M016576

I’ll never forget the first time I saw St Elmo’s Fire- it was at night off the coast of San Diego, I was in a F-18C... the whole lower front portion of the windscreen looked like.. well.. it was on fire! At first I thought WTF?! Then realized what it was... Some awesome events to behold out there in the friendly skies.

Hard to beat a missile for this mission. 1300NM range at 170KTAS at 12K (no wind) with an hour reserve. Most missiles have a useful load of 1100lbs. I guess the late model M20S (screaming eagles) are pretty much the only thing range and features wise that do much better for the money. Maybe an ovation, but they have a lower useful load, I think. Never flown the m20S or R- just going off of the info I’ve seen on this board.

Before you say things like that, I’d recommend you take a look over at the avidynelive forum and check out just how involved the community and avidyne are with one another. I assure you they care. blatant troll remarks. I’ve never seen such judgement rendered towards a company you have (admittedly)zero interaction with. Avidyne provides a top notch product, is exceptionally transparent with their customers and has made every effort to keep their products affordable.

Yep, that won’t even cover the cost of the GTN install! What a bunch of crooks.

I think they are selling their units to folks that don’t currently have a GNS- having a GNS previously is not a requirement, although it cuts down on install costs tremendously. I swapped out a GNS-430W with an IFD-440 about 2 years ago and couldn’t be happier. I have had absolutely zero problems. It’s a solid waas GPS with a modern, intuitive interface and a great feature set (BT/wifi). To what headaches regarding the avidyne units are you referring? I have heard about G5 issues though at their initial release (I think those got cleared up with a software release). And now apparently the G5 isn’t compatible with FIkI installations? Weird... I agree though, probably best to stay with a single vendor- garmin has been known to intentionally not play well with others- so it’s always a risk that they, or any other company, will intentionally isolate their product line. Stratus is one that comes to mind as well. To each their own. Caveat emptor.

What’s the useful load on your rocket?

Good choice. Nasty weather (snow/rain) out here (KLMT) low today, nice above 8K though

That’s what you use as a guide for what you want your takeoff trim setting to be... and it’s completely reasonable. id be interested to see what the Mooney test pilot’s guidance is regarding take off trim position (what mooney’s Intent is/was regarding takeoff trim). I’ve flown some airplanes that have a hands off takeoff trim setting that achieves optimal (or thereabouts) rotation automatically at nosewheel liftoff speed, but the second you leave ground effect, trim is required to maintain the tech ordered climb attitude. Ive never really put too much thought into the “why’s” in regards to trim setting for takeoff, but in this case it would be a fun little piece of trivia to know.

I’ve had a very popular msc “forget” to connect the gear motor after annual (guess how long it took me to figure that out) and charge me quite handsomely for that annual... and I’ve had a private A&P AI that charges me half of what a MSC does for annual find things that could have killed me (exhaust leaks missed by the same MSC above). And vice versa. It’s not the name above the door, or the “reputation” necessarily of a shop: it’s the A&P. Some are better than others- regardless of where they work. Find one you trust and develop a relationship with them. Big shops might have turnover in A&P manning.., if that’s the case, the expert service one might receive in the past may no longer be valid. Crazy... but you know what they say: what do you call the student at the bottom of their class in medschool? Doctor.....

Just double checked- thought I was 1M smooth, but not the case- 1M/100K

KPAO- a shorter runway with lots of “big airport” amenities. Nice spot, glad I don’t live there, though- too much traffic. Amazing how many big, very expensive airplanes are just tied down out there. I guess hangars are hard to come by with so many people!

Unless that logbook full of centerline thrust says “F-something” in front of it.

I’ve never flown a TwinCo... but I’ve flown a Seneca II. It’s the worst flying plane I’ve come across in my 22 years as a pilot. It’s like driving a rusted out 1978 suburban with a blade on the front that’s stuck down. It requires constant attention on heavy, numb controls just to keep straight and level.. terrible, terrible flying airplanes. that said you can get them for an ok price, with lots of capability... so long as you don’t actually enjoy flying a plane, it’s a decent point A to point B platform (let the autopilot deal with its crappy flight characteristics). So I guess the 1978 suburban analogy works pretty good there, too.

Falcon(USAA)-> old republic. $1250 for 150K hull, 1mil smooth.

Keep in mind that CHt’s and Oil Temp are going to vary +\- 10-20 degrees based on outside air temperature. Today, I noticed my oil temp was about 15 degrees lower than I was expecting... then I noticed that the OAT was -20C..... winter time (shrug).

If I were you I’d sell the 550 for $600, buy a stratux kit for $100, and use the rest of the cash for a lifetime subscription to FlyQ. Imagine- no more EFB fees....

Beautiful!

The KFC150 is a very capable unit. I’ve got an Aspen connected to mine, so GPSS heading inputs, too. No way I’m paying 12K plus install (another 6?) to replace it.... until I have to. Now, if only the trim switch didn’t cost $600....

Ahhh valid! I read turbine..thinking turboprop...you clearly wrote turbofan! My bad!

That’s about what some versions of the PT6A put out. They cost roughly $600K.

That’s a very good point... from a valuation standpoint it almost makes the “cheaper” Hulls kind of a bad purchase. The expense to maintain them is just about the same as the more expensive hulls... but from a percentage standpoint, it’s cheaper.

Valid points- If you go all avidyne or all garmin, you probably won’t have interfacing issues. on the other hand: when you say that database and/or FS costs are minuscule- that is somewhat relative. For a 150K hull Bravo? Yes. For a 40K E? No. The recurring cost of databases and apps is relative to the hull value.

I’m just showing the numbers as I see them, and laying it out as objectively as possible. If you want the baseline GTN, then the GTN is only ~$900 more expensive. But if you want the same functionality as the IFD540 you need to add some sort of WiFi portal the database updates cost the same, true. The $200 recurring cost I’m referring to is the cost of either a foreflight subscription or a Garmin EFB subscription. Without that, the flight stream is useless. With the IFD540, you get the IFD100 App for free, which allows you to manipulate and plan for your IFD540. The IFD100 app does not include charts, but for those of us with a free EFB that has charts, this is a compelling perk. objectively- it costs more to own and operate the GTN units.

From Chief Avionics: new IFD540- 13795 new GTN750-14775 new flightstream 510- 1495 new flightstream 210- 999 so, for the same capability, you’re looking at ~$2-$2500 plus $200 a year extra subscription cost for the Garmin units for a clean install. Figure $3K delta if their is already a 430/530 installed and you’re looking at a 5K difference. If you find a used avidyne unit, you’re now looking at a 7K+ difference.... Here’s some irony for Garmin: they have worked so hard to encode their data streams and to make proprietary trays and wiring.... if they would have just kept their tray standard on the GTN with the 530, they would have put avidyne out of business... and if they would have used the same pin out as aspen for their 500TXi, they would probably put aspen out of business too.... I guess they just don’t realize or consider the extreme cost of installing Avionics... or thy don’t think they could use that to gain market share. Shrewd move on avidyne’s part to capitalize on installation.

Sage advice for those of us that see saving 10K for what it is- the price of a very functional car.... or years of Avgas! that comment about “avidyne building the GTN” is probably true, too- without the easy of the slide in replacement, it would have been a tough sell. Good On them for finding a chink in Garmin’s proverbial armor.