Excited to have finally have found a Maule! It's a beautiful M-5-235 that I'll be flying back from Maine to Alaska in April. General route will be Maine to California to Alaska. Not sure about Canada yet. Leaving at least a month or two to make it back to AK so if there are any Maule pilots between Alaska and Maine it would be great to connect.

Also if anyone has opinions flying back with the AK Bushwheels I would love your two cents or any general route suggestions.

If you fly the highway stop by Cut Bank MT. KCTB

Beautiful airplane! And sounds like a fun trip. Going to California adds a lot of flying (time + $$$). Would be way faster to turn right on the east side of the rocks and go through cut bank. The lower risk factors and higher availability of services and fuel may be a welcome reduction in stress for a newish pilot as compared to going to CA then up one of the more western routes.

Whatever way you decide, it’ll be an adventure.

-Asa

Congrats - she looks like a beauty! I bought my M5-235C at Kenai and flew it back to Minnesota via the Alcan years ago - a great trip. Enjoy!

Weather can be a big problem on the coastal route from CA to AK. The Alaska Highway route is not only faster but less prone to severe weather and there are more fuel and rest stops.

Nice airplane! The tires look like 31" ABI like mine. They produce a lot of drag that limits your cruise airspeed. You can add power to regain a little airspeed but the fuel burn goes up significantly. You'll have to experiment to find the optimum power setting at altitude. It's a tradeoff between airspeed and fuel burn. I have an O-360-C1F 180 hp engine and I try for 90 kts ground speed in no-wind conditions @ 9.5 gph or 95 kts ground speed @ 10 gph. You have to ask yourself if a 5 kt speed difference that reduces your flight time by one hour on a 25 hour trip is worth 23 gallons more fuel. Your endurance also suffers disproportionately because of the higher fuel burn so fuel planning is more of a problem.

Stop by and/or overnight at KEAU ( or my own strip 53WI) now have 3 maules on the field and if you have a day to play there are plenty of great spots around.

Sweet Ride!!

With all that prop clearance and hp think about getting out from behind that lazy Hartzell and behind an 86" Mac. Big performance increase but $adly.

montana maule wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 09, 2021 5:47 pm

If you fly the highway stop by Cut Bank MT. KCTB

Thanks Rick. I've read your website/blog and really appreciated the info you put out there. I'd be very curious to hear all the stories about your commercial work with the Maule. It would be great to link up on my way through Montana.

asa wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 09, 2021 6:19 pm

Beautiful airplane! And sounds like a fun trip. Going to California adds a lot of flying (time + $$$). Would be way faster to turn right on the east side of the rocks and go through cut bank. The lower risk factors and higher availability of services and fuel may be a welcome reduction in stress for a newish pilot as compared to going to CA then up one of the more western routes.

Whatever way you decide, it’ll be an adventure.

-Asa

Asa thanks for the advice. I've been following your Maule build closely. Can't wait to see the finished product. I'm currently building hours towards my commercial rating so more flying the better but will take crossing California very seriously and will be taking the most safe route through Canada on the way up. No doubt about the adventure!

MnMauleFlyer wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 09, 2021 7:39 pm

Congrats - she looks like a beauty! I bought my M5-235C at Kenai and flew it back to Minnesota via the Alcan years ago - a great trip. Enjoy!

That sounds like a great flight. I'm considering one of the more eastern routes up through Canada for sure.

andy wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 10, 2021 4:25 am

Weather can be a big problem on the coastal route from CA to AK. The Alaska Highway route is not only faster but less prone to severe weather and there are more fuel and rest stops.

Nice airplane! The tires look like 31" ABI like mine. They produce a lot of drag that limits your cruise airspeed. You can add power to regain a little airspeed but the fuel burn goes up significantly. You'll have to experiment to find the optimum power setting at altitude. It's a tradeoff between airspeed and fuel burn. I have an O-360-C1F 180 hp engine and I try for 90 kts ground speed in no-wind conditions @ 9.5 gph or 95 kts ground speed @ 10 gph. You have to ask yourself if a 5 kt speed difference that reduces your flight time by one hour on a 25 hour trip is worth 23 gallons more fuel. Your endurance also suffers disproportionately because of the higher fuel burn so fuel planning is more of a problem.

As beautiful as the coastal route sounds I'm definitely taking a more eastern route. I think the Alaska Highway route sounds like a great idea. Do you have a panel mounted fuel flow gauge to monitor fuel consumption? I've been wondering if it might be a good upgrade for the panel.

