Showmethemooney

To answer your question, N16TN does NOT have coupled VNAV during approaches. It does do enroute VNAV. I attached the Mooney service bulletin that details the 3 options for WAAS upgrade. I upgraded my aircraft in 2013 with Option 2. At the time, Option 2 was $25,000 and Option 3 which included coupled VNAV during approach was $34,000 (pretty sure its more now). I decided on Option 2 that supports all the WAAS approaches (LPV, LNAV/VNAV), as well as enroute VNAV descent but not coupled VNAV during the approach. When I fly an approach in N16TN, the altitude for the next leg of the approach gets automatically loaded for me, but the aircraft does not automatically begin the descent on the next leg; I have to initiate the descent the old fashioned way. It does of course capture the MDA once it reaches it but I have to choose the descent rate whereas the coupled VNAV Option sets a descent rate for you. If only it would manage your airspeed/power for you My take on Option 3 was that it was a nice-to-have. Admittedly, there are airports where the approaches have a number of legs in which the coupled VNAV would reduce the workload. I used to fly into Driggs Idaho (KDIJ) that has an approach with 4 legs and a couple bearing changes so it might have been nice there, but for most of the approaches I fly I would not get to use it. M20_305B.pdf

Yep, I miss Ronnie. Correct - 280 hp, no Type S on this bird.

I know it has been a while since you posted your interest in a TKS Acclaim but I want to let you know that I just posted my Acclaim for sale. It does have damage history but it was fixed right and that was over 5 years ago. https://mooneyspace.com/topic/23156-2007-mooney-acclaim-tks-fiki-waas-gfc-700/

Saw this posting and wanted to let you know I just posted my Acclaim for sale if your friend is still looking...

No air conditioning.

Low time, beautiful Mooney Acclaim. Only 655 hours, always hangared, TKS Flight into Known Icing, GFC700, WAAS equipped, ready for ADS-B upgrade. Gear up in 2011, repairs performed by Mooney and Dugosh, imperceptible even to maintenance shops. I have enjoyed this marvelous all weather IFR aircraft for 5 years, 300 hours, spared no expense and have had all service done by Mooney Service Centers. S/N: 31-0028; N16TN; 655 TT; Garmin G1000, Annual Inspection May 2017 at Arapahoe Aero (Mooney Service Center) Airframe 655 Hours SNEW Engine 655 SNEW (305 since teardown) TSIO550G(3)B S/N 915025 Hartzell Scimitar prop 305 hours SNEW GFC700 Autopilot with Flight Director, Large Oxygen System (115.7 c.f.), Mode S Traffic Avoidance System, GDL69A Data Link Weather Receiver and Audio Infotainment Receiver Color: Snow White on Black Velvet with Las Vegas Gold accents and stripes Empty Weight: 2468 Gross Weight: 3368 Also included: Robotug ($1,600 new), Tan sheepskin covers (front seats, not shown in photo), Battery Minder, (2) Oxymizer cannulas, oxygen mask See ad on controller.com. Price: $357,000

I live near the Tetons so I see ice even in the summer when climbing into the teens. TKS is great but unlike inflatable boots, you don't just press the button to pop ice off. If you have not run the system in a while, the panels and the absorbent pad behind the panel will dry out and can take a while to get saturated. You don't want to run into icing conditions with your TKS system all dried out because it can take a while to become effective, not what you want if ice is accumulating. It is also best if you can run it right before you go into ice so that you wet the leading edges, but you don't always anticipate that quickly enough. If I expect to depart into ice, I will run the TKS on the ground before the flight to prime the system. I like to see it dripping even out on the end of the wing. Scott Utz at Arapahoe recommends that you wipe the TKS panels with a wet cloth to moisten the pores to assist in the priming. In flight, it is not always easy to see if the TKS is working. I can sometimes see tiny streams of fluid running back across the top of the wing, but not always depending on the light. I do worry about the corrosive effects of TKS fluid on bare aluminum. I rarely can wash the aircraft just after using the TKS. But I have not seen any corrosion. My high pressure warning light came on recently so I had my filter replaced... $500. Expensive filter. Oh, and my TKS system drips at the left wing root... it doesn't matter how long I fly it after using it, it could drip for days so I keep a pan under the drip point. Don't step in TKS fluid if you have a nice epoxied floor - it is slick.

