New guy here

S

ShaneWhite

Filing Flight Plan
Joined
Aug 24, 2022
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19
Location
Atlanta, GA USA
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Display name:
Shane White
New guy here. Looks like a nice forum. Getting back into GA after 25+ years of airline flying. Buying a GA plane. Learning all this new Foreflight, Garmin pilot, ADS-B in/out cool stuff that we don't have at the airlines (we are stone-age...err...mostly late 80's early 90's tech).

Just saying "hi".

Atlanta, GA area.

Shane
 
Welcome!

Well, I suppose that avionics and software have changed a lot in GA, over 25+ years. Airframes and especially engines, however, are still stone-age ... much older than the 1980s.
 
NoHeat said:
Welcome!

Well, I suppose that avionics and software have changed a lot in GA, over 25+ years. Airframes and especially engines, however, are still stone-age ... much older than the 1980s.
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Indeed. The GA airplane I'm buying is a 1991...kind of "new" for GA overall unless you go Cirrus, New Bonanzas and Cessnas and Pipers, etc. Carburetors, here I come again!
 
ShaneWhite said:
New guy here. Looks like a nice forum. Getting back into GA after 25+ years of airline flying. Buying a GA plane. Learning all this new Foreflight, Garmin pilot, ADS-B in/out cool stuff that we don't have at the airlines (we are stone-age...err...mostly late 80's early 90's tech).

Just saying "hi".

Atlanta, GA area.

Shane
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Welcome to the joint. Never heard the place called ‘nice’ before, but I get what you meant. Quite a few of your fellow 121ians slum around here and will be probably be a wealth of information for you in your demotion to 91 world. Have fun. Whatsa CFIAIM?
 
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Oh - I’m not demoted. 14 more years of big aluminum left. My GA fun is “in addition to” my regular job (I’m now teaching my 17 YO son how to fly).

CFIAIM = Certified Flight Instructor Airplane Instrument Multi-engine
 
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ShaneWhite said:
New guy here. Looks like a nice forum. Getting back into GA after 25+ years of airline flying. Buying a GA plane. Learning all this new Foreflight, Garmin pilot, ADS-B in/out cool stuff that we don't have at the airlines (we are stone-age...err...mostly late 80's early 90's tech).

Just saying "hi".

Atlanta, GA area.

Shane
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Welcome to POA
 
NoHeat said:
Welcome!

Well, I suppose that avionics and software have changed a lot in GA, over 25+ years. Airframes and especially engines, however, are still stone-age ... much older than the 1980s.
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Mostly. My flying club recent acquired a DA40NG. Basically a mid-1980s Mercedes turbo-diesel modified for GA. My favorite part is the "hot start" procedure (there isn't one :D).

@ShaneWhite, welcome to our mostly happy but somewhat dysfunctional family.
 
Socata TB-10 Tobago. I flew TB-9 Tampico’s in college; great trainer & very comfortable.
 
Awesome, good for you! I saw an old 1969 Beechcraft A24 I so wanted to get, under 100k, up in Canada. Someone beat me to it!
 
Brian C. said:
Something like this and its close!

https://www.trade-a-plane.com/searc...IERRA+200&listing_id=2408070&s-type=aircraft#
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Sweet little Sierra. What kind of HP and useful load does a Sierra have? I used to fly A36 Bonanzas. Would love to have one some day. They've skyrocketed in value.

The TB-10 I'm getting has fixed gear and wheel pants...Archer II style. Constant speed prop and 180HP carbureted Lycoming. Some avionics upgrades and I'll be rocking. I'll post up some pics soon.
 
200 HP, about 135kts max @ 75% power. Those were great planes, too bad so many aircraft builders went OOB or sold.

I would definitely agree with you on avionics upgrades. I love flat screen displays!
 
Brian C. said:
200 HP, about 135kts max @ 75% power. Those were great planes, too bad so many aircraft builders went OOB or sold.

I would definitely agree with you on avionics upgrades. I love flat screen displays!
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The TB-10 will only do 127 True @ 78% power @ 6,000' @ 12.2 GPH.

I'll normally shoot for 62% power and 111-115 KTAS @ 8.7-8.9 GPH; it's a time builder for my son and I and to take the family places without having to drive.

