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Jlunseth..., I actually have not fixed the wiring yet; I am one of the early purchasers of the new Avidyne IFD-540 which will also require some wiring changes when installed. I had planned to make all the wiring changes at the same time when I get my 540. Looks like that could still be a few months away. As far as the 225 goes it is an excellent autopilot in my Mooney. Other people have had problems(ie Peter from UK with multiple failures), but I have not seen any issues at all. My aircraft has 900 hours with no autopilot problems noted in the logs. I have about 300 hours in it with no issues. In Peter's case it seems to be a noise issue in the Socato that must not be present in the Mooney. My aircraft has rg-400 cable(low noise) throughout so maybe that is helping me. As far as flying goes the autopilot has been solid. In the last year I have made several approaches to minimums (1/2mi 200ft) using the autopilot and it has done a great job. The roll steering issue to me is minor but not caused by the autopilot. Looks to me that Mooney dropped the ball on that one and never wired it properly. My serial # is 0307, and at 0331 Mooney started installing the G1000 so only about 24 aircraft "might have been wired correctly". Here is another article that I found helpful for flying the 225 by Peter Cassidy; http://www.cassidys.ca/server/flying/Papers/Autopilot_Transition.pdf. This describes how to set up the 225 on takeoff and this is how I fly my 225 with good results. One of the most important items I have figured out over the last year is to make sure the aircraft is trimmed properly before turning the autopilot on. If aircraft isn't trimmed properly initially the autopilot seems to have a hard time holding the attitude or altitude that you are expecting it to. Another thing that would have helped me is to find a instructor that is familiar with the 225. I have had three instructors over the last few years but nobody has had 225 experience so that makes it difficult to learn because your instructor is learning right along with you. As you know when you're in the soup things get a little exciting when they don't work as you expect. I guess that is why you should never become too reliant on your autopilot that you forget how to hand fly.... Anyway good luck with your decision and hope this helps.

King KMT-112 Magnetic Flux Detector Recently purchased from Kevin Crozier on Beechtalk(you can read about it) Mine ended up being okay and I had to get my gyro overhauled instead Asking 250 shipped. Thanks Bob Byers

Didn't mean to start a controversy with my LOP statement but here is a statement from Don Kaye who has thousands of hours in the Bravo." After the course I put on the GAMIs and successfully ran LOP for a few months until a mag was changed at Annual. I never could get it to run LOP after that. Others have reported having signifiant exhust repars after attempting the LOP experiment. My advice, don't run LOP with this engine. Anyway just wanted to let people know that running ROP you can still have exhaust problems. After conversing with my mechanic decided to send the whole exhaust off to Aerospace Welding for inspection and repair as needed.

Mooney just quoted me the 880055-505 for $372.14 I asked for the cheaper one but no response yet.

Just wondered if anyone had the part number of the $130 probe?? My instrument leads are long enough so that the short length probe leads should be fine Thanks Bob

Today while changing the oil I noticed a crack in the exhaust in the weld at the #2cylinder. The crack was in the weld at the transition of two tubes. Just wondered if anyone else had run into this problem?? My aircraft has 881 hours and has NOT been run LOP. Can anyone recommend an exhaust repair shop that they had a good experience with?? Thanks Bob Byers

Do you have a Bose x for sale??

The rumor is that Avidyne will announce a 430w slide in replacement at Oshkosh this year. This is "unofficial" of course!!!

Looking for a Honeywell King KMT-112 Magnetic Flux Detector

What year are your Bravo's that have the "check valve manifolds"?? I have a 2000 model Bravo and have never seen the part you refer to. I also have the 1999 Service and Maintenance Manual and it does't say anything about replacing the "check valve manifolds".. Could these items have been removed in later model Bravo's?? In my manual the vacuum system Figure 37-1 does not show any check valve manifolds. Thanks Bob

To carqwik Just wondered if there was any issues with installing the PlanePower alternator in place of the Prestolite. In the "Model Eligibility Fit Guide" on PlanePower's web site it says for M20M (single alternator installations only) so they make it sound like its not allowed on the dual alternator Bravo. Any thoughts on this as it seems from other people's posts that the PlanePower may be the better alternator?? Thanks Bob Byers

For Documentation Purposes; The four wires that were needed to couple(arinc 429) the Garmin 530 to the KFC225 were not installed FROM THE FACTORY!!! as others have mentioned. My aircraft is a 2000 Bravo; Serial # 0307 built in the December 2000 timeframe. If anybody has a Bravo built before that , then your roll steering probably does not function correctly either. With the 530 in GPS mode and KFC225 in Nav mode: as Takair mentioned, the autopilot will follow a 90deg turn in the course if I turned the course selector when the Garmin said to change course. Thank you all for your help. I will get the wiring fixed soon. Bob

jlunseth; Thanks for your help. I noticed the problem on a typical RNAV(gps) approach where there is two 90deg turns before you get set up on final approach. The 530 was in GPS mode and the kfc225 was in nav mode tracking to the IAF just fine. When it got to the first 90deg turn it just blew right through it. According to John Collins(see above) it should fly any course changes automatically with no input from the pilot anytime the 530 is in gps mode and the kfc225 is in nav mode. Once you get on final, then yes you need to switch autopilot over to approach mode On the kfc225 heading mode will allow me to manually set the couse with the "heading bug" This works fine for vectors to final, but a little more work when you're flying the full approach. Nav mode should allow the autopilot to fly the full approach and then all you have to do is switch over to approach mode when on final. Thanks Bob

