A few thoughts on OSH this year: - The KR Forum needs a breath of fresh air, not just me up there channeling whatever comes to mind about KRs. Next year we'll do something different, perhaps getting four different KR builders to get up and tell the stories of their KRs for 15 minutes, or something like we did a few years ago, four pilots with different engines to talk about that aspect of flying their planes. We'll think of something.
- I ran into Marty Roberts before the Forum, and he's working with the new Great Plains Aircraft owners to smooth the transition and improve customer service, and he's still part of that team. He also spoke a few minutes at the Forum and handed out GPASC catalogs. My understanding is that the new guys are A&Ps, and are dedicated to improving the products and carrying on with GPASC. - Larry Flesner and I flew up to OSH at a fairly steady 148 mph TAS, at 7500'. I was burning about 3.6 gph most of the way, which is 41 mpg. My trip back AVERAGED 37.3 mpg, which includes taxiing, climbing to 10,500 for the return trip, dodging clouds, rain, and Chicago airspace, and a fuel stop in Indiana, while doing my usual 145 mph TAS cruise speed, with a mostly neutral wind (neither head nor tailwind). To me, that's the strongest attribute the KR has...efficiency. The highest CHT registered on the flight was 332F, so there's something to be said for adequate air passages in cylinder heads. -I used both a Stratux and a Stratus on the way to OSH, and I can tell you that the Stratux needs an internal fan or it will overheat and reboot constantly, and the iPAD will shut down due to heat if left in the sun for a few minutes at a fuel stop on a hot day. Cooling the iPAD by mounting it in the panel with an air gap and a fan behind a hole on the backside blowing on it mitigates that problem, so I'm told. The iLEVEL3 AW that Rob mentioned can apparently transmit serial data from either a GRT EIS or an MGL RDAC to an iPAD wirelessly, so now it's just a matter of locating an iPAD app that can display navigation and engine data at the same time on one screen. I don't recall seeing that yet, so I'm starting to think I'd need two iPAD minis on the panel to cover that, or, simply use my trusty old EIS for that kind of data...it works just fine. The full-size iPAD will also burn lots of battery power and decrease steadily until it quits, if turned up to full brightness, despite being plugged into an Apple 3A source. Perhaps sourcing a higher current power source is the answer to this. I've read the iPAD Mini's don't have that problem, probably since the screen is so much smaller. More research is required on all of this. - IFly GPS's are currently shipped without an anti-glare film over the insanely glossy touch-screen, and they currently don't have anybody making them to fit the 720 (and presumably the 740). Their vendor bailed. So I have ordered three IPAD-2 anti-glare sheets for $5 off ebay, one of which I'll stick on my iPAD, and the other I'll cut down for the 720. The glossy screen is ridiculous, IMHO. Also, if you decide to mount an iFLY 720 vertically on your panel, mount it in front of or to the left of the pilot, not to the right (like mine). The screen is polarized such that the brightness level is maybe half as bright when viewed from the left as it is from directly or the right, and "portrait" mode only works one way, not the other! Anybody considering buying the iFLY 720 or 740 should also consider running the iFLY app on a cheap used iPAD, because it starts instantly, is very responsive, and is very reliable, not to mention CHEAP! The yearly subscription is the same either way Mark Langford ML at N56ML.com http://www.n56ml.com
