M016576

Any speed increase over a stock J cowling? it sure looks nice- if you could fit an IO-550A under there, I’d be interested!

-3 got pretty spit out after overcorrecting for unrecognized closure...... not easy being at the tail end of the whip! Little deviations from lead become minor deviations for -2... -3 can either try to fly off -1 and make -2 look like the problem... or fly off -2 and.. grab the tiger’s tail! now that I’m so close- I’m going to try to make it down. Would love to fly some formation with y’all! Looking good!

Strange... when I rebuilt mine- it didn’t have a ball bearing in it.... is it supposed to on a J? All I’ve got is an O-ring to keep the thing sealed.... makes me wonder if I’m missing a piece! edit- went to the Lasar website- they have an engineering schematic of my gascolator (the gerdes gascolator) displayed with their seal kits. Looks like I’m ok- no ball bearing in the Gerdes gascolator! Man, that had my mind racing for a few....

You must live in California...do they like asphalt spilled on the ground? the post on a gats jar is long enough to push the plunger up on the gascolator from the outside- just like your other fuel sumps. I have been sumping the gascolator this way for about 5 years. Someone in the board mentioned to me (wish I could remember who) that I could scratch, or nik the o-ring- but after replacing the screen, and taking the gascolator apart- I noticed that the O-ring is far enough up the shaft of the plunger that you physically couldn’t hit it... unless it had swollen due to age, in which case it needs to be replaced anyway. long story short- carefully and gently try using your GATS jar up the gascolator- that’s worked for me as a technique. this is for the gascolator on my J, which I think is the same, if not very similar to an ovation gascolator

I remember seeing the pictures you posted of your TXi showing this feature. My ifd440 is connected to an aspen pfd- which does not show vertical guidance unless it’s a glide slope signal. The vsr is displayed on the IFD in a data window. Would that feature of the G500TXi work with a G530W connected to it? Just curious.. honestly don’t know who would spend that much for a G500TXi and *not* upgrade to a GTN to drive it. A pilot is kind of committed to full garmin if they head down the G500TXi road I think. either way- for the OP- he would want/need a nice pfd to compliment the GTN and/or IFD... and unlock some of the features described above. And that could add anywhere from 3-30K more to the price tag. does the G5 display show any of that vertical guidance, or does garmin reserve that for the more robust/expensive pfd’s?

I believe he was asking about enroute vertical guidance, not approach vertical guidance. my KFC-150 couples though my aspen to any approach off the IFD and will fly anything that has a glideslope signal if I’m in the approach mode (just as you describe) but if I’m on an enroute segment that I manually enter an altitude restriction on, it will not climb/descend to said altitude- just show me when to do it and what VSR is needed to make it. It is possible that the IFD is capable of providing this cue/signal (for enroute climbs/descents), but I don’t know if *my autopilot* is capable of flying it on an enroute segment

I was referring to enroute altitudes (or restrictions) manually programmed into a flight plan. The IFD series will show a “Boeing banana” (time to descend/ascend mark) on the leg of the segment based on whatever the programmed target climb/descent rate is to achieve the manually entered route altitude, but it doesnt provide a vertical guidance signal to my autopilot... at least not that I have been able to use with my kfc150. I can couple to any approach, but the extent of the vertical guidance the autopilot will fly with my setup is limited to glideslope (either GPS provided or ILS provided). for a precision approach- all altitude restrictions are displayed up to the FAF in big magenta lettering next to the segment on the IFD (I have a 440- so no georeferenced plates overplayed on the IFD itself- yet it still shows the segment altitudes). In this case, the KFC150 will fly hands off on the approach segment starting at glideslope intercept, and GPSS cueing through the aspen up to that point 2 dimensionally. on a non-precision approach- again all step down altitudes are displayed next to their segments on the IFD once the approach is loaded, and the autopilot I have (KFC150) will fly the approach 2 dimensionally, but I have to manually fly the altitudes (I typically do so using the up/down altitude rocker on the autopilot). is that what you were asking? Or did I miss read the question?

yes, they share this feature- but you can’t couple to it- it’s a visual depiction on the IFD alone (Boeing banana + descent rate).