Takair; Thanks for the suggestion to sign up for Beechtalk, as they had many threads on the KFC225. Here is a quote from John Collins who is quite knowledgeable regarding the kfc225 The KFC225 has built in roll steering (often called GPSS on other systems), but it is a well kept secret as there is no mention of its operation in the KFC225 Pilot Guide. Roll steering is automatic and there is no annunciation of its operation. Roll steering is in effect anytime the GNS530W has GPS as the CDI source, the GNS530W is providing the roll steering information, and Nav mode on the KFC225 is engaged. This enables the autopilot to fly the holds, procedure turns, T style 90 degree turns, flightplan course changes, etc. I talked to him this morning regarding my problem and he pretty much felt that it was a wiring issue. If the ouput from the Arinc 429 is not wired properly or the 430 not configured properly then the roll steering does not work. He did say that if you manually changed the course selector when the 530 said to turn this would work as you had suggested; but that is not roll steering.....it should follow the course change automatically. Here is the required wiring for it to work; 530 Connector P50001 pin2 to KFC225 Connector P2pin34 530 Connector P50001 pin14 to KFC225 Connector P1pin7 530 Connector P50001 pin46 to KFC225 Connector P1pin46 530 Connector P50001 pin47 to KFC225 Connector P2pin47 If Connector P50006pin29(ILS energize) is connected to KFC225 Connector P1pin7 then remove Anyway, it looks like I have a little work to do, and I will let you know what I find Thanks for all your help, Bob

The KFC225 Honeywell Pilot Guide that you mentioned is much more informative than the POH Basically the POH is just a subset of the Pilot Guide and also does not mention anything about roll steering. I will try and call the previous owner to see what he remembers. I also pm'ed mtaccino (who started the thread that you mention) to see if He ever got his issue resolved. Looks like in his Ovation he had to turn his course pointer when the Garmin told him to turn, so maybe that is how it is supposed to work. Hopefully He will see this and chime in. Thanks Bob

Takair; I will try your suggestion of turning the course indicator when the 530 says to turn. From memory though it seems that when in Nav mode with the 225 that I can set the course pointer to anything you want and it just follows the gps signal from the 530. I will definitely give it a try though.... Carusoam; I have read the KFC 225 Pilots Guide from Honeywell backwards and forwards several times but nowhere does it even mention anything about roll steering. Oh well, I guess next step is to call Honeywell and see what they have to say. I did see that thread that you mentioned but I was pretty sure the previous owner had mentioned to me that the "roll steering" was a great feature on this aircraft...., so I assumed that the wiring must be correct and maybe I was just doing something wrong. I will look into the wiring issue also to make sure. Thanks guys for all the info Bob

Thanks for your reply, but here is what the Honeywell Brochure say verbatim GPS Roll Steering GPS roll steering has been an integral part of Bendix/King’s upper class of flight control systems. The KFC 225 now brings this functionality into the General Aviation market. The GPS roll steering algorithms are so advanced that they anticipate a course change while tracking a multi-leg flight plan f rom a GPS, and start turns b e fo re c rossing the waypoint keeping the bank angles shallow, just like a pilot. The system interfaces directly with GAMA 429 roll steering information provided by equipment like the KLN 90B or DC roll steering information from equipment like the KLN94 Takair; I do have the KI-525 hsi, and I will try your suggestion on Monday when I go up again. It seems though that if roll steering is working you shouldn't have to change the course pointer. My system does not have a switch for gpss like you are referring to, I believe that is necessary for the kfc-150 and kfc-200. Also, my instructors Piper has an S-tec 55 which has the switch you mention. Carusoam; in the KFC225 the roll steering is built in according to their brochure I think what you are referring to is a Digital to Analogue converter(activated by a switch) for systems like the kfc-150 or kfc-200. My aircraft does not have this. You mentioned turn anticipation as an option; how would I know if my 530 has this or not?? Thanks for you help Bob

Hello; I'm currently working on my instrument rating in my 2000 Mooney Bravo with non-waas Garmin 530 and the KFC225 autopilot. During RNAV(gps) approaches the autopilot does not track the course that is loaded into the 530. When you come to a 90degree turn in the course that is typical in a gps approach the autopilot does not turn the aircraft so I have to switch over from Nav mode into Hdg mode to manually steer the aircraft back onto course. I thought that roll steering was supposed to "round off the corners" during an approach and completely follow the gps course that is loaded without having to manually adjust anything. During the initial phase of the approach I have the 530 in Terminal mode and the KFC225 in Nav mode Was hoping someone else had run into this issue and could advise what they had done to resolve?? Thanks Bob

Well it looks like my first post went into cyberspace, so I'll try again. Here are the Lycoming Power charts for the Bravo at 2200 and 2400rpm(revised as of 2002) According to these charts at Standard Air Inlet temp, 28"hg and 2400rpm; Power=200Hp 202.5/270=75% Power As others have noted Bob Kromer recommends 30"hg at 2400rpm, here is his article http://www.mooneypilots.com/mapalog/cruisepower.html According to the charts though if you are flying at 18-19k at 30"hg and 2400rpm you will be at 225Hp which is 225/270 = 83% Power !!!! (assuming standard air inlet temp) I was also suprised to learn that three out of five Bravo POH recommended power settings were greater than 75%!! I guess Mooney was not too worried about the durability of their engine. Lycoming also recommends correcting power 1% for every 10degF variation in air inlet temp vs standard altitude temp. My Bravo did not come with a JPI so I don't know what my IAT runs. Any thoughts on what typical IAT variations run?? If they are upwards of 100deg hotter than standard then that would bring power down 10%; which would bring Bob Kromer's recommendation down to about 75%... Hopefully this sheds some more light on the subject Regards, Bob

I'll try this again with maybe something you can read. Bob