Let me clarify, VMC. I'm not launching into massive icing and shooting approaches to minimums for a while (although I feel perfectly safe and comfortable doing so; I just don't feel the need to do this right now). So the second my RVSM is approved, it's launching to the flight levels and going across the country. No boring holes in the sky!

It has a KLN90 and an Avidyne 500 so it's perfectly well equipped to travel and can shoot legal RNAV approaches. The manual for the KLN is hundreds of pages and we have really come a long way since then.

No scary maintenance issues yet...

I replaced the fuel caps with those off a II, pulled a really fancy oxygen mask out of a wreck replacing the worthless turd that was in there, replaced the AC compressor and serviced all the fluids. Fixed some little stuff like the cabinet latches and replaced most of the locks with Medecos. The ailerons were drooped about 1/2 an inch so I had them rigged to the manual. Overall, in the last 10 hours of flying, the only squawk is the left side "engine heat fail" came on a few times early in the training but resolved itself. I think it was just a stuck bleed valve that hadn't been used in a while. The radar altimeter was a little sticky but also resolved itself. Pretty amazing that something can sit for a few years and come back to life with so little issues. Door seal only depressurizes when both motors are shut down (sometimes I like to toss passengers out with the left motor shut down) Supposedly you can run the right motor up to 60% with the door open and blow the water out of the system; I'm sure this hasn't been done in years. Only other minor outstanding issue is there is one small ripple on the right boot that takes a while to suck back down (vacuum). I'm sure these boots haven't been cycled in years and there is a piece of trash in the manifold. It seems to suck down quicker with every cycling so maybe it's just a matter of exercising it.

Easy, simple, fun to work on airplane.

Yes, it has the Garrett RVSM. I submitted all the paperwork to get it transferred to my name. Supposedly the RVSM paperwork shuffle is easier than it used to be.

Door seal not depressurizing may be a squat switch problem. Within the squat switch there are multiple contacts for different systems.

To clear water from the door seal you have an engine running and need to depress the plunger in the door frame that the door pin depresses. Don't be wearing a white shirt and stand in front of the nipple as you do that.

Michael, Roughly how much time did you spend flying your jet including the checkride before you were issued the type rating?

Flew it about 15 hours with another 15 or so in the past year in a friend's airplane. I probably spent 40 hours or more of studying. You probably could get typed in 3 hours in the air I think. It's a very easy airplane to fly. The academic work is much more involved the flying part. I haven't flown steam gauge instruments or VOR approaches in years so I think I would have benefited from a little old school instrument training before doing this. It's definitely harder than flying a glass paneled machine with unlimited situational awareness.

Sounds awesome. Interior pics?

Interior is a solid 8.5 paint a good 8

Love the big AI/HSI.

What's the stuff at the bottom of the AI? RA on the left?

Sounds like fun!

RA is on the right, the RMI is on the left. I'd have to consort the googles as to what the heck it is or how to use it but it seems to be a VOR/ADF pointer that is overlaid with a compass card. I don't think I've seen one in the wild!

The giant AI and HSI are the same as on a 747 and the Sperry autopilot is supposedly similar to the space space shuttle. The AP is incredibly smooth and accurate for being 40 years old.

There's something romantic about the vintage stuff in the panel that still works. I think all the glass stuff has made me lazy so I'm enjoying getting back into being a pilot! I even like the radios that make solid clicking noises when changing frequencies.

If I do ANYTHING to the panel, it would be adding a 400W or something for LPV approaches.

Agree 100%

Michael, I'm curious what you mean you just part out the planes? Do you actually take items off and start selling them or is it assemblies you sell or just the motors. Never done it and curious what your talking about.

RA is on the right, the RMI is on the left. I'd have to consort the googles as to what the heck it is or how to use it but it seems to be a VOR/ADF pointer that is overlaid with a compass card. I don't think I've seen one in the wild!

The giant AI and HSI are the same as on a 747 and the Sperry autopilot is supposedly similar to the space space shuttle. The AP is incredibly smooth and accurate for being 40 years old.

There's something romantic about the vintage stuff in the panel that still works. I think all the glass stuff has made me lazy so I'm enjoying getting back into being a pilot! I even like the radios that make solid clicking noises when changing frequencies.

If I do ANYTHING to the panel, it would be adding a 400W or something for LPV approaches.

Park Rapid Avionics did this for $70k. Duel gtns. Dual remote transponders, abs-b out, no mas ADF. Tom Hass has done about 20 citations. The master.

Michael:

Caution on your comms. The on /off is the center knob on tuner. Depending on grip pressure you can shut off comm during frequency change. Good luck figuring what the hell happened if you are SP in the clag in a class B getting vectors. Total goat rodeo.