That’s a fantastic video- thanks! nice to see so many cars in that (dirt) parking lot! Wish their were more planes in that HUGE factory, though...

Makes me wonder if head set prices have risen in parallel to hull prices, or at some exponentially smaller rate.... $1000.00 for a pair of $25.00 noise cancelling headphones sure does seem excessive.. but when you compare that to a $780,000 new mooney... a downright steal!

I agree with Don on not trying to upgrade the 530. Another option would be Avidyne IFD 540, slide in replacement on the tray. A new waas antenna would be required. More cost effective than the GTN750 for the same feature set. Probably ~5-6K less overall (depending on labor rates in your area) than the GTN750... no need to buy a WiFi/Bluetooth portal (IFD has it build in), no need to buy new trays, then rip out the old ones and fabricate new wire bundles. GTX345 is nice. Also costly though. It Is compatible and approved with the IFD as well. Would provide both ADSB in and out. They cost about $4500. if you go with the IFD540- another option would be a axp340 adsb out transponder with the sky trax100 adsb in. That’s roughly $3200 if you shop around (avidyne was giving the skytrax away with their IFD’s a while back- May still have a similar promotion) basically- all in (install plus hardware), you’re probably looking at (prices are from Sarasota, plus an estimated 3K for install for the Garmin, 1K for the avidyne) ~23K for a GTN750+FS510 and GTX345 (14.5 for 750, 1200 for FS, 4.3 for GTX) ~14K for a IFD540 w/axp340+skytrax (Sarasota avionics is running a trade in special right now until Dec 31st- 9K for a new IFD540 if you swap them your 530... worth checking out- it’s an amazing deal for a trade in on an old 530 that might be difficult to sell) @Avionics Source could probably tighten up those numbers for you- he deals in this hardware on a very regular basis. i do admit I’m biased... I love my IFD440... happy to get rid of that 430W a few years back!

Yes- they can exchange, replace or overhaul servo motors. The reason why I think it’s electrical is because the issue is only manifesting in one direction on a single axis- not both directions (which would indicate a worn clutch to me). But I’m no autopilot expert... just a thought from a pilot. could also be a gyro issue, I guess..

Man... I got a Foam ARF F-18 for my birthday a couple years back- and I crashed it... and fixed it... and crashed it... and fixed it. They are fast.. and it’s hard to “put yourself in the cockpit” depending on the direction the airplane is flying... at least for me... because the left can be right and the right can be left depending on if the plane is coming or going from your position. That said they are FUN! the Sky Viper drone is great because if you do nothing- drop the controller- whatever- it just hovers wherever it’s at. Helps if you lose your bearings! It’s a great trainer, I think, for an actual remote control airplane.

Those things are a bit aggressive for a 6-7 year old (gas powered balsa)... I would look towards the foam, ducted fan, ARF electric planes. They are under 200-300 bucks and are very very easy to build. Servo’s and such are already in the plane- all you really need to do is charge a battery and go... and they go FAST! i just bought my son (just turned 6) a “Sky Viper Explorer” UAV- it’s also surprisingly fast! And has a stunt mode that my son loves. If you pair it to your iPhone- it has a camera on it that you can record video with and watch real time. Battery lasts about 10 minutes. Here’s the best part though- if it loses signal, or gets low on battery, it will return to where it took off from and auto land... something my son has tested on numerous occasions. Edit: almost forgot- they cost about $85 at target- which is far better than 300 when you think about the possibility of a crash) i know a little 4 engined drone might not seem sexy- but I think it’s the perfect intro to aviation that won’t end up in a devistating crash.

