kortopates

Scud running at night is another thing entirely; especially with reduced visibility and dew point spreads of 2 down to zero. It's very easy to get overly complacent about a flight that is both very short and very familiar and then allow yourself to get IMC unintentionally. Not saying that's what happened here, but it happens all too frequently. I love night flying too and learned in the bright SOCAL area. Very Sad loss indeed. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I am pretty sure the 1/32" stems from the 43.13.b data that allows up to 10% of wall thickness. Mooney could not exceed that. We see plenty of nose wheel trusses fail - presumably after being dented and ignored for sometime. But I don't have any first hand info on that but would not be ignoring it either. Why risk a $40k repair for less than a $1K? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The LASAR rebuild is better than new and really the better option. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Just a thought Jon, but Neal Aviation at SEE had KC-192's available and had offered to loan me one when I was having AP issues a year ago. Maybe they have some KC-191's too? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I know a few long time pilots that actually pride themselves in being able to fly cross country with out ever talking to anybody. Not an attitude or habit I share since I'll file for just about any domestic x-country flight. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Of course that's the smart thing to do. And from other post you seem like the type that takes safety of equipment and your personal proficiency very seriously. But my point is it doesn't relieve us of needing to practice partial panel with our specific equipment. But it should make it pretty easy with an extra AI, especially when you know how to use your GPS track info. But we continue to see fatal accidents from vacuum pump loss. IMO, it stems from the same attitude of "I don't do hard IFR". They're just planning to descend or climb through a layer so they really don't believe they need a backup AI - after all they are starting with bare bones 6 pack and radio's. They often have other panel priorities. And they don't think they need to maintain their partial panel skills to do casual IFR either. But they are the most likely to become a statistic when they loose their vacuum pump and need to descend through a layer - as we saw again just this past May. On the other hand, those that train for true IFR even though they may never be planning to get into it are the ones that will do fine. And since they are working hard to maintain proficiency they know how hard it really is without a standby AI and are the most likely to install them. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Not worth it in my book - not until the vacuum canister is beyond repair and Britain doesn't come through with the replacement they've been talking about. Otherwise we'd be looking at $6K for new brakes plus installation cost for few days of labor. At least you can still pull your electric standby vacuum pump from the avionics bay and get some useful load back like I am doing; that's more significant than the weight of the engine vacuum point too. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It's a 231 STC mod to firewall forward give it the 252 engine (TSIO-360-MB vice the -GB) with a real turbo installation. Something everything 231 should have gotten from the start. The marketing label has nothing to do with speed. I don't recall if it actually got the FL280 service ceiling but that's really not that practical for most of us. But it kept the original 14V system.

Nice Paul. I am doing pretty much the same with G500 & GTN's, GTX and also doing the EDM-900 w/ CIES senders. You could also do the WX-500 if you find the spheric's sensor valuable while ditching the WX-10. It's going to be a nice Mooney XMAS for us both! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

There is a Mooney Radio master switch retro-fit kit. It's not a Klixon CB switch but a toggle, like the gear switch, usually installed at the top of the right hand side. Doing this is more than a switch though. A relay is used so that it fails with the avionics always on rather than introducing a single point of failure. But these days modern avionics don't need an avionics switch. Current production just has a master switch. So probably not worth the expense to do it right. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Nice video Mike. XM NEXRAD weather does cover Cuba, but of course no METARs or TAFs, but coverage does not extend much west of Cuba (say going to Cozumel). In the cities we visited, we were able to get internet at all nice hotels (whether we were staying there or not) and public squares using internet cards which you buy for each hour. The bigger hassle for us was getting the cards. Internet WiFi was pretty available in the towns we visited. But some areas we went too, such as the Bay of pigs, either didn't have it or I didn't find it. I also had no phone access. I would have had to purchase a SIM card which I am not sure would even be possible for a tourist but it didn't seem worthwhile for just a week. Of the 3 airports I used, only two had weather services, but I asked and was granted access to see the current nexrad. But there was real weather too so they were understanding and accommodating. Yeah, the horse carriages were a hoot as were the 50's cars. Mike mentioned earlier that the food wasn't anything to get excited about. That's very true because they don't have access to spices and herbs. pretty much just what they grow locally so it makes for very bland meals. Food is rationed to the locals as well. I forget exactly, but locals don't get enough eggs per week to even eat one every day. If they earn extra money, such as through tourist, then they can buy more. But Cuba excels in providing live entertainment in just about every restaurant. A live band is the norm in restaurants every night and the walls are covered with local art. Of course all these businesses are operated by the government except for very few private ones run out of their kitchens - but their food is just as bland presumably from the same scarcity of spices. Luckily the Cuban liquor and entertainment tended to make up for the bland food. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have a two tank cascading system in my hangar. The Tanks are 220 cft tanks. That is about the biggest I can pick up to transport in my car. You will need a transfilling equipment and adapter to attach to the O2 portal on the plane. These are available from Mountain High http://www.mhoxygen.com/ and others. But before you go purchase a tank(s), I suggest you first call around and pick a near by gas provider and talk to them about tanks. Otherwise you may find the people you want to use won't service your tanks - at least not on an exchange basis - which will be an added inconvenience. I bought mine, to avoid a monthly rental cost. After more than 10 years I am certainly ahead. Even though I own them, I am able to exchange them for each refill and don't have to contend with hydro's or valve maintenance. Depending on your supplier you'll have a choice between welders O2 and Aviators O2. Yes, they come from the same source but they clean and vacuum the tank 2 or 3 times before they fill any breathable O2 container. Some people say their suppliers charge a lot extra for that, but mine does not and its not a big deal for them to do that either. I found a supplier that provides it to the military that was much cheaper than an Airgas store that I am sure you will also see locally.

