I do get it, Michael. In fact, I got it from the beginning.

Sorry. I got overexcited.

That
doesn't diminish my astonishment that the situation can actually be as
convoluted as it seems to be. Where else would this be tolerated?

Nowhere, I suspect. You should realize that it's mostly not tolerated
in aviation either.

I gave you the example of the CD player for a reason. A friend of mine
has an AM/FM/Tape Player installed in his Bonanza. There is no
paperwork for it. Never has been. It has been there for maney years.
It is clearly not legal, and yet every IA seems to sign off the annual
every year.

That's little ****. A friend of mine bought a Cherokee Six in Alaska.
The pilot's seat was a lawn chair. The doors had to be duct taped
closed. She flew it to Houston. I've seen a tractor carburetor come
off a certified airplane - and I'm talking about a model that had NEVER
been approved for aviation. It made it through dozens of annuals and a
major overhaul, and was only removed when the bowl cracked.

My girlfriend bought a Straduster a few years ago. The owner had been
flying for many years, but eventually did get around to getting a
private license. With a private license and an experimental
(amateur-built) airplane, he would take people up for aerobatic rides
(without parachutes) and charge for it. I know people who file and fly
IFR who never got the instrument rating, and I know at least one who
used to do it - until he finally got rated. He went on to be a fleet
captain for a major airline and a DE in transport category jets.

This is the reality of general aviation. You won't see it at the front
desk of the FBO, with a flight school staffed by airline wannabes, but
dig a little deeper and it's all around you.

This is how people react to regulations that are unworkable. It's no
different from what you see on the highway. Almost nobody consistently
drives the speed limit. Few people come to a full stop at every stop
sign. Every gas station I've ever seen in Texas sells cold beer, and
the open container law has had no impact. Rules that are unworkable or
unacceptable are largely ignored.

GA rules are some of the most unacceptable and unworkable of all, and
they're also some of the most widely ignored. Only on these newsgroups
and in the commercial flight schools are pilots concerned about what's
legal. In the real world, they're only concerned with what they can
get away with. The intolerable is not tolerated.

There is something about these newsgroups that seems to attract a
subset of people who believe we SHOULD tolerate this. People who
believe that even though the regulations are clearly convoluted,
self-contradictory, and unworkable we should still comply. People who
even believe that it's reasonable to rat out someone to the FAA for
non-compliance. They're a vocal minority - nothing more.

Can you imagine what would happen if the majority of pilots openly
refused to comply? That's what happened in the ultralight world. The
rules set weight and operational limits that were ridiculous, and
people simply did not comply. 90% of the single seaters were
overweight, and 90% of the "instruction-only" two seaters were being
flown for personal use. So what happened? Were there prosecutions on
a mass scale? No. Everyone knew that people wouldn't stand for that.
So in the end, the FAA came up with something more reasonable (sport
pilot) in hopes that people would comply. Whether they do - or
continue to fly as they have been - remains to be seen.

Michael