larryb

4g, worth every penny. My main uses are: 1: Flight planning at airport with no wifi available. 2: Driving: Using Google maps and traffic display. 3: Driving: Passenger keeping entertained using internet. My feeling is that a wifi-only ipad is only half as useful as a 4g enabled ipad. Larry

I'm curious as to how the membership washes their plane. Do you do it at the wash rack or in the hanger? What products do you use? What about waxing? Myself, sometimes I take it to the wash rack. But lately I've been giving it a sponge bath in the hanger because it's faster and easier. Just a bucket of clean water and a few hand towels. Larry

There don't seem to be anti-drain valves in these oil filters. Depending on how you change the oil, there may not be much/any old oil left in the filter. This is in my 84 J model. I change my oil in 2 parts: 1) After a flight, put the plane in the hanger and attach the drain hose into a bucket. Let the oil drain, and leave. 2) The next day, come back and finish the job with new filter/oil. I do this so I get a hot oil drain, but don't have to deal with a hot engine and filter while changing the filter. What I find is that when I remove the filter after the plane has sat, there isn't any oil in it. The nice thing is, you don't create a mess while changing the oil filter. I change my filter every time so I can open it and check for metal. But for those that don't, if you drain the engine overnight you won't have a quart of old oil in the filter to worry about. Larry

I have a GTN 650 talking to a JPI FS450. GTN serial in 1 is set to "Fuel Format 2" GTN serial out 1 is set to "Aviation output 1" You should also be aware that the GTN has a serial port bug. You can only have 1 serial output set to any flavor of "Aviation output." If you have more than one serial output port configured to "Aviation output" then only the highest serial port # actually sends data. This bug is supposed to be fixed in the upcoming version 3.0 software due this quarter. In my case, the FS450 initially did not receive data because serial output 2 is connected to my transponder, and also set to "Aviation output 1" So the transponder got data, the FS450 did not. I turned off the serial port to the transponder, it was a lower priority to me than the FS450. Larry

Update: I have done a lot of experimentation with this since my question. This combination leads to a hang within minutes. serial port 1 Aviation In serial port 2 Aviation In/NEMA & VHF out I also found that this combination works without hang: serial port 1 Aviation In/NEMA & VHF out serial port 2 Aviation In/NEMA & VHF out I have also been in touch with Garmin on this. They have replicated the fail. Apparently the trigger is a mixture of different "Aviation In" formats on the 2 serial ports. They tell me the problem should be corrected in the next 796 release. Larry

txbyker: I have the same configuration, a GTN 650 and a 796. I haven't experimented too much with this particular scenario, but here is my understanding: The GTN 650 won't display the approach plate. The GTN 750, with it's larger screen, will. The GTN 650 will display all of the fixes on the approach however. The 796 will show a geo-referenced approach plate if you select waypoint info - TERPS - desired approach. You will have to manually select this. Now for my return question. Having the serial port enabled between the GTN 650 and my 796 causes the 796 unit to hang. Garmin blames the software in the GTN and says the next update will fix it. I have the latest available SW in both units. It happens enough that I have to have the serial port input on the 796 configured to "none." Have you experiencd 796 hangs? If this is working for you, can you let me know what software version and serial port configuration you have on the 650 and 796? Larry

There are 2 basic possibilities: 1) Fuse is too small. Measure the current with an ammeter, compare to fuse rating and wiring diagram. Compare to what is reasonable. Without measuring mine, I would think the lights should draw no more than 1 or 2 amps tops. 2) An intermittant short. That's harder to find, and involves visually inspecting all of the wiring in the circuit. My shop found a short in my compass light wire where it had been squashed in the mounting of the compass to the tube frame. Larry

What I learned in my first airplane, and applied to the second, is that the buy-in cost of the plane matters little in the overall cost of ownership, as long as you are in the same general class of plane. Many costs are fixed, such as your hanger/tiedown. Others are variable, but relatively close. All of the non-turbo Mooney's are going to cost basically the same to own and operate over time. That new Garmin stack costs the same to put in a $20K C150 as it does in a $100K Mooney. If it costs you $15K/yr to fly a C/E/F/J Mooney, that's $150K over 10 years. If you spend $30K more on the Mooney buy-in, you'll probably recoup most of that when you sell in 10 years. Ownership over that time costs much more than the initial purchase. Larry

Battery?

I just had the opposite experience. I upgraded coverage after a new avionics install. One phone call, no documentation. They asked me what equipment I had installed and that was it. Larry

My Bruce cover attaches to two snap fasteners just rear of the cowl flaps. The rear strap goes under the belly.

