Aircraft out of annual inspection
 

This may seem like a no brainer type of thing, but for somebody craving flight hours and who's mind might be a little bit clogged, I wanted to ask this before I get myself into trouble.

There is this guy I met once with an A36 V-tail Bonanza, and he's a "mechanic". He tells me "Oh man Lucas I know this airplane inside and out, i've taken it apart and put it all back together again", which is fine and all. But then he tells me that he hasn't had an annual inspection in YEARS and the prop has an A.D. that is 400 hours out of date. The reason he does all his own work is because "paperwork is just so the FAA has a finger to point at when things go wrong".

The reason i've brought all this is because he wants me (CFI) to fly with him and I guess give him a BFR or something, I have no idea. I guess what i'm getting at is, would I and how much trouble would I get myself into for flying with this guy in an UNairworthy airplane?

I've worked to dang hard to risk getting all my certificates taken. This guy would probably laugh in my face too if I asked him for a copy of his passport or birth certificate.

But I think I may have just answered my own question. Just was looking for some input on the matter though.

Any pilot would be held responsible for flying a non-airworthy airplane, but a comm/atp/cfi would be dealt with more severely...you are held to a higher standard.

Usually the excuse is ignorance...the club mx sheet in the aircraft was falsified or the owner verbally assured the pilot that the mx was current when it was not. The FAA may have a little mercy if you were lied to, but ultimately you should have looked at the logbooks.

If you KNEW the airplane was not current, and was YEARS out-of-date, expect to lose your tickets.

Basically in 91 you should always verify the logbooks unless you trust the owner/operator with your career. I trust my club, but only because they have been spanked so hard and often by the FAA that they run a very tight ship.

Run from this guy- you don't need this kind of business. He is a dead ringer for the hazardous attitude of antiauthority, an accident waiting to happen. If he knows his airplane so well then it should pass an annual with flying colors. He is flaunting the regs and playing games with your safety. Tell him he can get the annual then the BFR, otherwise he has no airplane as far as you are concerned. You will be held responsible when he crashes due to flagrant regulation breakage, as Rick says.

Cubdriver said it.

Sure, this stuff is all so the FAA can point a finger. Guess where that finger will point if you're flying his unairworthy aircraft?

The FAA issues ADs for a reason. I'd rather be far away from that aircraft when it slings a prop and things do go wrong.

If you value your tickets and your life don't even consider doing something like this. Everyone is hungry for hours when building time and it can often lead to poor decisions which could drastically effect your future. A few hours or a few bucks just aren't worth it.

Thanks guys. That was the same thought that I have. Apparently, he has his Comm. SE and ME already, but obviously that isn't saying much. I was really worried when he called me today, but it turned out it was for something completely different than flying, so I pretty much dodged that bullet.

Anyways, thanks again and let the posts continue!

If he's not worried about annuals he's probably not worried about BFR's either. This guy is 100% shady and I wouldn't fly with him.

Another question would be...should you turn him in? That's a little harder a decision to make.

Is it possible to make an anonymous report to the Nashville FSDO? Just like drop a hint to an OPS Inspector like " Hey there is this guy and he has told me his airplane is unairworthy, I just thought you should know" type of thing?

You could call from your cell phone, there's some way to hide your number from caller ID but I don't know how, and just not tell them your name I suppose. Does he use the airplane for anything other than personal use? Does he fly other people around in it?

There is no such thing as a V tail A36. The A36 had a conventional tail and the 35 models were V tail.

Anyhow, I wouldn't even set foot in the airplane. If there was an accident, you, as the CFI, could be in hot water with the FAA as a flight instructor.