aviatoreb

The safest ga pilots learn to be a little bit flaky. I'll see you Saturday! Or Sunday! Or maybe Friday. I'm not sure.

That's the kind of wife every pilot needs.

Huh - will that work on the KFC200? But that is not what is meant by envelope protection - I mean an ap feature where if you are approaching a condition near the flight envelope that the AP servos nudge the control yoke back toward controlled flight, just as if there were a master CFI sitting next to you. On the other point - that is what I worry about - that BK will charge 2 or 3 times (or more) what autopilot central would charge for a repair. Why would they do that? A) they think they could make lots of money especially after putting their competitors out of business, or B they do not really want to be in the GA business anymore since the have bigger fish to fry - military contracts, so it is their way of chasing us off but they will still take our money if we are dumb enough to keep going to them.

Here are other features I want in a latest-and-greatest autopilot, that would cause me to upgrade autopilots whether or not BK is trying to extort me (and attitude based): -digital -envelope protection -upset recovery button -autoland. The first 3 have become standard fare in the latest autopilots. BTW - the avidyne DFC90 is also a maybe - I wish they had done an STC for us - and maybe they still will. I would buy that. Auto land does not exist in GA yet - but the technology is completely feasible. Diamond is testing it as a possible future feature, in their DA42 and 62 I think. for real - and to be released sometime "in the near future". Not to be used as a standard every day feature but as an emergency feature to compete with the parachute - for the scenario of a pilot incapacitation. That scenario is suddenly back in my mind - and of my wife! There was an airplane crash near here just 3 nights ago. A cargo plane from Northern Quebec was flying to Montreal and overflew Montreal and then crossed the border and then crashed right near here - a Piper Navajo. Seemingly a pilot medical issue (only soul on board) flying on autopilot the airplane carried on until it ran out of fuel.

So the worry here is that BK will demand extortion level pricing. $2500 to overhaul a gyro is one thing, but what if suddenly under factory service, overnight the price jumps to $6000 or some such, for that factory service label? Similarly for all the other parts in the AP. I am sorry but I forget the real numbers, so I am only stating the numbers as I roughly remember them, but about 2 years ago my autopilot electric trim switch went bad - the one on the yoke - and needed to be replaced. I was told that just a few years ago it was ~$500 (remember we are talking about a switch, and a few electronics elements that go in the switch body) but it had been raised to about $1k, but then it was doubled again to $2k. So I called around and was able to find one last unit on an MSC shelf as new old-stock at the $1k price. (again folks these are rough numbers since I am not remembering exactly). So this is what I fear will be the philosophy and practice of BK. This is not then the same as Garmin managing all of their own overhauls, but rather the behavior of a company that is leveraging their monopoly based on faa legislation to extort us and put other companies out of business (the mid continent and autopilot central's of the world). So, Don, let me ask this directly to you since I know what your panel looks like and you seem to be someone who has invested in the best of the best for your panel as much as any Mooney owner out there. I agree I also am not excited by the STEC - they are not as good an autopilot as the best of the BK's - like the KFC200 that I have, and also that company is also on shaky ground. So let me ask, what would you consider replacing your BK with, and what would cause you to replace it? Or rather let me ask does this sound reasonable if I say what i am thinking - if asked to overhaul some major component at $6k or more, then it is time to just replace the whole system if it is available. If trutrek or trio are available at that time, then these would be excellent and worthy replacements that compete with the KFC200 in terms of features - and even better - I am really excited about the envelope protection. I was talking to an avionics shop and he guestimated that the all-in installed cost of either of those would be roughly 10k. OR - I am guessing that Garmin is also working behind the scenes to certify something from their experimental line-up mirroring what trutrek and trio are doing. And that will be announced at Oshkosh 17. Just like Dynon did their efis and next thing you know, Garmin announced their G5. I would be very very tempted already by a full featured digital autopilot by Garmin, but now doubly so given that BK is in the middle of jumping off a bridge. In business terms, any of those three companies giving experimental to certified autopilots would have a huge boondoggle of sales if this BK thing really does go down this road they are threatening, because if nothing else, they are threatening to price overhaul of single components at a large fraction of the cost of their new systems complete. Likewise Aspen.

It depends on how long your (my) autopilot lasts and what becomes available. Luckily there is likely to be other options soon. Trio , trutrek. Will garmin have an offering? Stec already has some offerings. I am very unlikely to send any money to bk.

Don't forget the companies such as autopilots central they are contriving to put out of business by leveraging federal regulation.

Ok - well how are those Trutrak and Trio STCs coming? I think a lot of us will be buying that stuff asap if it becomes available. I do not take kindly to extortion.

One thing about Mooney's that got me buying a Mooney - they just look and feel cool. Great road feel and they look fantastic. I think what catches your eye is also a legit buying factor when it comes to expendable income.

Its not efficient compared to the most efficient M20's, but for the power and speed, it is fair to also ask how efficient it is compared to the other ones in its category of high performance, including say the bonanza, but also to competing twins, which for the more expensive mooney's those that own these could also be purchasing a barron for example. On those grounds, it is more efficient.

