donkaye, MCFI

Not sure which autopilot you have, but my KFC 150 does't fly standard rate turns. The bank angle for it is about 20°. I think the S-Tec AP can maintain specific bank angles for small angles of bank.

On the RNAV Approach did you try VTF? Regarding VFR Approaches, although there is a fix at 3nm from the threshold, I had it work close in on base including the vertical navigation.

Funny you should ask. I actually got to the responsible person this morning to handle a letter I received from the IRS last week. She had no discretion in changing anything, but at least got a firm decision. I was working extensively with an instrument student last October and forgot to file a 2 page form for my pension plan. Penalty: $25/day up to a maximum of $15,000. Luckily, it was only a few days late and I FedEx'd it to them when I remembered. No reasonably acceptable excuses, no negotiating days. Just pay the penalty. Might as well have talked to a computer.

I’m headed to Hawaii for a week tomorrow morning. Since I wouldn’t be flying the plane for over a week, I decided it would be good to go get some gas to top off the fuel tanks for the week and a half that I would be gone. A fairly dry cold front was passing through. This caused some fairly high and gusty wind conditions. I was headed over to Byron, C83. It has 2 runways, 30 and 23. The winds were 210 at 22G28. There were many gliders out and they were all using 23. I decided to get some crosswind practive in so chose 30. Those on the ground probably thought I was crazy. I lined up on final and put in full flaps to see what the crab angle would be. It seemed like it was about 40°. I went to approach flaps and increased speed to 95 knots. The crab decreased to something reasonable like about 20°. The wind showed to be 26 knots direct crosswind on the G500. I came over the threshold at about 95 knots and gradually reduced power while aligning to the runway with rudder and holding the left wing down. Gradually I slowed while adding more and more aileron. I never ran out of aileron as I came to a stop. If at any time I was unable to hold the runway, I would have gone around to runway 23. 30 is 4500’ long so coming in that fast still provided plenty of runway to use if necessary, but I made the usual turnoff about half way down the runway. We don’t get much chance to practice our crosswind landings here in Northern California, so when we get a day like this it’s good to go out and practice. No one was taking advantage of it while I was there. PS From my experience the Mooney is a great crosswind landing airplane.

Check with the management, but I've had 2 people use the same airplane in the past. Due to the number of instructors available they usually fly in 2 different sessions.

I was thinking more in relation to the yearly maintenance and engine reserve costs of the airplane.

In the overall cost of airplane ownership, database costs and/or FS 510 or 210 costs, are minuscule and probably shouldn't even be factored into an avionics upgrade decision. OTOH compatibility of products definitely should be factored into the decision. Reading on here and on Beechtalk about all the issues people have by using products made by multiple vendors and their troubleshooting expenses, makes me very happy to have mostly one vendor associated with my upgrade. I never had ANY interface issues and got some pretty major discounts on the products themselves as the result of doing everything all at one. Makes the comparison of costs between GPS products not important at all. Read the manuals of functionality of all the products you are considering. If you like some functionality over the other, then that is the unit you should buy. At some point in a future update Garmin will probably add step-down altitudes. Until then, I can do without them in favor of some other capabilities the competition doesn't have like the VFR approaches and Telligence. Also, Garmin Pilot continues to be updated to have some pretty slick features.

Look for an Ovation without air conditioning. It will be very expensive to remove.

Given your location I wouldn't consider anything less than the 231 with the preference being a 252. You definitely want the turbocharger. You are lucky to be close to Kerry McIntyre, a Mooney expert located in Evanston, Wyoming, just over the hill from you. Join MAPA. He writes often for them and in fact has an article in the January Log. If I were in the Salt Lake area, I'd have him work on my airplane. Welcome aboard.

I have no idea what this pilot had on board regarding equipment, but most everyone has a GPS that shows terrain. At night I always have terrain enabled. If it wasn't a mechanical issue, that could have saved his life.

Until you have whatever equipment you end up choosing, you don't know how you will use it. I chose to go with one vendor so the interface would be easier and that proved to be the correct decision. So I recommend that which ever products you choose, Garmin or Avidyne, go all in with that one vendor to save yourself a lot of interface headaches that many who mixed their products have had. I've got all the interface goodies, FS 210 and FS 510, and this is what I have found. I rarely open the iPad in flight unless I'm going on a long cross country and want to keep myself occupied looking at "stuff". With local flying or trips up to about 2 hours, I get all the information I need from the panel mounts and Aera 796 ((weather, XM or FIS-B), XM radio, Stormscope). In an emergency situation where I lost both the G500 and ESI 500 (an unheard of situation) the FS 210 AHRS provides attitude to both the 796 and iPad. So the 210 is a nice backup gadget. The 510 is useful mostly for database concierge. I still have to take one card home from the G500 because database sync of flightcharts to it from the 750 is so slow. For VFR only pilots the iPad and an external source of ADS-B IN with bluetooth, and a panel mounted ADS-B Out source is probably adequate. For the instrument pilot a WAAS GPS, an external source of ADS-B IN with bluetooth, a panel mounted ADS-B OUT source, and a backup AI would be the minimum equipment avionics required. There probably is no justification for any of the new super boxes other than they certainly make flying a lot more enjoyable. So if you want your flying to be more enjoyable then you can trade your money for that benefit.

