The ramp check

I had just hopped out of the Cessna and was talking to the student when I got the good news from the CASA flying ops inspector.

In all my years as a pilot I have never had a ramp check, until now. Of course I have heard about them from any number of pilots, but I had not heard of anyone actually getting a ramp check in recent times.

I handed over the licence and medical that I keep in the side pouch of my headset bag.

He was happy that I had both items close handy.

“And what charts do you have? And where have you come from?” We had just come back from the training area and I had the VTC in my flight bag. Again the CASA man was happy when I flashed the VTC. Then he asked what our fuel status was. The aircraft had done two hours out of full tanks so I rattled off the figures and advised that this aircraft did not have a dip stick. Next he spoke briefly with the student and asked what his ARN was.

He turned back to me and said “Have a nice day” and departed. I had passed my first ramp check! For those new to the airside of the fence line a ramp check is when a CASA inspector asks to sight the basic documents that are the minimum required by law to be carried in the aircraft for a flight. The basic documents that are required are the pilot’s licence and medical certificate. Both should be current. A flight manual should also be aboard the aircraft and be able to be produced on request. The other must-have item is a current maintenance release. We were able to produce the M/R for our Cessna.

If going on cross country a weather forecast should have been obtained. Depending on the aircraft and its seating, a weight and balance statement could be asked for. A check of the flightplan and the fuel calculations may also be an ask item. Given that aircraft have been known to run out of fuel, even in recent times, and that some pilots seem to have no idea what quantity of fuel they have in their tanks, or what the fuel burn rate is, it is little wonder that CASA takes a keen interest in the fuel sums.

Now some of the above may seem just silly items to check, but time and again ATSB reports find disregard for critical things like flight planning, the weight and balance, and not enough fuel aboard to complete the flight. In this age of the GPS pilots have been known to do extended cross country flights relying totally on their GPS and to not carry any charts. Licences you ask? Cases of pilots not having a licence or a current medical are not unknown.

Weight and balance is a good reason for CASA to conduct checks, particularly around the time of the Bathurst car races and the Birdsville races. It has been known for CASA to stop the likes of Cherokee Sixes and other six-place singles taxiing out at capital city secondary airports going to those events and do a weight and balance check.

When you see a Cherokee Six with the tail skid so low that it really needed a tailwheel to prevent it scraping the ground and six big strapping Aussie blokes step out, you would not be far wrong to presume that the aircraft was both out of CG and overweight.

There are a number of other items that one can also be asked for. These include a checklist, flight and duty times, flightplan and performance data.

Now I have to confess that I had not heard of CASA doing ramp checks around my patch in recent times. As a result I was somewhat taken aback when I was asked for my licence and medical. Not that there was any problem as they were both with me.

Obviusly the best way to prevent a problem at a ramp check is simply to have the required paperwork onboard.

So next time you get the message to pull over and produce documentation, do so with a smile. He might just be saving your well being.

Brief

• Following on from the Logbook Tales item in November AA, a RHS reader has advised that when both pages of a well lit logbook are photographed with a digital camera the written entries on a postcard sized print can be clearly seen.

Worth noting to prevent a loss of all that logged time history in the event of a logbook being stolen or lost (like mine – Ed!). n Contact Dave by email at [email protected]