Vindicated: The Rule with the Murphy's Law Chancre on It

Title 15, Section 15.16.110 of the King County
code states, "Except aircraft in control of authorized maintenance
shops, no aircraft engine should be started or run unless a pilot or
mechanic is attending the controls." One pilot found out the
consequences of this somewhat unique ordinance when, after starting
his aircraft, he was issued a criminal citation by a deputy sheriff.

Sounds rather straight forward that this is talking about leaving an
engine and prop running unattended (walking far away from it), not
about how one starts it and throttle proximity.

What was this sheriff doing there anyway? Sounds like he had a gripe
with aircraft, or maybe noise complaints from nearby residents, so he
looked for a code for the express purpose of finding someone to give
a ticket to. Was he like, right there standing next to the guy, daring
him not to start it up or else?

Yep, hand-propping outside the cockpit is definitely a "not-in-control"
and extremely dangerous situation. Says who? Right, it's left up to
the interpretation of uneducated law enforcement. Wise... very wise.

Hope the guy was exonerated for his "intolerable, stupid, and publicly
endangering act."





Dean A. Scott, mfa
---------------------------------------
School of Visual Art and Design
southern adventist university
---------------------------------------
http://www.southern.edu/~dascott

next they'll be citing those folks with a cold-weather remote control
starter in their car...

Hey, If you need to bail out of your plane cuz it's on fire, and you happen
to be wearing a chute, make sure you stop the prop first, OK?

"Bill Chernoff" wrote in message
news:Rg1Re.334716$5V4.320622@pd7tw3no...
next they'll be citing those folks with a cold-weather remote control
starter in their car...

"Steve Foley" wrote in message
news:AL1Re.13526$cY.6810@trndny06...
Hey, If you need to bail out of your plane cuz it's on fire, and you
happen
to be wearing a chute, make sure you stop the prop first, OK?

"Bill Chernoff" wrote in message
news:Rg1Re.334716$5V4.320622@pd7tw3no...
next they'll be citing those folks with a cold-weather remote control
starter in their car...


Apples and cumquats. They've tried to get through to you libertarians that
you have to have a competent person at the controls or at least have the
beast tied down. What's so difficult about that, or firing it up from
behind the prop with the door swung 180 degrees, so you're at the throttle
and ignition? Dingnab loonytarians think they have a right to unleash a
mad bull on the neighborhood, and I got a lot of loonytarian blood myself.

There's a true story about several one-armed flight instructors in a small
area of Pennsylvania, and another true story about the lady Cub-owner who
always expected her instructor to prop the Cub for her, but failed her
checkride because she expected the FAA examiner to prop it for her too ---
because she had never tried it.

Then there was the Taylorcraft owner, another lady kind and naive, who let a
student climb into her plane as she was pulling the prop through. She had
the engine set at idle but it inexplicably roared to life. She tried to
arrest it by grabbing the strut, which merely helped it arc into several
other unlucky aircraft. This one rings true with me because I don't know
how many times I have gotten into a Taylorcraft and all of a sudden gotten
an immediate shot of adrenaline when it made a quick roaring bee-line for a
hangar or a Baron on the ramp. You're all excited about getting seated,
settling in and flying, got your mind on those belts, intercom, and
headsets --- it never occurs to you that you just inadvertently firewalled
the throttle with your knee.

In northern Australia a pilot decided to take some children for a ride in
the Salvation Army's 182. The battery was down so he got out and
hand-propped it. It got away and was getting airborne but was stopped by
trees and destroyed. Thankfully the children were not badly injured.

From the site you quoted:

Title 15, Section 15.16.110 of the King County
code states, "Except aircraft in control of authorized maintenance
shops, no aircraft engine should be started or run unless a pilot or
mechanic is attending the controls."

It doesn't say anything about 'the beast being tied down'.

" jls" wrote in message
...

Apples and cumquats. They've tried to get through to you libertarians
that
you have to have a competent person at the controls or at least have the
beast tied down.

"Steve Foley" wrote in message
news:iE2Re.7744$wE1.2342@trndny01...
From the site you quoted:

Title 15, Section 15.16.110 of the King County
code states, "Except aircraft in control of authorized maintenance
shops, no aircraft engine should be started or run unless a pilot or
mechanic is attending the controls."

It doesn't say anything about 'the beast being tied down'.

" jls" wrote in message
...

Apples and cumquats. They've tried to get through to you libertarians
that
you have to have a competent person at the controls or at least have the
beast tied down.

If I were cited under the King County ordinance for violation and I had the
aircraft tied down, I would argue, probably in futility, that the spirit if
not the letter of the law had been complied with, since the obvious public
policy of the ordinance was to deter aircraft from running off berserk
without a pilot and tearing up things and killing people.

To my knowledge the FAA never violates anyone on the rule requiring a
competent person at the controls when an aircraft engine is started, unless
the aircraft gets away and does some of those weird things they are wont to
do --- as in slice up other airplanes or hangars.

He should plead innocent, and testify that he was in fact "attending"
the controls. He had them set just so - throttle cracked, fuel off (so
when it starts it runs for just long enough to get in and get your
hands on the throttle) brakes set, tied down with a quick-release. The
letter of the law doesn't require someone in the cockpit.

"Steve Foley" wrote ...
Title 15, Section 15.16.110 of the King County
code states, "Except aircraft in control of authorized maintenance
shops, no aircraft engine should be started or run unless a pilot or
mechanic is attending the controls."

OK. You got a pilot or mechanic sitting in your airplane and your airplane
only has one set of brake peddles. You swing the prop on your own airplane
and it starts up. Now, how do you get the ******* out of your airplane
without breaking the law?

Rich

"Bill Chernoff" wrote in message
news:Rg1Re.334716$5V4.320622@pd7tw3no...
next they'll be citing those folks with a cold-weather remote control
starter in their car...

They do.

Rich "It's for your own good, to prevent theft of your auto" S.
Pierce County, WA

"Bill Chernoff" wrote in message
news:Rg1Re.334716$5V4.320622@pd7tw3no...
next they'll be citing those folks with a cold-weather remote control
starter in their car..

There are places where leaving your car running (especially in the winter in
the morning) is illegal. That's a fact.
--
Jim in NC