Undaunted wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 10, 2021 7:27 am

Stop by and/or overnight at KEAU ( or my own strip 53WI) now have 3 maules on the field and if you have a day to play there are plenty of great spots around.

That sounds like a great time! I'll be sure to message you closer to when I'm headed that way.

wtxdragger wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 10, 2021 7:34 am

Sweet Ride!!

Thanks!

maules.com wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 10, 2021 11:46 am

With all that prop clearance and hp think about getting out from behind that lazy Hartzell and behind an 86" Mac. Big performance increase but $adly.

That would be an awesome upgrade. If you're still in the Napa area Jeremy it would be great to stop by and say hi!

One of the most valuable upgrades in any airplane is a good engine monitor that includes a fuel totalizer. That's especially true on long trips with quite a bit of distance between fuel stops. I have a JPI EDM 800 with all of the sensors: fuel flow, CHT/EGT on each cylinder, carburetor temp, manifold pressure, outside temperature and RPM. My EDM 800 is wired to my Garmin GTN 650 GPS so it knows how long to the next waypoint and how much fuel is needed based on the current fuel burn. The engine monitor also warns of electrical system problems by monitoring voltage. I have an external JPI interface that captures the historical information from the EDM 800 via a jack on the panel to a thumb drive that plugs into my desktop computer for identifying trends and potential engine problems like a sticky valve with the EZTrends app.

MobileandMonitoring wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 10, 2021 12:54 pm

... will be taking the most safe route through Canada on the way up...

I've heard that Canada's ADS-B requirements are different than U.S. Canada may require 1090-MHz extended squitter (1090ES) ADS-B Out. You should check into this yourself... Maybe someone on the forum can provide accurate info.

Canada does not yet mandate ADS-B Out. They are planning to use satellite based transmitters and 1090ES only. 978 UAT transceivers that are approved in the USA will not be approved in Canada. Satellite based transceivers will also require aircraft ADS-B Out antennas that are mounted on top of the aircraft or have a clear view of the sky or have diversity antennas. UAvionix tailBeaconX would work in the USA and Canada since it is 1090ES and has diversity antennas and a clear view of the sky and ground (for the most part). If you're going to mount an ADS-B transponder on the rudder, I highly recommend a ground strap from the rudder tubing to the vertical stabilizer tubing to prevent an intermittent ground from interfering with the transponder's operation.

Andy, I'm showing my ignorance here, but does the non WASS, non deversity, Garmin GTX345 with a top mounted antenna meet the Canadian requirements? If not, what's needed for compliance ?

Takes a lot of hunting to get a clear picture of Canadian ADS-B requirements. Good news, we are a few years from total mandate. Bad news, 1090ES only and top mounted antenna will be required.

This is a good article from IFR Magazine online: https://www.ifr-magazine.com/system/canadas-ads-b/
Unlike the U.S. all-or-nothing ADS-B Out equipage deadline of January 1, 2020, Nav Canada has phased its implementation deadlines. If you fly in Canada in Class A airspace (FL 180-FL600) or in Class E above FL600, you must be equipped by February 25, 2021 (Phase 1). Phase 2 adds Class B airspace, which in Canada is essentially anything above 12,500 feet, with a deadline of January 27, 2022.

Plans for a Phase 3, likely to add nearly all controlled airspace, are still fluid, but the deadline will not be before January 1, 2023. Nav Canada has said that current ADS-B Out transponders with Diversity meet their Phase 1 and Phase 2 equipage requirements. Indeed, an ADS-B Out transponder with Diversity is currently the only way to meet the requirements in Canada.
<end quote>

As far as the Garmin 335 & 445; you would need a 335D or 345D. The D stands for “antenna diversity”. Looks like right now, Garmin does NOT have an upgrade to the 335 & 335. The price difference is steep. Prices here are from an article in Kitplanes:

https://www.kitplanes.com/avionics-boot ... nd-beyond/
The current price for the GTX 345 with diversity is $7,995, compared to $4,995 for the non-diversity model. That doesn’t include the additional required antenna work you or your shop will need to accomplish. The GTX 335 with diversity (this model has ADS-B Out only—it won’t receive weather or traffic) is $6,495, compared to $2,995 without diversity.
<end quote>

As far as a switch to select antennas, a good avionics shop might be able to answer that question. I suspect that it can’t be approved because of the requirements to install according to the manufacturer specs but definitely ask someone smarter than me on that.

That’s all I could find. Doesn’t sound like any through flight exemption will be available.

