L3 lynx transponder

[Jeff Johnson]

Me again.

The plane I want... well purchased needs ADS-b. 

And I’m kind of rethinking my stack as well. 

This is what I’m thinking.

L3 9000 transponder
Panel mounted iPad mini
Avidyne IFD 440
Garmin sl30.
Oh and I need an audio panel

I really don’t like status quo Garmin
But I need waas gps nav com IFD440
I need a second radio sl30
And I need a transponder and the touch panel with traffic is a bonus too.

Not a bad stack in my opinion and it gets the iPad off my yoke. 

[donv]

First of all, congratulations! What did you end up getting?

Second, what does it have now?

[Jeff Johnson]

Don,

I got a beauty of a aerostar 601p with intercoolers and short props. 

I went with this plane because it was basically a 1 owner plane with great maintenance history and always serviced by 1 Aerostar service center since 1985. 

Its in annual now, then off to avionics shop for upgrade.  All original Collins gear and an Apollo GPS.  That will all get removed and properly upgraded. 

I decided to go with.
Garmin 750
Garmin 255 Nav COM
Garmin ADS-b
Garmin Audio Panel

The plane has KFC200 autopilot and its got 5 boot ice protection and alcohol windscreen.

She's a blast from the past.  Original paint 1985...  Original interior... 
But I really like the fact that it has not been seriously altered.  A clean slate!

Im excited to get to fly in the Flight levels. 
And enjoy the speed as well. 

With the intercoolers and short props at 23k she should scoot along at 235kts

Very exciting!!

Now I need to find the best avionics shop in oregon to do the work.  I have quote requests out but if you know or have a recommendation this will be greatly appreciated!



 

[donv]

I think 1 owner and never messed with is really important. Same thing with my 980... well, I'm the third owner (so it was 2 before me), but similar.

I've always used Aero Air for my avionics work. I don't know that they're the "best" by any means, but they've done well for me. They even did the GTN625/ADS-B installation on my Citabria. I was a bit nervous about that one, because they really don't have experience with fabric airplanes, but in the end they were able to re-use the existing antenna locations (it had Garmin equipment from new), so the fabric wasn't an issue.

I guess what I would say about them is that they've generally done what I needed with fairly minimal issues, both on a major upgrade to the 980 and a moderate one in the Citabria. I believe the 980 took a bit longer than originally scheduled, but not bad in comparison to the horror stories you often hear (and I always take the quoted schedule with a grain of salt anyway).

[donv]

Does your 601P still have the original turbo-normalized engines then, with 290 hp?

[Adam Frisch]

Congrats Jeff! Great plane.

Hopefully your panel won't take 8 months like mine did!

[Jeff Johnson]

Adam,

Thanks Its exciting to finally be an aerostar owner. 

Hopefully it won't take that long...  And im trying to keep it "simple".  Just Center stack equipment and removal of the old stuff.  We shall see

Don,  it is the turbo normalized model.  But it does have short props and intercoolers.  Which boost HP to 300-310 I think. 

Should be fun to fly

At least performance changed enough they had to add a supplement to the POH for performance. 

It flys high and goes fast

[donv]

I think the upgrades you mentioned are the way to go. Nothing at all wrong with the KFC-200.

One big thing that a G500 would get you is the ability to have the GTN set the course on the HSI... you could also get a Sandel HSI or something like that and pick up the same feature while keeping the King attitude indicator. But the KFC-200 is a fine system altogether.

It's a slippery slope, for sure...

[Jeff Johnson]

Boy your not kidding.

Im holding off on the g500 until the new stuff shows up. 

And then Ill also get altitude preselect as well. 

Talk about lazy flying

I tried to post some more photos.  But for some reason its not letting me.  Ill try later. 

Mostly im just happy to get flying again.  Who knows I might just like the stuff thats in it !!!!

I do have foreflight

[donv]

Are you sure it doesn't have altitude preselect now? The KFC-200 offered that.

[Jeff Johnson]

I’ll have to check.
But I believe it was an option. 

[EricDapp]

Pacific coast in aurora has always done well for me. Randy the salesman and Chris runs the shop. Last time I was there they were working on a Aerostar.

[EricDapp]

Don, did you get a gtx-345 transponder to go along with the 625? I was thinking of upgrading my 420 and gtx-327  to get traffic on my panel in my cub.

[donv]

Eric, yes, I got the 345 so it's controlled by the 625. It does bluetooth to the iPad, which is cool-- especially nice when flying with someone, since the backseat person can look at something.

The only annoyance, and it's incredibly minor, is that it does take a couple of taps to get to the IDENT button. On the Commander with the IDENT button on the yoke, it's never an issue, but it is a slight bother in the Citabria.

[Jeff Johnson]

Thanks guys for your input.

I have requests out to everyone so we shall see what happens