That all-important clock - 086 - Davtron M803

To be legal when flying under Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) you need to have an operating clock installed on your instrument panel. It can have an analog presentation with a sweep-second hand, or be a digital clock. This sounds simple enough. But some pilots seem a bit blase about this.

The Crossover Classic’s previous owner was one such pilot. He had a clock on the panel, all right. But it had given up the ghost long ago. “Ah, that doesn’t matter. I use my wristwatch,” he kept saying. Sorry, not good enough. The regs say a clock  must be mounted on the panel. To correct the situation, the owner had an “inop” sticker placed under the clock. But that’s no good unless the airplane has an approved minimum equipment list (MEL), which it didn’t. “What’s an MEL?” the owner wanted to know.

To remedy all this, renowned aviation chronometer manufacturer Davtron kicked in with its M803 digital clock. This useful–and did I say required?–unit shows time galore. We located it at the top left of the pilot’s instrument panel, where it has served us well. I mainly use it to keep track of elapsed time between legs. Just push the right button once, and the clock starts counting up. Push it again, and it stops. Easy.

The M803 shows Zulu time, local time, flight time, and elapsed time. It also shows the electrical system voltage and outside air temperature. You use the M803′s lower two buttons to initially set your times, and the ship’s power then keeps the unit running. A backup internal battery keeps the unit running should there be a complete loss of electrical power. In this case, you’d be down to the ship’s battery for powering a (load-shedded) panel, plus the M803′s and L-3 Trilogy’s own internal battery supply (worth up to two hours of flying time, I’ve been told) if everything goes dark.

Davtron is perhaps the largest supplier of general aviation panel-mount timepieces, and for good reason: They’re durable and intuitive to use. You probably have one in the airplane you fly! And what if the M803, by some ill stroke of luck, kick the bucket? Well, there are digital clocks in the Garmin 430s abaord the Crossover Classic, as well as a clock in the Garmin GTX-330 transponder. So we have time covered in spades on this unique airplane.

Here I am at Advantage Avionics, where the Crossover Classic’s panel is getting its final touches. Barring the unforeseen–and the weather–the plan is for me to leave the airport here at Chino, California on Friday January 28. The route? Still noodling with that. Direct Albuquerque, then direct Wichita sounds doable. More on the final plans later, when the winds and weather are better defined.

As for the panel, it’s a knockout. I can’t wait to see it at work…..which will be tomorrow, if today’s predicted Santa Ana winds kick up. Right now, the installation staff is plugging in the 182′s V-speeds, aligning the AHRS (attitude and heading reference system), and plugging some pitot-static leaks. Seems the last pitot-static inspection left a lot to be desired. The leaks in the pitot-static system reached a level worth 1,400-fpm!

Tomorrow will also be activation day for the XM WX datalink weather, and during the test flights I’ll have a chance to check out the G500′s electronic charts. These include Garmin’s SafeTaxi airport diagrams, plus their ChartView arrival, approach, and departure charts. Garmin’s GTS 800 traffic advisory system will also no doubt be given a workout in the airspace around Chino.

There are always potential glitches in the best of plans, and in this case it’s the airplane’s heavy right wing. A re-rigging sounds definitely in order, and I certainly hope it doesn’t take long to perform. In any event, there’s plenty to see at Chino. There’s a Paris Jet in the Advantage hangar, getting its new G600, an F33 Bonanza getting the GTS800, an F90 King Air getting a dual G600 installation, and a new Robinson R44 being fitted with Garmin’s G500H–the helicopter version of the straight G500. Hmmm, this is news! I’m told this is the first-ever, testbed installation of a G500H. Does this mean it will be featured at the upcoming Helicopter Association International show in Orlando, from March 5-8? We’ll soon find out.

Then there’s the Planes of Fame museum on the field. If I have a chance, I’ll swing by for a look.

Check back tomorrow for a rundown of the flight checks. That’s all for today!

Mark Krueger heads up Advantage Avionics, and as I’ve said before his shop came highly recommended. By both Garmin and previous customers. So what’s the key to Krueger’s success? Enthusiasm and motivation top the list.

Back in 1992, Krueger began working in a business you wouldn’t ordinarily associate with a career track in avionics. He installed car stereos and alarm systems. He knew nothing about airplanes back then, but the bug bit when the owner of a Piper Cherokee came by the shop. He wanted to know if Krueger would install a stereo in his airplane. That job got him hanging around airports, and he developed an interest in learning to fly. By 1999 he’d earned his private pilot certificate, then came his multi-engine rating.

He walked away from the car business and developed his avionics acumen by working at several avionics shops in southern California, and in April 2003 he opened up Advantage Avionics. Now he installs 15 to 20 full-blown panel overhauls per year–many of them involving G500s. He has six full-time employees, three of which specialize in installations.

He also has a 1965 Cherokee Six–which looks a great deal like the “Win-A-Six” Cherokee Six that AOPA gave away in our 2006 sweepstakes. Needlesss to say, his has a top-notch panel and a brand-new interior that features video screens in the headrests. Kruger’s Six is parked in Advantage’s large service hanger, and if you stand outside you can see some of the Chino Airport’s unique attractions. These include warbird restoration specialists Aero Trader and Allied Fighters, plus the Planes of Fame museum.

When asked to elaborate on his success, Krueger came right to the point. “I have a marketing background, so I know how to promote the business on our website and other ways, plus I’m very energetic and enthusiastic. A lot of avionics shops don’t make the extra effort to get business, and in this downturn a lot of them just burned out. But I just keep on plugging away,” he said. In a refurbishment project like the Crossover Classic, it’s nice to have Krueger and his team aboard. Two more weeks and the panel will be finished for all to see!

The sweeps 182 is now into its fourth week at Advantage Avionics, a shop located at the Chino, California airport. While almost all of the new avionics components are at Advantage, the panel still is in its gutted stage. The work these days is focused on installing the many antennas and airframe-mounted components that will serve the Garmin G500, the Garmin GTS800 traffic advisory system, the Cobham/S-TEC System Fifty-Five X autopilot and flight control system, and the new comm radios.

“The panel work comes last,” says Advantage’s Mark Krueger. “We have a lot of boxes still to install,  but we’re closing in on the last of them.”

The accompanying photo shows two of those boxes. The photo is of the interior, aft of where the rear seats would be. The large box on the left is the GTS800′s processor unit–the one that detects nearby transponder returns and generates warning symbology on the G500. To its right is the Garmin GDL69A datalink receiver, which handles inbound signals for depicting XM WX satellite weather information.

But there’s something else about this photo. I want you to look at the interior of that tailcone. It is as bright and corrosion-free as the day it left the factory, back in 1974. This is a quite remarkable state of preservation. And, frankly, it’s the main reason we purchased N52832.  When we bought it, the panel was ancient, the paint was shot, the interior was dreadful, and the engine had seen better days.

But in restoration projects like the ones AOPA performs for its sweepstakes airplanes, none of that matters. All those items can be replaced or otherwise improved upon. But corrosion? That’s a deal-killer. Repairing corrosion–or even worse, replacing corroded parts–is too costly and time-consuming for a 10-month upgrade project. Then there’s the ugly fact that’s the title of a Neil Young album: Rust Never Sleeps. You may think you’ve fixed corrosion, but chances are it’ll be back.

We sure didn’t want that. So a sight like that tailcone interior was a green light to go ahead and buy N52832.