Recent content by KTMeyer

It's above flight level 350 per FAR 91.211: No person may operate a civil aircraft of U.S. registry with a pressurized cabin -... At flight altitudes above flight level 350 unless one pilot at the controls of the airplane is wearing and using an oxygen mask that is secured and sealed and that...

Sure. The high thirties are more common though. At ISA, maximum continuous thrust and midweight: FL 300: 371 KTAS on 82 gph FL 410: 351 KTAS on 51 gph Those are for the ETT version. The numbers are a little different for the pre-ETT version listed on Controller that we're discussing but I...

There's no room for either of those. You'd have to remove something, and I don't think you can get approval for that (I don't know that for a fact, but I can tell you that you have to get the ACO to sign off on a change to the avionics; it's not just a 337 job). You could put a GTN-650 in where...

Mine lacked FIKI the first two years I owned it (until early 2010), and I was surprised how *infrequently* the lack of FIKI became an issue. Basically, the plane blows through any icing layer on climbout and cruises over the icing. You do have to be very careful about planning an arrival to a...

That early Eclipse was delivered with two very nice GPS sensors that do absolutely nothing but generate synthetic DME. The FMS "frontend" that was supposed to integrate them (so you could navigate by them) was never finished. Some owners have installed an after-market Garmin 400W; that works...

Hasn't worn off yet for me, but I agree there's a lot to be said for flying low. OTOH, this jet, like others, is intended to be a traveling machine, and you can't travel very far in it if you stay below 18,000 feet. Also, one of the big draws of a jet is the ability to top weather. I wouldn't...

You're right! It is a blast to hand-fly this jet VFR. But it is also an awesome experience to be flying up high: The plane in question--the $550 K Eclipse--can fly up to 41,000 feet if it gets a little work. It would need RVSM approval (the plane's got group approval already, so it's mostly a...

Regrettably, it's not as simple as that. This plane has several significant issues. This is an Avidyne Eclipse, non-ETT, one of the very small number of planes remaining in the category (most of the 38 built like this have been upgraded). Eclipse Aerospace (who took over the assets of bankrupt...

I forgot to answer this one-- Great plane; I've had it 5-1/2 years (during which time the FSDO never checked on my RVSM and MEL by the way). As a jet, it gets the advantages of quiet cabin with no vibration, weather-topping, high cruise speed (370 knots) and system redundancy. Because it is...

My wife spoke with him--asked him what he wanted. He said he wanted to introduce himself, let us know what he does and "see how you're maintaining your plane." It was the latter part of the comment that caught my attention because it seemed a little open-ended. Ken

Just a pilot, so is my wife. It's a Part 91 operation, and we have had no reason we can think of why the FAA would suddenly be interested in us. Ken

Nothing like that; indeed the plane just came out of it's 24-month inspection. It's an Eclipse, and though we operate under Part 91, we have an RVSM manual and an MEL, nominally approved by the local FSDO (it's been our only interaction with them to date). I'm wondering if we're somehow in the...

I got an odd phone message today on my home phone in Arizona. As it happens, I'm in Hawaii, but the message reached me by email. The message was from a guy at our local FSDO, saying he was going to be up in our rural area of Arizona today and was wondering if we'd be available so he could...