Greetings from the Czech Republic. Galatea took me there at FL120 and 200+ knots ground speed and then happily embarked my relatives there for some lovely local flights. 5 of us and 130 knots at 1000 ft AGL or less.
Plenty of photos and videos of my teenage nieces in the copilot seat going to Instagram. Happy kids. Happy pilot. Here in Pribram LKPM , Galatea in good company:
Garmin Pilot and Windy keep getting better and better and I thoroughly enjoy the “revolutionary” co-pilot instrumentation: one iPad pro with integral mobile data comms so I can plan challenging flights with weather updates during a big chunk of the trip. The “strategic” decision back in 2016 to adopt software-based avionics is proving to be a good one. It took me many iterations to achieve this near-invisible mounting solution and I am happy to share.
If you ever buy an E400, make sure to budget 100 AMU for avionics and do not hesitate to call me for advice on how to do the iPad thing. The 100 AMU may sound steep, but if you don’t do it upfront you may well end up needing to repair the obsolete EADI which not only costs 5 digits but also weighs a ton. This stuff really must go.
Another hint to my fellow E400 flyers: I have added to my preflight checklist the “coolant pressure check”.
Upon arriving at the airport , I use a small electric pump from Bosch to apply 1.5 bar in the system (through the Schrader valve on top of the coolant tank) and leave the pump attached. After getting the plane ready to go, which takes a few minutes, I check oil level and then coolant pressure before putting away the pump. It is easy and gives me certainty that I am not taking off with an unnoticed leak which would turn into an engine failure.
Additional benefit (this is pure speculation from me) : the pre-pressurization of the coolant circuit increases boiling temperature of the coolant. This in turn means that there is less possibility for local boiling during the take-off run due to high power and resulting temperatures that may or may not be visible in elevated CHT.
Keeping this plane flying is not easy, but it flies so nicely and makes such an impression that the effort is worth it to me.
Another hint to my fellow E400 flyers
Are there in reality any except you? How many E400 flies in Europe?
and is with D-reg not allowed to be flown under condition.
Is the Extra 400 heavier than 2730kg? If not, of course the engine can be maintained on condition, or is there an airworthiness limitation?
Flyingfish wrote:
It took me many iterations to achieve this near-invisible mounting solution and I am happy to share.
I and probably others would be very interested in some additional photos of your iPad setup
@snoopy
You can find probably here, these are the type certificate holder
@RV14
The iPad is held by 4 minimalistic parts at each corner.
Positive lock is in the upper middle. 2 mm clearance between panel and camera array of iPad.
These parts hold the iPad in place. Happy to share Fusion 360 files of the setup.
Part on LH is mounted
to the panel. RH has a pile of 3 Neodymium magnets (5 × 5 × 2 mm) glued inside each of the 2 rectangular holes.
They mate with the ipad’s inbuilt magnets and create a strong lock. The frontal tongue provides additional safety in turbulence.
The iPad can be removed without any tools – IIRC this is an FAA requirement for panel mounted items that are for situational awareness only.
It is powered via USB-C with a dedicated fuse. Interface with certified avionics is via FlightStream 210 and GTX 345R as backup.
integrated mobile data com is really cool. Works very well in the E400
Screen brightness is fine, power supply cannot keep up with Garmin Pilot plus mobile data comms… So the battery must be full before take off.
I inhibited / uninstalled as much software as possible and dedicate this iPad for avionics only.
Apps: Garmin Pilot, Windy, iVac, RainViewer
Emir wrote:
Are there in reality any except you? How many E400 flies in Europe?
A handful, same in US.
We have actually become very friendly and take turns at helping each other with “onboarding”, advice, spare parts, docs, troubleshooting. Nice bunch of people.
Plus a few more fans who never actually owned the type but love it. These too have become good friends.
