OK....
One quick reply and I have to hit the sack..
John:
I was going to put .net because I never heard of .com for bellsouth but that's what is at the bottom of your page..
I must admit that I was straddling the fence when it comes to homebuilding, I have been flying since 1974 and had a 112 Commander and now I have flying rights to my brother's Commanche 250 (he owes me BIG TIME) but I wanted something fast and big but not addicted to 100LL like the Commanche..anyway, after losing all electrical power one night during a landing and watching my airspeed indicator go like a guage in a Frankenstein movie one time and then seeing the 40 year old aluminum construction and it's foibles, I thought to myself "self, these airplanes are just like all the rest of the manufactured pieces of C--p foisted upon us consumers because we can't make em ourselves...or CAN WE???" So after settling on a Cozy, I was perched on the fence. When I read how a body could sit in a hot tub and engineer the thing and test part fitting whilst naked, why, I was IN!..
So, thanks John. (my neighbors may grow to hate you...but then again, I may lose 40 lbs and charge money)
But I digress..
I work with these things (industrial pneumatics) all the time. Now, I wouldn't change a thing with the nose gear..but pneumatics have improved quite a bit in the last 5 years. The actuators are small and light and versatile, but powerful. I was thinking of a small reservoir and a small on-demand air pump for a/c and perhaps a speed brake or landing light gizmo, gear doors, pop up canopy, brake cooler etc... The electrically controlled solenoids can be mounted anywhere and the higher the altitude, the better they (actuators) work (the harder the compressor works though). The Cooling unit is the Vortec http://www.vortec.com/
it doesn't use high pressure 30 -40 psi, but it uses a constant flow.
I have one you can test if you like, it may work or may not, but when you said the ac system weighed in at 35 lbs, I had to say something...check your email.
My look at the time!
I must be off..
Kevin