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Fair enough. I have had a Shorai LiFEPo4 battery installed for the last three years / 600+ hours. It lacks a BMS, but the FMEA done before the installation shows that it would not help with any failure modes *for my aircraft*, as the other systems onboard (crowbar overvoltage, EMS alarms...

It looks like this is installed on the inside of the firewall? EarthX batteries have failed and belched lots of acrid smoke, too. What would your plan be should that happen with your installation?

The equipment is fine, and I do have ADS-B out so not relying on someone else's "puck". The issue is that the system can be overloaded with too many aircraft in a small area - I'm based underneath a reasonably busy class B (MSP), and there's always lots of stuff around. The kind of issue I...

I've installed ADS-B out+in, and while the weather information is great, the traffic frankly sucks. It's definitely advisory in nature - if it says something is there, there almost certainly is. The catch is that if it doesn't show anything, that doesn't mean that there isn't anything there...

Interested in aerobatics and looking for places which might be potential locations to practice your IAC routine? I wrote this app last year to simplify the process of finding potential practice boxes and it worked pretty well. This year, I've updated it with support for more devices (iPad...

The most memorable time I've had doing acro was practicing an IAC sequence on an IFR plan (VMC, of course) in a block of airspace from 5000' to 8000'. With tops at about 5200', it was a great way to practice low level acro. The MSP TRACON controller thought it looked fun too :-)

Sell it in Canada or someplace where ADS-B isn't mandated. I got $850 for my 327 recently doing just that.

As others have said, go do it. Foggles suck and are a really poor approximation of actual IMC. You'll build confidence in flying IMC and doing all the other things you need to do (talking with ATC, briefing approaches, etc). Over time you'll then be able to start lowering your personal...

So a follow-up for posterity now that I took the ride and passed. The oral portion covering the knowledge items listed in the PTS was very straight forward - surprisingly so. I used a simple airplane (Seminole) but it wasn't as in depth as I remember the commercial multi ride being. We...

I don't get it - the controller giving him the altimeter setting starting at the 1:34 mark would seem to imply he did call on the correct frequency at least once. Based on that, I'd have to believe he did in fact check in with the correct controller and something else happened. I saw the...

Having done an installation of an audio panel supporting multiple comms, nav, etc. I can say it is not a small amount of work. Removing a KLN89B and KX155 then replacing it with an IFD540 was *much* less work than the audio panel. Seems backwards, but there it is.

If you get two pilots in the front seats and non-pilots in back, this is fun: Left Seat (after takeoff): "Ok, I'm finished now - you take over." Right Seat: "What do you mean?" Left Seat: "I'm a takeoff pilot, I haven't learned landings yet." Right Seat: "I'm only a takeoff pilot too!"

Or refer to the checklist as "the instruction sheet" ;)

Before I finished building my RV, people asked for rides when it was done. I always told them I had one extra seat available for the first flight. No takers there either. (and yes, I know, phase one limitations and all that :-) )

I purchased an IFD540 for my RV but have yet to install it. I did fill out their online registration though and after a week got my Avidyne keyboard for the unit. It's an Avidyne-specific mini keyboard that lets you do stuff on the unit with it rather than using the alternatives (built-in...

Ok, cool - this is exactly the kind of info I was looking for. The systems on the Seminole are super basic, and I have zero expectations of every flying one again after the ride is done anyway. I found the ATP book useful as well and feel like I've memorized it, which may be bad because the...

I did do the CTP course and thought the classroom portion was a complete waste of time. The 12 hours of level D sim time was really useful however. I have zero problems with the hood stuff - the Seminole is way more stable than my RV-6A and I have no probs flying an ILS to CAT I mins in that...

So I've got a checkride out several weeks to go for an ATP multi-engine land certificate. I've got an commercial multi, and in reading the PTS for the ATP ride it doesn't seem all that different from the commercial ride. There's no Vmc demo and a couple of the altitude/heading tolerances...

Lots of things need to be considered, but from watching people new to form flying the biggest shortcoming most pilots make is simply not paying attention to the lead. When flying wing in parade formation, you never, ever, ever take your eyes off lead. If you're in route, then you can snatch...

I'd tend to agree - having been through judges school with DJ Molny to see what goes on there as well as done the recorder thing, the judges really are trying to be fair. I really think it comes down to they score what they see, and sometimes what they see doesn't match reality. For example...