AndyFromCB

? Not quite sure I understand.

If Garmin was very smart, they would release an autopilot with an AML as large as the rest of their AMLs. The problem with current avionics upgrades is that your are stuck with your old autopilot or worse yet, a STec 55x. After flying behind the GFC700, I don't I could ever go back to anything less.

Now, that's not really a fair comparison, is it? Your fly an aircraft that's about as efficient as it gets ;-) But if you're going to burn 50gph of Avgas and still fly a cramped cabin like Dukes, you might as well get an Aerostar and go 240knots instead of 210 in the Duke. These aircraft just make no sense anymore other than price of entry. 50gph of Avgas equals to 75gph of Jet A. And at $100 an hour per side in engine reserves, you're really not that far from PT6, as most small block PT6 run about $100 an hour to overhaul as well and have very little maintenance in between vs 25 hour oil changes on the Duke. However, I will give it to the Duke as the best looking aircraft to ever come from B,C,M or P. It just looks fast sitting on the ground.

Because that's about what they last, between 1000 to 1200 hours. 300 put it right in the middle. I think the official TBO is 1600 hours up from 1200 originally, but that was just a paper increase.

And two engines that will cost about $200K in 300 hours and add maybe $50K to the value if you can find someone to sell it to. No thanks.

Thanks, I'll keep you in mind if I decide to go the surgery route. I forgot the anatomical details but basically it's a spur on C4 or C5 or C6 pressing on the nerve going into my left hand. It's been going on for 3 or 4 years now. Initially the pain became unbearable, after about a week of zero sleep, I went on a course of opiates and steroids for a few days just to catch up on sleep (of course I did not fly for a while after I stopped taking the meds). Since then I've been able to manage it with PT but I did end up taking some prednisone once last year for a week due to pain. Considering a site cortisone injection on my next flare up, when it happens. Currently it's just annoying more than anything, the numbness that is. Powered adjustable height desk is a life safer.

Oh, the tingle. I've got a bone spur in my neck that more or less causes my entire left side to feel numb every now and then. Getting old is so much fun. Just like you I've done my research and talked to quite a few surgeons all over US of A, but for now decided to skip getting my neck ripped apart, because that's what the procedure entails. Waiting for surgical/laser technology to advance some more.

And when someone changes it to your ID on their flight, you get a bill, you refuse to pay, they slap a lien on your plane. You think it's hard to remove a lien by a government entity, try dealing with corporate world.

Just like EU: Airlines, heavy private aircraft and then light sport aircraft flown from small, private fields for pleasure. This will not end well for light aircraft general aviation. I do not for a second believe this will end up like the Canadian system because we're not Canadian. It will end just like EU with hundreds of dollars worth of fees per IFR flight.

If privatization comes in the currently proposed airline centric format where they hold majority of the seats on the board of directors and by that virtue elect the CEO, you're not going to have to worry about avionics because all you're going to need is a radio. Want to see what privatization looks like, look to EU and their IFR segment fees.

Whatever you do, do not get the prior generation glass aircraft. The avionics bills will eat you alive. Honeywell/Bendix gear is pretty much "unsupported" by the factory at this point. They really have no idea what they are doing as all the people that ever worked on them are long gone. The KFC325 is a fine autopilot, when it works, but between the CRT screens, symbol generators, various interface boxes, something is always broken. All "fixes" start at around $15K and go up from there and almost never fix anything for long. So even the G600 is not a good solution as you are stuck with the old autopilot. So I would stay away from older PC12s and TBMs. With KA, you get Rockwell/Collins gear. Equally expensive, but at least considerably more reliable. CASP at $30K a year is a bargain for ProLine21 aircraft. Don't forget that the retail price for the entire ProLine21 system is somewhere along $1.5million and you will be charged accordingly for parts and service. Basically with all the above aircraft, other than the PA46, you're out between $120K and $180K annually before any fuel bills.

It got TKSed, ThermaWing got dropped because it didn't work.

Quite frankly the future of deicing is piezo electric. It already works on many corporate jets, mostly for tail deicing. Apply couple of thousand Gs to ice over a few micrometers and it just shutters. The TW system is flawed and has been from the start. There just is not enough power to generate heat quickly enough to avoid some runback. So slowly, over time, with each shed cycle you end up with ice bridge where you want it least. A system like this has to heat fast enough to vaporize the moisture on each shed cycle, TW simply does not do it. As to boots, they are pretty useless on our light piston powered aircraft. The work decent on turboprop equipment. They simply do not function well when you need them the most, which is on climb (although that fairly easy to overcome if the ice band altitudes are well know and not very thick, by zoom climbing) but there is not much that can be done on approach. Maintaining 140knots, a speed where boots really start to shine down to 200' is not an option is a piston single, it's not even a good option in a turboprop single, but most of them have considerably more advanced flap system where the difference between full flaps and no flap approach speeds can be as much as 30knots, so 150 on final down to 200' is quite doable in a TBM, you can slow down 40knots in half mile with the giant paddle up front, cross the numbers at 110 and force the landing and go into reverse. It still gets rather squirly because your rudder just simply quits working and if there is ice in the clouds, there is a good chance there is snow/ice on the runway and you need your rudder the most. Boots really need speed to shed well. I've spend enough time in a King Air series aircraft over the years to realize that even when maintaining good ice penetration speed, you still end up with a ton of ice unless the boots get coated before pretty much every flight with a ice de-bonding agent. It's a none issue on a King Air as you'd pretty much would have to continuously fly thru SLD in order to build up enough ice to bring that aircraft down. It's an old, fat airfoil that really doesn't much care what's on the leading edge. I bet a KA would take off with no issue with 2x4s mounted to the leading edge. TKS and a turbo is pretty much as good as it gets. Ask any Cessna Caravan pilot. The FedEx planes used to fall out of the sky due to icing all the time Caravans were booted. Once TKS replaced the boots, it became a non-issue. I'd take a FIKI TKS over any other system in a light plane. If you run into time limitations due to fluid usage, you're doing icing wrong. My two cents from a guy that has considerably more back seat time in flying machines than left seat time.

