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Wednesday 3rd December 2008
Brainteasers
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Brainteasers Interactive Quiz #67:
Is Your Aircraft Airworthy Of You?

Whether you own or rent, before going aloft it's important for the pilot in command to calculate just how many pounds of paperwork it takes to make the aircraft airworthy. From annual inspection dates to transponder certification rules there's a boatload of regs to apply. See how many you can recall.

INSTRUCTIONS: Answer the questions as best you can, then click on the "Score my quiz answers" button to see your score and read the explanations. If you don't like your score the first time around, you can change some of your answers and resubmit. To get the most out of this quiz, we suggest you keep trying until you get a perfect score.

NOTE: When more than one answer is true, only the most complete correct answer will be scored as correct.

1. Your Bonanza is not used for hire or for flight instruction, and it's not on any progressive maintenance program. It had its last annual inspection on December 28. It's now one year and one day later -- December 29 -- and the engine is one hour shy of TBO (Time Between Overhauls). May you fly the airplane three hours to another airport for both an annual inspection and an engine overhaul?
a. No. The engine will reach TBO and disintegrate in one hour, killing everyone on board.
b. No. The engine probably won't quit, but it's illegal to fly beyond TBO under Part 91.
c. No. Regardless of time on the engine, you're one day over on the annual inspection.
d. Yes.
2. Still operating under FAR Part 91 -- nothing for compensation or hire -- you hand your airplane to a new FBO for an annual inspection. Later, the mechanic finds a mandatory service bulletin on your airplane. The IA mechanic cannot sign off the annual until this bulletin is complied with.
a. True.
b. False.
3. Referring to the previous question, what does "IA" mean?
a. Inspector Aircraft
b. Inspector Airplane
c. Inspection Authority
d. Inspection Authorization
e. Isn't Airworthy
4. A commercial pilot rents a single-engine, piston airplane.

Reading through the aircraft logbooks, the renter sees that the annual inspection was completed 30 days prior and the aircraft has flown 19.5 hours since then. The preflight shows no problems. The renter misses a note in the AD (Airworthiness Directives) list stating that a recurring AD requires inspection of the landing gear attach bolts every 20 hours. Is the renter responsible for the AD compliance?


a. Yes. The PIC (Pilot In Command) is responsible for determining airworthiness.
b. No. The FBO is responsible for determining airworthiness.
c. No. The mechanic who performed the annual inspection is responsible for determining airworthiness.
d. Yes, but only if the FBO notifies the renter of all ADs due.
5. A 50-year old airplane, originally type-certificated by the manufacturer with a cotton and dope covering, is recovered with a more modern, commonly used, FAA-approved, synthetic fabric by an A&P mechanic following all the pertinent manufacturer and FAA methods and procedures. The finish job looks great, and there's no anticipated change to flying characteristics or significant change to weight and balance. Anticipating a major award at Oshkosh the owner rushes the paperwork -- logbooks and form 337 signed by an IA mechanic -- to the local FSDO (Flight Standards District Office) inspector who says, "I can't accept this without the STC." Does the airplane need the STC (Supplemental Type Certificate)?
a. Yes, because it wasn't recovered with cotton.
b. No. The new fabric is FAA-approved.
c. No. The form 337 is enough.
d. Yes, because it's a major repair.
6. Speaking of STCs, you read that Cessna 172s with Continental engines are approved to use auto gas (mogas) under not one, but two STCs. Checking under the cowling you notice that your 172 has a Continental engine, so you pour in 10 gallons of car gas and head for the skies. Would a sharp-eyed FAA inspector approve?
a. Yes. Gas is gas, and as PIC operating under FAR 91.7 you can determine what's airworthy in your airplane
b. Yes. The STC applies to your make and model, so you're legal.
c. No. Not until you acquire the STC from the holder of the STC and have an IA mechanic complete the appropriate paperwork
d. No. Not until you acquire the STC from the holder of the STC, and have an A&P mechanic complete the appropriate paperwork
7. You borrow a friend's Cherokee 180. It has a current annual, all ADs are complied with, and you see no problems in the preflight except a homemade placard that reads "ELT Removed." The owner says that it was removed five months prior and is being repaired. This is not a training flight, and you plan to fly 100 nautical miles (nm) to another airport. Can you legally launch?
a. Yes. The placard suffices.
b. No. You can only go 55 nm and only if it's a training flight.
c. No. An ELT can only be removed temporarily not to exceed 90 days
d. Yes. Provided you don't crash.
8. The Cherokee owner in the above question is a retired auto mechanic and a private pilot. One day he's on the ramp with the airplane's cowling removed and all the spark plugs out. "Needed cleanin'," he says. "Needed gappin', too," he adds. Can the Cherokee owner legally clean and gap the plugs? (Choose the best answer.)
a. No. Only a licensed mechanic can do that.
b. Yes. Under Part 43, Appendix A, the owner can clean and gap plugs.
c. No. Under Part 43, Appendix A, the owner can clean and gap plugs but only under a licensed mechanic's supervision.
d. No. Under Part 43, Appendix A, the owner can clean but not gap the plugs.
9. You never liked the looks of wheel pants on your Citabria, and when you see a scratch in the left one you decide to remove the offensive pants and repair this minor blemish. As a private pilot and the aircraft's owner, is this legal?
a. No. Well, it's half-legal. The pilot may remove the wheel pants but not repair the scratch. That takes a licensed mechanic.
b. Yes. All legal if the missing pants are also removed from the weight and balance equipment list.
c. Yes. Well, it's half-legal. Only a licensed mechanic may remove and replace the wheel pants, but the pilot/owner is permitted to make the minor repair.
d. No. Only a licensed mechanic may do the job.
10. A VFR pilot in a VFR Cessna 182 transitions through Class C airspace in daytime, VFR, below 10,000 feet MSL. The Cessna's transponder was tested, inspected, and certified by an approved avionics shop 25 months prior. ATC should have no problem with this.
a. True
b. False.