I may be being obtuse here, but surely if you are off on a long trip you check if you have the hours available to do the trip before you leave, and if you don’t you either get an extension or do the maintenance work before you go.
We keep a simple tech log sheet with an “hours to go till next check” column in it, which is revised after every flight.
On our bigger aeroplanes where maintenance is complicated there is tracking software which predicts maintenance activities, AD/SB compliance etc.
I would consider the work order issue to be covered by the annual fee.
It depends on the contract you have with the CAMO. Could be a single fee, or could be included as part of the annual fee
First to keep the aircraft in the controlled environment the CAMO will have to issue the work order
What would be the typical charge for doing that?
First to keep the aircraft in the controlled environment the CAMO will have to issue the work order, they can delegate a 50 hour check to any EASA part M Subpart F company or for UK registered aircraft to the pilot owner.
What the pilot can’t do is certify any items outside the LAMP maintenance program so items that are AD’s have to be released by some one with a maintenance licence.
As most AD’s are on a 100 hour cycle and we are talking about 50 hour checks the answer about pilots certifying 50 hour checks depends on were the aircraft is in the maintenance cycle.
It depends on the maintenance program, aircraft type & weight, kind of operation etc. It would be a good idea to discuss this on forhand with the CAMO or maintenance company.
And BTW I too can get rid of engine oil at the local waste collecting centre (we call them “containerpark” in Dutch) at no cost.
Same here, and special days for neighborhood collection. Most people take their used oil and batteries to auto parts shops anyway because they are open longer hours, seven days a week, and are closer. This hasn’t stopped me from accumulating my own little oil reserve, and also a store of ex-batteries from the time before I discovered the value of a battery tender on nearly everything… 
Must do something soon 
Do I understand it correctly that an EASA-reg plane cannot have the 50hr service done wholly by the pilot?
Here is how I understand it for aircraft in a “controlled environment”
- The aircraft is subject to a maintenance programme (MP)
- The CAMO manages the maintenance programme. It does NOT perform the maintenance unless it also is a maintenance organisation.
- The individual maintenance organisations, engineers, and pilot/owners execute the maintenance in accordance with the MP
- After maintenance, whomever did the maintenance releases the aircraft to service
- The CAMO renews the ARC, provided that the aircraft was maintained in accordance with the MP. This is a paperwork only exercise except that every three years a survey is required.
So if the MP says the pilot/owner does the 50 hour check, the pilot/owner signs the RTS and confirms that he has done the maintenance to the CAMO.
If the MP requires the 50 hour check to be done by a MO, the CAMO asks the MO to perform the maintenance, the MO signs the RTS and confirms to the CAMO.
Correct?
So it all depends on what the MP says, in theory it could say that 50 hour checks are optional, but in EASA land where manufacturer’s recommendations are regularly given the force of law that is unlikely.
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Alternatively, you can do it like the Belgians who used to feed it to chicken and pigs
There was little engine oil, there; the greatest volume came from deep-frying fat from our chippies. The worst pollution was from transformer oil, though. But who knows what else got mixed in… To our national credit it must be mentioned that the ministers in charge were decent enough to step back at once – which is far less normal here than in the U.K., for instance.
And BTW I too can get rid of engine oil at the local waste collecting centre (we call them “containerpark” in Dutch) at no cost.
