New Trasponder & W&B

Conveniently, the FAA signed off on my transponder STC the day I was flying home after a two-week stretch of work trips, which also meant that my airplane got to hang out in the avionics shop's hangar that entire time instead of getting snowed and iced on.  Got up this morning, took the kids to school, did a few work things, and then headed out to the Airport.  The temps weren't going to get up over 40 until closer to lunch time, so I brought my laptop to ride it out until they did, but much to my delight, the plane was still in the hangar when I got there.

4TV got to ride out the recent snowstorms in the comfort of a hangar

All told, it was about $1,400 to have the GTX-327 installed and the KT76a removed, and to have the LORAN and ADF systems removed as well.  That included the STC certification that comprised about $100 of that.  The swapped transponders weighed the same, while removing the ADF system and LORAN reduced total empty weight by 7 lbs - no small amount in a 150.  That took my new useful load to an impressive 473 lbs!

New W&B reflecting the seven pound shed from removing the ADF/LORAN

I went through a very thorough preflight, and noted that there was zero water in the tanks and sump, which probably reflects the fact that the tanks had been full this entire time.  It seems that when they're not, at least in cold weather, some water condensation builds in the tanks and makes its way to the sumps.  Not a lot - I'm able to get it all out, but enough worth noting.

I did not hand turn the prop this time since it had been inside, but I should have, as the starter struggled a bit to turn the prop at first, but then it caught and started right up as soon as it did.  Once the prop gets turning, this O-200 starts great every time.  The transponder itself worked terrific.  I ran a test on the app for the tailBeacon and it picked it up immediately without me having to do anything.  I used the flight timer feature on takeoff, which I love having.

Bad photo, but shows the new radio stack with the 327 running and the LORAN/ADF gone.

Flight itself was good.  Winds were light and right down the runway, so I don't know if my landings are getting better from the right seat, or if the conditions helped a lot.  I practiced some maneuvers - great steep turns to the left, but I struggled from the right.  Soft field landing was OK, I came up short on my short-field.  Also, I used 40 on the flaps for the short field which I hadn't done in awhile.  On final I had the throttle fire walled to get it to generate enough power to overcome the drag, at least initially.  I looked up some comments online, and it seems that 40 flaps in the 150 is often not recommended just because you can't climb with it, and I don't think it's something I'll use except in an emergency, but I want to practice a bit more with it.

I'm home for a bit now, or at least until baseball starts up again soon, so will try to get even more flying in, weather permitting.