donkaye, MCFI

Literally Monday morning quarterbacking, and maybe you already did this, but with a forward CG, on landing, the trim is often full up. With full flaps the nose pitches down significantly, and offsets most of the pitch up moment of full up trim. The K model has enough power to fly in that configuration.

There is always the ESI 500 which has it all--including SVT for just a few thousand more. I really don't understand all this interest in the G5, which is basically just an AI.

Pushing the Trim Test causes the AP to run a systems check. If it fails the test by continuing to alarm, the AP won't work. From experience on 2 occasions over the past 24 years it has been the AP disconnect switch that needed to be replaced. You could have another problem, but it is unlikely from my experience.

Most likely the AP disconnect switch. That is the usual culprit.

Oil change and TIT probe.

Was that yesterday? If I hadn't been able to get over it, I would have bitten the wind bullet and gone down the Owens Valley and crossed over to Bakersfield, which was clear. With weather in the cockpit, early on I checked Reno because the wind would have helped, but with the winds gusting to 50 knots and the Sigmet in the area, I quickly wrote that one off.

This is Part 2 of Into the Wind - The Trip: Winter flying can be challenging with many decisions to be made, and this trip was to be no exception. First there was the big storm developing over the midwest, and then there was the storm coming in from the Pacific. First things first, though. Darkness was fast approaching as I left Willmar, and I wanted to get as far South as I could get before dark so as not to be faced with a large snow issue. I also needed a big FBO that could provide hangar space for the first night, since there is no way I wanted the plane out in the weather. I had learned my lesson years before with below freezing temperatures and “clear” skies. I had arrived in the morning to find the plane covered with frost. It took hours to defrost the plane at that time. So I chose Omaha, Nebraska as the stop. I really wanted Wichita, but it looked like I would have to cross the Front and arrive after dark. I wasn’t interested. So Omaha it was. I arrived before dark and chose Tac Air over Signature due to fuel prices and because I only saw jets in front of Signature. I asked for hangar space and they were able to provide it. I’m glad I didn’t ask for hangar price at the time. The most I had ever paid before was $55. When I paid my bill, it turned out to be a whopping $115/night! And was it ever worth it. Any thought of leaving Friday was quickly removed from my mind as Friday arrived with low ceilings and winds gusting to 49 knots. It was wild. The temperature drop was 30° from Thursday, so it was a wicked front. Temperatures were in the low 20s, and as politically crippled as California has become, I was reminded why I live there. I spent several hours Friday reviewing the weather options trying to figure out which way to go home; the Northern route through Wyoming, the mid route through Pueblo involving tackling the Rockies, or the Southern route through New Mexico. Saturday was looking good through the midwest down where I was (definitely not so in Minnesota), but the weather was quickly moving into California. The headwinds were looking to be terrible the whole way back. I was thankful to have my plane. I chose the mid route through Pueblo as looking promising. I figured on a little over 7 hours for the trip. It turned out to be 9½ hours with most of the tough decisions in the last hour and a half. I would pick up 2 hours on the trip home, but I was off the ground by 6:30am California time. The Pueblo leg was uneventful and even though I stayed low I still had 35 knot headwinds. After topping off at self serve in Pueblo ($3.98/gal) I climbed to 16,000 and took V244 to Milford, Utah. Headwinds were now up to 45 knots and I was seeing J speeds of 150 knots. The Rockies were beautiful and the ride was smooth. Around Montrose some rapidly changing numbers on the MVP-50 showed either a disconnected TIT probe or a failed TIT probe. Knowing engine power settings made that event uneventful for the remainder of the trip. Milford is the only reasonable stop midway between Pueblo and the West Coast, so after a quick stop I was off again on the last leg, a leg I knew was going to be a challenge. Having all the new electronics provides a comfort level unknown just a few years ago, and monitoring the flight against the plan keeps the tension to a minimum. Headwinds were now up to 51 knots and speeds at times were down to C172 speeds. The airlines were complaining about mountain waves and I saw them, too, with oscillations in speed in cycles between 120 knots and 170 knots. Additionally a Sigmet had popped up along my route of flight for moderate to severe turbulence below 14,000 feet. As I came up on it, I saw dust being blown North for miles and miles. The good news was that the winds were parallel to the Sierras. I cautiously went into the Sigmet area knowing that if things started to get rough, I would deviate South to Bakersfield that was reporting clear. I also saw the clouds associated with the Front moving into California. I left my Site Level in the hat rack and didn’t want to try to get it. It was probably better that way anyway. As the Sierras very slowly came closer, with the mountain waves causing the sight view to alternately raise and lower, I sometimes thought I would top the clouds and sometimes though I would not. By Mono Lake it became clear that I would not. I could see snow coming out the bottoms of the clouds. No way was I going onto the clouds with their associated ice and turbulence. I asked for and got clearance to FL200. By FL190 it was clear that I would top them. I asked for and got a block FL180 to FL200. Headwinds were now 61 knots, but the air was just light turbulence. I went over the Sierras at FL190. Now I started hearing reports of light rime between FL180 and 16,000, so I would wait to descend until into the Valley. Then there were reports of clear icing at 10,500 near Stockton. I was monitoring Nexrad and the sight picture ahead showed a deviation to the South was in order. First I picked Modesto and then El Nido Vor. ATC was accommodating to both. They gave me a PD descent to 8,000 feet as I was coming out of the Sierras and requested I report the freezing level. I was in the clear as I past it at 10,200 feet. They were even more accommodating when they gave me a vector to San Jose. At 8,000 feet I was in and out of moderate rain and IMC the whole way back, and was treated to delay vectoring while they got a couple of airliners in before me. I broke out at 2,000 feet and landed home 9½ hours flying time after a very long day. I am thankful for the Bravo. This trip could not have been made in one day in a less powerful airplane or one without turbocharging. Flightaware for N9148W shows the trip legs. The last one is the most interesting showing the importance of making that deviation to El Nido. What a day! I’m glad to be — home.

