Flight School maintenance write-ups

[indefinitehold]

Poor avbug...

He is write and so are some of the comments. As I agree that opinions can lead down a wrong path. You only inserted your opinion. You did not state that the a/c had a hard landing, yes?

Any competent mechanic will make his own conclusion as to what the visual evidence is. Your opinion could only assist the mechanic down a path that he was already considering. I am a A&P / G.A. Avionic man myself. My experience would led me to two possabilities regarding a FLIGHT SCHOOL 172;\

A hard landing

or

Someone ran over a taxi light / surface obstruction

either way, as per the Cessna Maintenace Manual, it requires a unscheduled inspection ( Hard Landing / side load inspection) For what its worth, I would have done the inspection based alone on the visual findings that you described.

How have ya been avbug?

 

[indefinitehold]

By the way. I dont know if any of you who have commented own or work on planes lately, but $500 for a hard landing inspection sounds pretty good.

 

[avbug]

He is write and so are some of the comments.

He is right (but also writes).

Nothing better that some brightspark pilot who *thinks* he's a mechanic to try to do the mechanic's job for him. Especially a pilot who thinks he knows what inspection is required and makes this unqualified decision...and especially one who has no knowledge of what might possibly have occured, but makes an uneducated guess as to what it *might* have been...and then writes it up as though he has some semblence of actual knowledge on the matter.

Other common examples: pilot notices instrument vacum reading high. Writes up vacum, stating "vacum pressure needs turned down a little." the problem is that it's a kinked instrument line, and it's not pressure, it's suction...and the higher value could mean several things...most typically a restriction in the vacum system...the pilot has just identified the wrong problem and diagnosed what he doesn't know and can't identify...instead of simply stating what he found.

Pilot reports rough engine caused by improper mixture adjustment which caused engine failure at altitude. He can't explain why engine starts and functions normally when mechanic operates engine, and apparently doesn't the concept of carburetor icing.

I've seen pilots report binding in the controls or a stiff rudder, going so far as to cite bad pulleys or other such nonsense, when in fact they failed to remove the control locks.

To determine based on some wrinkled skin that a hard landing has been made, however, is idiotic. One may simply write up wrinkled skin...but one need not make assumptions (remember the old saying about assumptions making an ass of u and me?) about what has occurred. Report what you see. Nothing more. If you know a hard landing occurred, then this is another matter...but do you know the manufacturer values which establish the parameters of a hard landing...or are you simply guessing about that, too?

Guesswork isn't professional, and in avaition it's both improper and dangerous. Guesswork blinds us to realities, and is an arrogant self-serving limited solution that assumes we have zeroed in on the crux of the matter. In fact, we may be discounting many other possibilities which are in need of consideration. Does that oil under the engine mean we have a leak, or is it simply a spill when someone put oil in the engine, or is it someone who overfilled the engine, or is it a real problem? Don't guess. Learn and know. Write up only what you see, not what you imagine or dream up. We don't dream up numbers for performance or weight and balance. We don't guess at our fuel consumption. We know. The same logic and professional courtesy applies to making a maintenance writeup; cite only what is known, refraining from mindless speculation, guesswork, and assumption.

 

[Maria]

To the OP, get used to it. Just as in all aspects of aviation, there are bottom feeders. Your guessing probably pissed off the mechanics and owner, but them getting pissed off over a write-up is normal because it means the bird is on the ground not flying and one has to pay a mechanic to look at it.

If you want to CY your A next time, ask the school's mechanic to take a look at something that "doesn't look right" with the proper amount of humility and respect. If he thinks it looks all right, ask 'im if he'd be willing to sign of the squawk. If he hesitates, walk away. If he lays into you for being so stupid for a time period based on his age, general orneriness, years spent dealing with cheap SOB owners, the amount of the game he's missing, and how much he's bought into the "pilots are always screwups" bit; consider how much you like living and your certificates, and proceed accordingly.

 

[indefinitehold]

I see that he actually did write it up as a Hard landing. I cant defend you now. Maria is correct and I would have thought it to be the norm to discuss the matter with the facilities maintenance personel prior to the write up. Most places I have either flown or turned wrenches for always had the unofficial policy of no write ups until consulting with MX. This policy of course never prevented a write up from happening but it did guide the write up in the end. Case in point, such a policy would have saved $500 US.

Lesson learned?

Hope so