Robert Moore wrote:
Saryon wrote

But are we talking about minor niggly things that can be MEL'd,
or "something *wrong* with the airplane"

Me'thinks that you are misusing the phrase since neither a
Cessna 172 nor any other small single engine airplane has
a published Minimum Equipment List (MEL). Hence...no MEL'ing
anything. Sure sounds good though.

I'm not sure if that is a formal Minimum Equipment List, but if you check
e.g. the POH for a C-172, section 6, "Weight and Balances", then you will
notice that there is an equipment list and that e.g. the stall warning horn
is marked with F04-R, the "R" indicating that this is a required item.
And yes, I as a plain student pilot did ground a C-127 because the stall
horn didn't work. The FBO took the plane out of service immediately, and
when I checked out the same plane a few days later the stall horn was fixed.
Same with a rough engine. During run-up the engine would drop about 400rpm
on the left magneto. The CFI tried to burn off carbon deposits, but when
that didn't work after a few minutes we went back, grounded the plane, and
even had to cancel the lesson because all the other planes were in use
already.

So no, there are FBOs that are very responsible and responsive and don't
provide rotten planes. That doesn't mean that the seats are in perfect shape
or paint has no scratches. But when it comes to safety I am confident that
my FBO doesn't skimp.

jue
jue