donkaye, MCFI

Hope to have additional input when I get my plane back next week from its TXi upgrade, just in time for Oshkosh. New panel is completed and the rewiring is just about done. Supposed to be Tuesday, but you know how that goes... Will supply pictures of the final product. It's a little different from those above.

LOL LOL LOL. Do you really think there is any question of "weather" it is working?

Actually it could take a couple of months just to do that type of install, so having the airplane out of commission that long might not be so bad. My upgrade took 6 months. I'm sure they wouldn't consider mine, since it is too advanced for them. I only have nearly everything that Garmin sells in it---which is the problem. The GFC 500 doesn't interface with the G500 TXi line of products. But if it did.... Now if they wanted one to STC the GFC 600, I'd be flying East tomorrow. My understanding is that they have no intention of ever doing that, so---if the BK KFC 230 ever becomes a reality, I'm going with that.

Very nice panel. I do have one question. You posted on Beechtalk, and from the display you put the MFD to the left of the PFD. What was your rational in doing that? Mine goes in tomorrow for the G500 to G500 TXi upgrade. I'm not doing the EIS. What time frame did yours take for the upgrade? Are you SureFlight Aircraft Completions. Since you were doing the fuel calibration yourself I figured you might be.

I started flying relatively early in life. In my second job a year out of College, I went to work for Kaiser Aerospace and Electronics. Everyone in my section had their pilot's license. Additionally, one was an instructor. That was it. I had to get my license, too. In addition to the Military work, they also were on the forefront of glass panels. I got to work on one of the early digital displays. They were REALLY primitive by today's standards. Microprocessors hadn't even been dreamed of at the time; also, no flat screens. The display was a CRT, but it showed most of the data that we have on a PFD today. Obviously no color. They even simulated moving clouds on the display. They flew it in a 172, but nothing ever came of that research. Interesting memories... The 3 letters of recommendation required from people you knew over the 50 year period of time were relegated to those people you've known for the past 25 years. Nobody is around for the 50 year time frame. They'd be over 100 now. Hard to believe...

I know the minis are nice and thin and small, but....there is nothing like an aviation specific piece of hardware. I personally have grown accustomed to the Garmin Aera 796 and use it to "normalize" the navigation, charts, frequencies, AOPA Directory on all aircraft that I fly. It has a large screen and fits nicely between the yoke of any airplane that I have flown. With it you have XM weather, and with a bluetooth ADSB-IN source and ADSB-OUT installed in the plane, ADSB traffic and weather.

Don Kaye and Shirley McLaren expect to be there, too.

I can't believe it's been over 10 years, but it has. I really liked that trip To Australia! What a time we had on the Down Under Tour! I would like to get back there.

Time has a way of slipping by almost unnoticed---until it is. Yesterday I had the honor of participating in a Wright Brothers Master Pilot awards presentation. There were 3 of us getting the award. One of the requirements is having flown for 50 years. The time starts from the first solo flight. Not surprising all of us had first soloed in 1967. As I listened to the accomplishments of the other 2 participants given by Karen Arendt, the FAAST Team manager at the San Jose FISDO, I marveled at how unpretentious both were in our pre award conversations. You can do a lot in 50 years, as was demonstrated by these two individuals. Karen first showed a movie detailing the Wright Brothers step by step achievement towards attaining powered flight. Then she detailed the histories of each pilot with input from each as she went along. Photos from each of us went a long way in guiding those biographies. I remember Karen talking to me about receiving the "Blue Ribbon Package" which determines one's eligibility. That package was given to each of us and contained every document the FAA has ever had on us. Once home I reviewed it, and a lot of memories were brought back. It contained the results of every knowledge test, every flight test ever taken, every medical, and every renewal of the flight instructor certificate. Needless to say after 50 years it is pretty thick. And just think, the FAA has this record on each and every pilot in the United States. We were given a beautiful plaque, a letter acknowledging 50 years of our lifetime in aviation, and lapel pins for us and our spouses. The celebration finished wth distribution of pieces of cake that Karen brought and is shown below. All in all quite a day.

During all of my transition trainings, at some appropriate time, I will simulate an engine failure. I have been emphasizing how to manipulate the controls and find a suitable field even if it is the airport. I have not been emphasizing the importance of immediately (and what should be a memory item to do when time is of the essence and there is no time to pull out the checklist) switching tanks. And as ridiculous and improbable as it may seem to accidentally end up with a tank dry when there is plenty of fuel in the other tank, there are unusual chain of events that can occur that can lead to that outcome. Don't let it happen to you. Always, and I mean always, pre brief before takeoff what you will do in the event of an engine failure on takeoff. It will save 4 to 5 seconds of "startle effect" along with possibly saving your life.

The G600 is built like a tank. The G500 like a Prius. No comparison between the servos, the G600 servos are that much better. I saw them last year at Oshkosh. Unfortunately, Garmin has indicated no intention of certifying the GFC 600 for the Mooney even though they own one.