I posted this to the other Mooney lists, but for those who haven't subscribed: It was finally time. After 25 years, the tanks of my Bravo needed to be resealed. After getting a number of bids I chose "Weep No More" in Willmar Minnesota. In hindsight I shouldn’t have wasted my time getting bids. I hadn’t read one bad review about them, and working with Paul Beck and his partner Eric Rudningen was one of the best experiences I have had in aircraft ownership with an organization I had not dealt with previously. In reality Paul is an artist and resealing our Mooneys requires his type of artistry. Paul quoted 3 weeks for the job including one week of sitting to check for leaks, and he kept that agreement. His stripping machine (which he designed and which no other company has) not only saved hours of stripping time, but protects the metal from hours of manually stripping. When I picked up the plane last Thursday, Paul was applying sealant to the panels of another plane. His movements in application were like an artist painting a picture. I had a new painted wing walk, all panel screws were touched up, and new fuel drains were installed. Regarding transportation, Paul lent me his Truck to get back to KMSP when I dropped the plane off, and Eric came and got me with my plane on the return trip. The wind at Willmar was 19G29 and I thought that would be no problem with the cross runway. The only problem was I hadn’t read up on it. It was grass! So scratch that one. Our planes are really good crosswind airplanes, so the landing with the direct crosswind went well. As I have often experienced getting out of the plane after landing with that much wind, the intensity was surprising. Time was of the essence in getting out of Willmar that day, since the first winter storm of the year was arriving within a couple of hours (last Thursday), so I fuel up, handled the paper work and payment, gave my thanks for the work done, said my goodbyes, and took off heading South as fast as I could go.

From the Beechtalk list and other sources the answer is No.

Here is a video I made demonstrating the ESI 500, but it shows the magenta diamond on the G500. VID 20160314 183646399 - YouTube.webloc

It can't. It cannot drive any autopilot.

My recommendation is to bite the bullet now, get the GTX 345, and be done with it. Wait until near the deadline and you will have a hard time getting programmed into the Avionics shop. Meanwhile you will have the use of excellent traffic including TargetTrend associated with Garmin products.

The is a known problem with the Apple update to the iOS. BT is unstable until the interface issue is resolved with Apple.

There are 6 bays per side in the Bravo, less in the J.

With their stripping machine, which I saw and is quite interesting, Paul said the actual job should take 2 weeks with a third week having the airplane sit with fuel to check for leaks. In talking to him yesterday, my plane seems to be on schedule for that time frame.

There were significant reasons that I chose not to go with Houston Tank Specialists not the least of which was a significant price difference, more than all the expenses of going to Minnesota. I got 3 bids before I decided to go with Weep no More. The extra flying that I did was from Kerrville to Willmar, about 900 nm. The distance from BDH and the Houston airport to SJC is about the same. We had a great time in Minneapolis, spending several days at the Mall of America. I still need to pick up the plane in a couple of weeks.

Where there's a will there's a way. It's a 2 hour drive from Willmar to Minneapolis. That's the extent of the "hard to get to" from Texas. Paul even lent me his truck. Remember, I flew there from Kerrville, Texas. We'll see how it goes going the other way, but I have a potential student in Chicago who wants some training in his new Acclaim, who offered to fly to Willmar when the plane is ready for pickup.

Between $11,000 to $13,000 depending on who you use. Get bids from all who specialize in full tank reseals. Not the time to try someone with little experience. Mine are being resealed right now at Weep no More in Willmar, MN. I live in California, so that should tell you what I think of them.

I paid $13,675 for my GTN 750, then got a Garmin rebate of $1,125. So that makes it $12,550.

