What about a thread with details about cost of annual inspection. It is one of the big questions and unknown variables regarding aircraft ownership.
We just got the invoice.
Last year was one of the worse year maintenance wise. This year though annual was just inspection and oil and filter change.
Aircraft is a c172s
Annual cost incl. vat 1550,- euro
App 100h yearly
Dear all
Have you infringed controlled airspace recently (within the last year) or know someone who has?
I am a GA pilot undertaking research at University College London into why pilots of light aircraft infringe controlled airspace. This is not about what pilots do when they infringe, such as misread a chart or fail to plan the flight, but about why they do it and, indeed, why pilots continue to make mistakes contrary to their training and instincts. The outcome of the research is expected to be a published study leading to a better understanding of those factors that lead to pilot error, helping pilots of light aircraft to recognise those factors together with strategies to help mitigate them.
I am looking for volunteers – I need about 20 – who have infringed controlled airspace recently, at least within the past year and who are willing to be interviewed face to face for about 60 – 90 minutes. Before the interview takes place the scope and purpose of the research will be provided in writing and explained to you, addressing any questions you may have, following which you will be asked to confirm that you wish to take part. If you do agree to take part you will be free to withdraw at any time without having to provide any explanation until such time as your data is amalgamated with data from other participants.
The interviews will take place at a time and location convenient to you as I am more than happy to travel to meet participants locally.
This research has been approved by the University College London Ethics Committee and participants can be assured of anonymity and that all personal details and identifying information will be held in strict confidence and destroyed when data collection has concluded.
If you wish to take part, then please contact me either by pm or at:
michael dot evans dot 17 at ucl dot ac dot uk
I am more than happy to discuss the research with any potential participants or anyone interested in what I am doing. If you know anyone who has infringed controlled airspace then I should be most grateful if you would pass on my details to them asking them to contact me. I am happy to provide an information sheet about the research, which includes my phone number, to anyone who asks.
With best wishes
Mike
Biggin Hill: Designated for Immigration yes or no?
Here is one for the UK pilots over here:
As known, the UK does not only distinguish between plain “customs aerodromes” and “non-customs aerodromes” as we normally do in the rest of Europe. in UK, there are a few airports which are designated for Customs & Excise, but not for Immigration.
According to the compilation instructions to the GAR (newest version here), Biggin Hill is such a case, i.e. designated for Customs & Excise, but not for Immigration. So far, so good.
However, it appears to me that these subtleties are not well documented in the aeronautical publications. This is true for the Jeppesen, but – and that is much worse – it’s not even accurately documented in the AIP!
Looking at the textual part of the AIP entry for Biggin Hill, under the section “Operating Hours” it specifies “Customs & Immigration” as “as AD hours”, implying that you can do your immigration there with no problem… in fact, the entry is identical to other airports which are indeed designated for immigration (like Bournemouth for example).
So, which is the truth? And more so: how is a foreign pilot supposed to deal with that? He sure cannot be expected to know the GAR form and its compilation instructions if he doesn’t intend to make use of it. And even if he knows these instructions, he seriously cannot be expected to deal with the contradictions between that document and the AIP, right?
So, referring only to the AIP (as most will do), someone departing from, say France, might be inclined to just take off and fly to Biggin without any advance GAR notice. Really not ideal!
But let’s go on: According to the GAR instructions, an identical case to Biggin Hill (once again, that is: designated for Customs & Excise, but not for Immigration) would be Cambridge.
But looking at the AIP entry for Cambridge, it is different from the one for Biggin, in that there is indeed a note (under item 12 of the section “Operating Hours”) which points to the lack of designation for Immigration.
So…WTF?
The first flight after annual maintenance is the scariest flight I ever do and I want to make sure everything is fine. After every annual I spend at least around 3 hours at my hangar doing the most detailed post maintenance inspection I can possibly do and every single time I find a problem.
Missing screws, bent transponder antenna, oil filter not tight to spec, broken fuel valve shut off lock, broken or worn out adel clamps and worst was when my trim setting indicator was completely misaligned so I literally tried to take off with full nose down trim while the indicator was showing slightly aft of neutral. Yes I forgot to test my trim from full forward to full aft (stop to stop), I will never miss that again.
I have had my own little share of dealing with incompetent shops and mechanics.
What are the top maintenance shops in central Europe (South-Mid Germany, East France, Belgium, Lux areas) and why?
I am looking for a shop that is knowledgeable/experienced on the type, who answers emails promptly, briefs/debriefs you on the work that must be done and who does proper inspections of the work their people finish.
I am trying to make a top 3 list so I can go visit them for an “interview”.
In Le Touquet, the city will have to launch a competition for the management of the airport.
Le Touquet airport can no longer be run in the form of a mixed economy company as is the case today. This is apparent from the study of the Regional Chamber of Accounts. The Chamber considers that the city should have made a call for competition for the direction of the airport.
The change of mode of operation will occur during the year 2020 with the next municipality to know if the management of the airport will be made by a private form of delegation of public service or municipal.
(google translation)
Maybe someone can post a translation of the French interview?
The cylinder is back on and the engine runs perfectly. EGT on #2 is also perfect and in line with the rest, all the way down to idle.
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Ditto. I have FB friends across the political spectrum and there is nothing more fun than making some vaguely political statement and then watching a rightie friend and a leftie friend (who are un…
Hi Frans! Would you be able to share some more data on the referred accident that we can learn from?
You need the probe because the G5 uses TAS to calculate the wind vector, which is not available until temperature is known.
But you don’t have to use the Garmin probe, the ins…
