GNS430 King course comments?

[Jay Maynard]

I'm looking to get the King GNS430 course, since N55ZC will have one. Anyone
have comments pro or con? Other recommendations?
--
Jay Maynard, K5ZC http://www.conmicro.com
http://jmaynard.livejournal.com http://www.tronguy.net
Fairmont, MN (FRM) (Yes, that's me!)
AMD Zodiac CH601XLi N55ZC (ordered 17 March, delivery 2 June)

[Andrew Sarangan]

On Mar 23, 10:47 am, Jay Maynard >
wrote:
> I'm looking to get the King GNS430 course, since N55ZC will have one. Anyone
> have comments pro or con? Other recommendations?
> --
> Jay Maynard, K5ZC http://www.conmicro.comhttp://jmaynard.livejournal.com http://www.tronguy.net
> Fairmont, MN (FRM) (Yes, that's me!)
> AMD Zodiac CH601XLi N55ZC (ordered 17 March, delivery 2 June)


I have not tried that course, but you can learn all the features on
the free simulator. If I were to buy a course I would be looking for
information that is not contained in the Garmin manual, such as
piratical insights and gotchas.

BTW, we have a Zodiac in our club. Great airplane. Congratulations!

[Jay Maynard]

On 2008-03-23, Andrew Sarangan > wrote:
> I have not tried that course, but you can learn all the features on
> the free simulator. If I were to buy a course I would be looking for
> information that is not contained in the Garmin manual, such as
> piratical insights and gotchas.

I assume you meant "practical insights"... :-)

Yeah, that's what I'm looking for, too. The King description of the course
claims to do just that...but reports from those who have used it would be
welcome.

> BTW, we have a Zodiac in our club. Great airplane. Congratulations!

I'm really looking forward to it.
Which one do you have? Kit, factory, XL, XLi?
--
Jay Maynard, K5ZC http://www.conmicro.com
http://jmaynard.livejournal.com http://www.tronguy.net
Fairmont, MN (FRM) (Yes, that's me!)
AMD Zodiac CH601XLi N55ZC (ordered 17 March, delivery 2 June)

[Jay Maynard]

On 2008-03-23, Jay Maynard > wrote:
>> BTW, we have a Zodiac in our club. Great airplane. Congratulations!
> I'm really looking forward to it.
> Which one do you have? Kit, factory, XL, XLi?

While I'm thinking about it...I got a phone call from someone looking for
opinions about the Zodiac because they were looking to add one to their
club. How is it as a club airplane? My main concern about it would be in
transitioning into it from other aircraft whose controls aren't so light and
responsive; I suggested they have their chief pilot go fly one to see what
he thinks about it.
--
Jay Maynard, K5ZC http://www.conmicro.com
http://jmaynard.livejournal.com http://www.tronguy.net
Fairmont, MN (FRM) (Yes, that's me!)
AMD Zodiac CH601XLi N55ZC (ordered 17 March, delivery 2 June)

[Andrew Sarangan]

On Mar 23, 11:40 am, Jay Maynard >
wrote:
> On 2008-03-23, Jay Maynard > wrote:
>
> >> BTW, we have a Zodiac in our club. Great airplane. Congratulations!
> > I'm really looking forward to it.
> > Which one do you have? Kit, factory, XL, XLi?
>
> While I'm thinking about it...I got a phone call from someone looking for
> opinions about the Zodiac because they were looking to add one to their
> club. How is it as a club airplane? My main concern about it would be in
> transitioning into it from other aircraft whose controls aren't so light and
> responsive; I suggested they have their chief pilot go fly one to see what
> he thinks about it.

I would not base the decision on its flying characteristics as much as
its utility. It flies just fine. It doesn't handle well in turbulence,
but that should not be surprising given its light weight. The
elevators and trim are extremely sensitive. When disengaging the
autopilot, it is not unusual for the airplane to jump momentarily. But
otherwise it is a joy to fly.

It is very inexpensive to operate - we are charging $53 for tach-hr in
our club. I have taken it on long trips (400 NM) and it came out
about even with what I would have paid for gas in driving. It is great
for single-person trips, but I doubt it would work for two people with
luggage.

However, the LSA weight limit is the biggest consideration that has
prevented many people in our club from flying it. May people can't
even get checked out. If both people weigh less than 175lb, then it
would be fine but very few fit that description any more.

It is very nicely equipped and well laid out. The seats are
comfortable. Compared to Pipers and Cessnas the visibility is
fantastic.

It is not insulated well, and very loud and drafty. The noise will
tire you out on long trips, even with ANR. The cockpit can get very
hot in summer and cold in winter. The heater doesn't do much.

