Author: Martin Pauly

Sun ‘n Fun 2023 is here! If you are looking for Martin in Lakeland, here is where you can find him:

Please join and do say hi!

On February 24, 2023 I left from Falcon Field (KFFC, Peachtree City, GA) with the fully-completed instrument panel upgrade in my Bonanza. I had gotten a good preview of the new capabilities since November, but the FAA’s final approval of Aspen’s new software facilitating the digital autopilot interface with the GF600 only came about a month ago. Meaning that I had been using the GFC600 only with an analog interface to the Aspen PFD, which isn’t bad but leaves some of the advanced capabilities unused. Not any more!

Gardner Lowe, the fine avionics shop at Falcon Field, completed the digital connection between Aspen and the GFC600 and updated the software in both units. That paved the way for several improvements, the three most notable ones being:

1. Altitude preselect: the GFC600 now does a wonderful job leveling off smoothly and precisely at the altitude target selected on the Aspen PFD.
2. Native GPSS support: prior to the digital interface, I could use GPSS on the Aspen PFD. But it was a big of a bandaid solution – for example, I could previously not fly (using GPSS) a heading to intercept an airway, because the GFC600 had to be in HDG mode for both. Now I can arm NAV on the GFC600 with the airway loaded in my flight plan. All the annunciations on the GFC600 are correct now and make sense with the digital interface.
3. The Aspen PFD and GFC600 take care of all the little altitude changes resulting from new altimeter settings on a cross country flight.

I am excited to have N70TB back at home after almost 14 months. The panel is everything I was hoping it would be. Gardner Lowe did a phenomenal job with the metal work, cutting and etching a new panel and installing all the hardware and wiring, plus the configuration effort which is far from trivial.

A ten-month project is coming to an end: On November 11, 2022 I picked up my Bonanza from Garmin in Kansas City. Even though we are still waiting for final FAA approval of the new digital autopilot interface, even the current setup is magnitudes better than what I had in my panel before. Let me give you a tour in my new video.

Just before Oshkosh, I had the opportunity to fly in the cockpit observer seat of “DOC”, one of the two remaining B-29 aircraft in airworthy condition. This was in Mason City, IA at the monthly airport BBQ – specifically, the one in July, the one just before Oshkosh. It was a fantastic (and maybe once-in-a-lifetime for me, $$$) experience.
Did I bing my cameras? You bet I did! The ride was surprisingly smooth (for a piston airplane!), and sitting in the very seats that were once the workplace of pilots of the greatest generation was touching. Aircraft Commander Steve Zimmerman and his crew did a nice job explaining what they were doing, and I try to convey a lot of that in this new video (click here).

At last – Oshkosh/AirVenture is here again, and I am excited to be there the whole week. Unfortunately, my Bonanza is still not ready for me (avionics upgrade), so I will make a road trip instead and experience AirVenture from an RV in Sleepy Hollow. 

If you are in Oshkosh, I hope you can join me at one of my presentations (LOP/mixture management on Monday and Saturday morning) or the YouTubers Meet & Greet on Monday afternoon. I’ll also be at the ABS dinner on Tuesday and the SAFE dinner on Thursday. And odds are you can find me at the SOS beer tent after dark. Please come and say hi if you’re there.

Whether you are flying or driving, have a safe trip, and see you in Oshkosh!

N70TB has been in the shop for a few months now for its biggest upgrade yet. I’m happy to say that we are nearing the end – another few weeks, meaning completion is likely just before or after Oshkosh. The center piece of the upgrade is a new autopilot – my Century III broke late last year. In my view, repairing it didn’t make much sense – it’s a 40-year-old system, and at some point I just had to bite the bullet and switch over to a new digital autopilot. That is what’s going on with my Bonanza, and while I can still not disclose the full extend of the project, I am sharing my thoughts about available autopilot in a new video, and which one of them is going to be in N70TB from here on.

It’s June 2022, and I have not flown N70TB since early January. What in the world is going on that keeps me from flying my favorite Bonanza? I can’t share details yet, but I can tell you the Bonanza spent quite a while at Gardner Lowe Aviation in Peachtree City, GA (Atlanta Regional – Falcon Field) getting a facelift. If all goes to plan, I will have her back in time for Oshkosh, and then I can share the rest of the story over the summer. For now, all I can say is: I am beyond excited about what’s coming!

It is time for the world’s second-largest fly-in again! I am excited to be back in Lakeland, FL for Sun ‘n Fun, and I will be there from Tuesday to Friday this year.

Here is a list of events I will be at:

Martin has achieved accreditation in the BPPP Program (Beechcraft Pilot Proficiency Program) and can now provide the flight portion of your BPPP BEST or BPPP Focus training event. After you complete the computer-based ground training, we can fly in your aircraft to complete the BEST training which may help reduce the cost of your next insurance renewal.

It is with great pleasure that I can announce the 2021 Charity Fundraiser: the Oshkosh 2021 Charity Poster Project. Just like in 2019, four posters will be autographed by aviators popular on YouTube and Instagram and then auctioned off for to charitable organizations in August of this year. Read all about it here.