donkaye

I posted this to the other email lists, but for those who don't subscribe this is what I said: Some days are in a league of their own, and today was one of them. First a great show put on by the Blue Angels. Then two shows in Theatre in the Wood. The first was an hour of Q & A with the Blue Angels team. Excellent questions both from adults from young children and lots of humor from the pilots themselves. In particular “Boss” jokingly saying they were lead in group for the main show, the Apollo Astronauts. Got lots of laughs. This is probably the last time many of the Apollo Astronauts will get together as a group in one place. Their age was showing. David Hartman interviewed them and from the “horses mouths” came the history of the whole Apollo Program. Buzz Aldrin, Jim Lovell, Frank Borman, and of course Gene Krantz, among many others. Listening to the Apollo 13 story from Jim Lovell and Gene Krantz was spellbinding. Then there was the story about how the famous picture of the Earth rise came to be taken told by Jim Lovell. All the while this was going on there was the quarter Moon in the sky behind the stage…..we listened and watched the Moon…

Form me: Hangar: 6,600 Insurance: 2,600 Taxes: 1,500 Annual: 6,000 average Fuel at 120 hours/year and 4.50/gallon and 18 gal/hr: 9,720 Oil Changes: 5 at 200: 1,000 That's 26,820. Then add 10,000 for unexpected maintenance expenses: $36,820. This is realistic including the 10K miscellaneous. Miscellaneous might include Batteries at 500 a pop, spark plugs, exhaust maintenance, turbo and waste gate overhaul, possibly some cylinder work as time goes on, O2 cylinder checks, prop o ring overhaul, reserve for engine overhaul (expect at least 70,000 for that) and on and on.

Thanks, I added a little more to the posting.

Yes, it does cost more to own a Bravo. The simple solution to that is just don't own one if that is uncomfortable for you. My simple rule of thumb that has served me well over my lifetime is to not have more than 10% of your net worth in things you don't need. Then the value of those things don't make much of a difference in your life or lifestyle. The other thing you can do is find a way to mitigate the cost of something you want badly. In my case while the value of the things I don't need are much less than 10% of my net worth, I've helped myself even more by offsetting the cost of the airplane with my flight instruction, an endeavor I really enjoy. With the above philosophy, I don't care what the value of the airplane is. It could be zero and I wouldn't care. One thing I can tell you is that with this philosophy I am going to have everything I want when it comes to the airplane and that includes the GFC 600 when it becomes available for the Bravo. For the other 90% of my net worth, that allows me to not care about the last 10%, I do care about how money is spent, and, therefore, a great deal of attention has to be given to that area, too. Having said all the above, for those in the 10% situation described, Bravos are an absolute steal right now. What an airplane! In coming to Oshkosh it was 2:45 from San Jose to Ogden, then 3:49 to Sioux Falls with a stop in Gurnsey, then 1:46 to Madison where the plane is hangared for the week. It's a true Magic Carpet.

Gains of which I don't understand are not set up correctly, but after spending $5,000 with people supposedly knowledgeable without success, I'm not willing to spend any more money on it. The plane flys acceptably, just not perfectly. Overshoot is within the specs on the autopilot.

In GPSS mode all works perfectly. In HDG, NAV, and APR I have been unable to completely eliminate "wing rock", especially when speeds are under 110 knots. WRT the GAD 43e which handles ALT Preselect and VS, unlike the digital APs like the GFC 700, altitudes are overshot by 40 or 50 feet, but do return to the preselected altitude after a time. This is within the specs of the KFC 150. I recommend getting both anyway. When the the GFC 600 is STC's for the Mooney, you have the option of going all out with a digital AP with many more functions that the KFC 150. I'll be first on the list for purchasing the new AP with its added versatility and safety features.

You are right about that. I have never really gotten the KFC 150 to work as well as I would like it to when interfaced with the G500. Plus, all the extra safety features being added are worth the cost to me. So, I'll be first in line when it gets approved. And just when I thought there would be nothing else that I could possibly want for the plane. The Bravo is the perfect plane for me compared to buying a turbine airplane. Fast enough, reasonably cost effective compared to a turbine, and when it comes to upgrading waaaay less cost to do an upgrade. Today, 2:45 San Jose to Ogden on the way, first to Sioux Falls to do a Training with a person having some difficulty with his landings, and then on to Oshkosh to talk Garmin into getting the GFC 600 STC'd for the Mooney .

I am and will push for Mooney going to the top of the list.

A 75% power my CHTs are around 360° max without opening the cowl flaps. I have the MVP-50 on highest CHT and EGT so I monitor it closely and often.

Some AC is better than none, but I haven't found it to be as effective as it should be. Except for training, the Turbocharged Mooneys can get to cool air in about 10 minutes in the hot country.

