Bennett

Same problem.

A couple more places (longer flights) San Luis Obispo has The Spirit of San Luis restaurant, with good food and you can taxi up to the base of the hill that the restaurant sits on. Also the terminal right next to the restaurant has several rental car booths, and a trip to San Luis Obispo, or Moro Bay, is easy. A bit further south Santa Maria has a good Mexican restaurant next to the terminal. Harris Ranch (Coalinga) has wonderful food, but the runway is a bit narrow, and you may have to back taxi on the runway if the wind requires a northerly departure. Salinas is indeed closed on Sunday, but the restaurant is fun during the rest of the week, and there are tie downs right in front of the restaurant. The tower folk are quite pleasant, and will guide you to the restaurant (follow the green line - or ask for progressives, as there are a few runways at Salinas).

When I wrote about what I perceived to be a potential local problem here in Silicon Valley - the open areas between San Carlos Airport and Palo Alto Airport, I didn't know that several Drones had already been spotted in that area, and reported to the respective towers. At a pilot's association meeting this evening, I asked the airport manager if he knew of any drone incursions into the San Carlos airspace, at which point he talked about recent drone spotting. All they can do is report the sightings to the FAA. I asked about which other agencies might respond and catch the drone operators, but all I got were vague answers. The standard instruction from the San Carlos tower when coming up from the south to runway 30 is "report a three mile final" this will put you directly over one of the areas where drones have been seen. The traffic pattern altitude at San Carlos is 800', and at 3 miles out, many aircraft are in their descent, and may be at less than 500-600'. - well within range of most drones. Expect that it won't be long until there will be a collision between a GA aircraft and a drone here. And Surf Air flys many turbocharged aircraft in and out of San Carlos on an ever increasing schedule. There are about 150,000 operations annually at KSQL, and it is just a matter of time.

Wow! This is inevitable. On a local level, I see a great concern. Between KSQL (San Carlos Airport) , and KPAO (Palo Alto Airport), and then south of Palo Alto Airport, there are semi-marsh open areas where it would be temping to fly, or learn to fly drones. The area is full of nerds, early innovators, tech savvy youngsters, and a fairly affluent population who can afford the larger, heavier, and more expensive drones (UAVs, or whatever you want to call them). I've seen the damage that a flock of birds can do to a Cessna 172 that was landing at KSQL. The pilot was lucky to be able to slip her in so that he could see the runway, as the windshield was covered in blood and feathers so there was no forward vision. The leading edges of the wings were crushed in places, and these were just a (dense) flock of small birds. Just imagine what a 50 pound drone (49.95 pounds to meet the current regulation) could do to one of our aircraft in cruise flight. And if that "accidental - it got away from me" scenario isn't bad enough, think about what a malicious person could do by deliberately flying a drone into a landing or taking off aircraft. You don't have to be a terrorist to be crazy, or irresponsible. Some of these larger drones are no more that $1000 or so, and they actually could become a terrorist tool. As much as I don't like overregulation, this is an area where either drone registration, and mandatory licensing may be necessary, or that all drones sold in the US must have some sort of TCAS/TCAD like collision avoidance system built in.

A few (old) photos of the rebuilt panel. Nothing new planned at this time, but I do switch out some boxes from time to time. I still like the six pac needles over tapes, but then I'm an old UFO (United Flying Oxygenarian) member. GTN 750, GTN 650, (replacing the GNS 430 in the photo), AERA 796 WX (replacing the AERA 696 in the photo) remote transponder, remote audio panel, JPI 830. KAP 150 autopilot coupled through a SAM Icarus GPSS, LIfesaver backup AI, GDL 88 ADS-B in-out, and a bunch more stuff like the CYA-100 AOA that was recently installed. Back up electric vacuum system, in panel CO detector, and the really neat under glareshield lighting that augments the NuLite instrument lights. Not shown: the portable Dynon D-1 EFIS that mounts on the windscreen with a ram suction cup. The iPad Mini does not block my view of the panel when in flight. The yoke is forward in the photo. I guess it is time to take some new photos. OK, I added a newer photo with the GTN 650 and AERA 796 in place, and the AOA display head.

Wow, this PIREP has a life of its own. Like Bob, we ran my calibration with flaps down, and the upper limit at Vy. That way Vx is at the top of the yellow/orange, and acts as a caution to avoid a departure stall. As soon as I bring up the gear and flaps, and lower the nose to Vy, I get the green light. I like getting some altitude quickly after takeoff, and the AOA shows the safety margin. Once I get to about 1200' AGL, I will lower the nose still further and start my cruise climb. The AOA unit takes out the guess work about the initial climb, and adjusts for the takeoff weight for that particular situation. It's just a good tool - one among many.

I called Rip to ask about using the access panel on the left wing closer to the fuselage than the airspeed probe, and said that others had done this, and the system worked just fine. It made for a very simple installation.

