rbridges

Flying a few miles from Mexico. Kinda hard to appreciate how much border there is. The helicopter was refueling in an airport just west of el paso.

Thanks to everyone that helped with posts and PMs. The victor airways made flight planning easy peasy. I planned to spend two days, possibly a third flying west, but with an odd tailwind through east texas and great weather from Mississippi to California, we did it all on one day. Total was 2 fuel stops and roughly 12 hours of flight time. Coast to coast in a day, amazing. Our original plan was to stay overnight in el paso, but it was early, and we were both ready to get to San Diego. The mountains are directly east of the airport, and you have to drop several thousand feet quickly. ATC was excellent the whole way. ATC and Gillespie tower explained using the localizer and circling to lose altitude for a visual landing. Who does that out East? . first pic shows army helicopters landing for fuel in mississippi. There were about 15-20 of them. They were being relocated away from the hurricane.

How'd that work out for you?

Jewell is in Missouri. I've heard good things about them.

Thanks for the correction. It seems like I would remember, but you know how it is.

@gsxrpilot told me on a few occasions, but I think you can get rid of the ASI and Altimeter with the first Aspen unit (assuming it's the PFD).

I got it for my Aspen. It's okay. There have been times where it's helped me know where to look for something. I'd prob still get it again, but it's not life changing.

Why is that? Is Stec not an option anymore?

Congrats on the purchase! An instrument rating is very handy for these planes, but go enjoy your plane first!

Someone on the mooney facebook needs an ASI. I told him he could have mine. Same year, but different flap speeds. Is that something an avionics shop could change? Mine just had white tape added on the display.

Not sure but @gsxrpilot has a light colored panel near that color.

I straddled that for a few years. I recently came to the realization that I'm keeping my C for a while. Until I lose my medical, hit the lottery or can't climb on a wing. I've installed more money into my panel than I paid for the plane itself. Poor financial decision, and that money will never be realized by me again, but I've gained capability and redundancy that makes me sleep better at night. It's not the right choice for a lot of people, but I feel it was the right decision for me.

I thought the IntelliAudio was fluff, but the more I use it, the more I like it. Having a built in USB port on the panel has been helpful for my wife's phone and my ipad. I also like the LCD display. Starting with the 450A, they included copilot as passenger option. I have the 450, and it isn't a feature. It keeps the copilot's music and BT from being interrupted by ATC. I have to put the copilot on isolate if they want that, but that keeps them from hearing me. I'm sure there are other things, but those are the ones that come to mind. No Gotta Haves but little things that make life easier.

sounds awesome. So how does the Encore conversion affect useful load with full fuel, and are there any changes in cruise speeds?

Based on my recent experience with AGL, I'd recommend them. Cole would be my other recommendation.

I ended up using a paint brush. I tried the roller, and maybe it was too thick, but it seemed to clump the "grit." The brush seemed to distribute it better. It looks good. Time will tell how well it does against fading.

But now your living room is so well lit. At least you have that.

Flaps still working? Mine seem to be.

I didn't know that was a thing. I don't do much night flying, so maybe that's it, but I'd be interested in the answer, too.

I'd recommend Cole or AGL if they're closer. I think any of the 3 would be good choices.

My friend had an mx20 in his plane. That was really nice to have. The big screen worked well in combination with his 430

Did you use Ultrawingwalk? I did mine a few years ago, but it's dulled badly, especially considering my plane is hangared.

Just had my annual done. Wanted to wait until I'd flown a bit to give a review. So far, everything looks good. I've owned the plane for around 10 years. Lynn said everything looked pretty good. He seems to go by the numbers. He found my tail was out of rig. It worked, but it always showed I had a bunch of up trim on the gauge. I always figured it's a 50+ year old plane and no one else seemed to care, so that's just how it is. After rigging, the trim scale is actually pretty accurate. Go figure. I also know he took time to pull the engine screen and anti-seize the powerflo exhaust. Most importantly, it seems he fixed my nagging flap issue. They would pump down but slowly come back up under prop wash or while flying. Did my BFR yesterday, and actually did a few full flap landings and of course stalls with full flaps. It seems they are holding. The kicker to the annual was that he actually gave me a date to arrive and a date to leave two days later barring any major squawks. That meant my wife could come with me and spend a few days vacationing instead of dropping the plane off and having to get it later. Bumming rides is possible, but it's sometimes aggravating to arrange. Lynn offered to let me stay at their house, but we opted to use their courtesy car to hang out in Asheville. The airport is easy, and since it's east of any major "mountains," no big deal getting in or out. Their fuel is also reasonably priced. Right now, I'd give AGL 5 out of 5 stars; and I'd definitely use them again.

There are just one or two spots where it's worn. I think it's where I crouch down to load stuff in the plane.

Well dang. I just placed an order with spruce.