donkaye

Those books are good. One other MUST read is "Severe Weather Flying" by Denis Newton. I've read it multiple times.

I love having both the GDL 88 and the GDL 69A. Since they were installed at the same time, the extra install cost wasn't that much. Also, I got the GDL 69A used ($1,200) very discounted from a shop in Australia, where they don't have XM and had pulled it from a plane they got from the US. I'll display the XM on the G500, Stormscope on the GTN 750 when around convective activity, and FIS-B weather on the GTN 650.

Hello, George. Very nice meeting you yesterday! For a long body and for very little more money the MVP 50 is one nice piece of equipment. While I haven't flown with the CGR yet, and it can do one important thing the MVP-50 can't (give fuel to destination, not just fuel to waypoint), having all the important information on one page makes it my choice over the CGR, If you call EI and ask to speak to Tyler and tell him the airplane that you want to put it into, my guess is he would recommend the MVP 50 over the CGR like he did to me when I asked 2 years ago at Oshkosh before I did my upgrade.

I disagree with your method of going around. You run the risk of not clearing an obstacle with that sluggish procedure. From the M20A POH: 4. Release the brakes and allow the aircraft to accelerate to 60 MPH. 5. Upon reaching 60 MPH extend full flaps and simultaneously add sufficient back elevator pressure to pull the aircraft smoothly from the ground. 6. When airborne, retract the gear. 7. For maximum angle of climb to clear an obstacle, use one notch of flaps and climb at----- My procedure applicable to the Bravo differs from the POH and is based on the above and comes from 22 years of extensive Bravo experience. If you choose to use the method described in the POH, good luck. You run a greater risk of loss of control due to p-factor and torque in my opinion due to the pitch up moment on flap retraction from full flaps and torque on engine run up. My method is: 1. Power up smoothly to full power and begin trimming down with the electric trim. 2. Pitch up to about 8° while continuing to trim down. 3. At 50 feet agl or not able to land on the remaining runway, gear up. (The drag reduction is close to that from full flap to approach flap. There is now no large pitch up forces on the yoke, as is possible using the POH method.) 4. Milk flaps to approach flap position or go to the approach flap position on the new Bravos when neutral force on the yoke. 5. At 300 feet agl balance of the flaps up. The fact is that, like the balloon technique used on the M20A, the Bravo will climb out of ground effect very well and raising the gear first produces no pitch up moment as may result in the POH method if not aggressively trimming down. Try each method, then choose which you feel most comfortable. Please no comments about not following the POH. If you want to follow it, by all means do it. If you want a smoother go around then use the above.

Your understanding is not correct. 30/24 is about 78% power. 53 is the key number and 3 of any combination of units of MP and RPM is about 10% power.

He got the same one you had, John. ;-) This is the third owner of this airplane that I have transitioned.

He has now.

Too late...

I don't understand the above complaints. I spent more than the above amount and I can't be more satisfied with the equipment that I have. Garmin did immediately replace under warranty a GDL 88 that had fault errors. I have excellent XM weather on the G500 for a monthly fee. In October the new G500 system update will be out and ADS-B traffic and free FIS-B weather and WX 500 Stormscope will be supported. Additionally, an updated terrain database will provide terrain resolution equal to that of the GTN 750. And there will be geo-referenced Approach Charts, so we won't have to pay the outrages fee to unlock Jepp Charts. There are a number of other new features that I saw while playing with the updated system at Oshkosh. The new system for the GTNs will be out later this month with too many new features to discuss here. Oh, and one major feature; update the GTN 750/650 or G500 with one card and have it update all of you units. I personally can't wait to get the new systems updates.

Referencing the Stormscope: A building storm will produce an ever increasing number of cells on the scope. You will start clearing the screen often. Looking towards the position of the cells, it will be obvious what is happening. Even if it was possible to put a 40" dish on our airplanes, I wouldn't consider it, as the turbulence picking your way through such a storm would prevent any passengers dumb enough to have flown with you to ever fly with you again. The initial questioner must not have experienced the type of turbulence I'm talking about, or he wouldn' t be asking the question. Flying weather in our airplanes is just nothing to be fooled with. I kid you not when I say I have been in it where the instrument panel was out of focus due to the eye balls bouncing around so much--and that was on a short 48 mile flight. The only way to fly convective weather in our planes is to: 1. primarily look outside. 2. correlate the stormscope data with the XM or FIS-B data 3. give a wide berth (at least 30 miles) to convective buildups. and 4. land the FIRST time you ask yourself the question, "should I go on?".

Mooneyspace doesn't seem to accept Excel files for upload. Email me at: donkaye@earthlink.net and I will send you the file. I adapted Roy Epperson's spreadsheet to the Rocket. Just modify for your plane's empty weight and arm.

I flew up to Lincoln, California on Sunday to practice formation flying for the Mooney Caravan to Oshkosh. Formation flying is intense. It's said that every hour of such flying can be compared to 5 hours of normal flying. I believe that is a true statement. The intensity of that practice left no time to think about the horrible accident that we have been discussing and that I had read about before the flight.....thankfully. I flew the flight back home with Phil Verghese as lead, in formation, and San Jose let us do a formation landing. It came out perfectly and can be seen here: http://youtu.be/n2AYIPSnuXw The movie was taken by Phil's wife. In spite of the accident several days earlier, the camaraderie and exhilaration of that flight reminded me how lucky we are to experience the joys of flying. I just can't imagine not owning an airplane. We had talked at length about the accident on Saturday evening when I did the airwork with Phil for his Wings program. Phil is also a flight instructor. Several years ago I had put together a preflight takeoff briefing for a single engine aircraft just like is done for a multiengine airplane. I have gotten lax on verbalizing it of late. Not anymore. In this case it may not have helped, as it looks like fate just intervened with no realistic options available to Bill and Mike...list friends. Sven could not have written a better Eulogy...