By memory, I think LASAR charged me about $1,200 for the installation, including the installation of the vane in a wing inspection panel, routing the wiring through the wings to the panel and display unit, wiring of the rocker switch, the inline fuse, the audio inline resistor, and the inflight calibration. In light of other aviation costs; reasonable in my opinion. I understand that Aspen now has an AOA option that doesn't require an external vane. No idea how that works, but I am certainly curious. I didn't think an AHRS is sufficient without some sort of vane, or differential pressure. When I added an AOA function to my Dynon glass screen panel (LSA) I had to replace the original airspeed probe with a pressure differential probe, with additional tubes through the wing. I could never get it properly calibrated, and in contrast the CYA system is much simpler, and far easier to install, and to use with confidence.

I'm happy with this setup. I kept the Lifesaver back up AI to the left side, and the JPI 830 towards the center stack.

Earlier today a forum member asked me to comment (PM) on my use of the CYA 100 AOA since I have had some time to fly the airplane after having it installed on my M20J. These are my answers to his questions (He suggested that I post them on Mooneyspace) 1. The location alongside the compass worked out to be ideal, and this is to my surprise. I had wanted to set it into my panel, next to the ASI, but after Lonnie at LASAR (their avionics guru) took a good look at the spacing, he called me to suggest that the spacing was too tight where I wanted it. He suggested that they be allowed to install the head unit alongside the vertical compass. He had tested the location to see if if caused any magnetic influence over the compass, and except for the initiating second of two (the CYA unit does a self test when first turned on) there was no effect on the compass. He checked with Rip (as I did), and the current in the CYA unit (after the initial self test) is too low to be a deviation concern for the compass. And this has proved itself true in flight. 2. Because the CYA vane is balanced (no particular position it ends up on the ground), it is possible that the red blinking light can come on, along with the warble tone, at startup and taxi. For this reason I had LASAR use a spare rocker switch in my panel to be able to turn the unit on and off. I also had an inline fuse added. And finally, we installed a 33K 3 watt resister in the audio out line. I can still hear the warble tone clearly, without it screaming in my headset. My practice is to turn on the unit after run-up and as I taxi to the runway. By the time I am on the runway, the self test is over (it is easy to see all the light segments turning on and off during this test). As I roll down the runway, the lights progressively move from red through orange, and I climb out at the top of the orange, lower the nose as the gear and flaps come up, and stay in the green for the rest of the flight. The green light is not annoying at all, but I can turn off the unit for long flights, but I have never done this. The real use of the AOA is in the turn from base to final, and then the landing phase. Works perfectly for me. As I slow, just above the runway, the lights now progress the other way, and I always get the red blinking light and warble at touchdown. I find that I fly the approach to landing a bit slower, and thus land a bit shorter, because of my confidence in the AOA. On a long flight, my landing weight is much less than my typical takeoff weight, which is close to gross. The AOA takes out the mental calculations to determine a lower speed on final at these lower weights. 3. I actually am using the AOA more than I thought I would. Don Kaye, who uses an Alpha system AOA, and I have spent some time talking to each other about the use of AOAs, and if you read his comments on Mooneyspace and the Mapalists email group, I think you will find that he and I am in agreement over the value of a good AOA system. In my opinion, the CYA system is easier to calibrate and install than the Alpha system, although Don said his installation and calibrations were also easy. I think running wires through the wing is less difficult than tubes, and the CYA calibration is done in the air. 4. Some folks like to invert the CYA display head to put the red light at top, Not a bad idea. I think either way has its merits. Rick suggests that the red is to be on the bottom. 5. Personally, I think that anyone's AOA is a good safety device, and in particular the CYA costs are reasonable both for the unit and installation. Finally, the calibration was easy, and can be adjusted at any time (if you leave a switch in the calibration circuit - not the on and off power switch).

As some of the forum know, I tend to overkill, but there are good reasons to do so. I have a 796 in an AirGizmo panel mount, and an iPad Mini running Foreflight in a yoke mount. I generally keep the Mini in Sectional Map view, as I really like the details a Sectional offers. Also, I use it to look up airport data. The 796 is coupled to my GTN 750, and I use XM on it rather than the GTN boxes. This setup allows me to look up all the features of the 796 without cluttering up the GTNs. The GTN. 650 is used for two concerns. Since I have a GDL 88, I display TIS- B traffic, normally set to the 6 mile range, and the separate VOR head is set to VORs along my flight plan. A lot of information available when you want it, and great back-ups should you need it. XM is not cheap, but I like it much better than the ABS-B weather depiction, and winds aloft available on ADS-B ( which I use as an overlay on the GTN 750 map page). The AERA 796 is a very reliable box, in my experience, and I include it in my Jeppesen 28 day updates. Once again, expensive, but of great utility. Could I fly without all this (and more) stuff? Sure, after many decades of flying, but I wouldn't want to for the type of flying do, and in the locations I generally fly.

Depends on the model and cowl. My J has the LpPresiti cowl, and at 7,500 I get a one and a quarter inch increase in MP There is (was) a great video on the LoPresti website that shows how their ram air works.

I will attend.

