On Jul 6, 5:12*pm, betwys1 wrote:
I pulled my plane over to the wash stand to lose the fly squash this
evening.
* It was a little harder than I expected, to pull the 20 yards or so.
So I used a gas bottle to fill the tires, and put the bottle in the
cockpit while I pulled it back to the hangar.

That's when I noticed the problem.
* No Registration card. I know it had slipped out of its aluminum
mounting clip once or twice. * But now it was gone.

It is a 'Required for Flight' item, as you know.
Registration, Airworthiness, POH - accessible or on view.
A pilot certificate and medical in your wallet.

So I started worrying about how long the FAA would take to respond with
a temporary letter.

Then I looked at my flight bag in the car. There it was. Where I had
placed it when it slipped out of its holder.
* That's when I decided to get sensible, and find a more secure holder
on the cabin side wall. My wife came up with a plastic-adhesive-back,
see-through-front envelope such as you place on parcels.

That won't come loose any time soon. * But the registration can be
pulled for examination, if necessary.

Thank Goodness!

Brian W

Does anyone else find it amusing how worried everyone is about
violating a silly and pointless rule?

We are all told on our first day of flight school that something
terrible is going to happen if the "ARROW" items are somehow
misplaced?

For starters, the second R - Radio License - somehow stopped being
sacred a long time ago!

Is there really anyone on the planet who thinks that if the
Airworthiness Certificate of a 1980 Cessna 172 is somehow missing,
that the plane was not certified at the factory 30 years ago?

Similarly, are you going to fall out of the sky if you forgot to pay
your Registration? or pitch out of control if the W&B card is missing,
even though nothing heavier than a flight bag has moved more than a
few inches over the life of the airplane?

The only really critical item is the owner's manual, and that is only
because it contains the checklists.

Now, please, don't get me wrong, this is no critique of Brian W or
anyone else who is conscientious about the details of being a pilot.

I Just think we should worry about staying safe and doing the right
thing (whether or not someone from the FAA may catch us), rather than
simply obeying arbitrary rules.

Bob A. -- private pilot of a 172.