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Wayne, your point is well taken. The TRUE reason the FAA watches over us is that there are too many out there who do not have enough mechanical knowledge to allow ALL OF US the freedom to work on our airplanes. There is simply no way for the FAA to sort out the competent from the incompetent. Therefore ALL OF US must follow FAA rules. I, like you, have seen more than enough "off the wall repairs" suggested on this site to actually SUPPORT FAA controls. Even then, there are some who will do as they dam please. It is a constant reminder that it is impossible to obtain 100 percent compliance of ANY LAW! George Frebert Dover Delaware On Thu, 31 May 2001 01:56:14 EDT, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > ----[Please read http://ercoupers.com/disclaimer.htm before following any advice in this forum.]---- > > Jon, > > I read your e-mail carefully, and I agree with everything you said. I do not > like the fact that aviation is so overregulated that it is impossible to > operate an airplane in the US without some rule being violated. And I think > owners should be able to do more maintenance on their airplanes than what is > currently allowed. I never have figured out why it is legal to replace a > fuel line, but illegal to replace a compass. You can replace the brakes, but > not an armrest. Personally, I would think that fuel delivery and braking are > more critical than a compass and an armrest. > > Being an engineer, the thing that bothers me about some of what I read is > that most people (me included) do not have the specific knowledge required to > determine if an unapproved replacement part is safe to install, and will > remain safe under all operating conditions. There are all kinds of failure > modes that most people would never think to consider when deciding to put an > unapproved part on an airplane. > > As an example, someone mentioned a while back that the fuel pump gasket might > be replaced by an O-ring. OK, what O-ring is going to be installed? We need > a part number here. Has the O-ring been tested to verify that it is > compatible with avgas? with auto fuel? with alcohol in auto fuel? Does it > become brittle at low temperatures? Is it compatible with auto fuel when it > is heated to 130 DEGF? Are the gasket surfaces on the fuel pump designed to > retain an o-ring and prevent it from squeezing out of the sealing surfaces? > > Does anyone have real and accurate answers to all these questions (and all of > the questions that I didn't think of)? Should we be willing to bet our lives > and the lives of our passengers that we can do an accurate engineering > analysis of this new part? In most cases the answer is no. The problem is > that most of us don't know how much we don't know. > > As far as the muffler cement and bandage go - If it were a matter of life and > death I MIGHT fly an airplane with the muffler repaired with a muffler > bandage. Fortunately, all of my flying is pleasure flying, so I don't ever > have to think too long about those kind of decisions. If the airplane isn't > airworthy, it stays on the ground until it's fixed properly. There's always > tomorrow to go flying. > > As always - just my opinion! > > Good Flying, > > Wayne > > _______________________________________________________ Send a cool gift with your E-Card http://www.bluemountain.com/giftcenter/ ==^================================================================ EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?aVxiLm.aVzvvT Or send an email To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] This email was sent to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
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