AOPA Convention

[Todd Peterson]

What a great time. We had both a 230SE and a 260SE on display, the weather was great and there were lots of people.

It was good to see all the owners, soon to be owners and potential owners of our great airplanes. It was three days of non stop talking about our flying machines. Well, it was two days of talking for Chris as he made the extremely poor decision to go out and party with Glen and his group on Thursday night. He did not realize that he was in the presence of people that were pro's in this field. Therefore while Glen and his companions were feeling great on Frdiay Chris was back in his motel room trying to just survive the day. Glen told me that he felt kind of bad about it but deep, deep down I think they are still smiling.

Kevin not only loaned his beautiful 260SE to the display but put in endless hours talking to all the interested convention goers. It was a much appreciated effort.

Without a doubt the convention was well worth attending, although it was hard work believe it or not. While Palm Springs is a very nice place I must also admit it was great to see the El Dorado emerge as we slid out of the clouds on the approach. It's great to be back home.

[n2099x]

AOPA was great fun. Just ask Chris he had way too much fun I hope he remembers how much. And yes we are still smiling. I don’t think there is any permanent damage is there?

It was also fun to talk with the prospective buyers. But the current owners are the best.

Glen

[kwmoore]

First, I really enjoyed seeing the various members of the 260se family who stopped by. It was very much like a 260se fly-in.

Hanging around Todd's display and talking to all the interested folks who wandered by was a lot of fun. I had been curious to experience the Expo from the exhibitor's perspective and it did not disappoint, although Todd is right it is a fair amount of work (there are only so many different ways one can try to explain what the canard does). I was somewhat surprised that so many people had never seen/heard of the 260se before, although a few knew of the Wren. Todd, you should make sure your new 230se brochure can be downloaded from 260se.com.

Taxiing to and from the convention center was not to be missed. You quickly get a whole new perspective on speed bumps and dips in the road when you have prop clearance on your mind. At several bends in the road we watched as a King Air and turbine commanders in front of us blasted onlookers with their propwash when they made the turns. Ouch! There were several locations during the parade where I had to suppress the urge to apply full throttle and launch! At startup for the return parade, we watched the Maverick Jet brutally sandblast some spectators as it powered up to start rolling, then its jet blast rocked the world of a Mooney pilot just behind. He could well have needed new paint or a windscreen after that! Ouch #2! During the return parade the brand new Liberty lost its nosegear and beat its prop to death in the pavement. They pulled it off into a side street and the rest of us taxied by. Ouch #3! Thanks to Glen and Chris for helping out in the right seat during these adventures.

The Beechcraft exhibit was right across the way from PPP, and let me tell you it did NOT get much traffic. There were still rumors that Mooney Aerospace was going to acquire the Beech piston line. A brilliant strategy: instead of just one line of overpriced, dated products, they will now have two! Darwin is at work in the GA marketplace. Mooney Aerospace also had three new aircraft on display, with their recent 20% price reductions. The Mooney Eagle is now competitive with the SR22, and the Ovation with the Columbia 300. Competition is a good thing. On the other hand, how would you feel if you had purchased a brand new Bravo or Ovation in 2001 and your pride and joy had instantly lost nearly $100K of its value? Ouch #4...

Personal highs: having two friends (Gordon Feingold and Jim Fallows) receive major awards from AOPA. Another friend, Cirrus sales rep Walt Conley, sold 12 (!) new aircraft during the convention. Seeing Bob Hoover in the flesh at the Maverick Jet display. Showing 812KT to Mike Sullivan's wife and assuring her that she was going to be riding in one of the very safest planes available. And of course, four and a half uninterrupted days of nothing but airplanes, airplane equipment, and laughter with friends.

Personal lows: UPSAT STILL doesn't have the software ready for Nexrad downloads from the Aircell 1000 to display on the MX20. Cripes. I'm going to rid myself of this thing (Aircell) if Bevan-Rabell will give me some kind of credit for it. Bill Witrak is right, I should have waited another year for these services to sort themselves out. *Sigh* From the "what was I thinking" department: the tale of woe of an owner of a new turbo 206: he's had the plane for four months, it was down for two months for the first crankshaft AD, and now is down for the second AD, probably until spring. Oh, man...

Interesting exhibits/products: Cirrus, with its large air-conditioned marketing van containing a fuselage mockup. Christened the "mobile marketing unit" by Cirrus, it is referred to affectionately as the "BFT" (Big F&%#@!g Trailer) by Cirrus customers. They also had an SR22 with the brand new Avidyne Entegra PFD panel, very impressive.
There was a press conference involving Cirrus, BRS, and Lionel Morrison, the pilot who recently rode an SR22 to earth under the BRS/CAPS parachute after the left aileron departed the aircraft in flight, and walked away with little more than a mild, transient case of whiplash. He did a fine job under stressful conditions: wrestled the plane to an unpopulated area (overhead a golf course), deployed the 'chute at 2000 or 3000 feet agl, and came down in some nearby chaparral. The plane will likely fly again. A remarkable story! I may not own a Cirrus, but I know that I have at least one thing in common with Mr. Morrison: whenever I aim at a golf course, I usually end up in the trees too.

The Javelin Jet mockup: if it's ever certified it will be your very own personal F-18 for "just" $1.5 million or so. Jim Leachman was smitten. Dang, I think I'm about $1.3 million short just now.

The Piper Meridian and Socata TBM700 were there, sporting their recent "Aw shucks, I guess our full fuel payloads really DID suck after all" useful load increases. Not retrofittable in the field, unfortunately. Seriously, I have always liked the lines and the performance (300 KTAS) of the TBM700, and it is now a far more useful aircraft with the ability to haul 6 folks over a considerable distance. However, at more than twice the proposed price of the Eclipse 500, one has to wonder about its longevity in the marketplace.

Bendix-King has a new electronic HSI which looks to me like it's better than the Sandel.

A new EDM engine monitor which has separate, simultaneous displays for all the engine parameters that the EDM800 cycles through (rpm, manifold pressure, oil temp, oil pressure, OAT, CHT, EGT, fuel flow, foot-pounds-per-man-hour, minutes-left-to-play, you name it, a complete electronic engine gauge suite in one 5-6" square box. I think I must have one--not available until next year, too bad. They now have an instructional CD-ROM for the EDM700/EDM800. I think they'll send you one if you already own the instrument and contact them to request the CD.

The new Garmin 196: an impressive unit, intended to replace the 195 in Garmin's lineup. I would buy one if I were in the market for a new handheld GPS, but it's not quite enough of a leap forward to get me to trade in my 295.

The diesel-powered 182: with a cavernous airscoop on the lower cowl, reminiscent of the Hawker Typhoon, it had that characteristic diesel sound. And smell. This plane should have had the tail number N104GB ("ten-four good buddy"). And all this for just $80K--yep, that's the cost of THREE IO-470-F Gold Medallion engines, installed. A quixotic first edition, but I think there's some sort of future for diesel power in light GA aircraft, especially outside the US.

A great time! Palm Springs was a good venue for this convention. I hope they'll come back there in 2004. I'll definitely pass on the 2003 Expo in...Philadelphia. :rolleyes:

[Pete of N978PB]

Thanks for a great column, Kevin.

If your current professional future ever looks in doubt, give J. Mac a call ... he might just like to have you on board.

Cheers all,

Pete

[kwmoore]

Have been posted in the photo albums section. Please feel free to send me additional pictures of interest for posting.