M20C Panel Upgrade to EASA IFR standars

[Urs_Wildermuth]

After a few seasons of the horrible Swiss summers cancelled most of my travel plans, upgrading the aircraft to certified IFR status has been a major project for the last several years. Finally, this winter we managed to get it done.

 

The panel of my 1965 M20C even before was quite well equipped.

In most parts of the world, IFR would not have been a problem with this setup. Europe however and Switzerland in general wants a lot more.

Primarily, a 2 axis AP is required for single pilot IFR. Additionally, a slaved gyro, which in most cases translates into a HSI is required as well. The KN64 DME I had is not certified for IFR use in Switzerland either. And the GNS430-Non WAAS presented a major problem as it restricts operation into a lot of smaller GA fields sporting new GPS LPV approaches.

The end result of a 2 year research and implementation project now looks like this.

 

In order to satisfy the requirement for a HSI, I decided to fit an ASPEN EFD1000 Pro, which is coupled to both the GNS430 as well as the KX155. When I inquired about the S-Tec System 30 AP which was my original choice, I was given an offer I could not refuse by S-Tec's rep at Friedrichshafen last year: Get a System55X for marginally more. Of course, this did not include stuff like Autotrim and the remote display needed for the implementation of the flight director on the Aspen, but it was still worth doing. We also upgraded the GNS430 to WAAS, another 5k $ done and installed the Avionic Straubing Altitude capturing device, which allows the Aspen to serve as altitude preselector for the S-Tec 55X.

 

While all this was going on, I received news that due to a mandiatory Hartzell SB, my prop had to be done too, so we sent that out to MT Propellers in Straubing.

 

After 2 months in the shop, the Mooney was rolled out in early January with a permit to fly for test flying the new equipment and proving the certification requirements are given. We subsequently received certification for

 

VFR by day and night

IFR Single Pilot

LVO Approach and landing Cat I

Navigation specifications for PBN Operations:

• RNAV 1 (P-RNAV)
• RNAV 5 (B-RNAV)
• RNP APCH LNAV/VNAV
• RNP APCH LP/LPV

The aircraft is also capable of ADSB-Out via the GNS430W and the Trigg TT 31 Transponder.

 

What we noticed already during the first test flights was a notable increase in speed as a consequence of the prop overhaul. The Aspen generated TAS went up to 150 kts with 75% and 146 kts with 65% power, a good 5-6 kts faster than before.

 

 

The autopilot and the Aspen work very well together, equally GPSS via the GNS430W is a total delight to fly. In other words, a whole new world for me, finally the airplane is where I want it.

 

It was a costly exercise well north of 60k $ to do all this, particularly the certification and documentation work is extreme here in Europe. All in all, the better part of 500 written pages had to be submitted to the authorities to get the certification passed, a huge task alone.

 

Now it's time to enjoy the airplane and fly. We already did a few trips and hope to do more very soon.

 

Approaching Lausanne (LSGL) Switzerland.

Best regards

Urs

HB-DWC

Mooney M20C 1965

[carusoam]

Art and Al would have been amazed with those updates, Urs!

Best regards,

-a-

[Mooneymite]

Wow! Impressive.

We hate to hear about all the European regulation because we could follow suit in the US if we aren't proactive in keeping the bureaucrats at bay.

Enjoy your certified panel!

[MooneyBob]

First of all congratulation on the finished project. Nice report. And I hope all fortunate people who  live in the US appreciate the opportunity to enjoy pretty damn good life here.  

I remember my days back in Czechoslovakia where even to get the new car registered was few days ordeal, long lines and a lot of money. But this is for another discussion. I was always curious what is the average yearly cost to keep the airplane and fly lets say 100 hrs/year including VFR and IFR plans filing and other fees, annual, gas and whatever else is involved. You don't have to answer the question of course.

But again, nice upgrade and definitely some beautiful places to fly in your country. Good luck. 

[Guillaume]

 

 

We also upgraded the GNS430 to WAAS, another 5k $ done

....

After 2 months in the shop, the Mooney was rolled out in early January with a permit to fly for test flying the new equipment and proving the certification requirements are given.

...

VFR by day and night

IFR Single Pilot

LVO Approach and landing Cat I

Navigation specifications for PBN Operations:

• RNAV 1 (P-RNAV)
• RNAV 5 (B-RNAV)
• RNP APCH LNAV/VNAV
• RNP APCH LP/LPV

 

As usual with EASA, a lot of paper work...

 

Did you check if it wasn't cheaper to resell the 430 and put a GTN650 ?

 

The GTN650 (contrary to the GNS430W) comes automatically from Garmin with an EASA STC  which includes approval for RNAV5, RNAV1, RNP APCH.

[cliffy]

WOW Nice upgrades!

Fly it and enjoy it!

