Common instruments on small aircraft

"Bart" wrote in message
oups.com...
To make my point even further, I just recieved an email from a member
of my flying club that battery in our plane is dead.

If this were a car it would be no big deal since I could go to an auto
parts store and replace the battery myself. But since we need a
licensed A&P mechanic to do the job, and there's not exactly one on
every corner, we'll have to wait in line to get the job done.

You've got to be kidding... Batteries are as user replaceable as landing
lights...

"karl gruber" wrote in message
...
A passenger cannot initiate a flight, that's the ruling, whether you or I
like it or not.

And if the passenger happens to be your wife who suggests that you fly off
to some nice little airport with a restaurant nearby for dinner? And she
picks up the tab? Or what about if instead of being married, you've just
been living together for the last 20+ years?

The 'rules' are bull****... Ignore them...

"Bart" wrote in message
oups.com...
We still have to wait on the battery to be ordered which takes at least
a day. And assuming the best case scenario of it getting put in
sometime tomorrow, I will then be forced two wait at least another two
days due to weather.

Depending upon what type of plane we're talking about and whether the plane
is close by and the flight can be made in daylight, one option might be to
jumpstart or hand prop the aircraft and fly it back to your home field... Or
grab a battery out of another plane and take it there for temporary use to
get back to your home airport... I've had a battery die (or drain because of
leaving something on) before and I just hand propped it and flew it back...

"RK Henry" wrote in message
...
I've never had a battery just die. It usually exhibits its death
throes for months, giving plenty of time to shop Trade-A-Plane for the
best price.

I've had it happen with a car battery before... Starting my car after work,
it turned over normally and I thought that it had started and released the
key... Turned out that I had done it too quick and the car hadn't started...
Tried to start it again and all I got was a slight clicking noise... Just
barely enough juice to make the lights on the radio dimly glow... Car
batteries are not any different than aircraft batteries... Same basic
technology, thus same failure modes... Yeah, it could happen on an aircraft
battery also... My experience though is that this sort of failure mode is
rather rare since I've only had this sort of thing happen once for any
vehicle battery that I ever owned...

Mxsmanic wrote:
Judah writes:

Are you instrument rated? If you are not instrument rated, then I
agree that flying GA is not dependable. Get your Instrument Rating
and you will see a whole other level of practicality to GA.

Just out of curiosity, what percentage of private general aviation
pilots have an instrument rating?

For the U.S., that information is available on the FAA web site.

"Jose" wrote in message
et...
Agreed. Got any ideas?

Well, I think I'll let Grace pay for my fuel and dinner over at Carls BBQ
over at EYQ...

"Jose" wrote in message
.. .
I don't think you're using the same definition of "opportunity" as the
FAA. From what I'm hearing/reading, the FAAs definition of "opportunity"
goes more toward the cirmcumstances from which the flight arose. If you
are going flying and you invite me to come along for a ride from Buffalo
to Flushing, NY...no problem. But, if I say to you, I've been meaning to
go to Flushing, NY. Hey, I know, why don't you fly me up there? .. and
you agree (and even if YOU pay all the costs involved...) then this is a
violation of the idea of commonality. My needing to go to Flushing is
providing you with an opportunity to log time because of me...not because
you suggested it.

"The idea of commonality" is something the FAA made up out of whole cloth,
bypassing the normal rulemaking procedure.

I would agree. I think they thought they found a hole (hole cloth?) in the
regs that was allowing a quasi-black market form of 135 flying (I could be
wrong...) so they slammed the door on it (or tried to) by coming up with a
grey area to cover a grey area.

The "opportunity" to fly to Flushing was not provided by you. Icould still
go to Flushing if I wanted to, irrespective of your request. Instead, what
was provided was the opportunity to have my flight =benefit= you.

The sticking point would be whether or not I suggested we go, or you
suggested we go. Me = BAD .. You = OK.


You're splitting hairs...
The FAA splits hairs. In fact they split short hairs.
No argument here...but I hope the FAA never gets near my short hairs.

Then it would behoove you to split long hairs.

Errr, let's not go there. P


But if you go fly with the primary reason being the taking of your sister
to visit her friend, (as a private pilot) IMO, you would be doing so in
potential violation of the way in which the FAA has interpreted this
situation in the past.

This seems to be true. It is also asinine. (and my rants, if they be
interpreted as such, are directed at the part of the FAA that comes up with
and defends this kind of thing, not at you or any other poster)

Completely understood but thanks for saying so.

Jay B

Jim Logajan writes:

For the U.S., that information is available on the FAA web site.

I've no doubt that it's available somewhere, so you've contributed
nothing by pointing this out.

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.

On Tue, 31 Oct 2006 19:49:44 GMT, "Grumman-581"
wrote:

"karl gruber" wrote in message
...
A passenger cannot initiate a flight, that's the ruling, whether you or I
like it or not.

And if the passenger happens to be your wife who suggests that you fly off
to some nice little airport with a restaurant nearby for dinner? And she
picks up the tab? Or what about if instead of being married, you've just
been living together for the last 20+ years?

What if it's your girlfriend and after dinner you're "rewarded" with
an intimate encounter? Would the FAA consider that compensation? Could
your girlfriend then be charged with prostitution?

RK Henry

Mxsmanic wrote:
Jim Logajan writes:

For the U.S., that information is available on the FAA web site.

I've no doubt that it's available somewhere, so you've contributed
nothing by pointing this out.

Once I pointed out which agency's web site had the information I presumed
it would trivial for a person of average intelligence to locate it and
follow the obvious links.

Here's the web site: http://www.faa.gov

This way you can determine the information authoritatively - otherwise if I
claimed, say, that half of all pilots were instrument rated you'd have no
way of validating this information.