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New seats, CTLS & Dynon Skyview


westcoastoz

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About 6 months ago we ordered some new leather sport seats for my 2006 CTsw and as they were delivered to the FD dealer who is located in Melbourne (and we live on the west coast of Australia) we decided that rather than having them sent over, we would go and collect the seats and have a holiday in the process.

As expected, the leather seats proved to be a huge improvement in comfort as we covered more than 4000 nautical miles with some sectors as long as 5 hours and arrived no worse for wear.

It just so happened that the Australian FD had just taken delivery of 2 new CTLS ordered by customers on the eastern seaboard. Both were fitted with dual 10" Dynon Skyview and the improvements since 2006 with regard to the interior and in particular the instrument binnacle layout was impressive. Note how the prop. CSU controller has been relocated to the lower central panel and the intercom PM3000 has been placed in the left panel under the Skyview.

Perhaps we should have stayed at home and had the seats shipped over as we (or at least I) consider that I 'gotta' have a new CTLS with dual 10" Skyviews, Dynon autopilot, Dynon S Mode transponder and more!

Provided I can get it past "the Treasurer" (alias my wife) I intend ordering a CTLS to replace my SW.

Can someone tell me if the CT's delivered to the USA are all fitted with Matco brakes as standard or is it by special order? The Australian delivered CTLS were fitted with the original Italian brakes and having retrofitted Matcos to our CTsw a while ago, there is no way I want to go back to the original type of brakes. Additionally, FD does not install firewall blankets on the Australian delivered aircraft.

I have attached a photo of the dual 10" Skyviews (sorry no power to the screens at the time). Also a picture of refuelling 'outback' (you have to take your turn at the bowser along with the cars, trucks & caravans!)

 

Dave

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HI Dave,

 

All the LS's in states have come with Matco's since Jan. 2009 and this includes the front wheel. I would have thought it was standard around the world by now. Firewall blankets are a thing of the past and all the LS's have a special painted on coating for the fire protection. If you order an LS tell them you want the Matco wheels and brakes. The Italian's can keep their junk.

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HI Dave,

 

All the LS's in states have come with Matco's since Jan. 2009 and this includes the front wheel. I would have thought it was standard around the world by now. Firewall blankets are a thing of the past and all the LS's have a special painted on coating for the fire protection. If you order an LS tell them you want the Matco wheels and brakes. The Italian's can keep their junk.

 

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Hi Dave. You should have known better than to take a look at the new CTLS's with 10" Dynons. I'm jealous about the variable pitch prop you and the Europeans can opt for on the CT's. Does FD also offer the 914 turbo charged engine down there? That would be a sweet setup with the variable pitch prop. You're talking about some impressive X-country speed for a little CTLS with those two options.

 

A thought you might consider. If you're ordering your CTLS and not purchasing it from a dealer's inventory, how about just ordering the firewall blanket when you order the plane and it's a done deal. I don't think you're talking about too many additional $$'s if the blanket is installed during production. You definitely want to get the Matco brakes and wheels if you can.

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Thanks Roger L. for the information regarding the Matco brakes. Interesting that they have been standard for US CT deliveries since Jan '09 and yet 'downunder' they still come with the old style brake units.

Firewall paint sounds interesting....I wonder what they use?

 

Hi Dick,

I don't think there is any restriction on fitting a 914 turbo on SLAs down here however am not sure if there are any CTs with the 914 operating in Australia. I expect FD would need to improve the streamlining on the wheel fairings (pants) as mine start to shake pretty badly once I get over 120 kts.

The new CTLS certainly is very tempting as is the FDC4 which is due for delivery in about 3 years time, however now that I am well into my 7th decade, I don't know if I want to wait around that long before ordering!

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