As all Cirrus pilots know, SR20s and SR22s have 2 batteries in the Cirrus electrical system (technically, they have 3, as Battery 2 is made up of 2 12 volt batteries in series with each other). Battery 1 provides power to the starter and is a backup for the entire Cirrus electrical system, while Battery 2 provides backup for the Essential Bus items.
If you look on the engine page of either an Avidyne or a Garmin Cirrus, there is a section showing the Cirrus electrical system health. With the engine running, you have voltmeters showing the voltage from Alternator 1 and Alternator 2, ammeters showing the amperage output from Alt 1 and Alt 2, and an ammeter showing the charging rate of Battery 1. There is no indication for Battery 2.
This brings up a question. How does the pilot know that Battery 2 has any kind of a charge? What happens if the whole Cirrus electrical system goes caput and all that’s left is Battery 2? Will Battery 2 have juice then?
The answer is actually rather simple. As part of the pre-flight inspection, the first step in the cabin inspection is to turn the Battery 2 switch on, then check the Essential bus volt meter. The checklist says the voltmeter should be reading between 23-25 volts. This tells you how much voltage Battery 2 currently has. The next step (after ensuring the flap lights are out) is the turn Battery 1 on. Battery 1 then powers the Main Bus and Essential Bus. The voltage showing on the Main Bus shows how much voltage Battery 1 currently has.
Easy enough right? Now you can impress friends and family alike with your Cirrus electrical knowledge!
Talk about star treatment. The Lajitas Golf Resort rolled out the red carpet for the 2019 Texas Top Aviation Lajitas Fly In. I had been to Lajitas twice before; once in July when it was hot, miserable and bumpy. The second time was the week before our Fly In. Both times, everyone from the airport folks to the bus drivers to the front desk and restaurant staff were top notch. It made for a very pleasurable experience.
If you haven’t been out to Lajitas (or don’t even know where it is) and you’re a pilot (you don’t even have to play golf), you have missed a sure gem. Lajitas is positioned on the southern tip of the Big Bend area of Texas, right on the Rio Grande river. Lajitas has great lodging with several different room options from big to small, an excellent restaurant for 3 square a day (and even a bakery for sweets, coffee, and breakfast tacos in the mornings), and a 5 star golf course in Black Jack Crossing.
Why is this all relevant to us aviators? Lajitas has it’s own private airport, 89TE. Complete with a 5,500 foot asphalt runway, VFR conditions most of the year, and reasonable fuel prices, Lajitas is the pilot’s gateway to the resort and the entire Big Bend area. If you wait until the fall, a brand new, 7,000 foot concrete runway should be completed and an IFR approach should be available. An AWOS is in the works too.
The resort and airport are so far south, radar and radio coverage with Albuquerque Center is pretty poor below about 15,000 feet, and non-existent below 10,000 feet. This isn’t a big concern as any airplanes in the area should be on 122.9 and the airport manager will make contact with you, give you a weather report, and assign a runway.
Once you are on the ground, there will be a resort bus waiting to whisk you and all your friends to the resort for your getaway.
The 2019 Texas Top Aviation Lajitas Fly In was a big hit. We had 7 airplanes total: 5 Cirrus SR22s, 1 Piper Matrix, and 1 Citation M2. There were 15 attendees total, including 13 golfers. Everyone raved about the resort and the golf course. The only hiccup in the weekend was the cold front that blasted through on Friday afternoon, kicking up a lot of dust. Golfing on Saturday was windy too, but Sunday morning was absolutely perfect.
Thanks again to the folks at Lajitas for the star treatment!
Interested in participating in the next Texas Top Aviation Fly In? Contact Us or Sign Up for Our Newsletter and we will make sure you find out about the next one so you don’t miss out!
Looking for an airplane with more seats, more useful load, and good speed? Look no further than the PA-46-310P Piper Malibu. It feels like a corporate airplane, but this turbo charged piston single is good owner/pilot airplane for taking the family on vacation or using on business trips.
