Airgizmo and Garmin 496 Install Saga

If anyone in the northeast area has had better success, I'd be
interested in a PIREP.


Although I am not in the Northeast, here is another datapoint. The folks
here at JA Air Center (Northeast Illinois - DPA) say they have done
several installations. Our local FSDO is about 1 block away from their
facility. If I recall, they were talking logbook entry and nothing more.
You might give them a call to see what they are doing. These guys are
usually pretty "by the book" and work very closely with their FSDO.

I have given this a lot of thought myself. I am concerned about whether
I will be able ot SEE the thing way across the panel. The screen is hard
enough to see on the yoke mount. At 51, the Mk I eyeballs (2 each) are
beginning to need reading glasses. On the yoke, it is a bit of a
challenge to see the small details. Across the panel with the engine
running, in light-moderate bumps, and on instruments, I really don't
know how I would be able to use it. That is also REALLY outside of my
scan. In those conditions, the yoke mount appears to be a better bet.

Any of you PPSEL - IA folks use one in actual from the dock?

Good Luck,
Mike

Mike Spera wrote:
[snip]
I have given this a lot of thought myself. I am concerned about whether
I will be able ot SEE the thing way across the panel. The screen is hard
enough to see on the yoke mount. At 51, the Mk I eyeballs (2 each) are
beginning to need reading glasses. On the yoke, it is a bit of a
challenge to see the small details. Across the panel with the engine
running, in light-moderate bumps, and on instruments, I really don't
know how I would be able to use it. That is also REALLY outside of my
scan. In those conditions, the yoke mount appears to be a better bet.

Viewing it concerns me too but a little differently. I've noticed that
for some reason, the terrain detail on the 496 gets lost when viewing
the screen from the left at the slightest offset angle and not at all
from the right. Virtually all the other detail (like airspace and field
values) can be seen from the left however. Luckily, the terrain
warnings can be seen OK so it's more of a cosmetic issue but annoying
nonetheless. Anyone else notice this?

I'll install the angled dock if it get too annoying but I'd rather not.

Marco

Folks,

Help me understand the most basic alteration/modification/addition. This
"simple" category. Some conclude this device fits that category.

If my IA determines that screwing a bit of plastic onto the instrument
panel (using the existing mounting rails with approved hardware)
constitutes nothing more than a minor alteration, can he simply make a
logbook entry and sign it off? What other paperwork must he execute, if any?

Once done, what happens wan an FAA critter with an attitude problem at
some remote airport where I am not based comes along, peeps in the
window and says "where is your paperwork for this thing"? I don't carry
my logbooks. What do the regs say I have to do (produce) right there and
then? Providing I follow the rules (which you just told me), what can
the FAA person do according to the regs?

Where possible, please point me to the chapter and verse. Where
impossible, please let me know why you reached a conclusion where the
regs are nonexistent or vague.

Thanks,
Mike

If my IA determines that screwing a bit of plastic onto the instrument
panel (using the existing mounting rails with approved hardware)
constitutes nothing more than a minor alteration, can he simply make a
logbook entry and sign it off? What other paperwork must he execute, if any?

Mike, I can't quote you chapter and verse -- but I know a guy who
*can*. Call Tony, at McCandless Aviation in Waterloo, Iowa. He's the
head of their avionics shop, and he did my installation with a logbook
entry. His number is 319-232-1234

Once done, what happens wan an FAA critter with an attitude problem at
some remote airport where I am not based comes along, peeps in the
window and says "where is your paperwork for this thing"?

I've only been ramp-checked once, but the FAA dude was only concerned
about your paperwork (pilot certificate, medical) and the aircraft's
basic paperwork (airworthiness cert, etc.). At no time did the guy
even look at the panel, other than when he looked in the plane at me
and Mary.

I have a hard time imagining a situation where an inspector starts
asking for STC and field approval paperwork on stuff like the AirGizmo.
Hell, it would take me three hours just to show him the paperwork on
all the other mods on my plane. (Let's see, wing tips, wing fillets,
landing lights, flap gaps, aileron gaps, fancy pants...shoot, I'm up to
three hours already!)

IMO, you'd have to really pee in someone's Wheaties to get ramp checked
THAT hard.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:



I've only been ramp-checked once, but the FAA dude was only concerned
about your paperwork (pilot certificate, medical) and the aircraft's
basic paperwork (airworthiness cert, etc.). At no time did the guy
even look at the panel, other than when he looked in the plane at me
and Mary.


Along those lines find a time when the FAA is running the PACE program.
This is where your local FSDO shows up at your airport and you can
bring your plane and logs to them for them to inspect and they will tell
you if they find anything they consider unairworthy or maybe a little
suspicious. They will also inspect the plane and tell you what they
think and you can also have the FSDO fly with you for an hour or so,
basically give you a mini checkride. It's all nonadversarial. You can
ignore what they say and fly away if you want but it's also a way to
meet these people and find out they're just regular people. I did all
that and pointed out all the stuff on my plane that comes up from time
to time in these discussions.

Mike Spera wrote:


If my IA determines that screwing a bit of plastic onto the instrument
panel (using the existing mounting rails with approved hardware)
constitutes nothing more than a minor alteration, can he simply make a
logbook entry and sign it off?


That is, by definition, a minor alteration. And that is all that is
required for a minor alteration.


What other paperwork must he execute, if
any?

None.




Once done, what happens wan an FAA critter with an attitude problem at
some remote airport where I am not based comes along, peeps in the
window and says "where is your paperwork for this thing"?

Nothing happens. If he asks tell them your mechanic signed it off as a
minor alteration. If he wants to look at the loogbooks the regs say
they have to contact you and you two make an appointment and he can look
at the logs. I would think that if you have an electronic version, I
scan all mine into PDF's, you could just email them over there.



I don't carry
my logbooks. What do the regs say I have to do (produce) right there and
then?


Nuthin', relating to the maintenence. For a ramp check you have to have
the AROW, just what you learned to be a private pilot.



Providing I follow the rules (which you just told me), what can
the FAA person do according to the regs?



See above. And under no circumstances can he "ground" your plane. He
can hang a tag on there stating he thinks something isn't airworthy.
The most famous case is the FSDO inspector who did that on a Mooney with
a Q Tip prop. But you determine if the plane is airworthy. Your
mechanic is the one who gets to decide if the Air Gizmo is a minor
alteration not the FAA. He may ask the FAA for guidance but when you
read the mechanics bible not in a million years is the Gizmo a major
alteration. Any IA who says so should lose his IA priveleges.