New Avionics Panel for the ol Rocket

[RocketAviator]

Well its been a long time coming... well it seems that way to me however I finally got to at least sit in the ol - new to me Rocket tonight with plans to fly it with the new panel tomorrow!  I have read everything I can get my hands on and watched all the videos I could find, downloaded the training simulator etc.  Any advice or words of wisdom from those who have similar panels would be greatly appreciated.  The panel consists of a G500 with SVT, GTN 750 & GTN 650, GTX330EX, GDL88, GAD43E, PS8000 audio panel, Insight G3 engine monitor, KAP 150 and Alpha System AOA.(would especially like any words of wisdom on calibrating and flying with the AOA).

Here are a few pics of the orig panel new panel, a couple of them with the power on the quality is beyond bad but it was all I could get with my phone and the light conditions, better pic to follow!.

 

 

OK here is a shot of the panel as it is powered up with the 696.... Yea before anyone says something yes I like the yoke mounted tablets, have two on my Saratoga!!  oops forgot you cant say Brand X on this site!

 

 

[jezzie]

Looks good Lacee, when you get it all figured out come on up and show me. Did you get the extensions installed?

Eldon

[rocketman]

Nice looking. Enjoy

[RocketAviator]

Thanks Eldon and I plan to take you up on your offer and come your way, at a minimum meet in Oshkosh... LOL.

Yes they did get the extensions installed and another Mooneyspace member was kind enough to provide me the drawings and paperwork needed.

However in the Immortal words of "Houston we have a problem....." Not only did they install the extensions they installed the whole complete assembly with the black pedal!

[Piloto]

Best modern avioncs retrofit I have seen in a Mooney. Good choice of avioincs. The Rocket is a real macho plane but a gas guzzler. Do you have long range tanks in it? That would be my next upgrade to beat the airlines.

 

José

[RocketAviator]

Jose,

Thanks, at my age long range tanks are not the limiting factor!!! LOL  I find the Rocket actually very efficient on fuel consumption when flying it at economy power settings, far better MPG than my Saratoga.

[RocketAviator]

Well it is about time that I go see if I can get that ol bucket of bolts in the air..... and hopefully back down in one piece!  Currently overcast at about 1000 AGL.... I guess we will see if the SVT really is helpful! 

 

After flying the Saratoga for some 700+ hours, at this early stage I have found you don't get in a Mooney, YOU PUT ONE ON!

 

Tally Hoe.... or something like that!

[John Pleisse]

Neisch.

[jezzie]

Enjoy your flight and your Rocket

[rainman]

Wow, looks great... Who did the work and how much did it cost? You can PM me if you don't want to "put it all out there".

Ray

[Aron Peterson]

Very nice indeed.  How long did it take.  Who did the beautiful job?

Aron

[KSMooniac]

Very nice!  Where is the AOA installed?  I'm curious about these as well...

[fantom]

Very nice!  Where is the AOA installed?  I'm curious about these as well...

 

It's the vertical unit above the glare shield (just visable in the upper left corner) in the second photo, Scott.

[PTK]

Very beautiful panel. Enjoy!

[RocketAviator]

For all of you that ask I am a bit reluctant to share however the cost was $65,200 plus trade in credit of $13,200 for the 2 430's, and the other used avionics taken out of the Rocket plus two Bose headsets.  The plane was tied up 4 weeks.  And one of those weeks was due to auto pilot issues.  I am a systems integrator and have worked with servos and automation for my entire career and when the auto pilot issue came up I told John I don t think it was the servo but remember I was not there and could not say for sure.  I got some good advice from Byron and checked with his source who confirmed my suspicions but could not say for sure without testing the autopilot himself.  John told me what they had checked and said it was the only thing he could not check himself... Long story short they sent the computer and trim servo off to be checked the next day I called John and ask him to overnight the pitch servo for test as well, which he did.  While the unit was off being tested John found the problem in the conductors.  John reported what the auto pilot company doing the test had found and that the problem was in the conductors he would stand good for auto pilot overnight and bench tests with no additional cost to me... what a relief to have someone stand behind their work and tell me the truth..  Because John Miller was completely truthful with me and especially without being prompted our warned to do so I happy paid him for his lost expenses.  What a blessing it is to have someone be honest with you! Let me be clear I have no dog in this race, I did not know this man or his company before he did the work for me,  for once just a story of a guy who did what he said he would do, for what he said he would do it for and it works just as he said it would, what more can I say!  I will do business with John Miller again if I have the opportunity & I would highly recommend John Miller at Crystal Avionics in New Braunfels TX, oh and by the way his quote was the best I received from 4 of the recommended shops I checked with!   Low enough that I made him confirm and recheck his quote twice, over 20k less than highest bidder!

 

Also John added several other special request items such as the AOA, 2 additional 12VDC power outlets with the proper circuit breakers, remote handheld radio antenna connection, door seal controls and proper circuit interrupt, and repaired the gear down warning system.  He also personally flew with me in the plane today for training with system and approaches etc!

 

Lastly I am still behind the learning curve for sure but the SVT is more than I had hoped for, we flew a couple hours in IMC today, made approaches like it was VFR all I can say is WOW!  I have had tablet SVT in my Saratoga for some time but nothing like flying SVT as your primary navigation!!  I wont ever go back to steam gauges... well at least I hope I wont!

 

Have not had sufficient VFR conditions to permit the calibration and use of the AOA, will advise when we get it set up!

[David Mazer]

Exceptional.  Enjoy her well.

