I am bound to say that where my personal survival is concerned, the CAA
and powers that be can take a running jump !!!
If an illegal ELT ensures I am found quickly before I die from
hypothermia then I am happy to take them on in the courts afterwards.
The authorities would be foolish (to say the least) if they considered
prosecuting an airman who saved both his and his passengers life in this
manner. The press would make mincemeat of them and the worst penalty a
court is likely to hand out would be a suspended sentence.
Maybe that' naivety on my part.
----- Original Message -----
From: David.Corbett
To: Europa Forum
Sent: Sunday, April 22, 2007 10:49 AM
Subject: Europa-List: ELT/PLB's; and 912/914 engine problems
Europhiles everywhere - two problems have come to light in UK/EU:
1 UK/EU legislation came into force a month ago
requiring all aircraft to carry ELT's if going more than 10 mins flying
time over water, or over certain inhospitable territory - do not come
back to me if I have mis-quoted the detail!
The point is that, if an ELT is fitted to an aircraft, it will almost
certainly sink immediately with the aircraft in a ditching situation.
The alternative is to carry a CAA approved PLB - but there are none!
The UK CAA is urgently debating this anomaly, and they have stated -
at a UK meeting on 18 April - that they expect to come up with
definitive guidance on how to overcome this problem in the very near
future. Therefore, do not rush to try to comply with this legislation
until the CAA come up with their guidance.
2 Here at Shobdon, Adrian Lloyd has been working on
a 912 that has ingested a small nut; once inside the engine, the nut
migrated between cylinders 1 & 3, doing enormous damage. He has heard -
not at first hand - that this has happened to another engine. He has
looked at my aircraft (now in his workshop for Mod 72 tomorrow) and has
come to the conclusion that the most likely source of the errant nut
would have been from a nut and bolt securing a P-clip to the plenum
chamber.
Therefore, look very closely around your plenum chambers!
David
G-BZAM - UK 265
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