Duncan (NZ) wrote:
One of our club planes (a C-172) blew a frost plug in flight - they
continued flight to reach the field (10 minutes), landing with no oil
found in the engine. (Can't recall the bill for the engine rebuild but
it was tens of thousands).
...
I'd do what you have sugggested, and make for the nearest field.

it depends on what kind of field is below. It might be better to spend
$20k on the engine and making the field than crashing in the field,
wrecking the plane and killing yourself.

As for the money aspect, in a club plane, the maintenance of the plane
is entirely up the club (or owner on lease back). They charge a renter
are fee for renting the plane which includes the maintenance on the
plane. As a renter, I expect to get a plane that will not have any kind
of failure. If it fails, I am not going to risk my life nor my
passengers lives to save the owner some money. Much of the reason I say
this is because the head of MX at my club also owns or owned ~8 a/c
online. They were known to have serious MX issues that this head of MX
and owner conveniently wrote off as fixed. Most CFI refused to fly them
yet plenty of renters rented them. Yea, conflict of interest the club
refused to fix. I fly the only a/c online that is not maintained by the
club. it's older but in excellent condition and everything works nearly
every time. And I would love to join a different club or own my own
plane but so far sticking to this one airplane is the best choice for
me. So back to the original question, the cost of the repair of a club
plane will not affect my decision whatsoever. In return, I treat the
aircraft that I rent as though it was my own. I fully clean up the
interior afterwards often nicer than the way I received the plane and
treat the engine and avionics like they were my own. I also give
frequent PIREPS to the owner. Oh, and of course make the most gentle
of landings every single time. ;-)

Gerald