Fritz1

like the homemade ac, thought about making one, key to success is to pack in as much ice as you can, pre-cool in hangar, top off ice, 1h run time is plenty for taxi and climb, turn off as soon as the ambient air gets cooler and you might have some left for landing,

B-cool is the best bang for the buck, pack with large ice blocks, fill the gaps with ice cubes, use in hangar to precool airplane running off battery minder, top off ice, pull out airplane and get in, runs for about 1h, cooling power is about 2000 BTU, thus 1/3 of a window unit, really helps during long taxi, real ac is 100x more expensive, I use mine 2x or 3x per year, but then it makes a big difference, the unit weighs about 30 lb loaded, pulls about 10A at 12V, filling in the ice is a hassle, but beats sweating in 100F heat when holding for takeoff

I had a sticky trim switch in the KFC225 a couple of weeks ago, the left half that energizes the trim servo clutch did not zero by itself any more, easy to check, wiggle the trim switch up and down after the error message comes up, a stuck AP disengage switch or a stuck CWS switch may cause that error, too, not familiar with the GFC700 though

yes, absolutely, only the silicone pieces, slide onto the outlet tubes of the cannula, acts almost like a check valve

the phone ear buds on the cannula outlets taper inward, they almost seal when you breathe in, you draw more O2 and less air, allow you to still breathe out easily through your nose since they flex, costs nothing and improves oxygenation, have an O2 mask, but hardly ever use it, cannulas with the ear buds work well into the high teens

wondering when an O2 generator will be available that is powerful enough to supply two people in the high teens, I use the precise flight demand conservers with the boom cannula with good results, cuts down the O2 consumption by about 2/3, put i-phone ear buds over the outlets of the boom cannulas which further improves oxygenation, keep O2 tank in the hangar, usually swap tank once or twice a year, think rental is $120 per year, swap is another $120 each, truck comes to hangar, pretty convenient and reliable, biggest reason for having tank is not to have to deal with the FBO who usually dings something, either the airplane or the O2 door, usually swap tank when it is about half empty, about 900 psi, transfer boost pump is prohibitively expensive, think new about $14k new, not event FBO has one, never even saw a used one for sale, most FBOs just daisy chain two or three tanks, keep portable backup tank in the airplane, with the concentrator backup tank is highly recommended as well, never had any issue with O2 supply in the Bravo, go to FL210 on a regular basis, go to full flow at 8000 ft when climbing into the flight levels

still doable, scratch your head, list the hours and what you did and find an A&P to sign off, I started working on airplanes in the 70s as a high school kid, found stuff signed by people long dead, worked with the A&P IA that does my annuals, eventually the FSDO signed off, Community College typically too time consuming for an OP that has a job or a business, bought an online class instead of going to two week prep class. The written is a multiple choice test, you buy a question catalogue and grind through it until you reach about 90%, then you will pass the FAA test with better than 70% for sure, don't have to be an astronaut to pass, the A&P is a license to learn, I am fortunate enough to have several people on speed dial that have forgotten more about airplanes than I will ever know, Mooney guru, engine guy and avionics guy, one of them will typically know what I don't.

getting an A&P is doable for an OP. Start putting together all the hours that you spent fixing your airplane and what you did, find an A&P to supervise your work, help identify what hours are missing, define a program how to get these hours and sign off your application, apply with the local FSDO, take written, oral and practical test. Once you get started and log every oil change and spark plug cleaning the project of getting the A&P becomes less daunting with every month. The required numbers are doable, for the Bravo I ball park 200 maintenance hours for 100 flying hours per year between pumping up tires, oil changes, repairs, upgrades and annuals, lots of OPs have flown and worked on their airplanes for decades, all takes to get started is listing all those hours and you might be almost there

Happy wife, happy life, beauty is absolutely in the eye of the beholder, cabin is significantly cooler when painted white though, touch white paint versus black wing walk on a sunny day and you will feel the difference, happy painting!

Don Muncy visors, sized right, well made

Minder is connected directly to batteries, amp meter shows full discharge, thus about 8 amp, about 5 come from the minder and 3 from the batteries, gives you at least 4 hours to run avionics before the battery voltage drops, then minder tops off batteries overnight, poor man's ground power unit

my alternators do the same, one starts flashing at about 850 RPM, battery minder is helpful, if batteries are same age you can charge in parallel, need only one battery minder makes for a nice ground power unit to run avionics in the hangar, parallel batteries give you 20 Ah, battery minder gives you 5 A, running the radios typically draws 8-10 A, plenty of time to program avionics etc. 8 years is excellent for a battery, replaced both my Concords after about 7 years

the BK switch is in stock for about $2,600 the three microswitches are 1SX74-T , about $30 a pop and easy to replace, just take two screws out, most likely the tiny wire return springs are tired, too need to be reformed or replaced, I found a new switch, the switch in my Bravo is tired, left toggle for clutch does not reset any more by itself, triggers trim fail warning, not sure if left toggle is worn itself or just spring tired, will take apart after I have installed my new switch, think great care has to be taken that the two small toggle return springs do not jump out when the pins are extracted from the bezel