Kirk

Hale-Yes, ADS-B Out requires a WAAS GPS position source. If you have a WAAS GPS connected to the GTX 345, that is sufficient. If not, the GTX 345 must have an internal WAAS GPS position source with an antenna on top of your aircraft. If you have a GPS antenna on top of your aircraft connected to the GTX 345 then you most likely have the version with the internal WAAS GPS. The GTX 345 part number with the integrated WAAS GPS is 010-01216-46.

Your ADS-B antenna is probably under the cowling. Mine is a white blade antenna. Yours could be either a white blade antenna or a short metal whip antenna. Because the FAA uses ADS-B ground stations rather than satellites to broadcast and receive ADS-B signals, the ADS-B antenna must be on the bottom of the airplane to avoid having the metal wings or tubing between the signal source and the ground station. Metal blocks radio waves. Your top-mounted GPS antenna receives the WAAS GPS signal from the satellites to give you location information that is fed to your GTX 345 and reported in the ADS-B Out transmission to the ground station.

Canada's upcoming satellite ADS-B system will not use ground stations. The ADS-B antenna will have to be on top of the airplane along with the GPS antenna to avoid the metal wings or tubing blocking the radio signal. That would prevent the GTX 345 from working properly in the USA because of the ground stations. A way to avoid this problem is to have a "diversity antenna" with antennas on top of the airplane as well as on the bottom of the airplane combining at the GTX 345. The ADS-B transponder must be capable of diversity antenna operation for this to work. Your GTX 345 part number would be 010-01775-01 if it is capable of diversity operation and you would notice white blade antennas or short metal whips with balls on the end on both the bottom cowling and the top of the airplane. The GTX list price from Garmin for the non-internal WAAS GPS unit is $5,295. The version with the internal WAAS GPS list price is $6,095. The version with diversity capability list price is $8,295. However, the GTX 345 is not available with both the internal WAAS GPS and the diversity capability. Apparently, Garmin assumes that you will use an external WAAS GPS if you have the GTX 345 diversity model.

Confusing, isn't it?

Chances are you have the GTX 345 version with the internal WAAS GPS module. If you have another non-WAAS GPS in your airplane, you should see two low-profile white antennas on top of your airplane. One would connect to your GTX 345 and the other to your non-WAAS GPS. That is similar to what I have. When Canada mandates ADS-B Out with their satellite system, neither of our ADS-B Out units will work properly while we are in Canada.

In my case, I would have to replace my Appareo Stratus ESG ADS-B transponder with a Garmin GTX 345 with diversity and install a diversity antenna on top of my airplane so that I could operate either in the USA or Canada. In your case you would have to replace your non-WAAS GPS with a WAAS GPS and I believe that Garmin would have to modify your GTX 345 for diversity capability. You would also have to have a diversity antenna installed on top of your airplane.

When Canada starts operating mandatory ADS-B Out (no date published yet), I'm sure that USA companies like Appareo and Garmin will offer diversity antenna modification kits but it will probably require ADS-B transponder modifications as well. The nice thing about the uAvionix tailBeaconX is that you can buy it now for a reasonable price and be ready for operation in the USA or Canada without installing additional diversity antennas. I understand that they are trying to certify the skyBeaconX with 1090ES and a diversity antenna this year. I think that would be better than the tailBeaconX since there is less chance of the airplane's metal tube frame shadowing the ADS-B radio signal from the ground station. If you look at the geometry of the tailBeacon or tailBeaconX on a Maule where the tail light is located, you will notice that there is a chance that the metal wing and metal tube frame could partially block the radio signal if the ground station was located ahead and below the nose of the airplane depending on the airplane's altitude. That wouldn't happen with the skyBeaconX since the diversity antenna would have a view of the ground station in just about any flight attitude.

The downside of something like the skyBeaconX is that it doesn't give you WAAS GPS approach capability - just ADS-B In/Out. If I was starting on ADS-B Out now, I would get the Garmin GTX 345 with diversity antennas and connect it to my GTN 650 as a WAAS position source. My Alaska trip will probably occur before Canada mandates ADS-B Out so I won't have to worry about adding diversity capability to my airplane unless I fly frequently in Canada.

Mexico has delayed mandatory ADS-B out until January 2022. They will use 1090ES and probably a satellite based system like Canada but they are considering allowing 978 MHz UAT like the USA. You would still need the diversity antennas though.

P.S. Kirk must have been posting while I was creating mine. He has better information about Canada's ADS-B implementation.