Aspen 1000 Red X

[Tx_Aggie]

Good morning folks,

Yesterday was the first day after Texas' Arctic blast I was able to pull my M20J out for some approaches. Upon run up, and before takeoff my Aspen showed the Red X screen against a black background for about 5-10 seconds, then restarted and all worked normally. After the second approach and landing, while still on the runway, the red X showed up again in the same sequence. 

I had the local avionics shop install the software update last August (Ver 2.9.0.1) to supposedly remedy this occurrence for which an AD was issued last year. This is the first time I've actually seen it on my bird. Has anyone else had this happen after the software update that was supposed to fix it?

I appreciate it.

[StevenL757]

28 minutes ago, Tx_Aggie said:

....and before takeoff my Aspen showed the Red X screen against a black background for about 5-10 seconds, then restarted and all worked normally. After the second approach and landing, while still on the runway, the red X showed up again in the same sequence. 

It's an advertising message from Garmin saying "please upgrade me to a G500TXi at the earliest possible convenience".

Kidding.

[Minivation]

A couple of questions pop into mind:

• Was the red X only over the attitude indicator or did it fail both attitude and heading?
• Did the failure follow any other anomalies or occur during any significant weather (e.g. gusty winds, turbulence)?

From my experiences as an avionics tech, the Aspen devices constantly cross-check between all the primary flight info (i.e. airspeed, altitude, vertical speed, heading, pitch & bank, slip/skid, etc.) and if one or some of these parameters seem out of whack, then the unit will fail the "reasonability test" and will consequently fail the entire unit. For example, if the Aspen detects that airspeed, and altitude are increasing but the pitch is below the horizon (e.g. a significant updraft) then the system will suspect a failure in either the pitot/static system and/or AHRS and will fail the unit. (As a side note: Aspen loosens the criteria for this "reasonability test" via a software patch for installations in helicopters, but I've still encountered many of these failures. I'm surprised they even got it certified for Part 27 installs in the first place)

To address your specific case, I would first check if your pitot/static system is clear of any obstructions. I believe there is a static drain located on the rear belly on some Mooneys. If your plane was hangared then I wouldn't be surprised if the system is still OK, but it is true that the plane has sat for a few days and given that TX just went through a freezing spell, any moisture in the lines just might have frozen over, causing errant readings, possibly triggering the Aspen.

[Tx_Aggie]

1 hour ago, Minivation said:

A couple of questions pop into mind:

• Was the red X only over the attitude indicator or did it fail both attitude and heading?
• Did the failure follow any other anomalies or occur during any significant weather (e.g. gusty winds, turbulence)?

From my experiences as an avionics tech, the Aspen devices constantly cross-check between all the primary flight info (i.e. airspeed, altitude, vertical speed, heading, pitch & bank, slip/skid, etc.) and if one or some of these parameters seem out of whack, then the unit will fail the "reasonability test" and will consequently fail the entire unit. For example, if the Aspen detects that airspeed, and altitude are increasing but the pitch is below the horizon (e.g. a significant updraft) then the system will suspect a failure in either the pitot/static system and/or AHRS and will fail the unit. (As a side note: Aspen loosens the criteria for this "reasonability test" via a software patch for installations in helicopters, but I've still encountered many of these failures. I'm surprised they even got it certified for Part 27 installs in the first place)

To address your specific case, I would first check if your pitot/static system is clear of any obstructions. I believe there is a static drain located on the rear belly on some Mooneys. If your plane was hangared then I wouldn't be surprised if the system is still OK, but it is true that the plane has sat for a few days and given that TX just went through a freezing spell, any moisture in the lines just might have frozen over, causing errant readings, possibly triggering the Aspen.

Man good things to think about. Mine was hangered fortunately - that's a loose term - when I opened the doors, there was above 3-4 feet of snow between the door rails and my nose wheel - ugh. I'll have to check the rear static drain next time. 

 

The flight was turbulent, so the second occurrence would've happened following both gusts and turbulent flying, but the first occurrence was on the ground prior to taking off. I should've taken a photo,  i believe there were two red X's over both the AI and the HSI. 

[LANCECASPER]

4 hours ago, Tx_Aggie said:

Good morning folks,

Yesterday was the first day after Texas' Arctic blast I was able to pull my M20J out for some approaches. Upon run up, and before takeoff my Aspen showed the Red X screen against a black background for about 5-10 seconds, then restarted and all worked normally. After the second approach and landing, while still on the runway, the red X showed up again in the same sequence. 

I had the local avionics shop install the software update last August (Ver 2.9.0.1) to supposedly remedy this occurrence for which an AD was issued last year. This is the first time I've actually seen it on my bird. Has anyone else had this happen after the software update that was supposed to fix it?

I appreciate it.

Is this the original Aspen or the MAX? The original would display the Red X if the pitot tube was blocked, ice or foreign object. To avoid this the MAX uses GPS aiding.