Awful_Charlie

Heading up - that way the map reflects what is out of the window

I've got TKS and no A/C, useful is about 960 after a good dung out, thorough interior clean of the whole airframe, and a re-weigh. I think most of the model specific points have been highlighted above, and if you can't get LOP, GAMIs are worth a try (they'll pay for themselves if they work, not so much to lose if they don't). I have them, and can run LOP (normally 13-14GPH at 30"/22000 for me), but appreciate that seems to be the minority.position. TKS panels are around 2k each, and probably similar for removal/replacement, so definitely worth a check. Some exhaust components are equally effective wallet-destroyers too! Heated stall switch is another one, and the Mooney problem of leaky tanks can also be a nuisance. TIT probe should be replaced frequently, and some sort of engine monitor is essential in my personal view - get all the functions you can in your preferred vendor (I would suggest at least EGT/CHT/TIT/FF/MP/IAT) Good luck!

I try to avoid switching batteries when in flight or when there is significant load, but if the conditions demand it then I will do so (not happened yet) My SOP is to prepare to start (inc prime), swap the battery, start (followed by alternators, one on, both on, first off, both on - can check they are both working that way, and avoids larger voltage swings on the bus), and then maintain the same battery for the flight. If the previous sector was short (say less than 30 mins) and the same day then I'll skip the battery swap before start. Switching a high current will cause some arcing, and I don't see the point in wearing out the relays unnecessarily

I'd never had thought this possible before if using 100LL, but last weekend after having been parked for a couple of hours in over 40C (and a large part of my tanks are painted black), I couldn't get a stable idle, and during taxi when I tried to open the throttle it stumbled badly unless I used the electric pump or opened the throttle much more than I wanted. To make it harder for the mechanical fuel pump, it was down to the last 10 gallons in he selected tank. The giveaway was the fuel pressure fluctuating down to barely readable. After refuelling with fuel from an underground tank, all back to normal!

With lots of regret I'm selling my GNS480. I love the unit, but the bureaucrats in EASA-land can't organise a piss up in a brewery radio frequencies, hence I had to get 8.33kHz kit and went Avidyne IFD. I doubt anyone would specifically want an MX20 as they're pretty old, but I'll throw it in to make the deal - it has Chartview (and currently EU charts), so maybe handy for someone who wants a spare All removed serviceable with racks and connectors and a WAAS GPS aerial, looking for USD5500 plus the shipping of your choice. If no takers here in a week or two, I'll put it up on the GNS480 users mail list Maybe also a GNS430 (non-W) and GTX330 with racks and connectors - open to offers!

Not sure how the installer did it, but on mine, plugging in a mic. to the dedicated socket cuts out the Lemo connected mic. - that works perfectly for me, as plugging a mask in then takes over from the headset, and taking off the mask and unplugging it returns it to the headset I do wish Mooney put the oxygen sockets in the same area as the headsets though - when everything plugged in I have to things to tangle and restrict my head movement

What's wrong with going to Mooney? They can replace it with the improved 940070-503 at the same time!

The Avidyne ADS-B option is a very sore point - when I bought the unit in 2012 it was 'just around the corner' and currently they are saying 'Fall 2016'. Last year it was 'coming soon' too, and on that basis I left the pre-purchased IFDs on the shelf so I could do both installs at once (without an aircraft, it takes me 8 hours to get between home and Straubing, add another 2 hours if I want my car back in the interim, so I don't want to do any more trips than absolutely necessary). Apparently the hardware is available now, but it is waiting on software. When I enquired at Friedrichshafen, I was told that the software was field upgradeable, and that the hardware could be shipped in advance so the installation could be done, and then a quick day trip to Straubing for the software. When I got to Straubing though, they told me the unit would have to go back to the US for the software, so doing the hardware now made no sense! You can see some of the history at http://www.avidynelive.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=757&title=ok-nearly-end-of-summer With the deadline approaching for 8.33 I had to bite the bullet and get the IFDs installed, as with the number of delays to the -A upgrade, I don't have any confidence in the 'Fall 2016' date now either. Consequently I'll have to use up more holiday or write off weekends to go back again :-( The majority of times I get bearing errors is when on the ground, maybe because the lower aerial is so close to the ground and gets reflections from the ground/under-wing surface. Typically I might get this whilst waiting at the holding point at right angles to the runway direction, when an aircraft on downwind may jump between left and right, but on the whole when airborne it is fine

I had Avionik Straubing install my TAS605. Top antenna is between the Com antennas, bottom antenna is in the centre section of the belly panel with a big ground plane sheet. My GPS antennas are in the baggage door area. All seems to work!