The original Piper Malibu, which was manufactured between 1984-1988, is a great next step airplane for Cirrus owners, Saratoga or Lance owners, and Mooney owners looking to move up to a pressurized, 6 seat piston. The pressurization has got to be one of the best parts of the Piper Malibu. The ability to climb up to the low flight levels (the service ceiling is FL250, but the airplane performs great between 16,000 and FL190) to catch better winds and get a better true airspeed (the airplane gains about 2.5 KTAS for every thousand feet) without having to wear oxygen makes the ride much more enjoyable.
Equipped with six seats and a 4,100 pound gross weight, the Piper Malibu allows for a lot more carrying ability than a Cirrus or even a Saratoga. Now, like most piston airplanes, you can’t take 6 average adults, bags, and full fuel, but here’s the great part: the Continental TSIO 320 only burns 16.5 GPH in cruise at 75% power. The plane will still fly 200 KTAS at 16.5 GPH. With 120 gallon capacity, even taking half tanks still allows for a 2.5 hour range with an hour reserve. At 200 KTAS, that’s 450 miles. And, you gain an extra 360 pounds useful load at half tanks. That’s not too shabby.
The Piper Malibu was designed to be comfortable, fast, and be able to carry some baggage. There are two baggage compartments, one in the nose behind the firewall and one in the rear behind the rear seats. The nose baggage is wide enough to fit golf clubs in, while the back baggage is large enough to fit rolling suitcases in (the front baggage has no problem with roller bags either). Lots of weight in bags? Again, no big deal. Just plan on taking less fuel and still flying for 2.5 hours.
From a pilot’s standpoint, the Piper Malibu is a pretty straightforward airplane to fly, though it does require some specialty training. A lot of PA-46s on the market right now have upgraded glass panels and digital engine monitors, making piloting the airplane that much more streamlined. Most Piper Malibus are equipped with the KFC 150 autopilot. Some have a yaw damper installed, others don’t. Some have the vertical speed and altitude capture installed, others don’t. It just depends on that specific airplane. They aren’t like a Cirrus where they are all made the same.
Looking to upgrade to something with more seats, a higher service ceiling, but not a significant increase in fuel costs? Look into the Piper Malibu. You can get one in good shape from about $300,000.
I got a call today from a friend asking me about oxygen requirements. That got my brain pondering about the different items the FAA would like all pilots to know. I did a little refreshing and found several other tidbits directly from the FAA that I thought worth sharing. No matter what you’re flying, I think these apply to all of us.
First off, what are our general oxygen requirements? If you jump on over to the FAR’s and take a look at 91.211 you’ll see:
1. At cabin pressure altitudes above 12,500ft MSL to 14,000ft MSL, pilots
required to use oxygen unless the segment is less than 30 minutes of flight.
2. At cabin pressure altitudes above 14,000ft MSL, the crew is required to use
oxygen.
3. At cabin pressure altitudes above 15,000ft MSL, each occupant must be provided the use of oxygen. This doesn’t necessarily mean they have to use it.
Things get a little more in depth when you get to pressurized aircraft.
These requirements are also listed in 91.211:
1. If you’re flying above Flight Level 250, a 10 minute supply of oxygen is
required for each person onboard.
2. If you’re flying above Flight Level 350-410, and one pilot leaves their seat, the other pilot will be required to wear an oxygen mask, unless both seats are equipped with quick-donning oxygen masks.
There are three basic components to any oxygen system in an aircraft: the storage system, the delivery system, and the mask or cannula. First, there are several types of storage systems.
Gaseous aviators breathing oxygen is the first. This is the standard green tank that everyone is familiar with. There are two types of tanks. Either the high- pressure with 1800-2200 psi or the low pressure tank with 400-450 psi. The major issue with these and General Aviation aircraft is weight. Some of these tanks can get bulky and heavy and therefore don’t work for everyone.