Probably not any more ridiculous than $1,000 I just paid for an exhaust clamp. The clamp is required to be replaced if the bolt holding it on is unscrewed twice. Speed Brakes are so useful that it's "close your eyes" and pay the price.

It could be a simple $10 issue, if the speed brakes are like mine. I'm not sure when precise flight changed their speed brakes. I have a 1991 Bravo and there is a spring that handles the retract. They break every year or two. I bought 4 of them from Precise Flight and proactively change them yearly at Annual. It's a ½ hour job for each one, as each speed brake needs to be removed.

Mine has those callouts, too, and it seems to work perfectly. GTS 800 => GDL 88 => GTN 750/GTN 650/GMA 35c. At the same time GTS 800 => GDL 88 => FS 210 and/or FS 510 => Aera 796/iPad. I think I have it all...

I have not flown with anyone who has a lynx, yet. Anyone who discounts TargetTrend either hasn't flown with it or doesn't get the concept of relative motion. With absolute motion of most traffic sources and displays much more time needs be spent looking at traffic to see how their direction relates to your. With TargetTrend it's instantaneous. You can evaluate 30 targets in the blink of an eye.

Probably what each person has it what they will recommend. So for me and every student I have that has upgraded, it's the Garmin setup. Having TargetTrend for traffic is just a benefit that cannot be underestimated, as is the ability to have coupled VFR approaches with vertical navigation to nearly all runways in the country, and the ability to load a second approach to a different airport while still flying the missed on the primary approach and not losing the navigation on the primary missed approach.

Who was your DPE?

If you really want to know the Pitch/Power relationship, the camaraderie of many like minded people, precision much greater than that required of the Instrument Rating, then acquiring the skill to fly formation should be on your agenda. One hour of formation flying is like 4 hours of hand flying alongside the most demanding instructor you have ever had. Bring a large towel to wipe the sweat from your brow when a practice flight is over and debriefed. Leave your ego at the door.

Just my perspective, but how much do people think something is worth if it is given for free? Do attorneys and accounts give free advice? It takes time, experience and often a lot of money in training to acquire knowledge that is valuable to people. You're right, though, that I don't make much money selling my video after all the costs associated with producing it. I deliberately sell it for less money than it should be selling for BECAUSE I want more people to benefit from it, but have some skin in the game to feel it is of value. Being a landlord, which doesn't take much time now, allows me to devote nearly full time to my passion for flying and teaching, which I hope helps a lot of people.

I never do it from the backside of the power curve; too close to loss of aircraft control. Most prop strikes come from coming in too fast, so that is the way I simulate them. I come in 5-10 kts too fast with the descent rate too great and bounce the plane, then hand control over to the student to recover. Please don't go out and practice this on your own. From a lot of Mooney time I know what's recoverable and what is not. In the Landing Video, I don't let the airplane porpoise, just bounce a lot and show how to recover from a bounced landing that could lead to a porpoise and prop strike. There's no need to actually porpoise to show how to recover from a bounced landing that could lead to a porpoise.

Smart insurance company. No way 5 hours to transition in a Mooney.

What was that Piper pilot thinking!!!! That is one of the poorest examples of piloting I have ever seen--but it probably was to be expected given the approach. First off, he came in waaaay, waaay too fast. Then he let the airplane fly him instead of the other way around. And Pipers even have oleo struts on the gear to make it even easier to damp the touchdown force. After the first bounce, all this pilot had to do to have a good day was either go around, or if the runway was long enough, hold the nose up until speed had bled off enough to touch down again. If the nose is held up, you can't bounce on it. Mooney's are more difficult in that they don't have the damping effect of oleo struts, only rubber disks that will CONTRIBUTE to a bounce if touching down too fast and too hard. Once again I think it is important to actually practice bounced landings with an instructor who knows what they are doing and/or: http://www.donkaye.com/donkaye.com/Perfect_Your_Landings.html

I kept it because I never knew when it might be useful, and it displayed on the G500 through the GAD 43e. I got the added benefit of DME hold with the GAD 43e that I didn't have before. Before KSJC got their ILS DME, with my old EFIS 40, I had to spend a great deal of money to put a switch in so that I could get DME displayed on the EFIS 40 while in ILS mode. Coming in VFR to KSJC from the East where they want you to pass over VPEMB, I use it to quickly tell the Tower my position. Enroute, if GPS were ever lost (I actually had it happen once on the way back from Salt Lake City), when on an airway it would prove to be useful. And then there is the interesting LDA approach described above, that could be done thoughtlessly. I also, use it enroute for quick relative position, like when to start descending into San Diego when VFR. All in all I still find having DME useful, and it really didn't cost me anything to keep it during the upgrade.

From my experience, if you get your training in a J model, expect to spend the same amount of time transitioning to the R model. There is a significant difference in the way they handle. I expect to be in the Chicago area in early March working with a student who has an Acclaim there. Maybe he can give you a ride. That airplane handles the same as the Ovation, since it is an Ovation with twin turbochargers.

I knew there was a reason I kept my KN 63 when I upgraded my panel. Reads beautifully on the G500.