badflaps

In the end Mother Nature will make them wish they had done otherwise.

Cubdriver

I don't think these guys want to fly a lot to begin with. That's the whole problem.

2StgTurbine

I agree with everyone else that this would be a waste of your own time because your 1,000 hours of ramp time will just make others wonder why someone with that much time is so terrible.

But, I do not see anyone getting violated by the FAA or destroying an engine over this. The FAA does not have enough enforcement power to police ramps for this and I really don't think someone on the ramp would report seeing a 150 do a 2 hour runup. They would just assume it is a MX issue or something else. The only way I can see someone getting reported for this is if they did it at the same airport all the time and blabbed about it. It would be very hard for the FAA to prove which of your flight hours you actually had no intention to fly. And then if they could find what flight hours you logged with no intention to fly, they would have to prove you were going to use those hours towards required flight experience. A crime would only be committed once you applied for your ATP (or another rating) with those hours. And if you do a 1 hour runup and then to 1 trip in the pattern, it would be legal. Also, the engine would be fine for an hour on the ramp due to the airflow from the prop, unless you are doing this in the south in the middle of summer for hours at a time. Mechanics do extended runups all the time on the ramp.

But back to the fact about how stupid this would be. If you are going to buy a plane to build time, there are better ways to cheaply build time. Find someone else who needs to build time to split the plane. Then put some foggles on, do some cross country flights at 55% power, and practice some approaches. 55% power in a 150 will be very slow, but it will burn very little fuel and you can split the fuel costs.

JamesNoBrakes

You mean like for 5-15 minutes, or for 2-3 hours?

The risk that you put yourself in doing this is immense. The FAA just needs a preponderance of evidence when you go to apply for a certificate or rating, and if that engine required an overhaul way before TBO or something else bad happened to it, you can bet the owner is going to turn you in quick, no matter how friendly he seemed. Then the questions will start. There's a multitude of ways it could go bad from there. The problem is not sitting there and logging it as you say, it's when you apply for a certificate or rating, except your actions may also be wreckless and you may endanger someone else that uses the airplane, by that accelerated engine wear. Cowlings are meant to move air that is flowing at a certain speed, it's not just about the prop, it's about the air flowing over the gaps/cowl flaps and "sucking" the air through the intakes. While a small 150 engine is likely made with enough cooling to run for a while on the ground, it's still a bad idea. The risk to payoff doesn't seem good IMO.

Cubdriver

Even if this were a 100% airtight crime, which it isn't but let's say it were, what's the point? There's not much money in aviation compared to other professions, at least until you hit the big time and you aren't going to get hired by a major with an attitude like that anyway. The psych tests will almost certainly weed you out. Do something else such as high-line burglary, corporate embezzling, insurance fraud, insider trading, internet scams, forgery, printing money, drug production or transport, the list has to be endless and the payoffs are too. If you do this fake pilot gig and get hired by a regional you're going to start at $22k and it's highly doubtful you'd pass training with a few hundred hours of genuine flight experience.

aviatorhi

Not sure what cost savings they'd accomplish for themselves if they're renting the aircraft by the block hour.

ClarenceOver

Foreign students don't pay for their training. The government or mommy and daddy pay for it usually. They are not flying not trying to save money. Havn't met many foreign students that pay for their training out of their own pocket.

ClarenceOver

Why? Because being a cruise pilot and having the protection of a captain is going to get them killed?

rickair7777

The FAA would violate you for sure and probably try to press federal charges. Maybe you'd get off on a technicality but at what cost?

aviatorhi

That's not entirely true... Many EU pilots pay for their own training, cost of entry into flying in Europe is much higher than in the US. They come out to the states due to the savings (as crazy as that sounds).