Lumbar support is a good idea, both mechanical lumbar supports in my seats were broken, replaced both of them, really helps on flights over 1h

how are CHTs? was the oil cooler flushed? check baffling

good advice, I never use the AP disconnect switch unless there is an emergency, using the AP disconnect switch everything goes out with a big bang, think I found a trim switch but also ordered three 1SX74-T microswitches just in case, to my best understanding there are reset springs in the switch assembly in addition to the microswitches and these loose power, switch worked for 2000h

Interesting, I am wondering about this myself, I bought the Bravo with a 200h factory reman engine, used Shell W100Plus until about one year ago and then went to Phillips 20W50 Victory against the advice of my A&P IA, immediate change in oil consumption, two bottom plugs that were typically oiled up became bone dry all of a sudden, either the Phillips is a much better oil or leaking valve guides coked up so they are not leaking any more, I do not have any sticky valves yet, thinking about going half half, W100Plus in Summer, Phillips in winter, the Lycoming appears to be prone to coke up valve guides with certain oils, just can't quite put my finger on it

my electric trim switch, in particular the left side clutch switch has become sticky in the down position, contact cleaner helped a little but I think it needs to be replaced / repaired rather sooner than later, the BK part is 200-09187-0000, think part is $3000 and may not be available, any ideas who has one in stock? The assembly has 3 microswitches that can be replaced which may fix the problem, does anybody have part numbers for these microswitches?

As stated, pay the bill, walk away and explain to the shop why you are not coming back. Finding a competent mechanic will be more difficult. Nose around in your local area. The owner assist is a good idea, but it has to be done in a way that the mechanic makes more profit per hour than without the assist. I do all work in my hangar, passed A&P last fall, no IA, do annual together with IA who is an old salt and has full time job, pay $100/h, I do all the legwork, order parts, he always finds something that I do not think of. I treat the IA well, he is a friend of mine and his son worked for me for a while. Flying 100h per year, the Bravo requires about 200h of maintenance per year between annuals and replacing burnt out bulbs. The IA has forgotten more about airplanes than I will ever know, indispensable part of the operation. I keep fingers crossed that you find the right guy.

Being a transplant myself I can relate to what you are feeling, there comes a point where you have a subcutaneous sensation that you do not fit in any more, man, moment, machine. I left Europe over 30 years ago, cold war was over, the Messerschmitt company (MBB) got acquired by Daimler Benz with the goal of downsizing the defense business, by boss who was the CEO got fired with pretty much the entire board, as chief of staff, fifth wheel on that wagon, I went with the ticket, party over, got on a plane the next week to the US and moved in with a friend whom I had sold an airplane 10 years earlier and started a US job search from there. There are many places in the US where the small town America feeling still exists, a one mile airport runway connects to anywhere in the world. In order for an aviator to fly he needs a place to come home to, that place better feel good, therefore: 1.) Find job, everything else will follow suit 2.) Find common denominators, especially for the wife, ways to build relationships around the home The location is almost irrelevant, what counts is the people. The older you get the more difficult it becomes to leave everything behind, family, friends from high school, military service, college, places where you worked. Today my business is almost entirely run over the internet and via phone. My wife is from Virginia, her family is here, college friends, work acquaintances, doctors, car mechanics, builders, cobblers, yard guys... I typically work 6 six days a week, 60 hours and change, without my wife having her social infrastructure I could not keep going at that clip. In a nutshell: There is an unlimited number of suitable locations, the $1 million question will be how well and how quickly you and your wife will be able to connect based on what you have in common with the people who live where you go. Safe travels, I keep fingers crossed!

Camping at OSH is a unique experience, done it a couple of times in my 20s, usually there is at least one massive downpour, camping done right requires a lot of equipment, wife and toddlers sounds more like a RV or maybe a hotel room within driving distance, these days I typically leave the airplane in Milwaukee or Waukesha, hotel room in Miwaukee, drive up for a day or two, the night airshow is impressive, transatlantic flight adds another level of complexity, not trying to be a party proper, in order to do the camping you need to hook up with some guys who have all the stuff, I keep fingers crossed

sent me thinking, never had any water but will replace my small fuel cap O-rings since I do not know when this was done the last time and will put a a quart of isopropyl in to each tank every now and then to get rid of any traces

LASAR and Don Maxwell come to mind, get illustrated parts catalog and figure out part # for starters, BAS salvage is a good source, the thing about the salvage parts in this case is that they may be as badly worn as yours and the installation is a lot of work, cleaning the existing holes is a good idea in the meantime.

No, KFC225, and it is right aileron up with left tank empty in cruise, bird still wants to go left from the prop torque in spite of left tank being empty

Typically this requires engine, avionics, paint and interior, hardly ever found in one place, Aeromechanica in Switzerland appears to be doing a fair amount of Mooney work, start there and see what they can do, unless you want to fly the bird over the Atlantic