Flying when you know there is something wrong with the plane

"Robert Moore" wrote in message
. 6...
| 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.

Strictly speaking, an MEL is not 'published.' It is developed by a charter
operator (or anybody else who wants an MEL, for that matter, but it is kind
of silly for anyone else to want one) and submitted to the FSDO for review.
Once approved it is given back to the operator along with a letter of
authorization to be kept in the aircraft. The MEL together with the LOA
constitute an STC, but unlike other STCs the MEL does not go with the
airplane with a change of ownership. An MEL is specific to a particular
airplane being used by a particular operator. Getting an MEL for an aircraft
can be both time consuming and expensive.

Larger aircraft may have a Master MEL produced by the manufacturer. The FAA
has a Master MEL for small single engine aircraft as well. However, these
Master MELs are not MELs themselves, but only guidelines for developing your
own MEL. If you want an MEL for your Cessna 172 you would use the FAA Master
MEL and the equipment list in the manual as a basis for developing your MEL.

Yes, there are Cessna 172s that have MELs. You might well wonder why someone
would have an MEL for a Cessna 172 when that aircraft meets the small plane
exception to the "no flight with inoperative equipment" rule, but there are
specialized situations, including some bush operations, that make it
convenient to have an MEL. It is extremely unlikely that you will find an
MEL on a small single engine airplane that is being used by a flight school
or rental operator. Even charter operators will not get an MEL unless it is
absolutely essential to their operation.