Peter Duniho wrote:
Of course, there's a possibility the aircraft might be unairworthy, and you
might be called out on it by the FAA. But I've never heard of a case where
the FAA went aggressively after a pilot who flew a rental that turned out to
not have its logbooks in order.


An article in the Sept. 2000 issue of AOPA Pilot ("Aircraft inspection and
the renter pilot," pg 136) describes how the FAA suspended a renter pilot's
certificate for 30 days after it was discovered that the annual inspection
of the Cessna 152 the pilot had rented had expired 12 days before the
pilot's flight. The pilot appealed to the NTSB, which upheld the FAA's
suspension. According to the article, this decision created new precedent
establishing that renter pilots cannot rely on the FBO to assure aicraft
airworthiness.

Now whenever I go to a new FBO to rent from, I insist on seeing the aircraft
logs, and present a copy of this article if there is any question. If the
FBO still refuses, I will not rent from them.


Ross Oliver