Are You Flying a "Beater?"

AvWeb is reporting that "an alarming number of aircraft" are in poor
mechanical condition.

I must admit that their assessment matches my own observations. Some of the
planes I see regularly flying are almost scary -- and some of the planes
I've seen in hangars and on ramps I can only pray never take flight under
their own power.

As a renter, I flew planes that (on occasion) had doors that wouldn't latch,
lorans that didn't work, had sticky throttles, questionable radios, and
leaky fuel caps -- and those were just the defects I, as a new, renter
pilot, could detect. God only knows what was going on under the cowl.

I once flew a rental plane on a long cross-country that did not have any
valve cover gaskets installed on the right side of the engine. Oil covered
the plane, and scared the bejeesus out of us when we landed. (The A&P's
helper who "forgot" to install them was summarily fired for this, BTW.)

As an owner, I have endeavored to keep my planes pristine, with only the
best maintenance and accessories. IMHO, this is the only way to treat a
machine that carries my family several thousand feet into the sky -- yet, it
is obvious that there are many pilots and owners who don't see it that way.

I personally know a pilot who keeps his automobiles and motorcycles
maintained to perfection -- yet scrimps and cheats on his airplane
maintenance. He's an otherwise "normal" individual, yet he seems to take
pleasure in running his engine way over TBO, and flying around on upholstery
that has metal sticking through the mesh. His panel is mostly
non-functional, the paint is long gone, and all plastic parts are badly
cracked and chipped.

It's almost as if he feels like he's beating "the system" by scrimping like
this -- he likes to brag about how little it costs him to fly -- yet most of
us on the field just think he's acting irrationally.

How about it? Are *you* flying a "beater?" Or do you know anyone who
does? What's going on here?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"