[fantom]

Thanks for sharing all that specific  data, LLL, that one overly biased Garmin hawker around here never does. It will help a lot of us! I am most impressed by the detailed level of planning you did.

 

Did you give any consideration to pulling the vacuum system out?

[M016576]

I'm totally jealous!  Which AOA system did you go with (looks like the enhanced LED version from Alpha Systems?)

[RocketAviator]

Ok update....  Talk about a lot to learn....!  Yesterday I enjoyed my first solo flight of 2.5 hrs from New Braunfels to Amarillo by way of Wichita Falls for weather!  I launched and flew into IMC from 3 minutes after take off to about 45 minutes and with the vertical rate preset and altitude preset and GPSS steering it was a breeze even for a guy like me that is about as smart as a box of rocks!  At this point I had a grand total of about 12 hours in this plane and only 2 of those with the new avionics so as one might expect I found myself beyond behind the curve with the GNT 750 when ATC gave me a fix on the initial climb out that I had no idea where was, how to spell it.... a little discombobulating, I kept telling myself fly the airplane, I ask ATC 3 times to phonetically spell GOBBY (the fix), I finally got it and from there and the flight was as I had programmed it on the ground thankfully! 

 

First let me say 3" rudder extensions are a MUST for an old short fat man like me!!!  What a difference they made for me, I landed in a 15 - 19kt gusting cross wind and felt like for once I had full control and without sliding down below the glare shield...  

 

Yes I did consider taking the vacuum out and will do so but the engine was just factory overhauled 0 time with new vacuum  I just could not bring myself to removing it.  I do plan to remove it if or when it goes south!  Also my beer budget was far smaller than my champagne apatite!!

 

I looked very close at both the Aspen and the Garmin I actually liked and felt that a lot of the Aspen features fit me personally better but the actual cost (yes the Aspen 3 panel Pro was slightly more than the Garmin G500) and couple that with what I felt was a more "marketable combination" at least to the small amount of research I did, the finial decision was seeing both side by side and the larger crisper Garmin screen won out.  I think I would have been happy with either one and if I keep the Saratoga I will put the two panel Aspen in it.

 

I did go with the Alpha Pro version AOA and I need a lot more time getting use to and trusting it.  I suspect I will need to re calibrate it after I have more time with it.  I set it intentionally high on the high angle of attack setting to give myself a little more safety factor.  I also decided to go with the heated probe and that is where John installed a combination circuit interrupt and protection (switch with built in circuit breaker protection).

 

The one item so far I have equal excitement and challenge and disappointing with is the Insight G3.  The disappointing side is the size, I am seriously going to see if I can trade it in or upgrade to the new G4 simply for the size.  Then the fuel fill & remaining fuel display (which I for sure need in this bucket of bolts) , I am not ready to give up on the fuel part yet but so far it is a challenge and not intuitive at least to me at this point.  The features of the G3 are incredible and far beyond my JP 801 in the Saratoga!  I have not even began to try and use them all yet.  Features like vibration, Take off / landing & in flight G Forces, ground & take off leaning, climb leaning, cruise leaning, ROP - LOP which I know almost nothing about at this point!

 

Lastly I am almost ashamed to admit I CAN NOT get myself to quit using the old steam airspeed and other gauges.... Honestly I miss my ol electric turn rate indicator!  I am comfortable with the moving map turn indicator but not yet able to wrap head around it with the same level of ease as the ol TI.... talk about hard to teach an old dog new tricks...

 

Preparing for the "Boss" (my bride of 30 years) first ride in the Ol Rocket today from Amarillo back to El Paso.

[rainman]

Larry, I had a couple of radio and autopilot issues this week and went to Crystal Avionics to inquire about a panel upgrade similar to yours. Bottom line is that I took the plunge and the plane should be ready in about four weeks. Thanks for the inspiration! Ray

[RocketAviator]

Larry, I had a couple of radio and autopilot issues this week and went to Crystal Avionics to inquire about a panel upgrade similar to yours. Bottom line is that I took the plunge and the plane should be ready in about four weeks. Thanks for the inspiration! Ray

Ray,

I do hope your experience with Crystal is as good as mine has been.  

Let us know how things go for your panel upgrade & post pictures!!!!

Lacee

[rainman]

Lacee, sorry about getting your name wrong......all my prior experience with John Miller has been very good with excellent workmanship, and customer service. I'll ask John to take progress photos. Ray

[aviatoreb]

I would be very interested in your experience calabratinging your aoa in your rocket - I dropped my rocket off yesterday and they are installing the same model aoa heated probe and all.

[RocketAviator]

Aviatoreb,

It was a fairly simple process, it did take 3 flights.  All 3 flights with a second pilot (1st two with installer who is also a pilot), we had to land and increase the angle of the probe.  The instructions were easy to follow and the slow flight was the most challenging as it took me a couple times to determine what safety factor level I wanted to use.  I decided to use about a 5kt over first sign of stall clean IAS as my critical angle of attack set point.  By the way the stall horn was going off continuously during all the slow flight / maximum angle of attak calibration. Other than that part it was fairly straight forward and very easy to calibrate, I don't find myself using it as much as I thought I would but it is a great "backup indication".  My approaches are always not very close to stall.  With gear extended I turn base 95, once on straight finial lower speed to 85 and cross the numbers at 75 usually with only very minor if any throttle adjustment until I touch down, then reduce to full idle.

Let me know how it works for you and if you find anything better or have any problems.