larryb

Cutting a new panel is not that expensive in the scheme of things. I think it was a $1400 line item in my panel redo. That included two trial panels in plexiglass for fitting before the final aluminum one was fabricated.

If you already have a plane you like and the only thing it lacks is TKS then I think it is reasonable to add FIKI. The costs of buying and selling + squawks on the new plane can add up to a lot. But if you are shopping, or FIKI is not possible for your current model then I think it pays to find a Mooney with FIKI already installed. I had a J but really wanted FIKI and also a turbo. So the only option was to buy an upgrade and sell the old one. But the search can be long, so I didn’t sell until after I bought the new one. I used a HELOC to bridge the few months I had both.

LEDs don’t have high voltage caps like strobe bulbs do. Nothing to hear.

You do not need the marker beacon. They are being removed from service. I have not come across one in years. I actually removed my beacon antenna because I wanted the location for an ADSB antenna.

Is this a move from Oceano or a vacation house?

My airplane has the Lemo jack and standard mic/phone jacks and a switch to select which mic is active. This is for both the pilot and copilot positions.

The sonalert circuit is activated when the AP grounds the negative leg of the sonalert device. The positive leg is fed by one of the breakers. So if the the sonalert is making noise when it shouldn't then it means either the AP computer has a fault (current leakage through the driving transistor) or there is a high-resistance short to ground somewhere between the Sonalert negative terminal and the AP controller. But, since you say it goes away when you hold down the AP disconnect button I would doubt a short in the wiring. So it is most likely an issue with the AP controller. That would be my

Like this? I found a shop that did the custom net, organizer, and attach hardware. The only thing missing were the seat rail clamps, they didn’t have a version which fits the mooney rails. I designed those and 3D printed them. I was unsure how strong printed plastic parts could be so I built a test fixture and tested them to failure at 700 lb. I figured 4 X 700 = 2800 lb should be sufficient for the lower attach points.

Actually I have only used the TKS twice into Truckee. Both cases were descending through a layer of residual clouds after a storm has passed through. Generally I find that when the weather is bad there the mountain top winds are really screaming. It is not uncommon to have 80G100 at the mountain top observation locations. I don't fly in snow storms, don't land on snowy runways. My schedule is flexible, so we just fly before or after the storms. What the TKS does is shrink the window I can't fly.

I fly in the same area you do. My typical trip is KRHV to KTRK. Every couple weeks, year round. I flew the trip today. And other trips in the West and coast to coast. I owned a J for 5 years. While owning it, I got tired of cancelling trips because I could not guarantee not touching a cloud below freezing. When I upgraded FIKI was on the top of my list. Now that I have a FIKI Encore, I am very happy with my choice. It allows me to depart when I don't think there is icing but I cannot be 100% sure. It allows me to continue a flight where in my J I would have had to divert. I probably use it 2 t

One more thing, if it is the microswitches, an alternate to V3L-3 is V3-1 with a JV-5 actuator. Both of these options are listed in my IPC. You can buy the V3-1 and a JV-5 actuator for less than $30 total. https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Honeywell/V3-1/?qs=0x4sLrpp94JcOlsy%2BnfV2g%3D%3D https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Honeywell/JV-5/?qs=0x4sLrpp94L5KVBAkxWreg%3D%3D and if you really really want the V3L-3 you can find it here for about $100 https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Honeywell/V3L-3/?qs=JT4vHv%2B%2Bx3RbPn2gKwjHYg%3D%3D

Actually I believe the relays may be more problematic than the switches. There are numerous threads here on flap relays. I have had two failures of relays. In my opinion as an electrical engineer there are a couple of shortcomings in the relay implementation.

0.57 landings per hour.

First one in the tail. Worked well but one time with full luggage in the back it didn’t work. Next airplane it was installed behind the center pedestal by the pilot right knee. No issue in that location.

I’ve been meaning to build myself a tester. Just haven’t gotten to it yet. A constant current regulator into a fixed load, heat sink and fan and monitored by a microcontroller. I agree that many old Concorde batteries would start a plane fine while simultaneously failing the cap test.