Well, if one has a Bravo or even a current production Acclaim and no WAAS and lives in the US and wants to fly above FL180, they've got a problem after 2020. If one wanted to stay with an older non WAAS GPS then the only current option is to get the GDL 88 with WAAS, get or upgrade the GTX 330 to a GTX 330ES, and use an iPad or 796 with a GDL 39 for display.

Yesterday, we were doing formation flying training in anticipation of the Caravan to Oshkosh. I was flying wing so had my transponder turned off. My lead had a GDL 88. I hadn't pulled the circuit breakers for the GDL 88. He identified my airplane with its ID on his unit and asked me to turn it off. ADS-B to ADS-B will become more prevalent and be VERY useful in the pattern even when not in contact with a GBT.

I found Richard Collins' Book, "Flying the Weather Map" a difficult read and never finished it.

I have this combination and love it. The best of both worlds. The active traffic, GTS 800, feeds the ADS-B GDL 88, and the GDL 88 correlates it and presents the most accurate target, if multiple of the same target, on the GTN 750/650. I will say the target trend of the GDL 88 with its relative motion vector is superior to the active traffic symbol without target trend, but the active traffic box will display transponder equipped traffic anywhere today without the potential need for a GBT. However, by 2020 when the mandate goes into effect, and with all aircraft that have transponders today requiring ADS-B, the active traffic box may be less useful because you would be picking up ADS-B traffic air to air and no GBT would be necessary.

This may not be related, but then again it may. I've had a continual problem with the G500 and GMA 35 not giving me the required visual and aural response to the Marker Beacons. I first replaced the antenna for a couple of hundred dollars. That didn't work. Then replaced the cable ends. That didn't work. Then tried another GMA 35 from a student's airplane. That was worse than mine. Today we replaced the whole cable. So everything has been replaced and nothing worked. So Peter looked inside at the connector and started looking at the pin going into the GMA 35. It was NOT locking in place. Every time he pushed the unit in it has apparently moved back not enough to get no signal but just enough to minimize it. So he is going to replace the whole connector. We expect this to solve the problem. Maybe you have a bad connector and the pin is not locking in place. Just a thought.

From experience, I don't like going through ANY convective cloud. Even in large airliners you get bumped around. In our small tin cans it's much worse, and passengers can become very uncomfortable. If you think "fly for passenger comfort" even if you are the only passenger, you'll have a much better day. Regarding weather equipment on board, there is absolutely no reason in this day and age that at least XM or FIS-B weather shouldn't be onboard. In fact I would consider it irresponsible to not have access to it. I personally want a stormscope for real time weather, but there have been times where it really didn't help. In that vein my further experience is that if whether "looks" bad ahead it IS bad and demands immediate action, be it possible deviation, or the venerable 180°, or a press of the Nearest button and an immediate landing. I've had some of my best experiences at places I've unexpectedly stopped due to weather. If IFR, regarding deviations, I've used "Unable due to weather" several times and ATC has always been cooperative--especially if you use the words "due to icing conditions". Since I really don't even want to brush up against convective activity, if I can clear a cloud by a deviation of not more than 4 miles and I'm flying the airway centerline, I won't even ask for the deviation. I'll just do it. Remember the airway is 8 nm wide so although I recommend flying the centerline when possible, if flying around weather, use all of it. The Instrument Rating is a very valuable Rating to be used for benign weather flying such as approaches to coastal airports in conditions down to minimums, benign stratus clouds above the freezing level, low level stratus in the Midwest to airports above minimums, and similar kinds of conditions. If any convection is around, it is useless in my opinion, and I wouldn't consider going IMC. Tracking the Lifted index and K Factor of the areas in which you intend to fly will go a long way towards keeping you safe. Regarding Weather Books: I've always recommended Robert Buck's book, but additionally I recommend "Severe Weather Flying" by Dennis Newton, a book I have read many times. Don Kaye, MCFI

Simple. Go to iPad Settings. Scroll down to GTN Trainer and Select it. Look to the right and see Change Device. Change it to the GTN 650. Then restart the App.

It works perfectly with the current software version connected to the Shadin.

I almost always hangar it when traveling unless 100% of no storms. Cost is usually around $55/night.

Worth a look! https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=261627830690597&set=vb.220718738114840&type=2&theater

Initially when I had my panel upgraded I was getting both 1090 and UAT receiver faults. Garmin replaced the GDL 88. Since that replacement I have received 1 1090 fault. I wish I knew what they meant but they apparently aren't good, since the manual says to return the unit to Garmin for service..

A couple of things--- 1. I got all Garmin so I wouldn't be faced with interface problems with other vendors like those discussed above. 2. I upgraded because my B/K EFIS 40 went on the blink and Bendix/King rediculously wanted more than the cost of a G500 to repair that ancient technology. 3. The Garmin displays are much more pleasing to my eyes than the competition. 4. There is not vertical nav on the 750 like the Avidyne 540 will have, BUT I am told it will be in the next update to the GTN 750 later this year. Having said those nice things about Garmin, paying $2,350 for the unlock Chartview card for the G500 plus another $1,950 for the Chartview card for the 750 is just too greedy for me to even consider it.

My experience with Garmin Hardware is that it just works and their interfaces, fonts, and display colors are comfortable. I specifically went with all the Garmin equipment that I could BECAUSE of the lack of interface issues with other vendor's products. They also seem to be able to get things certified when other companies cannot. I really like all my Garmin products, their support has been outstanding, and they are a big enough company with enough market insight that I wouldn't expect them to be going out of business any time soon. I'll take Garmin any day over the competition.