Re: Icing
Wow, great discussion. First let me say that I am on the Jrh side here, sorry Steve no soup for you. I would like to pick apart a couple things though:
What answer do you give when a ramp check includes the question "are all the equipment and instruments operational on this aircraft?"
To answer this let me copy and paste from the regulation, pay attention to the bolded words:
MR. FAA said:
§ 91.213 Inoperative instruments and equipment.
(a) Except as provided in paragraph (d) of this section,
....
(d) Except for operations conducted in accordance with paragraph (a) or (c) of this section, a person may takeoff an aircraft in operations conducted under this part with inoperative instruments and equipment without an approved Minimum Equipment List provided—
(1) The flight operation is conducted in a—
(i) Rotorcraft, non-turbine-powered airplane, glider, lighter-than-air aircraft, powered parachute, or weight-shift-control aircraft, for which a master minimum equipment list has not been developed; or
(ii) Small rotorcraft, nonturbine-powered small airplane, glider, or lighter-than-air aircraft for which a Master Minimum Equipment List has been developed; and
(2) The inoperative instruments and equipment are not—
(i) Part of the VFR-day type certification instruments and equipment prescribed in the applicable airworthiness regulations under which the aircraft was type certificated;
(ii) Indicated as required on the aircraft's equipment list, or on the Kinds of Operations Equipment List for the kind of flight operation being conducted;
(iii) Required by §91.205 or any other rule of this part for the specific kind of flight operation being conducted; or
(iv) Required to be operational by an airworthiness directive; and
(3) The inoperative instruments and equipment are—
(i) Removed from the aircraft, the cockpit control placarded, and the maintenance recorded in accordance with §43.9 of this chapter; or
(ii) Deactivated and placarded “Inoperative.” If deactivation of the inoperative instrument or equipment involves maintenance, it must be accomplished and recorded in accordance with part 43 of this chapter; and
(4) A determination is made by a pilot, who is certificated and appropriately rated under part 61 of this chapter, or by a person, who is certificated and appropriately rated to perform maintenance on the aircraft, that the inoperative instrument or equipment does not constitute a hazard to the aircraft.
If I am in a non-turbine small aircraft, the equipment isn't part of VFR type certification or aircraft's equipment list or 91.205 or part of an airworthiness directive, placarded or removed, and I have determined it to not cause a hazard to the flight then I am fine. So the remedy to avoid this seems to be just mark everything you don't need in these lists as INOP. Seems kind of silly but you are completely within the regulations if you do that.
My reply to the FAA would be similar to this. Point out how this regulation reads and ask him/her, seriously and not with sarcasm, if they really want me to mark everything not on the lists as INOP. Explain that I checked each item on the lists as well as any other items I felt were pertinent to safety for this flight.
That said, my agreement with Jrh isn't on the basis of this regulation. It is simply to teach what is necessary to be safe and live to fly another day. We have to draw a line in what we teach somewhere. I want my students to know 91.205 like the back of their hand and check for that. I also want to see weight and balance, takeoff/landing distances, and an applicable weather brief for the operation being conducted.
Using their brain space to memorize a 101 item preflight check leads me to believe that something far more dangerous will be forgotten in their training. What is it mike calls this, target fixation? Focus on one problem too much and you lose the big picture perspective. I believe it applies well to this scenario.
jtrain said:
What if said student never intends to, and never gets an instrument rating? Further, while arguments of primary are valid enough, we learn new things during every rating; what's to say you can't learn to add that one to your preflight later in your training as you move up in ratings and equipment? I mean I sure as heck checked some things on the ERJ that didn't even exist on a Cessna 172, and I never forgot them due to not being taught them from the get go.
That is, if an argument from primacy, is what you were driving at.
A little nit pick here that I have mentioned various times in the past. Primacy says that what we are taught first we remember. It doesn't mention anything about items that are omitted from training cannot be learned later. After all, this is the premise that building block learning is designed around.
Mike: I think that military checklist idea would be great for us. I am all for structure. I would want a good, FAA approved, and well laid out professional checklist available for each aircraft. If they could do that, I would be happy. The checklists we have are just absurd: often over worded, poorly laid out, and just cumbersome to use in the cockpit.
A 3-fold approved checklist that fits on my kneeboard with all of the flight checks on on side, flip over for emergencies, and open up for ground checks (the way DWC made them) is MUCH easier and safer IMO. I will try to get some pictures for an example later.