1998 Mooney Encore Glass Panel Retrofit

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Hello Everyone,

I own a 1998 Mooney Encore and am currently in the middle of an
extensive (and expensive) upgrade to a glass panel. I'm publishing the
progress on my blog and thought I'd let the group know in case anyone
is interested.

You can see the blog (including photos) at www.zuffoletto.com

Regards,

Joe

-- Joe Zuffoletto, June 18, 2010

Answers

Joe-

Wow, quite a project. Maybe I missed it on your site but could you offer your thoughts on G500 vs. G600 and perhaps what features most interested you. I'm sure a lot of pilots are looking at this kind of upgrade and your opinions might help. Very nice Mooney by the way.

Alex

-- Alex Baker, July 8, 2010


Alex,

I chose the G500 over the G600 because I wanted Synthetic Vision and AHRS, but didn't want or need Radar and TAWS-B terrain alerting. It was cheaper to apply the synthetic vision and AHRS upgrades to the G500 than to purchase the G600. The G600 also has more robust software assurance required for larger planes which doesn't apply to me, which also contributes to its higher price.

-- Joe Zuffoletto, July 9, 2010


1998 Mooney Encore Glass Panel Retrofit: Nearly Finished!

All components are installed and we fired up my new panel for the first time. You can see updated photos at www.zuffoletto.com.

-- Joe Zuffoletto, July 9, 2010

Wow, that's a lot of glass.

What is the engine management piece on the right? Also, on your standby's what led you to put the altimeter on the right vs perhaps in the third place down where the nav head is? I ask because it seems most production aircraft with glass keep the big three together.

With that setup you better hope the Barefoot Bandit doesn't find his way back to CO.

Alex

-- Alex Baker, July 9, 2010


The engine management unit is the EDM930 from JP Instruments (http://www.jpinstruments.com/edm_930.html). It eliminated a lot of clutter from my panel (engine instruments, fuel gauges, fuel flow monitor and my old JPI engine monitor).

I agonized for a while about the placement of the backup gauges. I was originally going to put the altimeter where the nav head is and vice-versa, but because of the location of the yoke and its position during flight it would have been difficult to see down there. I even considered buying miniature gauges like the Cirrus has and putting them below the G500, but mini gauges are ridiculously expensive and there wasn't a mini attitude indicator available with battery backup, which is a FAA requirement for this type of installation.

-- Joe Zuffoletto, July 9, 2010