Not me. Those with an Acclaim would be lusting after mine...except for the little extra speed of the Acclaim.

Yes.

My numbers on the 231 say at 75% power ROP it's 13 gph compared to the Bravo at 18 gph at 75% power.

This was a Mooney? Were you headed straight down?

Going Eastbound at 17,000 feet (my comfortable altitude) with typical tailwinds, I usually see speeds between 225 and 245 knots at 75% power. You will not be seeing those kinds of speed in a non Rocket K Model. The only time I saw a lot better was a coupled of months ago ferrying an Acclaim back to Chicago. At FL190 I saw 264 knots for most of the flight.

My 1st engine went to 2295 hours after the Bravo conversion at 1300 hours. On the 2nd engine I've had to pull 2 cylinders for leaky intake valve guides. The plane was down for a couple of weeks for that. The Bravo is the steal of the Century right now IMHO having owned mine for the past 25 years. I've flown and taught in nearly every model Mooney and the Bravo is second only to the Acclaim at 4-5 times the price. To me it would be important to get one without the G1000 with its associated upgrade issues, and upgrade it to the greatest extent you can afford. I upgraded my avionics past any Acclaim out there. (They still cannot get TargetTrend, one of the most valuable items to have as part of your traffic solution).

I should mention that Page 8 of the Precision Flying Handout is the most important page you will ever read on the mechanics of aircraft control. When I completely understood that page I knew I had the edge over any instructor out there who did not teach that method of aircraft control, and to this day, after giving nearly 6,000 hours of flight instruction, that still holds true. If you understand that page, you can make perfect landings every time.

Those principles came from my mentor instructor, Bob Goldin, an aeronautical engineer, who created an eleven page handout that he use to give out at the Mooney PPP and which I modified and put on my website. Those were the good old days at the Mooney PPPs where creativity flourished. Before I installed my AOA, I DID do the calculations necessary to arrive at the appropriate airspeed on final. I could do it in a couple of seconds knowing the zero fuel weight of the plane, adding back in the remaining fuel to get the airplane's landing weight, and then making the adjustments called for on page 11 of the handout. (On my website click on Mooney Homecoming 2016 Handout and download it. Open the PDF, click on Bookmarks, and then click on Precision Flying with Don Kaye, then scroll to Page 11 for all the details)

In a steady headwind absolutely no reason to add any speed on approach. As Ken said, less energy on touchdown means less potential problems. Regarding steady crosswinds, that is another story. I personally don't want any more crab on final than about 15°. That sometimes means more speed is required. One of the worst crosswind situations I have encountered was coming into KSJC a number of years ago as a strong cold front was passing through. It was pretty close to a 90° crosswind at 35 knots. I had to run final at 105 knots with no flaps. I touched down at that speed and gradually reduced power while adding right aileron. With that speed on touchdown, then continually slowing and holding the runway with aileron, had I come to a point where the plane started to drift, I could immediately add power and go around. Luckily that wasn't necessary. The runway is at sea level and at the time 4,500 feet long. That was adequate. This isn't to say I recommend everyone land at 100 knots in 35 knot crosswind. You need to fly the plane onto the runway to prevent bouncing. So a lot of practice is in order.

I posted the question on Beechtalk where a person from the Garmin team hangs out. Here is his response:

Well, this is a little confusing. The statement a few posts above says the G5 requires a WAAS GPS, but says you can use the internal GPS with certain antennas, one of which is not a WAAS antenna. ???

So the G5 requires a WAAS GPS source. It can be the WAAS GPS inside the G5 with the proper antenna.

The ESI 500 accepts a 429 input from the G500 heading source. That's how I have mine set up. In my opinion and after much research in the matter when I updated my panel, there is no comparison between the fully loaded ESI 500 and all the other current backups out there for GA aircraft under 6000 pounds. Once again, you get what you pay for. It would be nice if it could interface to the KFC 150, but I doubt that is in the cards.

Thank you. I spent months researching everything on the market and reading all the manuals--even to things I didn't buy like the JPI 930. The MVP 50 is just a better product for my needs. My avionics guru spent a month putting together the wiring diagrams to interface everything properly, then did the install single handedly except for installing the "antenna farm". Everything worked perfectly the first time. My only issue, and still is to a very limited extent, is the GAD43e AP interface and that is not his fault. Notice how he even put in the ESI 2000 so the horizon matched the G500. Since the picture, I swapped out the ESI 2000 for the ESI 500 and the GTX 330ES for the GTX 335. I wanted the Navigation of the ESI 500 and the display of the GTX 335. I also added the Alpha Systems AOA. Even the latest Acclaims off the line can't do everything this panel does.

Thumbs up!!