Liquid aviators breathing oxygen or LOX is another form of storage. The major advantage of LOX is that it has a 900 to 1 expansion ratio, meaning that 1 liter of liquid oxygen can be expanded into 900 gaseous liters of Aviators Breathing Oxygen. The disadvantages of LOX are they are extremely volatile and have to be stored at -197F. If it comes in contact with exposed skin, severe frost bite can occur.
Sodium chlorate candles or oxygen generators have a weight advantage like LOX. They’re essentially a canister that when activated mix sodium chloride and iron powder and produce oxygen. They general have a 600 to 1 expansion ratio, which goes back to the weight savings. However, once these are started they are very hard to stop. Another disadvantage is these devices produce a fair amount of heat, so proper precautions need to be taken.
Next are the delivery systems. The main systems are Continuous Flow, Diluter Demand, and Pressure Demand. Continuous Flow, is exactly as it sounds. The oxygen is allowed to flow continuously from the tank to the user. The benefits of continuous flow are you don’t need a complicated mask or regulator. The downside to this system is since it continuously pumps oxygen, you’re wasting oxygen when you exhale. Most of continuous flow systems are used on aircraft that generally fly below 28,000 feet.
Diluter Demand was designed to fix the negative of the Continuous Flow systems. Diluter Demand only sends oxygen to the user when the user inhales. The system also allows cabin air to be introduced in, sending the perfect mixture of oxygen to the user when needed. These systems are very efficient and generally tend to be used up to 40,000 feet.
Pressure Demand is designed to essentially “over inflate” the users lungs. This will basically pressurize the the users lugs and allow the user to fly above 40,000 feet. This is needed at flights above FL400 because 100% oxygen without positive pressure will not suffice.
The final portion of the oxygen system is the mask or cannula. Nasal cannulas generally are more comfortable and are regulated to 18,000 feet service altitude. Masks come in a couple different variants. From re-breathers to quick-donning, most masks accomplish the same task with a few small differences. Quick-donning must be able to be put on within five seconds and are rated up to FL400.
Since that was a lot of information, what does all of it mean to you? Most fair weather flyers will never run into any of this. However, the high performance owner/operator will run into oxygen use situations a fair amount. Taking the family up to Colorado on a ski trip, jumping up to 12,500 feet to get above some weather, or flying above 5,000 feet at night on a long xc are all situations where you may want to have oxygen on board.
If you are planning on doing any of this type of flying or are currently doing these types of flights, training is a must. If you’ve never been in an altitude chamber, I would highly recommend it. In college, I went with a group to Oklahoma City to the FAA’s headquarters where they hold a class on Hypoxia and High Altitude flying. It’s very informative to be in the chamber as it simulates being oxygen deprived. You get to see how you’ll react and what kind of symptoms you’ll have when in a loss of oxygen situation. Each person has different symptoms, so it’s important to see how you will react.
It’s also good to fly with an experienced instructor. Finding an instructor who will allow you to learn in a safe environment is worth its weight in gold.
Ryne Bergren is currently a First Officer with Mesa Airlines in the CRJ 900. Ryne has experience in many different areas of aviation, from corporate to airlines to teaching to ferrying across the Atlantic Ocean. His passion is for all things that travel across the big blue sky.
I began flying a Piper Malibu earlier this year. For those of you not familiar with the original PA-46, a Malibu has a Continental TSIO-320 engine, with 310 HP. It’s pressurized and cruises at about 185-200 KTAS.
A few things are introduced to the equation when pilots start flying higher, faster, and farther. When you start flying over longer distances, weather becomes more of an issue. On a quick hop from, say, Austin to Dallas, you can be pretty sure of what the weather will be since it’s a short trip. When you fly from Austin to LA, leave in the morning, land once along the way, and arrive in the afternoon after spending six and a half hours in the air, weather can change a lot in that amount of time.
A must for any pilot flying high and over long distances is some kind of Nexrad system, whether it be a Garmin 696, or it shows up on your GPS or MFD. Having this situation awareness is very helpful when planning ahead as to what to do about weather. A stormscope is also a handy tool, since you can see where the lightning is with it.