It's steam-powered right now. Six-Pack FTW! Previous owner did throw in a Garmin Aera 660 and a sweet GTX-345, so I've got that going for me - which is nice for VFR operations.

I love flat screens too. If I keep it long term, I'll throw a 10.6" Landscape G3X Touch into it with 4 cylinder EIS.

In the meantime, the first upgrade will be a GNC-355. Contemplating dual GI-275's with the synthetic vision option in the meantime and ditching the vacuum system to get more useful load. Adding an old-school DME (KN-62A) becasue I want one, LOL (I know, GPS, yadda yadda); somebody removed it. If I go with a G3X at a future date I'll slide over the GI-275 to the R or L of it as a standby ADI and sell off the HSI GI-275 or slide it over to the co-pilots panel along with the electric Mid-Continent Lifesaver ADI it already has installed.
 
Brian C. said:
Not even going to ask you the costs for all that :)
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I'll share; haven't done it yet, so still shopping. The "big shops" (Sarasota and Gulf Coast want around $25,00-$27,000 all-in to install a single GNC-355, a pair of GI-275's and rip out the vacuum system. It's the labor that kills you. They're quoting 84 hours of labor at one place and 111 hours labor at another place. Seems really high to me, but then again I'm cluless on how much labor such an endeavor actually takes.

I'm checking with the local guys to see if they can do better than that.

It's not like I'm asking for a new panel. GI-275's literally use four screws and go in right where the old stuff came out. The TB-10 panel literally tilts down on lower hinges for easy access after removing some upper screws.

My stupid pilot brain says they just need to slide out the old ADI and directional gyro, rip out the vacuum system, put a block-off plate on the engine where the vacuum pump was, stick the GNC-355 in the stack (doesn't it just slide into a tray?), run the Garmin cables (Isn't all the Garmin stuff plug-n-play with itself with garmin-suppled harnesses?), hook up the antennas (plane already has a Garmin GPS WAAS antenna installed; I think there is a splitter that feeds both my current GTX-345 so they don't have to remove the interior and run another cable to install another GPS WAAS antenna), hook up the pitot static to the new GI-275's, run the wires to the autopilot (Single axis S-Tec 40 for roll control - but the Gamin GI-275 is factory designed to output to that), re-do weight and balance (or re-weigh aircraft and do the math), do pitot-static and transponder check, and BOOM! DONE! What am I missing? Does that labor really take 84-111 hours of labor?

Perhaps there's an avionics-experienced A&P / IA on the forum that can let me know if that labor and quote range is reasonable. Also, if any of you have had a good experience somewhere in the USA, I'm not opposed to a long cross-country to get the work done.

The labor is why I'm not even contemplating a G3X at this point...I think a new panel to add that piece would push the whole shebang up to ~$40,000+ for parts and labor, and I think that if I were to sell in the future, I might not get that investment back out, but I feel real good about dual GI-275's and a GNC-355.

Thanks in advance for any helpful input.

Shane
 
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So I'm guessing if you are not certified, you cannot swap your own equipment and just get it inspected? That is highway robbery!
 
Welcome to the forum,I’m in the process of upgrading an a old panel I have two G5s and a garmin 660 panel mounted. Going back to my vfr flying days.
 
Brian C. said:
So I'm guessing if you are not certified, you cannot swap your own equipment and just get it inspected? That is highway robbery!
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On a certified aircraft, that is correct. Must be an A&P to install and I *believe* an IA to sign off airworthiness, but I'm not an expert on the limits of what an A&P (non-IA) can do.
 
ShaneWhite said:
On a certified aircraft, that is correct. Must be an A&P to install and I *believe* an IA to sign off airworthiness, but I'm not an expert on the limits of what an A&P (non-IA) can do.
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Yeah I was thinking the same thing. Too bad because if I could do the work and get it inspected, I could literally save tens of thousands of dollars on unnecessary labor costs.
 
ShaneWhite said:
On a certified aircraft, that is correct. Must be an A&P to install and I *believe* an IA to sign off airworthiness, but I'm not an expert on the limits of what an A&P (non-IA) can do.
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If you know your A&P/IA you can do the work supervised by them, if they are willing. I have had several mechanics do that for me. However, I was a Navy nuclear electronics technician and a civilian instrumentation & control tech. I also have my LSRM-A.
 
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