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And I thought a look at your logbook was a given....
Edit: What on earth have you been doing that you've been ramp checked three times?? I can't say I personally know anyone who has been ramp checked, especially with your time.
I've just had bad luck, there is nothing else to it. All three times they wanted to see my certificate and medical, the plane's registration, airworthiness cert, POH, stuff like that. They never asked about my logbook. My first ramp check was the only one where they looked at more than that. Originally Posted by WingsNthings
Huh? Things that are against the regs that you think are petty? If it is in the regs, it doesn't matter how stupid you think the rules are, they are still against the regs. And I thought a look at your logbook was a given....
Edit: What on earth have you been doing that you've been ramp checked three times?? I can't say I personally know anyone who has been ramp checked, especially with your time.
Ramp check #1 was the worst. The inspector was checking people coming into the FBO I flew out of. I had about 100TT and I was extremely nervous, and the inspector totally fed off of my nerves. (I have later been told that they assume if someone is nervous they have something to hide.) The plane I was flying had a sketchy past - it was bought at a DEA auction without an airworthiness cert, so it was a 35 year old plane with a new airworthiness cert. So the inspector wanted to see the aircraft logs, which had been 'restarted' at the time of purchase. Everything was legal, just a sketchy past.
When I said petty in my post I was referring to items that have nothing to do with flying. The day before ramp check #1, I had a bad hair dye job and my hair ended up purple. So upon concluding that he couldn't 'bust' me for anything, he berated me for a good 15 minutes about my hair's color and style, and what I was wearing. He said I looked 'unprofessional' - apparently wearing shorts and a tank top on a 100 degree day is inappropriate attire. Next, I made the fatal mistake of cracking a joke, asking him if he was from the Fashion District Standards Office or something. Then, in hope to deflect attention from my failed attempt to inject humor, I asked him if he wanted to see my logbook (I now know to NEVER offer up a logbook), but he said he didn't want to see it and finally let me go.
#2 was at the same place with the same person. I had flown home into a presidential TFR (with permission on a IFR flight plan), there was a provision in the TFR stating that pilots and passengers may be requested to show photo ID upon landing, so this d-bag inspector took it upon himself to go IDing/ramp-checking that day. My hair was back to a normal color and my attire was deemed professional enough to his standards and the ramp check was routine.
Ramp check #3 was another random that I encountered at another airport on a cross country.
Moral of the story is that I don't know why they would care about safety pilot time - as long as everything is done according to the regs. Don't offer more information than they ask for, and for an extra measure don't carry your logbook.