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BGA daily inspection sign off



 
 
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  #1  
Old June 29th 18, 11:54 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Jonathan St. Cloud
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Default BGA daily inspection sign off

Thought this should have it's own thread. I had never heard of a DI sign off book, but as the other items I have seen from the BGA, I will incorporate this to my daily flight routine.
  #2  
Old June 30th 18, 05:08 AM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
[email protected]
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Default BGA daily inspection sign off

Upon request, I'm reposting my response to an earlier thread, which I agree had gotten off track. That's an issue on these newsgroups. In this case, I also agree this is worth its own thread, although I don't expect it to be very controversial.

On Thursday, June 28, 2018 at 10:40:57 PM UTC-4, Charlie Quebec wrote:
My deepest condolences to the pilot and his friends.
I do have a question, does the video show a normal US preflight procedure? It seemed very casual to me.


I agree we should respect the OP's intent. That said, sometimes there are things we can learn in these digressions. I'm hoping the above post reflects confusion about terminology rather than the criticism that's implied. One can infer very little from what we refer to as a preflight procedure from the video. As someone pointed out, there has not been even a suggestion that a glider malfunction caused this tragic death. In the video, the pilot is already in the cockpit with the towline connected. Yes, there are some final checks to be done (e.g., canopy secured) or repeated (e.g., altimeter set), but the bulk of what we refer to as a "preflight" (i.e., daily inspection) would have been performed by the pilot prior to getting in the takeoff queue, much less getting into the cockpit.

For example, I have four different written checklists that I manually mark off before I even get in the cockpit (Assembly, Launch Grid, Task--contests only, and Pre-Takeoff), plus the in-cockpit final checklist. I don't have a daily inspection book, per se. I do, however, check off each item on the checklist with a pen or pencil for two reasons: to make certain I don't forget anything, especially if I have to skip an item and then come back later and clear it. And the second, fairly minor reason is so that if something bad does happen, there will be a written record of what I inspected, not just the items that didn't meet standards but everything I looked at. Just my way of making it easier for the NTSB! Years ago I just let my thumb slide down the list as I walked around. As I've gotten older and the number of things I check has increased (it's up to about 85 items, now), I nearly always record the results. But that's just a personal practice; it's not mandatory.

In this country, it is the pilot's responsibility to do a preflight inspection to his/her satisfaction. What is appropriate for a metal glider that is kept assembled in a locked hangar might be somewhat different than for a composite glider that is rigged from the trailer every day, though it would still be quite comprehensive.

We do have one preflight inspection enforcement mechanism for SSA-sanctioned contests in the form of the "critical assembly check"--i.e., a subset of items from the checklist that are critical for flight (including the main pins, control hookups, etc.). The line crew will not launch a glider unless there are initials on the left wing root tape indicating that a critical assembly check was performed.

I was on the SSA board for the debate over whether to mandate this, with opinions strong on both sides. IIRC, the primary issue was, unfortunately, one of legal liability. Specifically, by mandating this check, were we opening the SSA or the organizers up to liability if it turned out that something on the critical list went wrong (in other words, did we become responsible for verifying the validity of the checks?--it's a strange legal world we live in). Also, and perhaps more important, would the person who assisted the pilot to do the check and signed the tape be liable in a similar situation? We resolved this with some legal disclaimers and also by agreeing that we would not seek to validate who actually did the critical assembly check or signed the tape. That means many pilots do enlist others to assist them and sign the tape. Others seek assistance but then sign the tape themselves. And still others do the check and sign the tape themselves.

Many commercial and club operations will not tow a glider unless the pilot confirms he/she has done a positive control check, which is part of the critical assembly check anyway.

Regulations and practices vary by country. Here in the U.S., we like to think we have the flexibility to survey what others are doing and then adopt their best practices, modifying and enhancing them as makes sense for our operating environment. As with most things in life, there is often not a single perfect or right way of doing things. What works for us would not necessarily work in other countries, but we have the satisfaction, I suppose, of knowing that certain things developed or popularized here have been adopted elsewhe e.g., some of the original turnpoint photography processes, start gates, tasking concepts, daily safety briefings at contests, etc. We're always seeking ways to make soaring safer while recognizing that preserving the freedom to fly the way we want is also important and must be balanced against that.

Chip Bearden


  #3  
Old June 30th 18, 05:43 AM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Charlie Quebec
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Default BGA daily inspection sign off

See video below.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AmEnZBg8heE
Oddly, we actually train pilots to perform the checks, rather than the rate them and hope approach.
  #4  
Old July 4th 18, 02:37 AM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Bruce Hoult
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Default BGA daily inspection sign off

On Friday, June 29, 2018 at 3:54:17 PM UTC-7, Jonathan St. Cloud wrote:
Thought this should have it's own thread. I had never heard of a DI sign off book, but as the other items I have seen from the BGA, I will incorporate this to my daily flight routine.


It's not only DIs. It's (in NZ) a little yellow notebook showing the maintenance history of the glider. The results of the latest annual and/or 3-month inspection should be tucked in it, and there is also a section for pilots to enter major and minor faults found, and for engineers to sign off the fixes.
  #5  
Old July 4th 18, 03:48 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Simon Cooksey
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Default BGA daily inspection sign off

On 29/06/18 23:54, Jonathan St. Cloud wrote:
Thought this should have it's own thread. I had never heard of a DI sign off book, but as the other items I have seen from the BGA, I will incorporate this to my daily flight routine.


