Comatose

The really exciting thing about light sport is the use of non-certificated avionics and parts. The prices on said avionics, instruments, autopilots and the like actually... make sense. Not at all like what we pay to garmin for the TSO versions. Also, the use of off the shelf parts. Because, lets be very honest. Our $2000 fuel pumps, magnetos and the like are the very best that the automotive world of the 1950s had to offer. Back in those heady days, the aircraft manufacturers often just bought the same parts. But now they're codified specialty items and the only idiots who still want repair parts for a 1959 Chevelle are classic car guys, us, and 5000 guys in Cuba. If they'd just expand that portion of the regs to all single engine piston, we'd see a second blossoming of GA. Light sport is too limited to be enticing.

Under no circumstances should anyone EVER go to G Force Aviation in Akron, OH again. Evidently they have new ownership, and obviously they're circling the drain. I went back to pick my plane up again today. The flaps still have two pumps of air in the lines. The brakes are still spongy. Adding insult to injury, the starter and electric fuel pump (both switches directly below the removed and overhauled attitude Indicator) are now only working intermittently. My vacuum pump didn't self destruct in my half hour test flight, so that's good. Nobody but the office lady and the avionics guy were there when I went to pick it up. When I called to voice my displeasure they did say "when do you want to drop it back off, we'll fix these things for free" but I politely declined to schedule anything. I requested the manager call me back. I will take it to a different shop, have it fixed properly, and send G Force the bill. Again, G Force Aviation, Akron OH. My plane was in much better shape BEFORE I dropped it off.

Edited the title to more accurately reflect the situation. Aaron's issues were way, way worse than mine. For what its worth, I've been flying five years, had this plane four. I've used this shop three times: two annuals and a prebuy. They are under new ownership, though the management and staff are largely the same. It was oddly quiet there this time around, though, so I guess the writing's on the wall.

Yeah, the title is a bit strong, but if you look up the statistics, loss of vacuum in flight has a significantly non-trivial fatality rate. I was VFR, but not great VFR, with a weather system moving in later in the day. Its only a twelve mile hop between the two airports. But if the hose hadn't popped off immediately... Not nearly as bad as what Aaron went through. We train for loss of vacuum. We don't train for missing rivets!!!

I picked my plane up from annual today (at an MSC). I wasn't very happy with what I considered to be a excessively padded bill (3.25 hours to repaint a 3" x 4" spot on my vertical stabilizer, for example) but I'm willing to bite my tongue to get a better quality repair... I take off, and on climbout get told "right to 320." Before I even get anywhere near 320 on my DG I can see something's not right - I'm pointed entirely the wrong direction. So, I turn to 320 based on my compass. Then my AI starts wandering. And... suction is reading zero. Great. I fly back to their ariport. I taxi back and after I report absolutely no suction they pull the top of the cowl off. There's the hose between my firewall and vacuum pump, flying free in the breeze, not connected to the firewall. The hose clamp hadn't even been slightly tightened - it was away from the hose a good 1/4." I had suction on initial start, so I'm sure that they just stuck it on and neglected to secure it. That seems unacceptable. I left it there. I wasn't about to take off into worsening weather with a vacuum pump that I don't trust not to self-destruct in the next few minutes. I also wanted them deal with another poorly done repair. They left two pumps worth of air bubble in my flap hydraulic line, and some other smaller issues. I tell them I'll be back to pick it up Monday. Given that my vacuum pump was sucking whatever it could find under my cowl, entirely unfiltered, I figure if it self-destructs in suspiciously short order they owe me a new vacuum pump. I did get them to write a short note accepting responsibility for not securing it. Is that unreasonable? Too little? If they'd left an oil line unsecured and seized my engine I'd definitely feel like they owed me a new engine. Thanks for any insight. John

I have my plane at g force for annual right now, actually. I like then for mechanical work. I do not like them for avionics work (technically a different company but the same hangar.) It is a nice shop, and I am sure their costs aren't as low as someone at a more out-of-the way airport. Plus, they'll let you wrench on things while its there if you are so inclined. What good is a cheap annual if stuff doesn't get caught?

I wish my M20C had a clime rate like that. Experimental, one off, old avionics, can't spell, specs are clearly pulled from thin air. They'll be extremely lucky to get 30k for it. 130 is a joke.

Even if that's accurate, unless there's something up with your plane or credentials, why is this worth putting up a fight for? I guess I try to ask myself "Is this a hill I'm willing to die on" when faced with this sort of thing. Anything incriminating is either something they can legally ask for (expired medical) or something in the logs, like no annual for the past 8 years. What's in the plane to see? Besides the dead hookers, kilos of drugs, the automatic weapons and the foreign nationals, of course, but those were factory installed.

I have a 66 C, ARI cowl closure and adjustable cowl flaps... so its definitely not from that.

No carb heat on landing. You have a carb temperature gauge, why turn it on unless you're gonna get ice? That said, I almost always always have a touch of it on in cruise. I use it to bring my EGT and CHT spreads down, which lets me run leaner

Pressurization in small planes sounds simple, til you do the math... A 10,000 ft cabin at 18,000 ft is about 3psi. That's about as little as could even be considered remotely useful. Take the windshield. Its about 4 feet by two feet of surface, You end up with about 3500 pounds of force, just on the windshield. That's gonna take some strong caulk. Me? I'd be content with a diesel on my C model and a new paint job for now. Maybe a fancier autopilot. Later, the ideal Mooney is a TBM.

You can't produce a competitive product in 2013 with 1960 manufacturing technology. It turns out the breaking point for trying is about 2009.

Helicopters gear our sort of engines with pretty good success. The Porsche mooney engine was geared. Some of the diesels are geared. There's no compelling reason that it couldn't be done well, with perfectly acceptable reliability.

The rolls royce Merlin was geared, somewhat big and seemed to do okay...

Oh come on, the sequel was happy enough. Play with a GTN650 and you'll know what I mean.