On Apr 2, 1:23 pm, Bertie the Bunyip wrote:
"chris" wrote groups.com:





On Apr 2, 12:37 pm, Bertie the Bunyip wrote:
"chris" wrote
groups.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.

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

- Show quoted text -

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- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Well I only speak from my experience here in NZ, but I am 99.9 % sure
it's 100hr/ARA as a minimum here. Other countires of course will be
different. I had a brief exposure to Aussie CASA maintenance rules
and regs and didn't like them one little bit, compared to NZ..

Yeah., probably you have inherited the anal retentive Brit rules dreamt
up by the Committee Against Aviation. I don't know much about your
rules, but Oz has some very good stuff regarding homebuilts, for
instance. Some of the most sensible in the world.. OTOH, they have some
of the most nightmarish pilot certification rules going. Ostensibly
aimed at keeping things tight and getting "too outback"

Bertie- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Some of the bush pilots over here can be scary too..

One of them put on a right display of knobness in front of us and then
asked why he keeps getting filed on whenever he goes flying...