Building a Sling TSi

A few weeks ago I got the new Apple iPad mini. The smaller form-factor is perfect for the Sling TSi. However, I don’t want it to be floating around on my knee, so I have been looking for a good way to mount it somewhere so that it is hands-free and does not obstruct the view or the instruments. I think I have found a good solution.  I  got a tablet mount on Amazon (link   here ) with a short adjustable arm and   attached the mounting point to the left of the panel (see below). The panel is made of aluminum, covered in leather. I used self tapping screws with plastic washers, but you could use rivnuts. Here it is with the arm attached.   I don’t like the tablet holder that came with it (too bulky), so instead I used another mounting point (Amazon link here ), and some Velcro to attach the arm to back of my iPad cover. That works great, it does not come off easily, it is height adjustable, and it does not take up much space. I also added a small metal tab to hold ...

To be legal we need to carry a POH in the plane (Pilot's Operating Handbook). I obviously have a hi-res electronic copy in my Foreflight documents folder, but I'm pretty sure you need to also carry a hard copy just in case. So I decided to make a booklet out of it. This was a bit harder than I thought. It is not simply a matter of printing the PDF double sided. Here is what I did to prepare the PDF on my Mac: Download the latest POH from the Airplane Factory. Use Preview to annotate the Front cover and first page with the Aircraft details. To create more space for binding, save the PDF to a new file scaled down to 80%. Download an app called "Booklet" from the App store ($0.99). Use the Booklet app to create a booklet PDF (use default settings) Print double sided, collated on the short edge. Finally I cut, laminated and bound the booklet at my local FedEx store (don’t print it there it is ridiculously expensive). See, that was easy...

This weekend we flew our plane from Torrance airport to our home base in Palo Alto. It is finally done. There are a few outstanding issues that we need to resolve during the first 100hr service, but it flies great! The pilots are happy!

Overall We have been focused primarily on flying characteristics, mechanical/airframe squawks.  34+ hours so far and we found a few squawks.  Y/D. The most disappointing squawk has been the Y/D has not shown any effectiveness. We are still trying to figure it out, but it seems the servo cannot handle the rudder and the steerable wheel. It seems too much load (other airplanes, either they have caster wheel or the front wheel steering disconnect when in the air). Brakes vibration We had upgraded the brake system (Matco). During testing, we experienced an intense vibration while braking. As per Matco/Jean recommendation, brake pads had to be replaced.  It now feels way better—still, a bit of beating, particularly when braking at slow speeds. The Panel The panel is fantastic. The GTN650xi is nice. We would have preferred a GTN750xi for its larger screen. The way we are "seeing" the 650 screen is mainly as a data entry auxiliary screen. We are "driving," primarily lookin...