Where to keep your pilot's certificate?

[Gomer Pylot]

In this world, what "should be" and what "is" are different things, always have been, always will be. Wishing on a star doesn't work. Almost nothing is as it should be, you just have to deal with what is.

[avbug]

That's idiotic. It's one thing to wish that the weather would get better. It's entirely something else when one has full control over the matter.

 

An instructor has full control over whether or not to prepare a student for the real world, and that needs to include a discussion about what'a required to be on board and how to present it.

 

There are all kinds of wild ideas out there and wives tales about ramp checks. My favorite is the advice to never let go of the pilot certificate, because that's surrendering the certificate to the FAA (no, it isn't). The FAA might keep it and you're out of business (no, they can't, and no, you're not). Don't open your aircraft or show your certificates (you're required to show the certificates and the inspector can inspect your aircraft at any time).

 

Have your required documents. Carry them, and be prepared to display them. Ask for the inspector's form 110A (his ID), verify that he's genuine. Volunteer no information. Remember that it's administrative law; anything you say or do or provide can be used against you, and you are considered guilty until proven innocent. The best possible outcome of the ramp check is that noting changes and the inspector moves on. The worst case involves legal issues, enforcement action, or worse. Be compliant, don't implicate yourself, say no more than needed.

 

It's not at all a matter of us not getting everything we want in life. There is no excuse for an instructor to fail to prepare his student, and not everything is found in the standards manual.

[r22butters]

Never take your hand off the Collective in a hover, it is ok to take it off on the ground (blades spinning). One school of instructors taught me.

 

Never take your hand off the Collective when on the ground (blades spinning), it is ok to take it off in a hover. Another school of instructors taught me.

 

Instructors often teach what they were taught. If no one ever told them about the ramp check, they probably won't be telling anyone else.

 

I didn't hear of its existence until about three years after my ppl.

 

 

These days though, there aren't many questions a simple youtube search can't answer.

Edited July 17, 2016 by r22butters