Please don't try to work on the Airplane

knot4u

Repeat Offender
There is a reason some of us went to school just like you. I don't try to fly the airplane, please don't assume you can fix it. I have a lot more to rant about but this is a public forum. And if it matters I'm a PPL and A/P. I don't fly the aircraft I work on.
 
Last edited:
There is a reason some of us went to school just like you. I don't try to fly the airplane, please don't assume you can fix it. I have a lot more to rant about but this is a public forum. And if it matters I'm a PPL and A/P.
That said, there are dozens of preventive maintenance items that don't require an A&P.
 
Did something in particular happen?

I know I wouldn't do most of the preventative maintenance items unless I had an A/P with me to help and check.
 
There is a reason some of us went to school just like you. I don't try to fly the airplane, please don't assume you can fix it. I have a lot more to rant about but this is a public forum. And if it matters I'm a PPL and A/P. I don't fly the aircraft I work on.

I could tell you several stories about airplanes that were "fixed" by an A&P. Like most certifications, it means very little in the real world.
 
There is a reason some of us went to school just like you. I don't try to fly the airplane, please don't assume you can fix it. I have a lot more to rant about but this is a public forum. And if it matters I'm a PPL and A/P. I don't fly the aircraft I work on.
I also agree that some pilots get way too deep into the systems bit. Follow the checklist, and land if necessary. There's only so much you can do from the cockpit when something breaks.
 
I also agree that some pilots get way too deep into the systems bit. Follow the checklist, and land if necessary. There's only so much you can do from the cockpit when something breaks.
On the other hand, there are a LOT of troubleshooting steps you can do from the cockpit that will eliminate the fall-back "could not duplicate" response!!!
 
Pilot Fighter said:
That said, there are dozens of preventive maintenance items that don't require an A&P.

then wmuPHIL said
...I know I wouldn't do most of the preventative maintenance items unless I had an A/P with me to help and check.

I'd fly with PF sooner. He spelled 'preventive' correctly.
PHIL may have trouble with looking things up in his manual unless it had spell-check. Maybe his A/P does.

Sorry, PHIL, pet peeve...
 
Unfortunately, I think that "preventative" has crept into mild acceptance and dictionary inclusion due to its widespread misuse.
 
Was angry, now calm. Pilots that carry a small toolbox with them can be a great thing or a thorn in your side. Let us fix it, it's our job. You don't know what you don't know, and I don't know what I don't know. It's supposed to be simbiotic, you break it I fix it.
 
Was angry, now calm. Pilots that carry a small toolbox with them can be a great thing or a thorn in your side. Let us fix it, it's our job. You don't know what you don't know, and I don't know what I don't know. It's supposed to be simbiotic, you break it I fix it.
Certainly, in commercial operations.

In the GA world, we all know pilots that are better mechanics than the average A&P and we all know A&P's that are better pilots than your average commercial pilot. There are many owners that do major maintenance and repairs under the supervision and encouragement of their A&P.

[symbiotic]
 
Last edited:
Was angry, now calm. Pilots that carry a small toolbox with them can be a great thing or a thorn in your side. Let us fix it, it's our job. You don't know what you don't know, and I don't know what I don't know. It's supposed to be simbiotic, you break it I fix it.

(Symbiotic)

As an aside, I wish it were as practical for a pilot to get an A&P as it is for an A&P to get a pilot's license. Not "easy"—that stuff ain't easy—but "practical". I would love to get my A&P, but neither apprenticeship nor full time school is realistic.

That said, I'm inclined to agree... for a pilot, as much systems knowledge as you can get from an operational viewpoint, but if the airplane is on the ground and in reach of a mechanic or outside assistance, don't f— with it.

-Fox
 
I'd trust a random stranger in a Fosters Freeze to work on an airframe more than I would trust myself. I'm mechanically retarded and I'm sure many pilots are. Thus far, I've only refused to rent a plane once. I went out to a 172, moved the elevator around with my hands and heard something rolling all over the place inside. I took another plane, then when I brought it up to the dispatcher on my return, he told me one of the members had "opened it up"(whatever the hell that means) the other day and "may have left a nut or bolt in it again". I found out later the guy isn't an A/P "but he works on cars". Yeah, no. Stahp. Kthx.

Reason 269 I left that place.
 
Last edited:
As an aside, I wish it were as practical for a pilot to get an A&P as it is for an A&P to get a pilot's license. Not "easy"—that stuff ain't easy—but "practical". I would love to get my A&P, but neither apprenticeship nor full time school is realistic.

Amen. I've got 3/4 of the documented experience requirement for my A&P with no realistic way to finish it. Yet a friend of mine who did maintenance paperwork on military jets for 20 years gets an experience waiver by default but doesn't know the first thing about GA aircraft.... yeah that makes sense.

I needed to swap out an alternator about a year ago on a weekend. I hired a local A&P who works for an airline. I had to teach him how to time the mag because he'd done it maybe 2-3 times back in A&P school several years prior and had no idea what he was doing.


* Edit: To be clear, I'm not advocating someone who is not certified to do unauthorized nor unsupervised work on a certified aircraft, but as you might guess from my responses above, I'm pretty fed up with aviation maintenance in general.
 
Last edited:
* Edit: To be clear, I'm not advocating someone who is not certified to do unauthorized nor unsupervised work on a certified aircraft, but as you might guess from my responses above, I'm pretty fed up with aviation maintenance in general.


Me too.
 
If you're the aircraft owner.


14 CFR 43.3 (g) Except for holders of a sport pilot certificate, the holder of a pilot certificate issued under part 61 may perform preventive maintenance on any aircraft owned or operated by that pilot which is not used under part 121, 129, or 135 of this chapter


* Apparently the FAA doesn't trust 141-trained students to change oil. LOL
 
Back
Top