A BEECH A36 IN CRUISE AT 8300 FT DIVERTED DUE TO L MAIN GEAR UNSAFE INDICATION CAUSED BY A FAILED L MAIN GEAR DOWN AND LOCK SWITCH.

Narrative

I WAS CLRED BY ZBW FOR THE VISUAL APCH TO RWY 18 AT BML. AS I PLACED THE LNDG GEAR HANDLE IN THE DOWN POS; I OBSERVED AN ABNORMAL INDICATION ON THE LNDG GEAR ANNUNCIATOR LIGHTS. THE GREEN LIGHTS; INDICATING THAT THE WHEELS WERE DOWN AND LOCKED; ILLUMINATED NORMALLY FOR THE NOSEWHEEL AND R MAIN WHEEL; BUT THE L MAIN LIGHT REMAINED UNLIT AND THE RED 'IN-TRANSIT' LIGHT WAS ILLUMINATED. I LEVELED OFF AT ABOUT 7500 FT MSL IN GOOD VFR CONDITIONS AND INFORMED CTR THAT I HAD A GEAR PROB AND THAT I WISHED TO ORBIT BML WHILE ATTEMPTING TO TROUBLESHOOT. CTR ACKNOWLEDGED MY CALL; OFFERED ANY ASSISTANCE I MIGHT REQUIRE; AND INSTRUCTED ME TO ADVISE MY INTENTIONS WHEN ABLE. I ATTEMPTED SEVERAL TECHNIQUES TO CORRECT THE ABNORMAL INDICATION. BASED ON MY KNOWLEDGE OF THE EXCELLENT BEECHCRAFT LNDG GEAR SYS; I KNEW ALSO THAT THE MOST LIKELY SCENARIO WAS AN ELECTRICAL PROB OF SOME SORT AND THAT THE GEAR WAS PROBABLY MECHANICALLY DOWN AND LOCKED. STILL; BEING SEVERAL HUNDRED MI FROM HOME BASE; CIRCLING A NON TWRED ARPT; KNOWING PAX WERE WAITING ON THE GND EXPECTING ME TO TURN AROUND AND FLY THEM TO NEW YORK WHEN I ARRIVED; AND HAVING ANOTHER 3 1/2 HRS OF FUEL ON BOARD; I OPTED NOT TO LAND AT BML. INSTEAD; I NOTIFIED CTR OF MY INTENTION TO RETURN TO THE NEW YORK AREA AND REQUESTED A NEW CLRNC. I WAS CLRED; FOR THE TIME BEING; TO CLB TO 8300 FT MSL (FOR TERRAIN CLRNC OVER THE WHITE MOUNTAINS) AND PROCEED DIRECT TO TEB. AFTER A COUPLE MINS; I WAS PAST THE HIGH TERRAIN AND CLRED TO MAINTAIN 8000 FT MSL. I SELECTED POU FOR SEVERAL REASONS: I AM VERY FAMILIAR WITH THE ARPT; WHICH HAS A CTL TWR AND CFR FACILITIES; THE WX AT POU -- AS ELSEWHERE THROUGHOUT THE NE -- WAS CLR; POU IS WITHIN REASONABLE DISTANCE OF MY HOME IN NEW YORK CITY; I NEEDED TO FLY AT LEAST ANOTHER 1 HR TO BURN OFF THE FUEL REMAINING IN THE L TANK; AND A FRIENDLY AIRFRAME AND PWRPLANT MECH WITH SPECIFIC KNOWLEDGE OF BONANZA XXXX RUNS A SHOP LOCATED AT POU. AS I FLEW OVER CENTRAL NEW HAMPSHIRE; CTR ADVISED THAT A MIL F16 WAS MANEUVERING ABOUT 120 MI W OF MY POS AND COULD BE VECTORED FOR AN INTERCEPT TO VISUALLY EXAMINE THE BONANZA'S LNDG GEAR. THE FIGHTER PLT RPTED NO ABNORMAL APPEARANCE TO THE BONANZA'S LNDG GEAR OP; WHICH REASSURINGLY SUPPORTED THE CONCLUSION THAT THE PROB WAS ELECTRICAL AND NOT MECHANICAL. AFTER 6 OR 7 MINS; THE F16 BROKE OFF TO THE W; AND I CONTINUED ON COURSE TO POU. AS WITH THE FIGHTER ESCORT; ALL VISUAL INDICATIONS WERE NORMAL. AFTER MY SECOND PASS; TWR ADVISED OF THE MECH'S SUGGESTION THAT I CYCLE THE LNDG GEAR UP AND THEN PERFORM A MANUAL GEAR EXTENSION PRIOR TO ANY ATTEMPT TO LAND; SO I CLBED TO 3000 FT MSL AND PERFORMED THE MANUAL GEAR EXTENSION; LEAVING THE LNDG GEAR DOWN. FORTUNATELY; THE INCIDENT ENDED UNEVENTFULLY AS I TOUCHED DOWN FIRST ON THE R MAIN WHEEL; THEN ON THE NOSEWHEEL; AND FINALLY ON THE L MAIN WHEEL. ON ROLLOUT; THE L MAIN GEAR DOWN ANNUNCIATOR LIGHT ILLUMINATED AND THE IN-TRANSIT LIGHT WENT OUT; LEAVING ME WITH A NORMAL '3-GREEN' INDICATION. AS I COMPLETED THE REQUISITE PAPERWORK WITH THE CFR CHIEF AND COUNTY SHERIFF; THE MECHS QUICKLY CONFIRMED THAT A SWITCH IN THE L MAIN GEAR -- ORIGINAL FROM THE AIRPLANE'S MANUFACTURE IN 1986 -- HAD WORN AND PARTIALLY FAILED; CAUSING THE ERRONEOUS INDICATION. OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS; THE PART WAS REPLACED; THE ACFT LOG WAS UPDATED; AND THE AIRPLANE WAS RETURNED TO SVC.