Although I feel bad for Tom and anyone that may have had a tour scheduled. But I was really surprised the factory was doing this. Let's be reasonable, this cost them time and money that the company can't afford right now. They are spending far more money than their current revenue working to get the M10 through certification. Can you really blame Mr Vivek for wanting to keep their overhead cost down? I really don't know, but I'd bet anyone that was seriously considering a new Mooney purchase could get a tour. The rest of us can always go at Homecoming. Just my 2 cents on wanting to see them survive. They do tours for prospective buyers and company's they are looking to team with and and government officials - both Chinese and US. if you are going to be in China , I'd be happy to put you in touch. But there really isn't much to see yet but the 3 Mooneys, an M10 mockup, Red Bird Mooney Simulator etc. There is no production at the Chinese factory.

You don't have vacuum speed brakes? Sorry I don't know what year yours is - but lucky you if you have the electric. I am envious. I am only pulling my electric standby vacuum. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

John, I have not yet had the opportunity. My plane and new panel is still in the shop and then when it finally comes out I'll be out of annual ' But usually when you ask to start at specific IAF they'll give you an explanation when they can not accomodate - such as traffic. I really think that is the issue since he can keep you out of the way while vectoring you to just outside the JABAL, but when you do the full arc to KANEC you still have a 5 nm leg to get to JABAL which makes it harder for him to sequence you in with other arrivals coming from JLI. But if you get to try it again anytime soon and still get refused for questionable reasons please pass on what you can and I will take it up with my SOCAL contacts. One of the few perks of being on the FAASTeam here is the access I get to such folks and I will be eager to get to the bottom of it.

Since airspeed doesn't take it out, which is nice, I am not sure why it is not allowed. My recollection of the Aspen STC backup instrument verbiage is that its written as performance based requirements. So perhaps a matter of interpretation of the STC requirements ?

Air data has always been the Achilles heal of the Aspen and having triple redundant Aspens won't make up for it. You really need an airdata independent attitude display for backup. I don't think I follow, but its acceptable to have a single vacuum source for AI and DG air driven gyro's because you have non air driven backups with your electric Turn Coordinator, IAS and Compass as you learned in instrument ground school. So there is really no comparison. The STC providers for Aspen, G500, etc provide guidance on acceptable backups for their products based on configuration in part. They are taking these failure dependency's into account with how or what they specify for acceptable backups. But installers are often able to get a 337 to use different but theoretically compatible backup device - so you'll see differences. What Aaron is quoting is very similar to how the G500 can degrade and how GPS may be used to supplement the AHRS solution. Its been awhile, but I think Sandia's Quattro does this as well. In my Mooney I have the G500, backed up by the L3 LSI-500 (between the radios and G500, or viewable from both seats) and then on the co-pilot side I have an electric backup AI. All electric yes, but I have dual alternators and battery on the backup which does everything including navigation. I did have to keep my primary vacuum pump for my speed brakes.

So when your pitot tube freezes or anything happens that takes out your ram air to the IAS, and your Aspen goes big Red X, you sure don't wan't to see your G5 attitude do the same! Good find Chris, its critical to know the failure modes so you know what they can be and then train/practice accordingly.

Good point because I have yet to review the parameters to see if another one needs to be enabled as I suspect there is. But to answer your question directly, no, we don't even file flight plans to do IFR approaches here. For IFR flights that begin and end anywhere within specific TRACONs airspace, its is possible to get an IFR clearance without pre-filing by asking the tower for an IFR published TEC route (Tower Enroute Control) clearance. These are in the published in the AF/D and we have TEC routes here in the SOCAL and NORCAL TRACONS as well as the north east coast. For even shorter routes such, such as between nearby airports, they are not published in the AF/D, but prescribed never the less and provided to you when you ask tower for IFR to the a nearby or same airport. For these flight plans, they only care about your airplane type and equipment suffix, e.g. M20T or M20P and /G or...