[Urs_Wildermuth]

Bonjour Guillaume,

realistically, I could have expected about 2000 Euros for the GNS430 non WAAS, the market is flooded with them in Europe. The GTN costs around 10k I believe and the installation with paperwork would have been somewhere around 2-3k, so a total amount of around 12-13 k for the whole thing. The upgrade of the GNS430 to WAAS cost around 5k altogether plus about 1k for the EASA change. In both cases, the AFM Supplements and docs have had to be done...

The other bit I was asked a lot seeing how much money went into this was why not sell the C model and buy something which has everything. Well, as the above certification was the goal, there are not many planes around in Europe which even approximately have the necessary equipment anywhere south of 250-300k Euros. I actually looked at some airplanes which had "most" of the required equipment, not one of them could have been imported and certified here without 30-40k cost on top of the buying price of around 90-150k Euros. Quite a few airplanes in Europe profit from Grandfather rights in terms of their IFR certification (or don't have one altogether and are only "equipped") and feature avionic museums which are worth absolutely nothing in todays requirement situation once they leave their homecountry. On top, they are hugely restricted when it comes to flying RNP Approaches and other such things. In the end, for me it was the only viable solution to upgrade my existing plane, which has a 250 hours since total overhaul engine and is a known quantity.

Yes, I know, in the US things are vastly different and my behind is getting sore from the many times i kicked myself for not having taken the chance to move there when I had it odd 20 years ago. But one takes ones choices and has to live with the consequences. You guys in the US, enjoy it while it lasts. We are trying to make do somehow here.

There is one advantage to having a certificate in the flight deck stating what exactly the plane is certified for. No ramp check in any European country, of which some have a hugely different understanding of things EASA nonwithstanding, can ignore this paper and therefore there is no discussion like "in my opinion the plane lacks a,b,c,d ... to do an RNP approach". According to the very professional and helpful folks of the Swiss FOCA who came to see the plane, that is the major reason they keep this up. And the actual certificate is not very expensive, maybe 200$ all in all, it is the EASA major change docs which are the killers.

[DXB]

Congrats on the new panel, and it looks like your plane is rather fast for a C model!   Despite the extra European regulatory challenges, it actually now appears that you will get relief from a CS-23 (FAR Part 23 equivalent) rewrite to cut avionics certification costs in Europe well before us in the States.    

 

BTW, I am about to dump a similar amount of money into the panel of my C model, and the change to the standard 6-pack panel that I'm considering is nearly identical to yours (excepting using the STEC-30 for turn coordinator).  Have you been ok with losing your VSI spot to the backup AI?  I have been hesitating on this.

[Urs_Wildermuth]

Hi Dev,

 

are you getting an Aspen? Then you do have a VSI in it. No, it has not bothered me at all.

 

Do you already have a S-Tec 30 installed? Or are you installing it only now? In which case, I'd check with S-Tec. They did have some very attractive packages where you can get the 55x for not much more than the 30.

 

Also if you are getting the Aspen, I'd strongly recommend installing the Straubing Avionic Altitude arming and capturing feature. Doesn't take panel space but for a button but allows you to actually capture altitudes. It works with the .-30 as well I understand.

 

I've been wondering about the speed. It may well have to do with the powerflow exhaust the previous owner had installed. Fact is, something has happened on the propeller side too. I'll do some more tests and report back, but it appears that my C now actually reaches book values

 

Best reagrds

Urs

[Danb]

Love it!

[DXB]

Hi Dev,

 

are you getting an Aspen? Then you do have a VSI in it. No, it has not bothered me at all.

 

Do you already have a S-Tec 30 installed? Or are you installing it only now? In which case, I'd check with S-Tec. They did have some very attractive packages where you can get the 55x for not much more than the 30.

 

Also if you are getting the Aspen, I'd strongly recommend installing the Straubing Avionic Altitude arming and capturing feature. Doesn't take panel space but for a button but allows you to actually capture altitudes. It works with the .-30 as well I understand.

 

I've been wondering about the speed. It may well have to do with the powerflow exhaust the previous owner had installed. Fact is, something has happened on the propeller side too. I'll do some more tests and report back, but it appears that my C now actually reaches book values

 

Best reagrds

Urs

Thank you Urs.   I'll ask about the STEC 55X- Looks like cost with install around here is around 5000-7000 more.  It would be nice but my budget has grown well beyond my initial intentions already.  Did you get the Altitude arm/capture on yours?  When I look on the Aspen website, they seem to offer it here only for the KFC-200 autopilot.  You're probably right- I think I'll be able to get over losing my analog VSI for the Aspen one...

[ryoder]

Too rich for my blood. Looks awesome though.

[BigTex]

Very nice panel!

 

A general comment about these new panel upgrades.  When did we stop putting in glove boxes (or whatever you'd call them) into our panels?  You see these new all glass panels that freed up tons of space and folks elect to put almost nothing on it over installing a storage container of some sort.  Folks worried that it might date their panel and reduce the value?  Just curious...