MB_M20F

Agreed that hand-flying is a required skill and I'm not suggesting otherwise, nor that I don't practice it. The point of the story is that the technology is cool (and helpful). The intent of the thread is not to open up the "when is it appropriate to use the autopilot" topic, although I suspected it might happen and guess people can go there if they so choose.

[Post retracted since everyone seems to think its purpose was to solicit advice/criticism. Have a nice day and fly safely.]

FYI, I've been wanting to do the SWTA mod for quite some time (since it's so much less $ than the LASAR mod) but SWTA is out of glass (and has been for more than a year, I believe) so SWTA is not an option at the moment. Maybe if enough of us line up at SWTA they will be able to order the glass. I think the problem is they can't find anyone to manufacture a small enough batch. MB

I'm sure I'd love a turbo as I like to fly high (for all the reasons outlined above) but I thought I'd point out that NA Mooneys are surprisingly capable at relatively high altitudes; I routinely fly my NA F model at 15-16,000 feet where I get a respectable ~140 KTAS at ~8 gph.

I am planning to upgrade my old Insight GEM 602 to the new G3 which is due out this fall.

Interesting that the airspeed indicator on the Aspen seems to be set to knots; I thought it had to be set to mph on a vintage Mooney.

6 years ago I paid $12K +tax for an S-Tec 30 with altitude hold, GPSS and a new DG. That included 54 hours of labor (including removing old wing leveler) and the hardware costs were $1510 for the DG, $933 for the GPSS and $6339 for the autopilot system. Hope this helps. M

Yeah, I'll probably end up biting the bullet and having LASAR do mine as well. It's just sooo much more expensive...

Quote: aerobat95 I didnt realize a F model could get near the 150's. Thats not to bad. What speed mods do you have? I was looking at this TN F model that looked pretty good. Just not sure if I want to go with a turbo. I dont want a mx hog. Plus I am not sure what the benifit would be real world at 12K feet.

My F model has a few speed mods (including a PowerFlow exhaust, but not yet a 201 windshield) and cruises at 151 KTAS at 8500 ft or 148 KTAS at 11500 ft. At 14500 ft I get 142 KTAS. Fuel flow is just over 9 gph (about 9.2) at 8500 ft and 8.5 gph at 11500 ft. M

I'll be there with a friend Saturday-Tue/Wed, Caravan=yes, BBQ=yes, Camping with Mooneys/North 40 Morten

I've never had this problem. What I do is the following: On the "Downloads" page, I have selected every IFR, VFR and approach procedure for the entire country. Once per month, ForeFlight prompts me to download updates, and this takes several hours (I just leave it running overnight) on my T1 connection. Then, everything (other than real-time weather) is always available even without an Internet connection. Hope thils helps. M

I've now had an opportunity to test out the iPad/ForeFlight combo on a couple of 7 hour flights involving some relatively high workload flying (IMC, night, etc.) and must say I am very pleased. I used it as my exclusive source of VFR charts, IFR low level charts, and approach plates, and also ended up using it for airport info as the information is just so much easier to access than through my Garmins. I had a couple of minor problems with ForeFlight crashing, but because the app comes right back up at the press of a button, it was not really an issue. Battery life is superb, and the iPad screen was readable in all light conditions including at night. The only significant shortcoming I uncovered was this: The low level IFR map may occasionally lack certain info where the source maps have been stitched together. The specific problem I experienced was that my clearance included an airway that had a bend in the middle defined by an intersection. On ForeFlight, I could only see the first four letters of the intersection name; the fifth letter had been lost by whatever process is employed in stitching the source maps together. Thankfully, it was the last letter and not the first, which allowed me to input the first four letters into my Garmin and then scroll through the options, checking lat/lon coordinates and discerning which of the available intersections was the correct one. So, for now, I will keep my good old paper charts available for backup. M

Quote: jax88 (I currently do not have weather enabled on my Garmin 496, reason being the elapsed time between when the radar image was generated and when it reaches my aircraft. [...])

So, my iPad arrived, I loaded ForeFlight on it, and it looks gorgeous. I already have GPSs and WX in the cockpit so I realy just want/need it for charts and the approach plates. Looking forward to taking it flying. I probably will need to get that knee-board thingy, though, to keep the thing in place. M