Legality of expired GPS database & DME

[FlySacto]

I flew with an FAA inspector in our flight school’s twin a few days ago with an almost new GNS430. I was in the right seat tasked with talking on the radio while he flew under the hood. We were pop-up IFR in VMC going to Lake Tahoe and he wanted to do the VOR/DME-A approach from the SWR VOR. He was unfamiliar with the gps and I was talking him through all the “buttonology” since it was mounted over on the lower left side of the panel and had him program for the VOR direct. Once he had it programmed it took me about 2 nanoseconds to tell him we were going to cancel IFR at SWR and proceed with flight following and a practice approach since we didn’t have DME or a current database. TXCAP4228 hit the nail on the head about flight schools and the databases. The flight school spent over 30k dropping these things into a few of the planes but hasn’t kept the databases current because it’s not “cost effective”. They dare not eat the cost or raise the rental rate because the majority of renters don’t care about the database as long as the pretty picture scrolls along while they fly.

FlySacto

 

[ultrarunner]

At the very least then, I would hope the flight school placard the things 'VFR USE ONLY'. It's the right thing to do and the SAFE thing to do.

Actually, the safe thing is to keep the DB current, since the tendency is for folks to use them anyway in the system.