That's good to hear that Mooney is still working on the ADS-B software upgrade. I should be ready once they certify it. As far as the O3 with WAAS and GFC-700, sorry for the confusion. I meant to say that I would look for an Ovation that already has the WAAS and GFC-700 rather than buy one and upgrade it. I assumed it would have to be a 2007 or later to have the autopilot, but maybe some owners have upgraded their '05 or '06 Ovations to the GFC-700 as well. But once the GFC-700 became available, all of the Ovations would have gotten it, so I would look for one of those. The cost of upgrading with new equipment just does not make sense to me. The WAAS upgrade on my Acclaim barely made sense to me! ;-) good luck

yeah, Garmin does not upgrade the GIA63 (gps navcom) units you have; they replace them leaving the old units for marine use. They have always been willing to upgrade the 430/530. I got my 430's upgraded to WAAS for $1,500 each many years ago. Those days are gone. Re the G1000, I really like that I have gotten rid of the gyro driven attitude indicator for the solid state ADHRS. I've had my KI-256 fail slowly and drift off taking my autopilot along with it for a ride, a couple times in fact; and I cannot even recall how many times I have had my KI-256s pulled out and rebuilt over 20 years of flying. Glad those days are gone too. cheers

The WAAS kit is expensive: April 2013 prices: (I bought the non-VNAV upgrade) 940171-503 WAAS kit 28,750.28 940171-505 WAAS with VNAV 35,376.48 You have to buy it through Mooney. It took Arapahoe Aero about 8 hours (call it $1,000) and a couple connectors to install it. The GIAs are just slide in LRUs so most of the time was antenna replacement. I believe the new antennas are combo XM weather/GPS antennas. The kit includes two GIA 63W (GPS navcoms), and the two antennas. The software is just a reload of the same software I am almost certain. They just have to reconfigure it. The G1000 powers up and looks the same, same version on my Acclaim 0401.30. Upgrading the autopilot is expensive - my guess is over $30,000 now. If the G1000 with GFC-700 is really important to you, I would seriously look hard at a 2007 O3 already including the GFC700 and WAAS. good luck

I finally solved my charging system problem... thought I would share it in case someone else ever experiences the same problem. To recap, it began at first with an occasional overvoltage reading (30+ volts caused the yellow voltage alert on the G1000.) At annual, my Mooney service center adjusted the voltage regulator (actually, it is called the alternator control unit), but soon I was seeing the overvoltage again. I noticed too that the voltages were fluctuating quite a bit - about 1.5 volts. I checked impedances on the charging system circuit breakers and found the alternator voltage sense breaker to have anywhere between 3 and 90 ohms depending on when I took the measurement. I replaced that breaker and problem solved. My voltages were steady and actually fell to 26.3 volts, causing me to need to adjust the alternator control unit (voltage regulator) up about 2 volts due to the fact that we had been adjusting it down previously. I would say the ACU was seeing a varying voltage dropped by the high impedance of the breaker causing it to increase the field current to the alternator. And my headset whine was much reduced! Curious, I split the old breaker and saw that it was burned inside. - The world is right again -

Thanks David. That's interesting to note. Were your symptoms the same as mine - voltage fluctuations? What year is your Ovation? Possibly a batch of voltage regulators were prone to this. My Zeftronics voltage regulator part number is A25EAM and the serial number of is T3K019. I hate to bother you to look at your log book but I would be interested to know your old regulator's serial number.

I am not sure I can identify all the ground points, no schematic. I did check all the master switch connections, worked them a bit by hand just in case one had a poor contact, no difference noted.

I have an '07 Acclaim that is exhibiting output voltages that vary 1.5 volts - from about 28.5 to nearly 30 volts while in flight. Often it appears stable but sometimes in flight, I see the voltage fluctuating the full 1.5 volt range. I am thinking the voltage should not vary more than a tenth or two tenths of a volt. I just had the brushes replaced in the alternator; we thought that might have been the problem but it did not appear to solve the fluctuating voltages. I do have noticeable alternator whine, with some pulsating that varies with engine RPM, not sure if it is related. I have a Zeftronics voltage regulator, thinking about replacing it. Any thoughts are appreciated.

That's right Larry. It is too bad that I am now the owner of two very expensive boxes that I have no use for. Had Garmin or Mooney been willing to take the old GIA cores and credit me, it would have cost me less and my non-WAAS GIAs might have been used as loaners or parted out or resold as used. My guess is they have a pile of them already and just don't want to bother with it. So I hope someday that someone whose GIA63 fails them can use one of mine. I can probably save them some mooney. <sorry>