, you can join for free. The MAPA costs $40+ or something?

this is not the only Mooney accident this day in freezing precip conditions - we lost an Ovation driver as well the kathrynsreport references "The Sheriff’s Office reported there was freezing rain and a sleeting storm at the time of the crash." FAA IDENTIFICATION Regis#: 968SM Make/Model: MO20 Description: M20, M20A/B/C/D/E/F/G/J/L/R/S, M20K/M (T Date: 12/23/2010 Time: 0050 Event Type: Accident Highest Injury: Fatal Mid Air: N Missing: N Damage: Unknown LOCATION City: PENN YAN State: NY Country: US DESCRIPTION AIRCRAFT CRASHED IN A WOODED AREA, THE 1 PERSON ON BOARD WAS FATALLY INJURED, 8 MILES FROM PENN YAN, NY INJURY DATA Total Fatal: 1 # Crew: 1 Fat: 1 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk: # Pass: 0 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk: # Grnd: Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk: WEATHER: 0016 AUTO 29009G18KT 9SM OVC M04/M06 A2996 OTHER DATA Activity: Unknown Phase: Unknown Operation: OTHER FAA FSDO: ROCHESTER, NY (EA23) Entry date: 12/23/2010 ASN http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=86754 Kathryn http://kathrynsreport.com/?p=19321

This is a tragedy, but unfortunately an all too common one. Overconfidence, get-there-itis, get-home-itis - whatever - something made this pilot do something he would probably preach not to do. Why on earth does an experienced B1 pilot used to flying to strict safety standards throw all that out the window and even DEPART heading to a landing in those conditions in the equipment he was flying? ONE HUNDRED FEET VERTICAL VISIBILITY WITH ONE QUARTER MILE HORIZONTAL VISIBILITY IN FREEZING FOG? I will not fly that in my FIKI Ovation much less in a non-FIKI airplane. The conditions existed for hours before and after the accident. How does one let oneself get into such a situation where the only option is to attempt a landing in those conditions? This is the continual thread that one sees over the years - talented, experienced, everything to live for pilots who do inexplicably insane things and kill themselves and others. I am sure that he was a helluva nice guy. I am sure that I don't know all the details. I am sure that this is a tragedy for those left behind. When I got my instrument ticket 13 years ago the DE who signed the form said to me: "Don't let me read about you in the papers". I knew then and still know today what he meant. I fly 150-200hrs a year of often hard IFR. I wouldn't DREAM of attempting an approach in those conditions. I can't imagine what made him think he could. I would have diverted hours and hundreds of miles before, or not even departed. There, I've said what I really think and if it is hubris on my part so be it. Say what you will after I auger in some dark night - oh, make that day - I don't fly IFR at night because I like to stack the deck in my favor.. This is a tragedy and a continual puzzlement. It's not engine failure, it's not mechanical failure, it's not a mid air, it's not a bird strike, it's not a medical problem. It's some puzzling thing that makes pilots who should know better do something that is in all probability completely out of character. And they pay the price. Frankly, it scares the crap out of me. The fighter pilot's motto: Don't do nuthin dumb. Mike

5:25 Cincinnati - San Antonio non-stop M20R Ovation2

Quote: DonMuncy Sorry about the above posting under piperpainter's name. I did not properly check to make sure I was logged in under my name. Don