David Mazer

I spoke with Seattle Avionics today as an authorized rep for Aveo. He originally quoted using the Whelen lights which cost $1,000 a side rather than the Aveo which costs $700 to $1000 for the set! On top of that, he quoted $1,000 to "rewire" the lights. After talking to another A&P, it is possible the the current wiring could be used or the current wiring could be used to pull the new wiring. The real question is what will it take to get around the pulse generator that I already have in the plane. I may need to also put in the tail strobe (another $300+) to turn the $1,000 in wiring to a couple hundred or less. I am still hoping I can get both wings, and now the tail, done for about $1,500. I'll keep everyone informed as I go.

These are the Aveos installed on the Trinidad, listed at Aircraft Spruce for $783 for a set of two (I think). The installation on the Trinidad looks very similar to the space on my wing tip and these are really small. I think I will contact Aveo for their opinion.

If there are no available certified options, why is Sarasota Avionics able to quote the upgrade? I'll have to check with them but their email to me stated that they were discussing it with Whelen. I know someone with Aveo LEDs on a Trinidad so there are some certified options for some planes.

My 86 252 needs both recognition lights and the left wing tip strobe replaced. The recognition lights are very hot and can melt the lenses very quickly on the ground. I have been considering changing to an LED system but my first estimate was over $3,200. Anybody have any good suggestions?

I do, or did. Two A&Ps have told me the cause is someone putting the lower cowl on incorrectly causing the gearing to strip. Unfortunately, those two A&Ps were the only two people that had taken my cowl off and back on since its last annual when it was noted to be working. Word to the wise - check your cowl flap condition after each time the lower cowl gets reattached. At least you will know who is responsible.

I just briefly reviewed the differences in capabilities between a KFC 200 and an Stec 30. I can't believe you would be happy replacing a KFC 200 with an Stec 30. The difference in capabilities is huge. Even if you have to pay the same amount to repair the KFC 200 as a new Stec 30, you would be way ahead.

I had a terrible time with my KFC 150 when I got my plane in 2006. The estimate to replace the unit was north of $20,000 if I wanted the same capabilities. First I took it to one shop and they didn't really solve the problem even though they sent the unit back to Autopilot Central three times as one of the other posts described. I finally left the plane with Sarasota Avionics (SA) for an extended period of time and thought I was going down the same dead end until, viola, it was fixed. I opted not to bother with the yaw dampener which would have cost about $2,500 to repair since something got bent when it was left on on landing some time prior to my acquiring the plane. Sarasota charged about $7,000 for the repair. Very painful but still less than a new unit by far. The people at SA believe their technician is especially gifted with autopilots. Maybe,maybe not but mine is working well now. Are you near FL?

It looks like I will be putting in a cable to replace the motor under a 337 next month. I will report how it goes then. Sorry for the long delay but I have been working on this for months already. I'm sure you all understand how long these odd projects can take.

I have a 252 Rocket and, per Rocket's POH, lean to a TIT of 1500 to 1510 on the JPI. I have tried to experiment with LOP but the TIT rose so fast and so high I didn't make it to the other side. Maybe I just didn't pull fast enough. I think I need to fly with someone that has done it before to see if I can get there. I tried the lean finder on my JPI but it wasn't that helpful.

No. But, I have dealt with many others and have always had follow up issues. Sometimes I have just eaten the corrections because it was less expensive to eat it then fly there and deal with it.

The guys at Rocket Engineering recommended Maxwell for some other work when I spoke to them last week. For those of you that have made long distance annuals, how did you deal with the follow up when it wasn't quite right?

Indeed I do but there are many SeaReys at SERamp. There is even another Mooney/SeaRey combination You must have the 205. BTW, it wasn't I that complained and now you can only get fuel if you are a tenant and part of the coop.

I am at SE Ramp at SFB. Where are you?

My Mooney's annual is coming up in June. I am still looking for the "perfect" shop. Any suggestion in the central Florida region? If you believe a distant shop is worthwhile (like Mooney itself), help me understand why since I have always had residual issues and the travel has made it difficult and expensive to deal with them.

When I got my Rocket in 06 the KFC 150 would fly left of course and porpoise around an altitude until it either mad me sick or I turned it off and reset it. In the end, it took two avionics shops and a whole bunch of money to get it working reasonably well. There were a couple software upgrades to the autopilot that have come out that may not have been installed in your Bravo that might help but my problem required lots of work in the end. I hope your squawk is easier to fix then mine was.

Spoke with Rocket Engineering today and they told me they didn't put in the cowl flap motor. The 231 Rocket is cable operated and the 252 is electric. So, I spoke to Mooney to see if a 231 cable would fit into a 252. Their answer was no way. Of course. Back to square zero (haven't managed to get to square one yet).

Thanks for your input on this. I didn't realize the 231 and the 252 Rocket cowl flaps were different. My Rocket looks like the cowl flap motor is a modification so I expected the 231 and 252 versions to be the same in that respect. I have a mechanic looking at it this week but his experience is that somehow the gears were stripped and the rebuild is more expensive then a new one. I suppose I will learn more about this later this week. Thank you both.

Anybody know anything about converting from the electric cowl flap motor to a manual cable control for a Rocket? My motor burned up and the thing costs over a $1,000, isn't in stock, and seems to burn up often. Thanks.

I have a detailed Rocket Checklist but I don't know how to attach it. If you provide your email address I will email it to you.