donkaye

Regarding your second paragraph, my engines obviously were Bravo engines. After the shop incident in late September 2018, I immediately put my order in with Air Power. I was quote 8 to 10 weeks. Th engine arrived in mid December. They were within a week of quoted time. Definitely not the case today. I had to put up $7,000 with the order and the balance when it was ready to ship. No time was lost during the time of the order and the time it arrived. Insurance issues took a couple of weeks, but the shop's insurance company couldn't have been more cooperative. Lots of parts were ordered from Mooney, but they arrived fairly quickly, so when the engine arrived it was installed within a couple of weeks. As with previous engines, I was required to give Air Power a check for about $29,000 to be held until the returned core was approved. If the core was not approved, then that money would be gone. The core has always been accepted.

When you're young your life seems infinite. The cliche "Life is short" brings a response, "Yea, sure", snicker snicker. However, there comes a time in seemingly short order when that cliche is not so funny anymore. A 6 month downtime above all other considerations is then unacceptable.

That may be true, but that can't be guaranteed, I don't want the airplane down all that time, and the engine isn't zero timed. I'm on my 3rd Reman Lycoming Factory engine. Bottom line, considering the cost of an engine and what I said above, I feel more comfortable with a factory engine.

Probably a lot of audio panels can do what I'm about to say, but it surprised me at how easy it was to do on the fly with no previous experience trying to do it with the GMA35c. Shirley has a Bose A20. I'm late to the party, but I just found out that you can download Netflix movies to the iPad. The goal was 1. to have her play a movie; 2. me not hear it; 3. be able to communicate between us and have her hear ATC; 4. allow me to listen to XM radio without her hearing it. Solution: 1. Bluetooth the movie audio to her Bose; 2. Go to Music 1 and disable co-pilot can hear; 3. On the main audio page keep pilot and co-pilot connected. Simple, but effective. Smooth flight both directions to San Diego with a 40 knot tailwind going down. No different than going first class commercial without the airport hassles. After all these years, there's nothing like flying privately. There's always something new to learn.

Do you think Garmin will resolve their issue? I used to be a big fan of Bendix/King, but based on their recent performances, do you really think they will resolve their issue---in this Century?

I've been using Turbotax to prepare my tax return for years. There are a number of companies that sell it on the cheap. I tried one of them last year. While it eventually worked out, there was a time where I thought I had been taken. This same company was back this year with terrible reviews for the most part, but several who indicated satisfaction. What to do? Remembering the hassle of last year, it was not a hard decision to just pay retail and be done with it. I downloaded the product and was up and running in just a few minutes. The analogy should be apparent...

No matter the above or who the non manufacturer overhauler, I'd never overhaul an engine. Call me stubborn but It's manufacturer reman only for me no matter the rationalization to the contrary. It would definitely influence purchase price for me.

I'm on my 3rd engine. The 2nd and 3rd are factors remans. I wanted zero time engines. Only Lycoming can do that.

That's one of the great features added to the GTN series a number of system updates ago. IF YOU ARE ON THE MISSED APPROACH, select PROCEDURES, Change the airport identifier to the alternate airport you want to go, selective the approach you want, then the transition, then go direct to one of the approach waypoints on the transition when you want to. The missed approach from your original airport becomes the enroute part of the flight plan so you can continue to fly it until you want to go to the other airport. For example, if you are in a hold as part of the original missed approach, you can stay in the hold and the AP will continue to fly it until you go to your alternate. It's important to note that you can't do the above before you are on a portion of the missed approach. You have to be on the missed approach of the original airport before putting in your alternate as above. Because of this feature, I can ping pong off of approaches to numerous airports close to each other when practicing without undo "overload" pressure. For example, I can do an approach into KSNS, go to the Hold on the missed, set up an approach to KWVI, start the missed, set up an approach into KOAR, start the missed, then set up an approach into KMRY and go missed, then head back to KSJC and do an approach into there. I did this a couple of weeks ago all in IMC conditions, and was barely tired after landing back in San Jose. That wouldn't have been the case without this feature.

