"Jay Honeck" wrote in message news:dmM2c.79638$ko6.426325@attbi_s02...
You need the transponder check even for VFR. I suspect he's close enough
to the class B to require it.

If he's in Class B, he's definitely screwed without a transponder.

Or inside an ADIZ. Or he doesn't want to fly w/o flight following.

However, it's not broken -- he's missing a piece of paperwork. If the thing
is working (and, as I said, ATC will let you know if something is amiss),
make an appointment to get the thing checked, and go fly.

As others have pointed out, missing paperwork might be no problem at
all. Or, in case of a ramp check or small incident, might turn out to
be a very big problem.

A transponder is hardly a flight-critical instrument.

Depends, we don't really know his situation. He might always like to
fly with FF, he might be inside an Bravo's veil or under an ADIZ. He
might always fly IFR.

It's always easy, and fun, to sit back and offer ideas. Useful too in
many cases, especially for low-timers like myself. But in the end,
he's PIC in this case and is most likely considering things that we're
not aware of.

-Malcolm Teas