I'm sorry

How about read my post again. I said a 325hp T310R, not a factory 285hp one. A sea level climb on a 325hp T310R is 650fpm on one engine as per RAM supplement. 40hp makes all the difference in the world. And clearly, you've never flown a light twin. 500lb goes a long way, granted maybe not 350fpm worth, but definitely worth 200fpm. It sure works like that on a B58, the closest manual I actually have handy on this computer and an airplane I've flown and practiced engine out climbs on multiple occasions. 500lb less in a Baron generally means 500fpm vs 300fpm on one.

You keep on saying this and I for a fact know it is not true. Plenty of twins will fly away with one quitting right at rotation, depending on weight, altitude and speed. We've been here before and yet you keep on spewing this BS. Last time this happen I even showed you a video of a Diamond taking off on a single engine. Commander crossed the entire US of A with a prop stowed in the back. I know for a fact a 421C will do it. I know a fact an Aerostar will do. I know for a fact a Navajo will do it. And I certainly know a RAM IV T310R will do it because I've spent quite a few hours in the right seat of one. I know for a fact that a T310R with 325hp will out climb your M20J on one if 500lb under gross (it will hit 1000fpm) and will easily do 650fpm at gross at sea level. Why do you keep on spewing this BS when certification requires it for twins that stall above 61knots. You can feel safer in your M20J, because after all we are in the new "I don't know it for a fact, but I fell it's true era" but a properly flown twin, on a proper length runway, gives you a ton more options than a single. A T310R will blow right thru blue line with all 3 wheels still on the ground under 3000ft at gross. Fly it from a 5000ft runway and you can be as safe as a jet. An Aerostar will climb away with the wheels hanging out.

Couldn't God just fix the heater in the first place? Why go thru all the theatrics? Curious minds want to know. Could the deity still pull it off without a functioning autopilot, or would have that been too much? Pretty cool story, all is well that ends well. My motto has always been better lucky than good and always keep your autopilot in working order.

Well, considering you can pony up about 10K annually for a brand new Acclaim or Cirrus, 15K for an aircraft worth 5 times as much with usually at least 5 times the liability ;-)

You'd be surprised, probably a lot better than yours or mine, percentage wise. When we had the company KA350, it was $25K a year for 25million liability, 4 million hull and the open pilot clause was any pilot type rated in KA300. Would have been half as much if we were willing to fly with two pilots. He probably only pays $15K a year for the Mustang, at most. Shows you what underwriters think of pistons, for a good reason, may I add. And keep in mind, this insurance also covers FOD, on an engine that costs more than an Acclaim.

The ability to pull up to your hangar, unload the car into the airplane, park the car inside is priceless, plus you can keep all your usual gear there as well (skis, fishing poles, hiking gear, doubles as an extra storage space when you're doing construction at home and need a covered materials staging area. It's well worth is. Plus sometime it's just nice to leave the wife at home, grab a beer or two on your way out, unfold a chair and just sit there and stare at your airplane, especially when it's stormy. My hangar looks towards miles of cornfield, some amazing storms I've seen from inside. Once I even finished the whole 6 pack and just slept there with the door open;-) Woke up with a mouse on my face.

Never had that problem, but then those of us whom crab and kick have to be quick on their feet ;-)

They are, IIRC, I clearly remember one saying clock. One of them has something to do with batteries, because I know if you blow it, your batteries disconnect. Happened to me once when switching from 1 to 2, the whole plane shut down, happened on the ground and IIRC I was really slow with the switch.

Yeap, right in your battery compartment, you will find quite a few little black inline fuse holders strapped to various things, go look.

Really? Do you have spreadsheets to prove it ;-) Did you use some sort of "I'm glad I didn't get caught" sales tax avoidance strategy? Generally, sales taxes alone will eat you alive in swapping planes.

It's so hot it evaporates before even hitting it or right upon impact. If any flow back remains, by design, it's forced to go under rather than over the wing where the exhaust will blow it off, at least in theory. Never seen it in practice as flying in jets has mostly been above my pay grade as in I don't ever last in corporate world long enough to get to be upper management for long. I tend to Vest In Peace and then leave/get fired as soon as possible. Maybe if I rinse and repeat this cycle a few more times, I'll buy one but for now I'm out ideas changing diapers at 3am. The other issue with jets is total air temperature is often so high that icing is not an issue to begin with when you're climbing at 250knots.