Thanks for starting this thread. '25K is in with Avionik Straubing at the moment getting 540/440/340 fitted and I've been spending some time with the sim getting used to it, although of course the sim is a bit different to handle! I'm in the process of putting myself a spreadsheet together with all the user options I need to get set up which I'll transfer into the unit when I get back to home base - for the trip back home I'll see how I get on with the defaults. Of course this is all going to change a bit when 10.2 comes along, but we've got to play the waiting game until the FAA extracts the digit - looking forward to the SynVis although I don't know how well and old f*rt like me will get on with it! Roll on the 5th Aug when the install should be complete :-)

Can I fit one of those in the baggage nay of a long-body?

Do you like complying with SB's? If it is cold, there's no way you should be up at 37.3" Check the engine PoH!

About time Jepp woke up and took some action - maybe partly a result of going to avionics manufacturers and telling them to allow us to use any other data source, particularly for charts, or maybe an eventual outcome from a meeting I went to in Crawley in 2012 with AOPA and PPL/IR to bitch about their product pricing. At the beginning of the year my sub for 480 and 430 navdata, and MX20 IFR charts for only just France came to EUR1200 (and the chart cover was rubbish). Now for navdata, obstacle and terrain data all for a pair of Avidynes, and charts for all of Central Europe comes to a more reasonable EUR800 (although will have to see what the chart coverage is like) It still doesn't compare with SkyDemon (EU version of Foreflight I think) though, which is about EUR80 per year for all IFR charts and the majority of VFR charts, but unfortunately SkyDemon doesn't plug into my autopilot etc!

You think you might have a problem! Gawd knows what it would make over here :-o

Don is of course the master at this, and has already pointed out that your approach speed needs to vary with weight, but I've also noticed I find it much easier to land when the CofG is towards the rear than when it is at the forward limit

Normal flight and taxi gives me about 30-35PSI with the engine pump only, the electric pump takes it right to the top of the green - I've not noticed any difference in fuel flow with the electric pump off or on.. I do get the odd dip in pressure, particularly after a long climb to the higher levels (which is noted in the POH) and sometimes in the cruise, but the engine doesn't miss a beat and there's nothing detectable in the JPI data, so I'm not worried about it at this stage. S/n 239 and with 1950 hours on the engine

Well done for writing all that up DVA - I've been meaning to do something like that for a long time but never got round to it, as I'm another one firmly in the LOP camp. Most of the pain you've been through has already been done by the previous owner (GAMIs and fine wires), all I had to do was work with JP to get the injectors tuned a bit more. My difference is now down to 0.5GPH or so, but at 1950hrs on the engine, I'll sit with this until overhaul now. The fine wires plugs have been great - so far I've got just over 700hrs on them, and other than cleaning out the odd bit of crud, there's been little maintenance. They are a git to gap though, and I've broken one when doing it, I try to keep them at 15-18 thou (as in a 15 feeler gauge should be a go and a 18 a no-go) - a larger gap may work, but is harder on the mag. I try to avoid the grit blaster except as a last resort, with enough time running LOP they keep themselves clean (apart for the odd lump of lead that accumulates in the lower plugs), and grit blasting just makes the insulator rough and easier for stuff to stick to The other thing I'm quite particular about is the mags: I've actually got two pairs now, so one set can be worked on without downtime, getting the e-gap correct before setting the timing and also keeping them clean internally - you need your mags in good shape to run LOP. To Aarons questions: 4) and 5) I'll post some Savvy data later, but not sure I understand the question for 5 6) What do you measure LOP by - the first one to peak or the last? Due to my 0.5 GPH difference, about 90 sounds in the right sort of area 7) In flight, using the EDM Lean find mode, which looks for the last to peak 8) I normally use 30"/2200 which depending on how you work it out comes in about 75% on FF 9) That is LOP! But you have to abide by the CHT and TIT limits. Also if you go too far LOP, then the BSFC drops off so much you might as well run ROP

