After screwing with the nose wheel pivot friction and various take-off tricks and trim tab settings for ten years (off and on) I have joined the pants-less nose wheel club and have no regrets. No speed loss, flies straight every time. I did have to rework the trim tab settings, and has has been said...

The GTX345R is available with built-in WAAS, for non-WAAS aircraft. Don't know if it would work, but it might be worth looking into swapping your non-WAAS 345 for the WAAS version--if it works it will be vastly cheaper than upgrading both GIA63s. Judging from some of the relevant posts on this subje...

I'm 72 as well and have been flying "only" 17 yrs. Our insurance requires us (my wife is the same age and also a pilot) to have annual flight physicals now, but that's no problem, so far. Our AME will be 90 next month! My dad was a WWII Hellcat pilot (night fighter) so perhaps it's heredit...

I also will confirm Chris' observation: I installed my Reiff system about 10 yrs ago, at an "owner-assisted" annual and it has worked well since, with no adverse effect on engine temps. I'm a big fan of the Reiff system and have recommended it to quite a few other pilots.

Regarding Curt's adventures with Diamond and Garmin, this gives me little hope of a resolution any time soon. What a joke! If and when a software update is released, does anyone know if there is a notification process in place to let appropriate owners/operators know they may now proceed with their ...

CFIDave's answer to Stephen's question about new aircraft being equipped with the Garmin 345R was THAT they would be so equipped but not HOW they made it work--aren't they stuck with the some software issues that the rest of us with WAAS are faced? Perhaps they they used the non-WAAS G1000 and the W...

I just watched Mark's nice little video, and it seems that someone else is controlling the winch, while he (or someone) pushes down on the tail. Can you do this solo? Any recommendations for a specific winch brand/model? I have been using a battery-powered tug for 11 yrs, but it has a hard time gett...

Ken, since I think you have a GDL69 and probably XM weather, I'll be curious to know if, after you've used the new system for a while, you decide to cancel XM and use the "free" weather radar display. I've decided to wait for the software upgrade, since I already paid to upgrade to WAAS.

Thanks, Chris. I hoped that was the case and I can easily live without the plates on the MFD. Now I need to tackle the Firelight vs. Garmin Pilot issue. The Garmin IFR annual fee is $149 vs. $199 for Foreflight; the boxes are the same price.

We have used Chartview and a full Jepps subscription package (Navdata and approach plates) since we bought the plane new at the factory (2005). We don't fly as much IFR as we used to, but most of the time fly coupled approaches. It is true that we rarely display the actual approach plate on the MFD,...