Cold fronts can be pretty nasty, depending on how strong and how fast they are moving. A strong, fast moving cold front usually has a lot of convective activity associated with it. The tricky thing with storms associated with fronts is that storms form in lines, most of the time. If you’re trying to cross a front in the morning, you can usually get high enough over the clouds with a pressurized airplane since the temperature is still relatively low to get clear of the cumulonimbus clouds. The cloud tops will only be around ten or twelve thousand feet.
Crossing fronts in the afternoon when daytime heating is pushing the tops of the CBs up to the 20-40 thousand foot range, it’s best to land, have a meal, stretch your legs, and wait till the sun starts to go down before pushing on. Do not, under any circumstances, try and go through the cumulonimbus clouds associated with a cold front in a small airplane. Not only is it uncomfortable (the turbulence bounces you around pretty good), but you’ll get ice, scare the passengers, and, if you’re in the heart of a storm, the plane could come apart.
When crossing mountains, the weather is always highly unpredictable. If it’s a clear day, no matter your altitude, you’ll probably pick up some turbulence from all the rising air off the peaks. If there is moisture in the air, there are going to be isolated to scattered thunderstorms in the summer time. The advantage of flying high when there are isolated or scattered storms is you can utilize the see and avoid method.
See and avoid is simple. When the storms aren’t embedded in other clouds, it’s actually rather easy to spot the big, rising clouds and go around them. The same concept holds true when avoiding those pesky pop up thunderstorms in humid areas like Houston and Florida.
One thing that I learned this summer was this. Sometimes, with an area of closely grouped storms, the cloud base is actually quite high (some storms I went underneath in New Mexico had cloud bases of 15,000 MSL). The thing to do here is just stay below the bases of the clouds and go around the areas of rain. These will be visible and you’ll be able to navigate around them. With bases even as low 9-10 thousand feet, it’s a much better idea to stay below the clouds, sacrifice some speed, and dodge the rain shafts.
The most important concept to take away is don’t fly into a thunderstorm. If there are a bunch of really high clouds in front of you and you don’t see a safe way around them, descend down and land, wait it out, and then continue on your way.
Your about to make your dream aircraft purchase. The plane has low time on the engine, is reasonably priced, and, according to the seller, has no damage history. You are overjoyed! Your dream of making an aircraft purchase is finally coming true. You prepare your offer for the seller, set up the escrow account, and start all the paperwork.
Two weeks later, the airplane is yours! You start flying it, though, and the engine starts to have some strange vibrations. After several flights, it starts to get worse. You take it to your mechanic to get it looked at and you find out the airplane needs three new cylinders along with some other engine work that is going to total a lot of money. Plus, your airplane is now going to be in the shop for several weeks.
All that excitement you just had? It just went out the window.
Could this have been prevented? Probably so, with a logbook inspection and a pre-purchase inspection.
Aircraft Purchase: Logbook Inspection
Inspecting a logbook can be very daunting when making an aircraft purchase, especially for older airplanes. This is, however, one of the most vital steps in making a new aircraft purchase. You can find out many things from looking at the maintenance logs of an airplane. First, you can check the compression levels of the engine. Typically, you want compression levels in the 70’s, with it still being okay in the high 60’s. Anything below 65 and there could be potential problems.
Second, you can find out if there has been any odd maintenance done pointing to possible unreported damage history. This is rare, as most aircraft owners are honest and up front when talking about damage history. But, if there is an entry detailing a prop overhaul after only 50 hours on that prop, you may start to ask some questions.
Third, you can find out how well the airplane has been maintained. If a lot of maintenance was completed at each annual, even if it was a lot of small things, then the airplane has been maintained by a good mechanic who is very thorough. This also involves a check of the ADs, Mandatory SBs, SBs, and SLs that have been issued for the airplane. If all that has been kept up with, it’s a well maintained airplane.
