Shadrach

I don’t know if the switch itself is easily adjustable but the lever that actuates it is flexible and can be tweaked slightly to change how close it is to the bottom of the socket. It’s a simple micro switch, but it’s a PITA to access. Better to have a light that is flakey with the gear down and locked than to have one that illuminates when the gear is not locked.

Thanks! Not the first time I’ve been mistaken!

I’m not a cylinder expert but I would think that honing chrome cylinders would be a no no.

My cowl flaps are almost never open in cruise. I close them in climb about 100’ shy of cruise altitude and open them when I drop the gear for landing. Keeping temps under 350 in cruise is not really a challenge. I almost always cruise at 2500rpm, max throttle and mixture setting varying from LOP to peak to best power depending on altitude and goal. My cowl flaps are placarded “Do not open above 150mph”, so they’re not even technically usable under a lot of cruise scenarios. If I’m flying high enough to be indicating less than 150MIAS the engine is not making a lot of heat.

Did you land on the gear and have it fail or did you land gear up? I agree they tend to track the heading at touchdown. That implies stability but not control. On pavement the ability to alter course just 20° could be the difference between a head on impact and a glancing blow. indeed this is a very sad situation. It looks like the pilot had an interesting life. I believe he is is a well-known artist in the Santa Fe area. He is also the recipient of several medals for serving as helicopter pilot in the Vietnam war.

This book comes highly recommended for anyone considering an E series Bonanza: “e-series bonanza flying owning and maintaining a classic” by lew gage.

All airplanes are expensive to maintain. My second hand experience is that cheap Bonanzas are really expensive.

Is it normal to use red RTV on exhaust gaskets?

This was my thinking as well. I’ve never landed gear up but the “in cockpit” videos I’ve seen do not demonstrate significant deceleration . I think a Mooney with the gear up on hot Asphault would float like an air hockey puck. I also dislike like the idea of losing almost all directional control upon touchdown. This was an odd place to chose to land off airport. Looks like the Main Street in a very small town. It was full of cars and and other obstacles.. The aircraft touched down just ~250’ from the building that it hit. I don’t think putting it in on the belly would have made much difference. I am baffled by the chosen landing sight given the surrounding terrain.

The truth is none of us have any idea what the actual number is. The OP won’t know until he gets a proper engine monitor with a bayonet thermocouple. There is parallax affecting the view of the gauge in your pic. Looking at the E and M in “TEMP”, it’s obvious his is almost a needle width higher than yours. #3 is the cylinder most prone to over heating in this application. It can be tamed by ensuring the baffle and seals are in good shape and properly oriented. Baffle and seal issues are compound problems. The sum of many small problems can manifest as a large issue. If I were him, I would investigate to ensure everything is as it should be.

Like I said, I don’t know when they introduced it, but I don’t think it was an option in ‘66. Your bird is a ‘75.

Current owner has been flying it for 16 years. I am skeptical that it’s previous U-boat service brought it down. Lack of fire surprising.

His CHT gauge spans about 225°. Assuming it is linear, he is indicating ~420°. That’s well above normal for angle valve in cruise. I would definitely investigate before next flight. Baffle, seals and exhaust riser would be areas to focus on. Make sure the “pocket” in the baffle on the backside of #3 is oriented in such a way that air is flowing behind the cylinder.

Beautiful scenery! I love the way food is served Italy. Your pics remind me of a delicious red prawn crudo that I had in Cefalu many years ago.

I still don’t believe that it was an option in 66. Any idea why all the carbureted models are omitted? I know the batteries are up front but it seems that could be accounted for,