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The absolute worst things in GA

The Aeroshell bottle also screws into the filler, you can cut off the bottom of those to make into a funnel. Although if you’re using the Aeroshell anyway, and screwing the bottle in, you don’t need the funnel to begin with :-)

Andreas IOM

alioth wrote:

The Aeroshell bottle also screws into the filler, you can cut off the bottom of those to make into a funnel. Although if you’re using the Aeroshell anyway, and screwing the bottle in, you don’t need the funnel to begin with :-)

Aeroshell seems to be switching to wide-neck bottles (at least in some markets). Only some suppliers have the narrow-neck ones. And the main reason to have a screw-in funnel on hand is when your oil is in a 19-litre pail, so you need both hands to hold it.

LKBU (near Prague), Czech Republic

One of the worst things in GA is filling up the oil when it’s windy, and getting it all over your face, down your neck, and up your sleeves Hence I got two of the filler adaptors with valves.

Oh and ATC strikes causing CTOTs like this one. Almost empty skies due to the virus…

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

For adding oil to an O-360 I use a Badoit bottle with the base cut off. It screws perfectly into the Lycoming filler cap thread. Other mineral water bottles have the same thread but shape of the Badoit bottle is perfect.

As for the suction screen (the one in the bottom of the sump which, according to Mike Busch, is designed to catch any metal debris with serial numbers), I’ve never had much oil come out when checking it.

Edit: …and so far, touch wood, no serial numbers – just a few flakes of carbon sometimes.

Last Edited by Jacko at 27 May 21:35
Glenswinton, SW Scotland, United Kingdom
  • In general, my main issue is how bloody expensive everything is and how everyone tries to rip you off on the basis of: “screw you, if you do general aviation you must be rich!” Medical examinations, CAA fees, exam fees, ATO fees, landing fees, aviation supplies etc. Everything is ridiculously expensive.
  • The practice by most clubs/renters of making you add 0.1/0.2 onto the tach time. They say that’s to match the block time to the tach time which is a bloody lie because I always end up having to pay for MORE than my actual block time. And in any case: what do they care about the block time anyway?
  • The EVEN WORSE practice by some clubs/renters of charging you the highest of the two: tach time +0.2, or block time.
  • The absolutely ridiculous opening hours of most airfields. It’s a Summer Sunday and the airfield is only open 10:00 to 16:00h? What bloody joke is that? Nobody can do any meaningful day-trip with those opening times. And all because there’s nobody in the tower to give me a QFE (which I don’t need).
  • The impossibility of actually using my Night Rating. I love flying at night but I just can’t do it…
  • The phrase “remain outside controlled airspace” which is the standard form of salute in the UK. So welcoming…
  • The phrase “reduced traffic service”.
EDDW, Germany

@Alpha_Floor hence a growing popularity for Permit aircraft, self regulating medicals, grass strip community flying. Standard GA has a large regulatory burden which most governments try and recover through fees, navigation charges and fuel duties.

Oxford (EGTK), United Kingdom

RobertL18C wrote:

Standard GA has a large regulatory burden which most governments try and recover through fees, navigation charges and fuel duties.

Well, the question is if it is “regulatory burden” or “perceived regulatory burden”.
If the US is much cheaper and more convenient under the same ICAO rules, then it is self-inclicted/self-justifed on the side of CAA.
Even EASA is introducing PART-21 Light!
Why is it in the US anything with a G5, ADS-B out and GNS is IFR-allowed? No matter what? Just like in some European countried.

The thing I hate the most about GA in the UK? DfT, CAA & NATS.
Sometimes it feels as if the situation is beyond any reasonable mark and more like an orchestrated act of sadism…

EGTR

To a large degree these practices exist all around Europe, but most pilots don’t want to post stuff which is critical of their own countries (except some will do so in their domestic forums)

The issues exist basically because few people are making decent money in GA, so they constantly look for creative ways to do it.

The charging of brakes-off to brakes-on, or adding 20% to the hobbs time, etc, is one of these, and is a symptom of the lack of trust, in the belief that if you charged for airborne time (which is what maintenance is based on) some renters would lie about it, whereas the number on the engine running meter can’t be tampered with. Well, unfortunately some do cheat, as I wrote here.

Most of this rental related stuff disappears when you own your own plane, or manage to find a good syndicate. The self fly hire system is designed to keep your wings short – everywhere.

ATC stuff varies. The UK tends to be anal about a lot of stuff; I think it is just the British “compliance” mentality. You spot the Brits at Le Touquet because they wear yellow jackets while eating their lunch And there are serious problems with ATSOCAS (ATC services OCAS) resulting from lack of funding. But the UK has mostly solid ATC procedures whereas in much of the mainland all kinds of weird stuff goes on, often the result of poor ATC ELP which is “solved” by ignoring radio calls.

Opening times are a huge issue everywhere in Europe. This can be addressed only by operating out of private strips which have PCL (pilot controlled lighting) installed, usually unofficially. But much of Europe doesn’t allow private strips; the UK is unusually liberal there.

NATS is a weird company, with an oppressive corporate culture which comes through in so much of what they do, all the way to the manner with which their employees post on social media (usually in contravention of the NATS social media policy, but that is allowed if you are beating up somebody who criticises the system ).

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Alpha_Floor wrote:

In general, my main issue is how bloody expensive everything is and how everyone tries to rip you off on the basis of: “screw you, if you do general aviation you must be rich!” Medical examinations, CAA fees, exam fees, ATO fees, landing fees, aviation supplies etc. Everything is ridiculously expensive.
The practice by most clubs/renters of making you add 0.1/0.2 onto the tach time. They say that’s to match the block time to the tach time which is a bloody lie because I always end up having to pay for MORE than my actual block time. And in any case: what do they care about the block time anyway?
The EVEN WORSE practice by some clubs/renters of charging you the highest of the two: tach time +0.2, or block time.

>>> when renting around here I pay airtime from wheels up to wheels down.

The absolutely ridiculous opening hours of most airfields. It’s a Summer Sunday and the airfield is only open 10:00 to 16:00h? What bloody joke is that? Nobody can do any meaningful day-trip with those opening times. And all because there’s nobody in the tower to give me a QFE (which I don’t need).

>>> Public airports (LOWI, LOWK, LOWL, LOWG, LOWS) are open around 23:00 local.
>>> Public airfields (LOWZ, LOIJ, LOAN, LOAV) are usually open till 20:30 local.
>>> Club airstrips are usually open till sundown on weekends. More and more of them are now getting rid of the useless ground person (legally possible here since two years only).

The impossibility of actually using my Night Rating. I love flying at night but I just can’t do it…

>>> No issue here and done daily

The phrase “remain outside controlled airspace” which is the standard form of salute in the UK. So welcoming…

>>> Very rare to even required it because airspace E is predominant.

The phrase “reduced traffic service”.

>>> There’s no guarantee here (legally there can’t be) but FIS is very accommodating to give traffic info.

Not to put salt in your wounds but more to enable some exchange of status quo on flying in Europe.

Are you a member of any group (AOPA or similar)?

always learning
LO__, Austria

Snoopy wrote:

Are you a member of any group (AOPA or similar)?

No I’m not at the moment. I don’t discard that idea though.

EDDW, Germany
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