It's over a year old already, but here it is:

I was taking an instrument course at an intensive school, one that may
have earned a shaky reputation with the FAA. Corner-cutting was
rampant.

As I was preflighting a Cessna, a couple of FAA inspectors came up and
announced a ramp check. Two middle-aged guys, polite but with a slight
whiff of authoritarianism.

An instructor came out just as they were beginning. They decided to
check only his papers and leave mine unseen.

Those checked out and they went over the airplane. I followed one of
them around, generally getting in the way and asking silly questions.
It turns out he had been an Alaska bush pilot before going into
government work and really did know his way around a Cessna. He pointed
out a few things to me that I had not always been checking on my
preflights.

Oddly enough, they pronounced that old dog to be in good shape and said
we were free to take off. The last thing I heard them say was something
like "let's see what else we can check on here," as they walked over to
one of the twins.

They were cordial and knowledgeable throughout the entire procedure and
only delayed us by a few minutes.


tom wrote:
I just did a search of the group for ramp checks, and the last entry
was 4 years old. Anyone want to share a recent ramp check story?

tom

ps in visiting over 75 airports, I've yet to be checked