"John Gaquin" wrote in message
...

"C J Southern" wrote in message

Not really. For me, the question is do I bother making the trip to the
airport, or do I wait for someone else to be the "canary in a cage".
I've
also got a slightly nervous a passenger to consider......


The crux of the question really is .......

No, the crux of the question is this: why won't you, as putative PIC, just
make a decision? Why do you need a committee of people thoroughly
unfamiliar with the details to consult with and support you? You don't
fly
an aircraft, particularly a single-pilot aircraft, by consensus. You're
clearly hesitant about the aircraft and don't really want to take it, but
you post to the NG in a way that says 'I'm bothered by this craft, but I
don't want anyone to think I'm a wuus'. Take it, or don't take it, but
make
a decision. If there's not enough data to confirm safety, then don't take
it.

You've still got the wrong end of the stick. The Question was "Would you fly
this aircraft?", not "Should I fly this aircraft?". I was never going to fly
it like that - however - that decision / position will no doubt cause
"somewhat of a debate in certain circles" - and as such I was interested as
to how many others would come to the conclusion I did, given the same
information I had - and it seems that the answer is "most of them". It's got
nothing to do with "hesitation or flying by committee" - the opportunity for
the flight had passed before I even wrote the original post.

Given that if you were here to inspect it then you'd not be able to see
where the leak was coming from, and would not be permitted to remove the
cowl then you'd have had the same info I've given here to make a go/no-go
decision. To me it's a no brainer, but I tell you what - I bet that aircraft
flies again with someone else PIC without any further investigation.