I test flew the airplane again today. To answer various questions: I have the lower "speed" set to the stall speed at gross weight, and the upper speed at Vy. This means that I will see an orange/yellow light in my departure climb out. It is my usual profile to initially climb at Vx, tuck up the gear (and flaps at 500' AGL from my sea level airport) and climb at Vy to about 1500' AGL, and then to cruise climb, terrain permitting. Landing the red blinking light (and warbling tone) came on just as the stall horn sounded, and the mains touched down - same as the last time. I really like this unit. I covered the indicator in black leather, which is much more esthetically pleasing than the prior black electrical tape. The other two photos are of the vane unit.

Photo of vane assembly on inspection plate will be posted tomorrow when I get to my hangar.

We tested the compass with the AOA. Unit on or off, and saw no difference. Franky, I was surprised, but LASAR checked with Rip who told them that the current drawn by the AOA.indicator would not affect the compass. Others have mounted their indicators in the same place without problems.

Well I finally had LASAR install the CYA 100 AOA bought in our group purchase last year. I like the way that LASAR mounted the vane strut on an underwing inspection plate. Very neat installation - photo to be posted tomorrow. The indicator is mounted alongside the vertical card compass, and is directly in my line of sight looking forward. The LED lights are very bright and easily seen in sunlight. The indicator unit is small and light. I wish that Rip would make a case for it as an extra cost option. I think I will cover the indicator's sides with thin black leather, as I find the black electrical tape used at this point to be offensive, though practical. The unit works exactly as represented. The calibration is straightforward, and the flashing red light at the bottom of the indicator stack starts just at the point of stall. While the blinking light would be hard to miss, the warbling tone into the headset could wake the dead. The installation instructions talk of adding a resistor (50,000 or 100,000 Ohms) into the audio circuit to reduce the sound level, and I will have this done. I am also going to have one of my spare rocker switches used as an ON /OFF switch, as the current warbling sound on the ground is intolerable to my ears. Since the vane itself is not counterweighted, after landing (and during taxI) the vane might end up in a position that triggers the warble. The switch will simply allow me to turn the unit on when I roll up to the the runway, and turn it off when I turn off the runway. No big deal as it will become part of my takeoff and post landing checklists. I really like the way the lights progress with changes in AOA, and I think it will prove to be an excellent safety device. The installation costs were less than I had thought they would be.

www.aviationdesign.com They did all my interior work. So far as I know, they are still in business at Pine Mountain Lake, Groveland, CA. Tim Hallock is the owner His phone number is 209-962-0415. Yes, he does a lot of work on Beechcraft aircraft.

I'll be there with my J

I just dropped off my J at LASAR. today for her annual. Their new shop manager is the most qualified of the managers I have met at LASAR over the 30+ years I have been taking my Moineys there. No squawks of any consequence going in, but one never knows. I am having the GTN software and firmware updated, and they will install a new CYA 100 AOA. LASAR's hangars are filled with Mooneys, and I take this to be a good sign that at least some of our Mooney fleet is being serviced well. LASAR has never been inexpensive, but I always feel comfortable after an annual that the airplane is safe to fly.

I have the Icarus SAM connected to the KAP 150 via a GTN. 750. Awesome combination. I really like GPSS steering. I don't use all the Icarus functions.

I have the GTN 750-, the GTN 650, and an AERA 796. All Gamin, and with a very similar touch screen interface. I tried the angle AirGizmo mount, but it hid the right side instruments. I have no problem reaching over to use the 796 (which I use with WX). The GDL 88 provides traffic and weather, but I really prefer XM, and moreover, I don't want to clutter the GTN 750 any more than I have to, The 796 is wired to the GTN 750 via the AirGizmo mount, and flight plans, etc transfer between the two. Photos: First photo: 696, Second photo: 796 replacing the prior 696 These two photos show the 430 W as the second nav-com. This was replaced by a GTN 650 as shown in the third photo.

I have the GTN 750-, the GTN 650, and an AERA 796. All Gamin, and with a very similar touch screen interface. I tried the angle AirGizmo mount, but it hid the right side instruments. I have no problem reaching over to use the 796 (which I use with WX). The GDL 88 provides traffic and weather, but I really prefer XM, and moreover, I don't want to clutter the GTN 750 any more than I have to, The 796 is wired to the GTN 750 via the AirGizmo mount, and flight plans, etc transfer between the two. Photo:

If you really want to go high end custom, consider Aircraftdesigns.com at Pine Mountain Lake, Groveland, CA. He (Tim) did use aircraft honeycomb for my side panels, but I don't think he does so now because of the expense (around $1,000 per 4'x8' panel). Great stiff, lightweight, material. Since he does so much custom work, you could talk to him to see what he is recommending at this point. Tim is a really talented aviation upholsterer. You may have seen his booths at AOPA, Oshkosh, Flying Expos, etc. Not inexpensive, but for truly custom work, the quality of his work is hard to beat. He builds an armrest that just about touches the outside skin of the airplane, and that gains quite a bit of elbow room (no ash tray) He has a large hangar at Pine Mountain Lake airport to house his operation. His phone number is: 209-962-0415

Pain in the butt on the iPhone 6+