-a- I’m sure this is just an oversight... but technically the P-47 is a “Thunderbolt”... the P-51 being the “Mustang”.... BUT! I will say this- while shopping for small foam throwable airplanes for my son, I found some made in China- and the names vs the pictures were all over the map! To the point where the picture showed a C-130, but the caption said “P-51 Mustang”

That would be a sweet feature... I’m sure you guys (Saavy/Mike Busch) have thought of this- but you should see about teaming up with an EFB designer or two.... would be cool to have Saavy analysis possible through an EFB... lots of good synergy possible there

I’m not 100% on this- but I think FlyQ’s new release will show egt/cht in relation to recorded flight path- it’s all part of their new logbook feature. The downside is that you have to have the engine monitor hooked into your panel mount GPS, and that has to be synced to the FlyQ EFB app... I don’t think you can just import your engine data. not sure how FlyQ hooks up to a Garmin... but it’s very simple with a Avidyne IFD. I have my engine monitor hooked up to the avidyne IFD- but I’m not sure that it’s sending egt/cht data to the IFD (yet... with avidyne- I’ve found that if one suggests it, it tends to happen... eventually). all this to say- great idea! Would love to see it implemented! Would allow me to go back and look at engine data for when I hear or feel something “funny” (oh say, like when it’s night and I’m in the mountains... or over the great salt lake, wondering how close I could glide to shore...you know... those noises that happen)- I tend not to know the time of flight at those points- but I generally remember where I am.

Every mooney I’ve flown in (sample size 6) including a relatively new ovation, that didn’t have LED’s has had a chirp when the strobes are on. Not saying that’s right... just that’s been my experience. edit- I tend to mitigate the strobe chirp by adjusting my volumes on the audio panel so I don’t really notice it any more.

Autopilots central in Tulsa. They are the masters- highly recommended. I’d call them before you take your mooney anywhere- they will recommend a solid course of action that won’t break the bank. edit- I think you might have a broken pin (feeds into the tray), or have a bad contact (between tray and unit). You might be able to fix the issue by removing the KAP150 from the tray and cleaning the contacts (most use a pencil erasure for this). I’d start by googling the install manual for the KAP150, and see what pins control what- then look at any potential problem contacts (pitch related) to see if it’s dirty- if you’re up for troubleshooting in this manner. I am not an avionics tech, or an A&P, but I have dealt with some auto pilot troubleshooting over the years.

LA airspace! Busy! I’ve done it VFR once or twice- but it’s best done IFR IMO! I like my VFr flights to be relaxing, and with little traffic... not feeling like I’m flying through an asteroid field! fun though- and you get a real sense of just how big that area is!

I bet they have a tiered system of some sort- Top priority- renewals of cfi/cfii Add on ratings.. new issuances... etc etc. Another idea would be it might require extra evaluation for new tickets- (maybe some additional background pulls from another agency)... just spitballing here

My last CFII certificate (have to get a new one every 2 years) only took 3 weeks from submission to having the card in my hand

I was looking at that beautiful E-model for sale and thought about the “Ranger,” the “Executive” and the “Chapparal.” 2 of the 3 are references to the Texas heritage... I guess if you include downtown Dallas and San Antonio- Executive does to! then they went on to focus on the “speed aspect”. 201, 205, 231, 252. the M20M wasn’t originally called a “Bravo”, though.... it was just the M20M. It didn’t pick up the moniker Bravo, until the -B modification (wet head) was made to the engine after a few years of operation... so it was a phonetic reference. Good thing it wasn’t the -C mod- or the next 4 Mooney’s might have been “Charlie, Peppermint Paddy, Lucy and Snoopy” mooney seemed to like it, though (-B) and chose to look at it as “music/orchestra” related... and we were stuck with “Allegro, Acclaim, Bravo, Ovation” for two decades. the one exception was the “Eagle.” Mooney’s latest iteration- the “Ultra.” Which applies to both the U and V (turbo and not). if we could re-write history- what would you guys name the mooney’s? For some reason, calling the M20M and M20T “bravo/acclaim” just doesn’t purport their true speed, capability in my mind... more like fire breathing dragon... or moonshot.... or sky-tearing facemelter!

Worth it for the serial number alone!

Most likely because paying a human is probably cheaper than buying your software.... and then having to maintain it... and hire a person to keep the software operating properly when new hardware comes out