Finally, it gives you a good idea of how much the airplane has been flown. Sure, the ad online will have the total time and time since overhaul, but you can look at the year by year breakdown of how much the airplane has been flown. It may have been flown a lot earlier in it’s life, but not quite as much recently. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but airplanes like to be flown.
Aircraft Purchase: Pre-Purchase Inspection
Before making an aircraft purchase, it is extremely vital that whenever you are buying an airplane that you get a pre-purchase inspection done on the airplane. Even better is getting one done by a mechanic who specializes in that type of airplane (eg. Piper Service Center for Pipers, Cirrus Service Centers for Cirrus, Kevin Mead for PA-46s). A pre-purchase inspection can save you a lot of money in the end.
There is always going to be some kind of maintenance issue with an airplane being purchased, whether it is big or small. Once a pre-purchase inspection is completed, you can take the findings to the seller and negotiate for a lower price based on those findings, or just have the seller fix the items before the sale is completed.
I would recommend having the seller fix the problems before the sale is completed. Even though it may take a little longer for the sale to be completed this way, you’ll get to enjoy your airplane right away instead of it being in the shop the next several weeks after you complete the purchase.
There is the circumstance where the pre-purchase inspection reveals some serious airworthiness issues which would cause the deal to be voided. Always put this clause in a purchase agreement, giving you, the buyer, an out if there are serious airworthiness issues.
When it comes to making an aircraft purchase, it is not a process to be rushed. Slow and steady usually gets the best airplane for the money, giving you years of enjoyment in the future.
Looking to make an aircraft purchase? Daunted by all the work that’s involved to find a good, quality airplane? Let Texas Top Aviation do your aircraft search for you! To learn more, visit Texas Top Aviation’s Aircraft Purchase Consultations page.
The massive storms that rolled through the Austin Bergstrom and San Antonio areas last Friday not only put a dent in the landscape, they put a dent in the skies too.
The Austin Bergstrom (KAUS) control tower suffered significant flood damage Friday. 6 inches of rainfall in an hour caused water to come pouring into the first floor of the tower, flooding the radar room and knocking out the power. This led to transmission outages for the tower, ground control, clearance delivery and the ATIS. Similar to the Chicago Center fire last year (though this was a much smaller section of airspace), the area normally controlled by Austin Approach was replaced by a big, gaping radar hole.
By 8:45am on Friday morning, the Austin Bergstrom airport actually closed. One runway eventually opened back up Friday afternoon, but massive delays and cancellations had already taken place. All the ILS approaches were down and Houston Center had taken over the airspace normally occupied by Austin Approach control.
A temporary, emergency tower vehicle was brought in by the FAA (it’s essentially an RV with communications and a giant window) by the end of the weekend. All arrivals and departures were restricted to 17L and 35R.
Due to the radar outage, I heard there was as much as a 4 hour delay even for planes coming into Austin Bergstrom from Dallas, and that was in VMC conditions on Sunday and Monday. Tuesday and Wednesday brought IMC conditions which only enhanced the delays.
The latest news is that Austin Approach will be opening back up, but in a satellite base in San Antonio. The Austin controllers will be using the SAT radar room and will be receiving their radar picture via satellite. The approach frequencies should be up and running today or tomorrow. The Austin Bergstrom tower is up and running and most of the ILS approaches are operational at this point.
In the meantime, expect delays going in and out of Austin. If you don’t have to get to AUS, EDC, or GTU, you’re better off delaying a day or two until Austin Approach is back up and running.
One thing that I learned this summer was this. Sometimes, with an area of closely grouped storms, the cloud base is actually quite high (some storms I went underneath in New Mexico had cloud bases of 15,000 MSL). The thing to do here is just stay below the bases of the clouds and go around the areas of rain. These will be visible and you’ll be able to navigate around them. With bases even as low 9-10 thousand feet, it’s a much better idea to stay below the clouds, sacrifice some speed, and dodge the rain shafts.
