"Viperdoc" wrote:
The pilot in command is responsible for the safety and status of the plane,
regardless of the owner. If you crash and die and the NTSB determines that
you did improper maintenance, your insurance would likely be voided for
flying an unairworthy plane. Your life insurance carrier may not decide to
pay if your death was the result of an "illegal" activity.

Rental planes generally require 100 hour inspections, but the PIC is still
responsible for the airworthiness.

After working at a flight school for almost a year and owning my own
airplane for almost two, there are obvious things that a renter can find
in a preflight that would prevent the plane from being airworthy; but
there are also things that would prevent a plane from being airworthy
that a renter never sees. In the entire time I worked at the flight
school, not one renter ever asked to see the aircraft logbooks -- yes,
the times when the last MX/inspections were done were on the dispatch
sheet that the renter signed before taking the airplane, but ... just
because a plane has a 100-hr inspection sign-off doesn't necessarily
mean it is being "well-maintained". Some are, some aren't. Ask how the
FBO treats Service Bulletins; some feel if it isn't "required", they
don't have to do it. True in the legal sense, but would you rent from an
FBO with that mentality *if you knew about it*?

On the other hand, an owner can be as legal and meticulous about their
airplane MX as humanly possible, and some little, insignificant part can
still fail and bring the airplane down.