After Homecoming last week, I flew up to Willmar and dropped my plane off for a complete tank reseal. There were 5 or 6 airplanes in their heated hangar. I had allowed several extra days in case weather was an issue getting to Willmar. There was no weather, so I got to Willmar on Monday Morning. We, therefore, had several days to see Minneapolis. What do you do in Minneapolis for several days? Why see the Mall of America, of course. After a short discussion, Paul gave us his truck. He had another client coming in on Friday, and he said they could drive the truck back. We drove the 2 hours to a point near the airport and I fortuitously took the wrong exit. By doing so I accidentally found the Country Inn that just happened to a short walk to the Mall. They also provided shuttle service to the airport. Shirley and I walked miles during those 2 days last week and got to know the Mall pretty well. I'll be heading back in a couple of weeks to pick up my plane. Bottom line: So far those are great guys. They will be taking over another hanger next month, as they are now a Mooney Service Center. PS: We had lunch with Bruce Yeager last Monday. He was working in another hanger doing an interior.

First, a safe homebrew approach cannot be programmed into the GTN. There would be no vertical guidance signal output. But even more important there would be no scaling down from the enroute scaling of 2 nm full scale. Regarding other features I like: 1. If you have the GMA 35/35c audio panel, nearly all control of the GTN can be done without touching the GTN with the Telligent verbal commands. 2. Large screen. Quite a bit larger than the Avidyne IFD 540. 3. Blended traffic display of both Active (GTS 800) and Passive traffic (GDL 88 or GTX 345), but most important is the TargetTrend display of relative motion of the traffic. 4. Stormscope display, XM radio, XM weather or FIS-B weather display. 5. Database Concierge for download and automatic upload of all databases from the iPad through the Flight Stream 510. No more Computer database transfers required. 6. Ease of loading Departure Procedures from any runway and their depiction along with Flight Plans, and Airways, and Approaches. 7. Flight plan transfer both directions, from or to the iPad. 8. If wanted, hands off AP control of the whole flight from shortly after takeoff to shortly before landings including any holding patterns that could be thrown at you. 9. Known interface to Garmin transponders, G500, Stormscope, most traffic boxes, the GDL 69 audio and weather box and Shadin fuel. Basically any interface you can think of. 10. Thoughtless, simple Menu that a kindergartener could learn without even knowing how to read. 11. Many more things that I can't think of at the moment. There is nothing I can think of that I would want to do or information that I would want to have that I can't do or get with the GTN 750. Same with the 650, but with a smaller screen.

I haven't used an Avidyne product so couldn't comment on it. I have used Garmin products so just answered the questions.

create my own gps approach to an airfield if t doesnt have one (ie my own base airport) with vertical guidance and store this for future use. NOT LEGAL IN THE US be able to say i want to go from a-b via airways and have it fill in the airways in between. GTN WILL DO THIS then via my ipad file that as a flight plan or vice versa GTN WILL DO THIS VIA GARMIN PILOT fly holds (im crap at manually flying them, arent we all) GTN CAN DO THAT fly a plan on ap without me touching a thing and load radio frquencies into standby for the airspace sector i am in (big ask i know) GTN CAN DO THE AP THING WITH A GPSS MODULE OR G500 OR ASPEND WITH AP MODULE. I CAN LOAD ARTCC FREQUENCIES, NOT APPROACH FREQUENCIES. on the approach section have a VERY simple interface that allows me to route SID or vectors GTN CAN DO THAT load frequencies for the one above as required into standby GTN CAN DO THAT have a stormscope hidden somewhere in the plane and display the storms as required on the screen of the device (don't think i can get weather in europe yet any other way) GTN CAN DO THAT automatically load the go around, and display onto the Flight Director as required. GTN CAN DO THAT be able to define airports i can land at, concrete, xxx length. GTN CAN DO THAT auto flick to taxi help on landing. On takeoff have this feature as an easy to fnd turn on feature and have it auto off once speed reaches 40 knots for example. GTN AN DO THAT interface with sandel or aspen if required in the future. DON'T KNOW ABOUT SANDEL, BUT WILL INTERFACE WITH THE ASPEN be future proof, its 15k for gauds sake, i dont want to have to rip it out in 10 yrs because its worthless. GTN IS UPDATED ONE OR TWO TIMES A YEAR database upgrades to be a simple load onto a card and install. Currently i have a special PC thats sole function is to update the gps db via an interface cable and rs 232. GTN CAN DO THAT 8.33mhz transmission / receive capability GTN CAN DO THAT

If it is in direct sunlight, the 796 slows down and becomes unresponsive. That has been my experience since day 1 of ownership. Keep it out of direct sunlight even if it means covering it with a shield.

Call Joe at Ariel Avionics at Reid Hillview Airport. Tell him Don Kaye recommended you call him.