Thanks for the responses so far - they all help, particularly Marco's experience. We are well aware of the controller problem, and this also exists in commercial cockpits too, so anything we do to make the examination/test more accessible will be limited to PPL level until there is some experience. What we are looking to address is time, money and the hassle factor for recreational flyers, which I hear exists, but have a lack of concrete real world cases for. AF101 is unfortunately not an isolated case, so there is no way a drop in the level or requirement will be accepted by the lawmakers, but if it was as easy as getting your SEP renewed/revalidated then I suspect we can make GA more useful as a travel tool, and if that increases aircraft and airport utilisation, then everybody (apart for the anti flight brigade) benefits

Folks This is mainly addressed to those pilots who have an EASA licence. I have the attention of a man in the European Commission who I am having a dialogue with regarding the English Language Proficiency (ELP) qualification. If you have a couple of minutes, I would be most interested in hearing from you (PM or e-mail if you don't want to post it here) with your answers/views about this. Specifically: What is the state/organisation of your licence issuer (eg France/DGAC or Germany/LBA) Do you have an ELP statement on your licence? If yes, what level, and what did it involve to get? (I'm talking about the admin/exams, not how you learnt English, eg travel 4 hours to exam centre, take 2 hour exam, overnight accomodation, days off work) If no, what reasons do you have for not having it? (eg my English isn't good enough, too difficult to get to an exam centre, too expensive for the number of times I will use it) We are looking at trying to remove some of the pain for getting the qualification, not to remove the requirement or the knowledge required, so your experience and thoughts would be most useful - numbers are good too, so think of travel time and costs, as well as the organisation problems of getting a qualified person, scheduling time off work and so on Thanks in advance Ben

Unfortunately I have to work this weekend - I can't moan too much tough, as it's only the second time this year. Fortunately I do have a busy couple of weeks coming up though - over to Blighty next weekend to help with Project Propeller and then onto the Isle of Man for a few days of TT before returning back home for a day, and then running round as part of the committee for Grass Cockpit All together that should be about 25 hours in the next two weeks - for me that's quite a lot! Enjoy the beach Andrew - I've just had to commission the a/c at home for the first time this year

Sorry, I think you're, errrmmm, wrong! Expanded for twin pumps, for a single pump just remove the manifold and the second line Main Vac pump <--< Pump filter <--< Manifold <--< Regulator <--< instruments <--< Instrument filter <--< outside air Standby Vac pump <--< Pump filter <-------< The regulator works by bleeding in air between the pump(s) and the instruments, lowering the depression. It has the garter filter on it to avoid letting the pump suck junk it that will damage it Whether you have the warning light or a gauge, in either case if you get an out of limit condition, you are going to have to verify with a gauge of known quantity. If you have both and one indicates a problem, then you can hazard a guess as to which one is lying To the OP, it could be the warning switch or it could be a real problem, in which case the regulator or the garter filter on it would be the first point to inspect. The garter filter is pennies (although a total git to get to on my Bravo), and most regulators are adjustable - but before you go adjusting it you should verify there are no kinked lines and the filters are servicable

If you write to your MP/political rep for every - piece of useless regulation that gets proposed - Airport under pressure to close and - never want any improvements to legislation - accept any BS put on you by any AME/A&P/FBO - are happy to do the research and work in making your own training, or getting someone else to do it then feel free to drop you AOPA sub Otherwise feel a glow that you are paying someone to do all this done for you, and a whole lot more

I've had something similar on two occasions now, and would love to get to the bottom of it On both occasions: The AP passed the test on the ground This was after a short ground turnaround where on the previous flight it had been fine The FD worked, but pressing the AP button failed to illuminate the light and it failed to take control an 'in flight' press of the test button gave a never ending flashing AP light and beeps On the last occasion, pulling the AP and AP Warn CBs, then resetting them a few minutes later, and then hitting the test button, the system passed the test and then functioned normally. I'm wondering if this might be a heat issue I don't like doing the in flight test, as the pitch changes are a bit un-nerving for pax who don't necessarily understand what is going on

Welcome MV Do take note of the above that the MSC is representing the vendor, so you should get another opinion representing your interests. Francoise and her team are a great bunch to deal with though (although some say rather expensive!) and are the only MSC in France I believe (you have a couple more in Germany though) I'm on the N-reg, and my A&P/IA does not have any EASA licences, but might be available for a pre-buy if that is acceptable to both the MSC and the vendor - PM me if you need his details - he looks after half a dozen Moneys in this area (as well as some oddities like a Beech 18 and a Sea Bee) Good luck! Ben

Pics as promised - it looks as though I spoke too soon, and the #2 repair is going to need a touch soon: #1 #3 #5 #2 crossover