I know I'm responding to my own post, but a few more things about Aztecs
have popped into my head.

The cowlings are extremely tight and hold a lot of heat inside. Be sure to
open the cowl flaps as part of your pre landing check list and keep them
full open during take offs and any ground operations. You may consider
removeing the heat shroud from the front of the exhaust system. This
directs heat into the alternate air system and seems to be a left over from
the non fuel injected engines as carb heat air source. It traps a lot of
heat up front near the inside of the fiberglass nose bowl. Those nose bowls
are expensive, be sure to inspect the interior of the lower section for
burned and cracked fiberglass. You may contemplate lining the bottom of the
bowl with heat reflective aluminum tape or paint. You may also consider
installing the cowling louvers that came standard on turbo charged models.
See what your AI will let you get away with.

As a result of the tight cowling and the heat, make sure everything rubber
inside the cowling has been inspected and replaced if necessary.... hoses,
gaskets, air baffles, seals, etc. There is also an STC to have additional
ram air routed to the vacuum pump to allow it to run cooler, a good idea if
you're looking at an Aztec with de-ice boots.

If the exhaust system needs replacement, talk to your shop about shortening
it or raising it up away from the cowling. The further away from the
cowling those hot pipes are, the better.

There are a lot of Aztecs without shoulder harnesses. If you find one that
has them, consider them worth a couple hundred bucks each. Direct from
Piper they are big bucks and even from junk yards, they ain't cheap. This
is a great safety feature and would most likely save a few lives. Smashing
your face into the instrument panel may be bad enough, but to have one or
two rear seat passengers pile onto your back besides would most likely ruin
your day.

The landing gear is built like it belongs on a tank. Fairly simple and very
rugged. Grass strips are no problem, just pay attention to the prop
clearance, it's not a lot. Check for any binding or pinching, the gear
should work freely. Loose is better than too tight.

Most older Aztecs only have brakes on the pilots side, co-pilot brakes were
optional or an add on.

You may find one that doesn't have a landing light in the tip of the nose.
There was a differant nose for Aztecs that had radar, thus the radome. Most
have a landing light in the nose, and a taxi light mounted to the nose gear
that makes it steerable. Turn off the taxi light before take off.

With two baggage compartments, one in the nose, one in the tail, you must
give consideration to how you load the airplane. Generally speaking, you
load the front 4 passengers and the rear baggage compartment first, to move
the CG aft, then load the nose baggage compartment to move the CG forward
slightly, then the rear seat passengers last. The POH has specific
instructions. The C model had a gross weight increase from 4800 to 5200
lbs, but there is a zero fuel weight of 4500 lbs.

Some Aztecs, includeing ours, have thermo-pain windows. Yes I spelled that
pain. They rub together and get crazed and scratched. If all other things
are equal, avoid the thermo-pains and go with regular or 1/4" glass. One
piece windshields are available so you can get rid of the center post, move
the outside air temp prob to the side, and train the compass to hang from
the head liner, all for better visability.

Jim








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