The POH doesn't, but the Lycoming Manual that came with (or should have come with) the plane does have it. I've attached the relevant information from the Manual. it covers the TIO-540-AF1A Engine that is the same as the 1B with oil injection. 20231119_lb Find Actual Horsepower From Altitude, R.P.M., Manifo.pdf

Here's the Lycoming Service Instructions for engine Break-in. Lycoming SI1427B Engine Break-in.pdf

Full as in full: Throttle, Prop, Mixture, full in.

I agree, that was surprising, but that engine lasted 1600 hours before the incident during the Annual in 2018 that caused me to decide to replace it rather than do a tear down, since it was within 3 years of TBO.

Per Lycoming their engine should be broken in in one flight. 75% power for the 1st hour; alternate 75%/65% for the 2nd hour; then Full power for the last ½ hour. 75% is 29"/2400 rpm; 65% 26"/2400 rpm. Here's the spreadsheet I made up for breaking in engines. I used my Bravo as an example. I fill it out during the break-in so the time goes by rapidly. I don't remember why I dropped down to 4,500 feet. I think it was a request of ATC. Usually I do the break-in at 4,000 feet.

I recommend it to everyone with whom I fly. One of the best "bang for your bucks" in aviation today. With it you can forget the "bang" when it comes to the actual landing. Nidal is also totally responsive to any question you might have.

It's one thing to have bought a new G1000 Mooney many years ago before WAAS, when that was the latest in technology. It's just bad luck when it comes to selling it now when even newer technology exists with few or no options for a new buyer to upgrade. OTOH knowingly buying a non upgradable airplane would not be something I would be inclined to do. Even substantial discounts would not cut it for me. There are too many new safety features available like Visual Approaches, Smart Glide, and Envelope Protection on new autopilots to name a few, that should make new buyers take a long look before they buy a pre-WAAS non upgradable airplane.

My advice; Sell the 796 and get the 760. It's such a good unit! The 796 was good, but the 760 is lighter and better in my opinion. I've had mine for 3 years and use it on every flight. I just got back from a cross country from Florida to California with a new student who purchased an Ovation. The Ovation had a GNS 530. I never opened a paper chart, although I had them all with me. With airways included, it was easy to load them on the 760, then add them to the 530 without having to look at a chart. Also, the Visual Approaches proved very useful. It comes with a new cradle. Surprisingly, Garmin cheaped out and didn't include a case. You will need to buy one from Garmin. The cover is light and much better than supplied with previous models. It will require a GDL5X for weather and traffic.

I helped a new owner fly his newly purchased Ovation from Fort Lauderdale, Florida to Reid Hillview, California this weekend. We did the trip in 1½ days over 15.4 hours. Route of flight: KFXE-KMAI (stop), KMAI-KAEX (stop), KAEX-KMAF (Overnight), KMAF-KCHD (Stop), KCHD-KRHV. Due to winds we flew low (4,000 feet) the first day. There was a strong crosswind of 40 knots the whole day, but very little headwind component. Near the end of the 1st day I got a block altitude of 4,000-6,000 feet. This provided a fairly smooth ride the whole day. The 2nd day we left fairly early in the morning knowing we'd pick up 2 hours during the day. We chose 10,000 feet for winds and power and flew all the way across New Mexico and Arizona at that altitude. Because it was morning we had a mostly smooth ride all the way. We were going to have an early lunch at Chandler, but the Hangar Cafe was packed and Convective activity was developing, so in the interest of safety we got fuel, had a difficult hot start, and were off on the final leg. By now turbulence was developing, so we went up to 12,000 feet over the desert and stayed there until arriving over the Central Valley of California where we dropped down to 8,500 feet VFR, where we were able to get 75% power and a nice tailwind that gave us speeds of up to 202 knots, and this was going North. Having flown Ovations across the Country too many time to count, the "sweet spot" is 9,000 feet. While you can get up in the teens, the climb rate gets pretty poopy above about 11,000 feet. I choose an altitude that provides the best speed while taking into account turbulence, giving preference to altitude to account for turbulence. Time of day takes precedence over both, meaning fly early in the morning. If that's not possible, I wait until it is. That meant changing this week's flight start one day to let a cold front pass. All in all we had a great trip across the Country, and one of the fastest trips West I ever made in an Ovation. For awhile you can check out the trip and legs on FlightAware under N9171Z.