I suggest you try asking the controller that "Zero Romeo Alpha request commencing the GPS XRAY runway 24 approach at VISTA, full stop ( or missed)". That should work; especially if you are coming from OCN. But because of the 5.8 nm leg between the JABAL and KANEC, after the RF leg, our controllers aren't thrilled with this approach if they are sequencing you in with other straight in traffic so that could have been the issue.

I can't say but can imagine installs cost really varying depending on whether its being connected to an existing compatible GPS or if yours would need their optional GPS antenna installed.

This seems like a lot about nothing. When you look at the details, all you would get is GPS track on the HSI page; which you already have at the top of the G5 display. Its not like G5 users are missing out on Heading info, which is only provided in the G5 experimental version if you have both the G3 and an optional magnetometer. And its still only a backup to the G3. So frankly, even if they didn't hide the HSI function on the certified version, wouldn't that be a waste of glass real estate to display the same GPS track info already displayed. But of course you got a great new glass certified primary attitude display with all the other nice features IAS, altitude, VSI etc is all great stuff - and it looks nice in your panel. You did good and got some excellent capability for half the cost of anything else and that's the real point of the matter! On the other hand if anyone really want the whole enchilada, certified to support navigation, synthetic vision, obstacles and even heading - that's available too, starting at couple more AMU's - the L3 ESI-500.

Another option, especially if Ariel Avionics at Reid Hillview Airport does not have the King test harness equipment is going to Sacramento Executive. They do have the test harnesses and are very good at diagnosing and repairing. I finally flew up there from SD after sending my servo's and computers to Auto Pilot Central but they couldn't find the issue but I still spent thousands on the repairs. In truth, I wanted to send them anyway in anticipation of getting a G500 & GAD43E installed and wanted to have the AP components gone through anyway so that it was perfect intime for my new panel. But I still had to go in to Sacramento Executive where they could install the test harness to get to the bottom of my issue. If Ariel Avionics also has the King test harness equipment that great, since then we have at least 2 places in CA that have the added diagnosis capability that it provides - which is pretty essential IMO. BTW, bench testing the components individually is entirely different from testing the system in its entirety with the test harness in your plane.

Between the GTN and the GNS, the older GNS really do provide the same enroute and approach capabilities except for one. Only the new GTN boxes support the new RF leg approach types. But these are new and rare and probably most people don't even know about them or care. I have one near me, but not a big deal. Otherwise as Athony said, for everything else the GNS does what the GTN does just not as efficiently as the newer GTN boxes (i.e. programmable holds, airways). But add in a Flighstream 210, as JohnB suggested and voila you just added a new iPad interface and solving the missing airways dilemma. But no arguing that the newer GTN & IFD do it all with much more G-Whiz bang and with beautiful color maps and touch screen. But as Teejay says, given install cost is the same and significant for any of these GPS starting from scratch, one would really have to be strapped to install the older GNS boxes. My sense is the more complex the install (more interfaces to wire) the less palatable the savings from a GNS box will be. A simple interface to one VOR/GPS head makes its the most attractive. But don't be dissuaded by stories of Garmin is not updating the GNS boxes because they continue to be supported. They have added and continued to update them for LP approaches and continue to update them to interface with for ADS-B as well as interfacing with their other product updates. But I recently went from a GMX-200 with dual GNS430W's to a GTN750/GTN650 w/FS510 combo because I was modernizing my panel with a G500 and wanted to simplify. Plus I traded in my GNS430W at 5.5K each and then am getting another $5K in Garmin rebates - so that helps too. But if you are starting from scratch, it makes the Avidyne solution really tough since their advertised pricing starts at $17K and $15K plus install for the 540 and 440 respectively. That's great for people already coming from a GNS solution which won't pay for install - which is where most of their install base comes from (that and early adopters that got big discounts for deposits before their availability). Contract that with the GTN750 which advertises starting at $17K with install and starting at $12K with install for the 650. (I assume an AP interface and any other interfaces to existing avionics will drive install cost up.) That's a pretty big difference between the GTN650 and IFD440 for a new installed cost. I was also surprised to learn the IFD series doesn't support the new RF leg approaches. I wonder if that is a temporary thing or more a sign of a lack of future capability like the existing the GNS boxes. If it was only temporary, why didn't they just get it in so it they wouldn't suffer the negative marketing?

When Bennett is receiving traffic in the hockey puck of the aircraft near him, that is not ADS-B air-to-air. the only way he is receiving it is from the ADS-B/R rebroadcast from the ground tower. There is no other way for him to get a Mode C target in his ADS/B TIS-B feed. But yes, I would have to agree with you, it unlikely his ADS-B Out is being picked up by a local ADS-B ground tower, its more likely he is picking up the ADS-B/R rebroadcast from the ground tower courtesy of other enabled ADS-B traffic in the pattern or nearby. Out west here, we do have a few airports where people have claimed of getting FIS-B on the ground, so it is possible but that is what I would consider the acid test of whether you could get reception from an ADS-B tower on the ground.