I am at a small town rural airport. I was renting and not specifically planning to buy, but I was trying to get people to get together to buy a piper cherokee as either a club, or maybe co-owners of about 2 or 3. But I was doing this slowly because I could rent. Then in 2007, the world economy crashed and so did the local economy. The school I was renting from went out of business, and no one wanted to buy a plane. And the general attitude toward airplane maintenance had been declining. So for these reasons I realized that if I wanted to keep flying I needed my own airplane, plus especially to keep it up maintained to a standard a bit higher than the ratty machines you often find around here. So I bought a Diamond DA40 at a fantastic price (because now it was winter of 2007-2008 and anything that was in the luxury item category was dirt cheap that year again because of the crash). I flew that for 2 years and loved it. And I loved owning my own plane. But I wanted something more capable. I mulled over twins but decided a high performance single was more what I needed and wanted and that my budget would accommodate without telling any of my kids that they can't go to college. I had a few times ridden in an M20C and loved it. But I was looking for airplanes with tks - I only need inadvertent since I avoid ice but in the north east, sometimes ice seems to happen despite your best forecasting and and use of the forecasting products. Rarely have I been wrong, but occasionally, thank goodness for tks, and anyway, it gives me peace of mind all the time that there is a backup plan. SO this narrowed me down to Cirrus, a retrofitted 182, or Bonanza or Mooney. I was never too excited by 182's but they are no doubt fantastic airplanes for what they are. Cirrus - I rode in my friend's SR22 and he was proudly demonstrating everything about it, and I came out of that ride thinking I definitely don't like the cirrus for its poor road feel, and some other reasons too. So it was down to Bonanza and Mooney. I was surprised to find that despite being over all bigger, the Bonanza has poor leg room for a tall guy. So now I was shopping for M20. I was keeping my mind open to any M20 with tks that was in fine shape and a good deal. Although I was thinking turbo in case I ever did find myself in ice I wanted excess power to get out quick even if that means climb. Although if I had found a good R or missile with tks I certainly may have gone there. I loved the concept of the rocket, and found a nice specimen - again at a good price, now in 2009, because the economy was still poor and airplane prices were largely suppressed still. Although selling my 2003 DA40, I got back more than I purchased it for. So I purchased an M20K rocket after just a test drive and a repurchase. And it was at the time a lot more airplane than I anticipated. everything happens so much faster. Over time and with training you eventually get used to that speed of things and its fine. For several years I was maintaining it and improving the avionics (edm830, adsb transponder, p2audio system, overhauled all gyros, and new electric backup attitude, 406elt, overhaul tks pumps, overhaul most components in kfc autopilot) and adding stc speed mods etc, but still thinking in the back of my mind I might end up selling it eventually so a bit reticent to update the interior and paint. Well last year I had an expensive corrosion fix, and at that time I decided to fix that and invest in this plane like I am keeping it for at least 10 more years. SO I updated all new leather interior, lr tanks, and it is in paint right now getting stripped and painted and new wind screens. And leather yokes. So in about a month I will have the shiniest rocket in the fleet.

Wow! i like mike busch even more than before after reading his cv... he did an undergrad in math at dartmouth, and it said he at leasted started graduate studies in math at princeton...i presume he didn't graduate from princeton since no degree is listed...and its true these phd programs are pressure cookers with a high attrition rate... but that doesnt stop me one bit from respecting him more one bit...since still we are judging him as an original thinker a&p engineer type...and clearly better than most in this field...he is a clear, original and logical thinker. kudos mike bush!

date keeps slipping....lets say if not by sept, then i would come especially for it. but i have a service stop to make at klns in july.... and likely a trip to princeton in july....but i want a crab shack! i grew up on crabs and have not had crabs for a few years. old bay spice...mmmm! i do have two separate business trips to dc to do in june but they need to mid week and quick turns...so no good to meet anyone - and a complicating factor for aviation socializing - when i am in dc - any free time i find - my mom owns me! she is there. :-)

n10933 is at the paint shop....so next time you see her she will have new colors and design and new tail number...and already new interior...but i have not seen a fly in mentioned for a long time. but hey deleware guys...fly in at/to a crab shack please.

It is locally flat since it is a topological manifold, however globally it is not the trivial manifold.

Hmm... is that lighter? To remove the electric standby or the primary vacuum? if the standby is the only vacuum and used for just speed brakes it would last a long time since it wouldn't be operating full time.

That's a good point - I already have an electric backup vacuum - that could operate my spolerdbrsjes if I removed the primary vacuum if I didn't need primary vacuum for avionics.

...and no matter what avionics changes I make I need a vacuum system for the speed brakes- switching to electric speed brakes is as expensive as a new stc install for speed brakes.

If it were not locked in and wanting to collapse already on the ground- with your hand on it I would be afraid it would break your arm snapping around so fast during a collapse.

The Dpe-cfi who examined my first pilot ticket gear upped in his twin when it was him at 14000hrs and a cfi also in the plane.

I have the p2-audio warning system which has several different voice audio warnings including a woman's frantic voice "check gear" or a smooth male voice "gear is down" depending on configuration.

I am resisting reading this thread or answering the poll question - too much bad juju-bad mojo. I gotta go now... and take a shower and have some breath mints or something.

Assuming they both check out the same in brebuy - if you did a prebuy in both - then the low time engine worries me given its history of sitting for several years and then still relatively low use for the recent years. I would consider the higher time airplane more valuable and even be willing to put more money on the table for it as more likely to go to TBO than the low time engine which I consider more likely to need an overhaul sooner. So since the low time airplane costs more, then even more so I would lean to the "high time" airplane. I put high time in quotes since 1300 hours is still essentially a new airplane in a world where 10,000 hrs is mid time for an airframe if it is well maintained. Go meet a 100,000 or 200,000 hr DC3. But seriously, many of us are flying around in 5,000-6,000 hr airplanes that look and feel new because they are well maintained.

Is it possible for the mechanical indicator window on the floor to show down (the green box) if the gear is not fully down? Question - not a statement.

I'll take one as long is it has cup holders and a parachute.