Jay Honeck wrote:



I've only been ramp-checked once, but the FAA dude was only concerned
about your paperwork (pilot certificate, medical) and the aircraft's
basic paperwork (airworthiness cert, etc.). At no time did the guy
even look at the panel, other than when he looked in the plane at me
and Mary.


Along those lines find a time when the FAA is running the PACE program.
This is where your local FSDO shows up at your airport and you can
bring your plane and logs to them for them to inspect and they will tell
you if they find anything they consider unairworthy or maybe a little
suspicious. They will also inspect the plane and tell you what they
think and you can also have the FSDO fly with you for an hour or so,
basically give you a mini checkride. It's all nonadversarial. You can
ignore what they say and fly away if you want but it's also a way to
meet these people and find out they're just regular people. I did all
that and pointed out all the stuff on my plane that comes up from time
to time in these discussions.