I guess it's what you're used to. When using a GTN, you can load another approach to any airport in the Country when you're on a missed approach to an airport. It's simple to ping pong off of approaches, as for example, doing multiple approaches to KSNS, KWVI, KOAR, KMRY, all airports within a few miles of each other. The most time consuming part of that is picking up the weather at each airport. I did that a couple of weeks ago. The weather was near minimums at all the airports, so it was good practice. In fact I had wanted to land at Marina, KOAR, for cheap fuel , but that airport was below minimums, so couldn't get in there. My initial response was a way to have your cake and eat it too, but then, to use a trite expression, "you can lead horse to water but you can't make it drink". I can only communicate what 10 years of experience has taught me.

None. Just a former electrical engineer and flight instructor who recognizes and uses and teaches their products after extensive avionics research.

Why not make your life really easy. Sell the Avidyne units. Sell the KFC 150. Use the proceeds to upgrade to the G3X Touch or G500 TXi, GTN 750, and GFC 500. They all interface beautifully and give you all the benefits of the GFC 500 including VNAV and Smart Glide. Add a few more dollars and get the GMA 35c Audio panel that interfaces seamlessly with the GTN 750 and have Telligence. You may say, "But I like the Avidyne better than the GTN". While I admit to not having a whole lot of experience with the Avidyne, a few things I find troublesome with it are: At least for me, the user interface is clunky, too much information on the screen, too small Map Page when all that information is presented, flight plan page harder to use than for the GTN, inability to shut off the audio alerts when near terrain, and more that I can't think of off hand. You just can't go wrong with Garmin in my opinion. I've had that setup and more Garmin stuff for over going on 10 years in my M20M and wouldn't change a thing, even after that amount of time.

I think Craig McGregor set it up many years ago, He had owned an M20J and lived on the Big Island of Hawaii until he moved to New Mexico and bought a Malibu. We're lucky he continues to maintain it. I think MooneySpace is valuable enough that I donate more than the minimum and, if you find the forum useful as I do, I recommend doing the same.

Paul, I totally agree with you, since it appears be a paperwork issue, but as of now it is not correct on the GFC 500 to have Transition to Approach Enabled.

Marc's persistence paid off, but it's not what I wanted to hear. Here is what Garmin said today about "Transition to Approach" for the GFC 500. From: Aviation Training Webinar <AviationTraining.Webinar@garmin.com<mailto:AviationTraining.Webinar@garmin.com>> Sent: Wednesday, September 20, 2023 8:15 AM To: Marc Breen Subject: RE: Transition to Approach with GFC500 The GTN by itself and when coupled to a GFC 600 is capable of using VNAV all they way to the final approach fix. I may have misspoken about transition to approach when paired with a GFC 500. (my highlight) As it stands right now the GTN install manual has the installer turn off transition to approach when paired with a GFC 500. I have been talking to both the GTN and GFC teams to see if this can get updated but so far this feature has to be turned off. If and when they update this, then it will simply be a setting on the GTN that will allow this feature. I apologize for any confusion this may have caused. If you have any other questions please let me know and If you want, time permitting I can still give you a call. Best Regards, Matthew Clark Senior Aviation Pilot Instructor 1200 E. 151st Street | Olathe, KS 66062 Email: Aviation.Training@garmin.com<mailto:Aviation.Training@garmin.com>

Several GTN System Updates ago Garmin resolved the issue and VNAV works through GP intercept where [V] changes to [GP].