Thanks. I will be interested in the final pirep you give on Termikas when all is done. They seem to be doing some good work. Being thorough is also good, although “perfectionist” is always a double-sided sword…. shops that always try to “upsell” can also be a bit of a pain…
By they, do they taxy the aircraft across the road from the airfield to get to their workshop? Never been in EYPR…
Graham wrote:
In ours we can do four adults (old school adults, none more than 75-80kg and the ladies quite a bit less) and three hours fuel.
I am 67 kilos and by far the heaviest in the family. My wife and daughters could blow away with a strong wind, and my oldest son is also very thin. Actually keeping W&B in check is a strong motivator for me to keep healthy! 
boscomantico wrote:
By they, do they taxy the aircraft across the road from the airfield to get to their workshop? Never been in EYPR…
Very good question. It’s an interesting field actually, where you could really land in any direction, with a small strip of asphalt to one side. I landed on the asphalt, but then was escorted across the big field to their hangar. However as you noted that’s not the location of the shop, and I have no idea how they got it into the shop because I wasn’t there when it happened.
UdoR wrote:
Nice idea, but it’s not as easy as you describe it. Second-hand costs you as much as new, because Stec has to give you some authorization that you may use that used autopilot.
As far as I was told at the time, this is true if the AP comes out of a different type, because then S-Tec has to reprogram the computer. If it is from the same type, second hand is easier, but it is indeed not much cheaper than getting it new.
However, quite a few are currently taken out of existing installations, so parts prices may be way down. It is worth talking to a S-Tec installer like Straubing about this.
At the time I was interested in the System 30 Alt, it was around 5k $ new installed. The PSS 60 is more expensive, also as it requires wiring to the radios (for GP capture). I am not sure what the total installation cost of a new GFC500 or what is, but judging from what I heard and experienced for a 55x it would be in the 20k or more.
Almost there…
yep, moving along nicely 
Keep us posted please, I (we) love these kind of threads 👍🏻
So do I! Plane looks fabulous.
I was supposed to fly on Monday to pick up the airplane, but it’s not quite finished. The wiring has proven more challenging than expected, and it turns out the shop that did the 530W and instrument lights took a shortcut and wired the 530’s button lights (which didn’t work and were one of my squawks) and the lights using the same high current circuit. This could mean my button lights are fried, but this remains to be seen once the wiring is properly done. Crossing my fingers this isn’t the case, as that will result in a major (and possibly expensive) headache.
This aside, you can see from the pictures that the quality is very high on the interior, especially compared to certain commonly seen UK and Western European shops I won’t name. The shop said it would be ready by Thursday, but I postponed for two weeks so they aren’t rushed. The owner tried to convince me it would be done, but I spoke with the technician in charge of the project, and he said the extra time would give them breathing room. I opted to make the tech happy, having myself been similarly pressured in my many years as a software engineer.
Some pics:
Loving this! Please keep posting updates.
Thank you for the updates. It would be nice to have a breakdown of the ‘paint + interior’ costs.
Can you roughly estimate how much was the exterior (paint, rivets, etc.) as compared to the interior? Also, how come you have to replace so many rivets? Thank you again!