It doesn't do well on rough surfaces. I tried landing it on grass
once, and I thought the wheels broke off. it might be possible to
adjust the bungee tension to fix that problem.

It is a very light construction, and easy to damage the skin or
external parts. When climbing into the cockpit, you must step on the
approx 6" wide strip at the wing root. If you step outside that strip,
you will definitely put a hole through the skin.

It's a great little airplane if you understand these limitations.

Even though it is IFR equipped, it should be flown in IFR with extreme
caution.

[Jay Maynard]

On 2008-03-23, Andrew Sarangan > wrote:
> However, the LSA weight limit is the biggest consideration that has
> prevented many people in our club from flying it. May people can't
> even get checked out. If both people weigh less than 175lb, then it
> would be fine but very few fit that description any more.

You need a small CFI! :-) I expect my two-person trips to be made with some,
but not a lot of luggage; me and my roommate together weigh about 370
pounds, and he's losing weight. (I should, too.)

> It is not insulated well, and very loud and drafty. The noise will
> tire you out on long trips, even with ANR. The cockpit can get very
> hot in summer and cold in winter. The heater doesn't do much.

Mine should have less of this problem: it'll be the first one with the
factory winterization kit, which includes an extensive series of cabin
sealing and heat management mods developed by a guy in Crookston, Minnesota
for his. It doesn't get quite as cold in Fairmont as it does in Crookston,
but it does get cold enough.

I'll get to find out about long trips firsthand: my route home after taking
delivery (over a few days, to be sure) is planned to be EZM-14A-3R9-FRM, so
I can show it to my boss and family and friends.

> It is a very light construction, and easy to damage the skin or
> external parts. When climbing into the cockpit, you must step on the
> approx 6" wide strip at the wing root. If you step outside that strip,
> you will definitely put a hole through the skin.

This is true of a lot of other aircraft as well, but I see your point.

> It's a great little airplane if you understand these limitations.

Again, true of any aircraft, but well worth remembering.

> Even though it is IFR equipped, it should be flown in IFR with extreme
> caution.

I would expect an autopilot would help a lot here to manage the workload,
although the factory test pilot and sales manager tells me he's got about
500 hours actual in Zodiacs - he lives an hour's flight away from the
factory, and commutes in whatever they have handy - and he hand-flies it.
--
Jay Maynard, K5ZC http://www.conmicro.com
http://jmaynard.livejournal.com http://www.tronguy.net
Fairmont, MN (FRM) (Yes, that's me!)
AMD Zodiac CH601XLi N55ZC (ordered 17 March, delivery 2 June)

[Andrew Sarangan]

On Mar 23, 5:07 pm, Jay Maynard >
wrote:
> On 2008-03-23, Andrew Sarangan > wrote:
>

>
> > It is a very light construction, and easy to damage the skin or
> > external parts. When climbing into the cockpit, you must step on the
> > approx 6" wide strip at the wing root. If you step outside that strip,
> > you will definitely put a hole through the skin.
>
> This is true of a lot of other aircraft as well, but I see your point.

I think this one requires extra care compared to many other light
airplanes I have flown where I had to step on the wing to get in. We
have been careful about not stepping outboard the black stripe, but
contrary what one might expect, you cannot step inboard of the black
stripe either. As a result, we have a permanently deformed area where
the wing meets the fuselage.



>
> > It's a great little airplane if you understand these limitations.
>
> Again, true of any aircraft, but well worth remembering.
>
> > Even though it is IFR equipped, it should be flown in IFR with extreme
> > caution.
>
> I would expect an autopilot would help a lot here to manage the workload,
> although the factory test pilot and sales manager tells me he's got about
> 500 hours actual in Zodiacs - he lives an hour's flight away from the
> factory, and commutes in whatever they have handy - and he hand-flies it.

We have the Trutrak autopilot. Despite lots of tweaking we can't get
it to work except in very smooth air. It has a tendency to overcorrect
with each oscillation progressively larger. I hand fly it in rough
air. I have flown in IMC too. The heading indicator and compass are
both useless. The compass is permanently off my something like 30
degrees, and there was no calibration card.

One night I had a scary incident with the autopilot. I was sitting in
the left seat this time, and since I most fly right seat, I got the
trim and PTT keys mixed up. I pressed the trim key to talk to ATC, and
the next second we were in free fall. Our heads hit the canopy, and we
lost a thousand feet in a couple of seconds. I was certain we had had
a major structural loss.Turns out the autopilot was fighting the trim
until the trim overpowered it and disengaged the autopilot. The result
was a massive dive that scared the bejeezus out of us.