patrol guy wrote: We are sitting at the tables BS'ing and the waitress comes up and in a low voice says, "FAA is here ramp checking a guy and his cessna out on the ramp".

Hey JG, are you sure she wasn't just trying to get you guys out of the restaurant so she could go home?

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Bonanzaman,

Yes, bring in the maintenance logs. If you are on the road, they CAN tell you to bring the maintenance logs in to the FSDO nearest your home base. You MIGHT get away with a scanned copy, but generally, they're only going to insist on seeing the maintenance logs if there's something suspicious, in which case, they're probably going to want to see the real thing. And, yes, you are required to provide access to same.

My point with the panel mounted GPS manual being a required Flight Manual supplement was simply to point out that MANY, if not most operating instructions for add-ons like panel mounted GPS, Fuel flow devices, graphic engine monitors, etc are in fact, noted as Flight Manual supplements, and as such must be carried in the airplane at all times. I sure haven't seen a lot of those types of devices, but every panel mounted GPS I've ever met has a manual that is considered a Flight Manual Supplement, and must be aboard the plane. This is true of a Magellan unit, Trimble units, and the ubiquitous Garmin 430/530 in our school planes. I have a graphic engine monitor in my airplane, and the manual for it clearly states that it is a flight manual supplement and must be carried, etc.

The point is, many STC's, such as the Robertson STOL kit, provide a flight manual supplement. Once installed in the airplane, it becomes part of the AFM, and therefore must be carried aboard at all times to be legal.

MTV

1

Hi James,

Thanks for your insight! I appreciate your practical approach.

What DEA sticker or decal would that be?

About 15 years ago I landed at Salmon ID, and before tying down my "fat" ultralight (Titan Tornado, too fast and carried too much fuel to strictly subscribe to part 103) struck up a conversation with an older guy in a nearby hanger. He mentioned he'd flown for ********* Air Taxi for some years in the back country. In the middle of him giving me a quick hanger tour, he stopped and looked out at the ramp and yelled "Get the hell away from that plane". I turned and saw a stranger just closing the door of the Titan, and wondered what the heck????
As the stranger walked our direction my new aquaintance Ken muttered under his breath that the SOB was the worst FAA puke he'd ever run into, and they had bad blood going way back, but now as he was no longer a working pilot he was going to tear him a new one. I was stunned to hear this, and what transpired next was out of my hands and all I could do was watch in amazement. The stranger whipped out his ID and identified himself as ********** out of the SLC office and he wanted to know who owned that ultralight. Ken interruppted him, told him he knew who the hell he was and he had better "get moving". With a smug smile the FAA guy continued to query us about who's ultralight that was, before I could say anything Ken really ripped into him, and for the first time mentioned a baseball bat that could possible expedite his departure. By now the fed and me are both standing there with our mouths open, me figuring "great, this will really help me smooth things over duuring my ramp inspection". The fed was still not real sure Ken knew who he was dealing with, but then it gradually dawned on him, and me, that Ken knew full well who and what he was, did not care a bit, and did indeed plan to use the hanger baseball bat forthwith if he did no RIGHT NOW (delivered in a full volume roar) get moving. The fed stumbled back a few steps, FASTER Ken yelled, and the last I saw of him he was jogging away at a pretty rapid clip.
I looked at this Ken guy I'd met only a few minutes earlier, and he had the most satisfied sh+t eating grin on his face, he just looked real happy with himself: he told me of several instances where this fed had created very dangerous situations on some of the back country strips, flying in unanounced (no radio call) from the wrong direction, trying to sneak up on these working pilots in an effort to catch them unawares. One time in particular, according to Ken, a very close all occurred with a fully loaded plane on takeoff and the fed pops up around the bend in the river and some pretty intense manuvering was required to avoid a tragedy. This and other events gave Ken a real hard on for the fed, and I just happened to be in the way when it happened.
This was one of the scariest things to ever happen to me in 37 years of flying, I quickly shook Ken's hand, told him how interesting that all had been, and got the hell back into the Titan and out there. Nothing ever happened to Ken or to me, it just never happened I guess officially. For the record I do not personally condone or agree with Ken's method of dealing with a ramp inspection, I'm just reporting what happened. True story.......

Never been ramp checked myself but the two inspectors are here at SNY quite often to check out the freighter, usually in the evening. I was introduced to both of them by the FBO while we were waiting for the freighter to arrive several years ago. The guy handed me his badge, told me who he was etc. and the conversation went to what I did for a living and what I flew. I asked the question about the new plastic licenses and the requirement of when I needed this document. He went to his vehicle, brought me back an app., and told me all I needed was to send it in at no charge to obtain the new certificate. I have since met them several times and have had my plane on the ramp when they did their checks of the freighter. We greet each other and go about our business or if there is time we just BS a little....but like some of the posts, I'm sure there are other encounters...some not so pleasant. HC

Just goes to show ya there are good people and bad people at the FAA, just ike anywhere else. I know two guys who became FAA inspectors, after spending a lotta years in the airline/air taxi business. They are both intelligent & reasonable -- just the sort of people I like to see in those positions. I'd like to think that most FAA personel are like that, and the jerks we all hear about are the exception to the rule. It doesn't do anyone any good when there's an "us versus them" mindset going on.

Eric

One attempt since '72, I say attempt because another pilot with a bone to pick (and a baseball bat) with the inspector sorta interceded, lets just say he forgot all about me as he had more pressing business to attend to, ain't saying it was right, just that it happened.