It might be of interest to know the daily inspection regime and training
pilots under the BGA stick to.

There's the DI, which anyone deemed competent by the local club can do.
It's normal for early-solo and pre-solo pilots who have been
vocationally trained on task to do these checks. It's not meant to be an
annual, but just a check for anything untoward from the last flight or
rigging. If the glider has been rigged since it last flown, and
independent rigging check is done by a 2nd person to confirm the
controls are properly connected.

The check goes about as follows:

- Inside the cockpit:
- Instruments are good
- Controls move as expected, and the appropriate control surfaces
move the right way
- Dual controls checked to feel connected to each other
- Panel is secure, nothing flapping in the breeze
- Batteries are secure, and electrical instruments power up
- No loose objects in the cockpit
- Straps are checked for fraying
- Strap release is checked under tension to release correctly
- Canopy jettison visually inspected (e.g. the locking wire is
present on something like a K21)
- Any ballast present is normally noted, but left alone
- Wing pins / bayonets checked

- Airframe:
- Wheels are at a good pressure, run freely, and no grinding in the
bearings when rotated under pressure
- Statics checked to not be blocked
- Canopy cleaned if mucky from the hanger
- Gel coat visually inspected for signs of cracking, particularly
along the leading edge of the wings, the base of the fin and
around the A/B box
- Tail plane checked to be attached securely by wiggling in various
directions
- Wings checked in the same way
- Visual inspection hatches and windows are checked for foreign
objects (like the windows at the tail of a Grob 103)
- External control linkages are checked (like the bearings on the
elevators of a K13 wing)

We're normally taught to do this in some methodical way. I go
anticlockwise around the glider from nose to nose.

- Positive control checks
- As you'd expect, 2 people, one moving the controls one holding the
control surface confirming pressure in both directions of
movement.
- When checking the A/Bs the person on the wing does a visual
inspection of the box to make sure no bits of tree have found
their way in there

Once all of this is done, the DI book is signed and dated. The minor
defects column contains a list of things which should be seen to but
aren't a risk worth grounding the plane for, the major defects column
grounds the plane. One would also put any minor servicing which has been
performed if a defect has been seen there and then.

Example minor defect: "As above. Also: Rear PTT button loose on stick"

Example major defect: "Front straps frayed."


This all works quite nicely, as when approaching a glider the first
thing we check is a DI book. When an aircraft is grounded, the DI book
is moved to the club office, and a note is left in the aircraft not to
fly it.


It only takes about 15 minutes to complete the DI, so it's a simple
step. The training on the DI inspection is good for new pilots getting
to know all the aircraft they will fly. Typically a pilot is signed off
on one aircraft type at a time, particularly as at my club we used to
fly wood and glass in our 2seat fleet.


Hope that's of interest to someone. Chip in if I missed an obvious thing
to check.

- Simon

  #6  
Old July 4th 18, 04:23 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Simon Cooksey
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Posts: 3
Default BGA daily inspection sign off

On 04/07/18 15:48, Simon Cooksey wrote:
On 29/06/18 23:54, Jonathan St. Cloud wrote:
Thought this should have it's own thread. I had never heard of a DI sign off book, but as the other items I have seen from the BGA, I will incorporate this to my daily flight routine.


It might be of interest to know the daily inspection regime and training
pilots under the BGA stick to.

There's the DI, which anyone deemed competent by the local club can do.
It's normal for early-solo and pre-solo pilots who have been
vocationally trained on task to do these checks. It's not meant to be an
annual, but just a check for anything untoward from the last flight or
rigging. If the glider has been rigged since it last flown, and
independent rigging check is done by a 2nd person to confirm the
controls are properly connected.


One correction, the BGA must have changed the policy since I last
checked -- its post-solo pilots only who are allowed to do a DI.

BGA Instructor Manual, Section 8-31, PDF Page 4, column 2:
https://members.gliding.co.uk/wp-con...-_-DI-2017.pdf

Only 'licensed pilots' can DI club gliders, so this bars pre-solo
pilots from doing them.


Even so, pre-solo pilots are involved heavily in the DI process as it
really is a good way to familiarise students with gliders, and frosty
winter starts from being totally dire for the local solo club-flying
members.

- Simon
  #7  
Old July 4th 18, 11:34 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Justin Couch
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Posts: 25
Default BGA daily inspection sign off

On Thursday, 5 July 2018 01:23:25 UTC+10, Simon Cooksey wrote:

One correction, the BGA must have changed the policy since I last
checked -- its post-solo pilots only who are allowed to do a DI.

BGA Instructor Manual, Section 8-31, PDF Page 4, column 2:
https://members.gliding.co.uk/wp-con...-_-DI-2017.pdf

Only 'licensed pilots' can DI club gliders, so this bars pre-solo
pilots from doing them.


Even so, pre-solo pilots are involved heavily in the DI process as it
really is a good way to familiarise students with gliders, and frosty
winter starts from being totally dire for the local solo club-flying
members.



Similar in Oz. There's a small book called a Maintenance Release in the glider, that takes the place of carrying around the full aircraft logbook and AFM. Requires a signature in it before first flight of the day, or after rigging. There's training for the Daily Inspection (videos talked about earlier), and a signoff, but its not a big process to do so. DI rated people here in Oz are also expected to be able to do additional duties beyond preflight, such as double inspections during annual inspections etc.
 




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