"chris" wrote in
oups.com:

On Apr 2, 10:11 am, Mxsmanic wrote:
chris writes:
I fear it's even worse than you think, at least in this country,
where private aircraft ownership is quite rare. Most light a/c are
either aero club owned, i.e. 172 / Cherokee, or commercial, like
Senecas and the like.. And on the whole, avionics tends to get
neglected. The vast majority of club a/c wouldn't have GPS, let
alone glass cockpits or TCAS. I have seen inside some commercial
operated light a/c like Senecas and Aztecs and you'd probably be
horrified at how basic they are. Just a couple of ADFs and VORs
and that's all they get. Maybe a DME thrown in for good measure...

And don't think they get maintained either. If the a/c came with
IFR gear and isn't being used for IFR, like at an aero club, when
things like DME and VOR break down they don't get fixed, they just
get placarded as inop. Same as fuel gauges. Of 9 planes at our
club, only 4 have working fuel gauges!! The rest are just
placarded u/s. And the only reason there are 4 planes that have
gauges that work is 3 of them are brand new a/craft. The deal with
fuel gauges is, we know the fuel burn and we have a stick to dip
the tank on preflight, what do we need gauges for ???

All the more reason to stick with simulation: all the avionics always
work.

And if your club is skimping on maintenance of instruments, what else
is it skimping on? No wonder GA is so dangerous.

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As I tried to point out, the stuff that is placarded is the stuff
that's optional. I am not trained to use a VOR, for instance, so
having it placarded inop doesn't make any difference to me. All the
things I actually need definitely work.

And as far as maintenance goes, GA aircraft are required to have 100
hour checks, but we also do 50 hour checks and anything that needs
doing is put right or it doesn't go back into the air.

They're not, actually. only if they're for hire in the US. Otherwise,
only an annual is required.


Bertie