With much better servos.

That doesn't make sense to me. Missing the camaraderie of friends and fun for a political reason? Life is too short for that. I expect to be there +1.

Mine is approximately 1.5 to 2 quarts per 25 hours between oil changes with 9 quarts put in at oil change.

Maybe, but...

Reinforces the importance of verbally reviewing your "engine out on takeoff" procedure on every takeoff. I got lax on it myself, but recently re-established its importance. Richard helped all of us when we started formation flying. We would all meet at his hangar in Lincoln where he would give us water and we would go over both the preflight and post flight briefings so important in formation flying. He willingly gave of his time and experience. He will be missed.

If it's wired property it certainly should.

In my opinion not true. Proper slope and airspeed coupled with a smooth transition to the landing attitude will practically guarantee a perfect landing.

As a rule of thumb, as has been mentioned before, for every 1 knot of airspeed over nominal airspeed, the landing distance will be increased by 100 feet. So 10 knots too fast and you will be taking up an extra 1,000 feet of runway. Your landing distance had been determined by the time you hit ground effect. You can't expect to force it on any sooner and expect things to "work out". They won't. It's critical to touch down in the landing attitude (about 8° nose up) no matter what speed you come over the threshold. You can't have a prop strike if the nose it up. So it is incumbent on you to come over the threshold at the correct speed, especially on a short field.

Sorry, don't know anything about the IFDs, but it you activate any leg of an approach or go direct to any point on the approach, you have activated the approach.

Why do double duty with ADS-B? Spend the extra money now on the GTX 345 and use it when you do your upgrade later.

For the G500: To preselect Altitude and Vertical Speed do the following; 1. Press and hold the ALT Button. 2. Twist the knob to the Altitude you want to go. This Arms the Altitude. 3. Press and hold the VS Button This Engages the VS. 4. Twist the knob either counter clockwise or clockwise to select the climb or descent rate. It sounds like I may be disappointed with the G500 TXi solution, but maybe not. I do not intend to add the GCU Unit. My Display is scheduled to arrive next week and take a couple of days to install. In playing with the Sim here is the way I would handle it. Unfortunately the Sim doesn't show Arming either ALT or VS. Heading is the default so given a heading change just twist the knob as you would with an HSI. Then for an Altitude change I would twist the outer knob to ALT and the inner knob to select the Altitude. Don't know how to ARM yet, but from the above sounds like a screen tap to ARM. Should just be able to push and hold the inner knob to ARM ALT, but it sounds like that is not an option. For VS Twist outer knob to VS and inner knob either clockwise or counter clockwise to set climb or descent. I'd forget about trying to do it with the screen alone. Too time consuming. Using the knobs, I think everything can be done as quickly as with the legacy KAS 297B.

The problem is the Top Hat. I've attached a spreadsheet for the Rocket Weight and Balance. The CG range is from 40.6" to 49.3". But from 40.6 to 45.1 the plane is practically useless due to being above the envelope for any reasonable pilot and copilot weight. Do some "what ifs" with the spreadsheet to see what I mean. wb Version 3.8 231 Rocket.xls

The Rocket is an interesting airplane. I've trained numerous pilots in them. They climb better than the Bravo. Really it is a 2 person airplane. It has a screwy weight and balance envelope that makes flying 3 or more people impractical legally, since the fuel capacity is greatly reduced to stay within the envelope. With proper training a low time pilot can transition to the higher performance airplanes reasonably easily. I have found it easier to transition low time pilots because they are more willing to listen to experience than higher time pilots who think they know it all--but don't. The plane does go fast but sucks up a lot of fuel in doing so. Having had a Bravo for almost 26 years now, I prefer that airplane and the other long body planes over the Rocket. The above comments (for what they're worth) are the results of 11,000 GA hours flying time 9,200 of which are in all types of Mooneys and over 6,000 hours of instruction given over the past 25 years.

With a little weather experience it is reasonably easy to predict the occurrence of turbulence. In the past 26 years of airplane ownership I have been stopped by turbulence once. it was over Wyoming in the afternoon and there was no option to mitigate it. I've attach an article I wrote a while back that might be of interest on flying turbulence. Nobody really likes it and flying a 3,000 pound airplane in expected moderate turbulence is no fun and in my opinion should be avoided if you want passengers to fly with you again. The Mooney structure is really strong and remember it is certified for 3.8g meaning the wing can carry a load of 3.8 x 3,000 pounds or 11,400 pounds. Turbulence would have to be strong to load the wing to that amount. Having said that, if there is a significant amount of turbulence and I've used all the mitigating choices discussed in the attached paper before I call it quits and land, I'm definitely not flying above the top of the green arc. If it's uncomfortable enough to slow to maneuvering speed, it's time to land and call it a day. As a private pilot, do you really need to be flying in those conditions? On Flying Turbulence.pdf