CTSW owner wants to spend some money!!

[FlyingMonkey]

You could have come to my hands on school and got your certificate.

There will be more this fall.

 

I would have loved to, but the travel made it not a good fit at the time.  Start running the LSRM  Maintenance class and I might take a couple of weeks to come see you for that!  

[John Vance]

John, I am planning on replacing my GTX 327 and 496 with a GTX 345 and Aera 660 combo some time in the next 9-18 months.  ACS currently has a deal of the two together for $5300 for experimental airplanes (I'm E-LSA), which seems like a great deal.  You are the first CT owner with a 345 that I know of.  As I research and move forward I'd love to pick your brain on how you like the unit and the install.  

 

Are you using Garmin Pilot as a display for weather and traffic?  Also, did you install a physical "anonymous mode" switch?  I know that is an option in the wiring diagram, and I really like that idea.

Hi Andy - I've been happy with the 345, and have been using Garmin Pilot on an iPad as the display device. I'm not crazy about the current knee- mount iPad setup because of the glare and the fact that I have to look down at my knee to see it. It also gets in the way of the controls sometimes when landing. I'm considering adding a bracket to hold the iPad somewhere closer to eye-level. I had my installation done at South Carolina Avionics Services LLC in Orangeburg, SC, and was very happy with them. They made a minor error during setup and didn't get the AHRS working properly, but they paid to have my local shop fix it. They had the best price I could find, partly because the tax environment in SC is favorable. I did have a couple of shops back out when they found out it was a composite SLSA, but the Carolina shop didn't have a problem with it. Your price of $5300 sounds like a good deal, especially if that includes WAAS. I did not have them set up the anonymous mode, but I see how that could come in handy. I now show up on flightaware pretty consistently, where before it was hit or miss, and only when I requested flight-following.

[FlyingMonkey]

Thanks for the great information, John!

 

Here's my iPad setup, been using this three years and I love it, hope it helps:

 

 

 

Thereis a strip of .030" aluminum inside the mushroom to support the small mounting bolts. It's not very big and has not cracked or otherwise caused a problem in over 300hrs.

[John Vance]

Thanks for the great information, John!

Here's my iPad setup, been using this three years and I love it, hope it helps:

Thereis a strip of .030" aluminum inside the mushroom to support the small mounting bolts. It's not very big and has not cracked or otherwise caused a problem in over 300hrs.

Hi Andy - this is just what I'm looking for! Who makes it? Can you remove the entire rig from the mushroom and leave just the mounting plate & ball?

 

Thanks

John

[John Vance]

Andy - I think I answered my own question. These look like RAM products. I do have a couple of other questions, though. My autopilot is on the far left side of the panel and I need to access that. I have an iPad Mini, and am not sure whether I can use the standard length arm or would need to order the longer arm instead, to move the iPad left far enough to clear the AP. It looks like there is an alternative mount on the cradle that might help that situation. Any suggestions? Are you using the larger iPad?

 

Thanks

John

[FlyingMonkey]

Yes John, Ram products. You need the longest of the three arms, I believe it's 6" long. You can definitely just leave the ball in place, I do that for maintenance all the time. I am using the full size iPad, so if you use the mini it will be smaller.

 

There is enough adjustability in the arm to position it completely off the panel and away from your AP head. You can position it a bit higher, lower, and with different fore/aft/side tilt to make it however you want.