 Training Plane
On May 27, 6:25 pm, "Robert M. Gary" <N70...@> wrote:
> On May 27, 12:04 pm, Dan_Thomas_nos...m wrote:
Sometimes one of our students will decide to do just
> > that, and will find out the hard way (after we've warned them) that
> > airworthiness issures are very likely to crop up when we inspect the
> > airplane before any of our instructors fly in it. It doesn't take much
> > to mean thousands of dollars in repairs before it goes anywhere.
>
> Personally, this sounds very dishonest to me. If the plane has an
> annual signed by an IA why do you need to inspect it again? Do you
> require that your shop do the repairs and inspections? Sounds like
> students who buy their own plane should seek out inde CFIs rather than
> visit your place.
I didn't answer your question directly, so here's the direct
answer: Because of the horror stories we've found in airplanes bought
by students, especially airplanes students can afford, we will not let
our instructors fly in them until they've been inspected. They don't
get a full annual and don't need it. I have looked over airplanes at
no charge, since bad airplanes usually have plenty of evidence on the
outside that raise concerns about what might be inside. The student is
also free to take the airplane to another shop and get a different
opinion. We're not looking to rip off students; we're just protecting
instructors from flying deathtraps. I myself have had two engine
failures on poorly-maintained airplanes, and flew another to our shop
where we found the missing strut bolt nuts, broken stab spar, and a
bunch of other horrifying things. Believe me, after you've been fixing
small airplanes for awhile, you get cautious.
If the student doesn't like the rule, ther are other flight
schools that have no standards and will do anything for money. They
have accidents, too.
Dan
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