Some items on the Malibu are simply more important than others. I know, I know…I’ll hear from all the “pinky toes” out there with that remark, but the having a working landing gear extension system is always going to me more important than the aircraft clock. Both are required for flight, but one is more important than the other. I recommend determining which ones are the most important for identification during flight and cage the circuit breaker in case you need to pull it for some reason.
Another example…it is possible for the autopilot to get an erroneous signal and command the aircraft to an unusual attitude. Accordingly, the system could possibly not respond to pilot input through the LRB on the yoke. If so, power must be removed from the system to disengage the autopilot. So…quick…where is the autopilot circuit breaker? You could find it quickly if it were caged with a red sleeve.
Here’s another one…the hydraulic pump on the Malibu costs more than $20k. If it were to receive a sensory input error and not shut down when commanded, it would run incessantly in flight, possibly damaging the pump. Wanna shut it down? Where’s the circuit breaker? You could find it quickly if it were marked with red fingernail polish.
Marked and caged circuit breakers
You can get these small cages at just about any well equipped pilot shop. Run through a few emergency procedure scenarios in your airplane and see if you have trouble finding the most important circuit breakers. I bet you’ll see the benefit of this cheap and easy idea.