Mike: GPS today is a 496. GTN650 or GTN750 is coming in the near future. From what I read, even the filter may not cure the interference. I may be willling to try cheap fixes, but I'm leaning towards replacing everything in the stack. Larry

Mike: It's a KX155, 1984 vintage, same as the plane. I have sub-par RX as well, so I don't think TX power is making much of a difference. Long-term, I will not be keeping that radio. It can make the gps drop out when transmitting on certain frequencies. I hear that's a common problem with the older KX155's. I will re-do that GPS interference test after fixing the ELT antenna location problem, but I'm not hopeful. I'm not going to spend any time and $'s trying to make the old radio play nice with the GPS. Larry

Hi Mike: I have visually inspected the mounting bolts, no corrosion in the area. I have measured the resistance to gnd of the disconnected antenna and found it good. When I get home from my trip, I'll measure SWR of the antenna with and without the ELT antenna present and see what the difference is. But that won't be for another week. Did you notice a difference in range with com2 on the bottom vs. on top? I realize you made other changes at the same time. At some point in the near future, I'll be doing a new stack, and I will have the coax replaced at the same time. Thanks, Larry

Hi Crag: My antenna's are 2 inches apart, at the base, not 2 feet. I am sure this is a problem, whether it is the only problem or not remains to be seen. I'll try to un-screw the whip. I was thinking I would have to remove the whole ELT antenna and fly it. I'm a ham radio operator, so I'm familiar with the effects of antenna's being too close. I have had the plane about 3 months and recently noticed that com2 performance is not up to snuff. It works, but not as well as it should. Distant stations have trouble hearing me, and I have trouble hearing them. It was very apparent flying over the Nevada desert this week. Amazing that it has likely been like this for 10 years! I'm interested in where other people have their ELT antenna's mounted for 2 reasons: 1) Am I the only one with a problem like this? 2) Where is a good position to move the ELT antenna to. My 3-part plan is to have the ELT antenna moved to a better location. Next I want a bent-whip comm antenna mounted to the bottom, for com2. Finally, I'd use the existing com2 antenna for my backup hand-held radio. Thanks, Larry

Hi All: I'm taking a survey, where is your ELT antenna mouted? My ELT antenna is located right next to my com2 antenna. According to the logs, the ELT was installed 10 years ago. I'm currently experiencing sub-par range on my com2 radio, and I'm thinking it may be due to interference from the elt antenna. According to the install manual, the antenna should be 3' from the nearest vertically polarized antenna. In my case, it's more like 2". Thanks, Larry

Thanks to all who have responded. I was looking for opinions on 650 vs 750, and as expected, got the spectrum. I have just noticed that my elt antenna is located literally just inches from my comm2 antenna. I'm thinking that may have something to do with the poor rx/tx on that radio. It was like this when I bought the plane. Now I have to figure out what to do about this antenna problem... Thanks, Larry

Hi: I do already have the edm-700 and fs-450. So that is covered. I need to do this sooner than later, both my kx165 and kx155 are having intermittant problems. The 165 sometimes has greatly reduced sensitivity. It failed once on the bench, but not long enough for the shop to fix it. Then it never failed for the shop again, so it's back in the plane, and still intermittant. The 155 seems to have reduced TX and RX range, so maybe that's a connector/cable/antenna issue. The shop hasn't looked at that one yet. Since I want to upgrade, I don't want to spend a lot on the old radios. On the other hand, I don't want the plane down for a few weeks during flying season either... Thanks, Larry

Hello: Please help me decide on new panel. It's time to update my '84 J-model factory original King panel (and 496 on the yoke) to a modern garmin stack. I'm looking for the most bang-for-the-buck. Option 1: 350 audio panel dual GTN 650's GTX 330 xponder Option 2: 350 audio panel GTN 750 SL30 GTX 330 xponder I may add a single tube Aspen, GDL88 or GDL69 as well. Here are the pro's and con's as I see them: Option 1 pro: Dual GPS. If one fails I can still do GPS approaches with the other. Fault determination. If there is a problem with one 650, I can swap them to determine if fault is in plane or unit. Display 2 different data pages on each 650. All radios fit in single stack, cleaner install. Options 2 pro: Bigger screen with 750. Garmin FlightCharts available on 750 but not 650 I'm not a fan of a 750 with remote audio panel and txp. If the 750 fails I can't do anything at all. Single point of failure takes out too much. I don't have my IR yet, but will be working on it shortly. So I don't really know how important it is to have the FlightCharts on the 750. Thanks, Larry

There is one question has been bothering me for a while with the hot start technique: Where does the fuel come from to start the engine? After all, the engine was stopped with the mixture being pulled to ICO. And the mixture is still at ICO. So once again, where did the fuel come from? Larry

Hi: Thanks everybody for a quick response. Seems like no worries about making the switch. I thought it sounded like an old wives tale when I heard it. So far, 3 votes Phillips 20W50, 1 vote Aeroshell 15W50. I will look into camguard. Any other votes for Aeroshell? Why do people prefer 1 vs. the other? Thanks, Larry

Hello: I am the new owner of an 84J model approaching my first oil change. The previous owner used Aeroshell W100+. I would like to change to a multi-vis oil. I feel the multi-vis oil would improve cold-start wear since it flows faster in a cold start. The engine is about 800 SMOH. I have been told that it is not wise to make this change. The reason given is that the multi-vis oils have more detergents, freeing up accumulated sludge which will clog the oil filter. I operate in California, generally temps between 50 and 90, but occasionally 30 to 110. What does the group think about making a change from straight weight to multi-vis oil? Thanks, Larry

How is the effort on manual trim wheel? I recently had an issue with stiff trim, the electric could hardly move it. In my case, the bearing was sticking. It is right behind the motor, which is in the tailcone aft of the battery. I have an 84 J. The mechanic used some tri-flow spray on it and it was fine. Larry