Ed What Al is saying is that his particular FSDO says a transponder can not be certified for the encoding check if the altimeter does not meet the TSO standards. Perhaps that makes sense for an IFR transponder certification, but not for a VFR transponder certification?
Regardless of what makes sense, and regardless of what the regulations say, in the real world, the interpretation of the local FSDO is what rules. I am not saying that's correct, nor that I agree. It's just reality. If your local FSDO says you need TSO'd instruments in a particular application, you better have TSO'd instruments, even if the regulations don't support that. This is the mathematical formula. Bureaucrats + power = abuse. Eliacim ----- Original Message ----- From: Ed Burkhead To: 'A.J. Demarzo' Cc: [email protected] Sent: Monday, March 09, 2009 10:09 PM Subject: RE: [ercoupe-tech] altimeters Al, I can see justification for requiring that a transponder be TSOd. A bad transponder doesn't just mess up its own plane, it could, in theory, lock up the entire transponder system in that area. Bad juju in a controlled airport situation. When it comes to transponders, how can an inspector know it "meets the requirements" of the TSO if it doesn't have the TSO certification? So, your "jerk" requires that TSO certification. However, this doesn't apply to an altimeter or any other instrument in the Ercoupe, at least not for our kind of flying. Are we agreed that for instruments other than transponders, no TSO is required? (Note that Linda has already jumped through the hoops to figure out TSO requirements for the com radios. http://edburkhead.com/Ercoupe/radio_tso_requirement.htm ) Ed
