Newps wrote:
Paul Tomblin wrote:

If you've got a small problem with your plane, do you bother with a ferry
permit, or do you just fly it if you think it's safe?

Fly it.



Hypothetical: Say your (shared) plane has gotten some damage, say for
instance a wingtip strobe/nav light assembly got scraped off against a
hangar while it was being towed. Say that the wires are secured with duct
tape and the person who did the damage flew it home like that.


Fly it.


Also say
that the company that does the work on your plane isn't at your home
airport. Would you wait for a good VFR day and fly it over to that
company, or would you go through all the hassle of getting a local
mechanic to inspect it and apply for a ferry permit?


Fly it.

Does this hypothetical pilot have enough education to
determine that there is no hidden damage? Wingtip damage sometimes
results in wing root damage, particularly at the aft spar. A bashed
wingtip might be ready to come loose in flight and foul an aileron,
especialy those cheap plastic tips found on so many airplanes. If most
pilots saw the light structure inside most light aircraft, structure
that was designed for flight loads, not ground abuses, they'd think
again about "just flying it." Been there, done that, lived to tell the
story.
I would imagine that ferry permits were created to protect
people from themselves.

Dan