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How Long is a Preflight Good For?

D

David Paule

Well Known Member
Just wondering what you all think.

Here's why. My plane is in a locked hangar and I'm the only one who flies it. There have been times when after going out to fly and doing a preflight inspection, I didn't fly for one reason or another, intending to return and fly the next day. And occasionally that next day is several days away.

Obviously, tire pressure can leak down and the fuel should probably be drained again. Oil leaks would be obvious. There are no birds in the hangar. What else might change?

Dave
 
Do you do a complete post flight to see if any fasteners came off, or oil leak, or fuel leak?

There are a lot of things that could happen during the flight that you will only catch if you do a preflight. These include:

- chips or other damage to the prop
- the aforementioned missing fasteners (note: I flew one day and the next before flying found that the nylocks on the elevator backed off and were barely on)
- blocked pitot tube, static ports etc. (can happen in hours with mud-daubers)
- loose wheel farings (happened to me from a broken fairing bracket)
- debris in sump
- cracks in panels

All of the above I have found during preflights even though the plane was in a hanger and was "perfect" when I put it away.

I never fly without a preflight, even after getting a $100 hamburger. It is not worth the risk in my opinion.

TJ
 
Dave,
I understand your question: IF you accomplished a preflight, but then didn't fly, is the preflight inspection still good? And for how long?

My initial thought: Yes, it is partially good. You really must recheck the fuel, oil, and battery functions. You also should inspect to see if some critter crawled in to seek shelter from the summer heat or winter cold.

My recommendation: Don't break the habit pattern. I perform a preflight every single time, without fail, regardless of whether I already did one a day or two before. By my standard, a preflight applies to an imminent flight. If the flight didn't happen, then the preflight didn't happen.

Anyway, that's how this old Flight Safety Officer sees it.
 
I feel my safety is worth the time invested in a preflight. Flying is all about risk management, its not worth it to me to save ~15min at the cost of increased risk.
 
If you walk away from the aircraft and come back later, the original pre-flight inspection is void.
This is just my opinion. And we all know about opinions!

The final decision (and responsibility) is yours.
 
Since you are looking for opinions, I agree with Mel. Plus, what might you have missed on the last pre-flight. I also do not believe a proper preflight can be done without a flashlight (at least with my old eyes) and optionally a mirror. The mirror does double duty for making sure you have the proper pilot look :D
 
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2 Schools of Thought.........

When I bought my first airplane ('41 T-Craft) I went out with the seller to check it out. He started to get in without a pre-flight.

I asked, "Arn't you going to do a pre-flight?" "Nope, If I do a pre-flight, I might find something wrong. Then I couldn't go flying!"
 
IIRC, the AIM gives some guidance to this. Seems to me if the aircraft is hangared, then a preflight accomplished the day before is still valid. And the Military considers the preflight to be good for 24 hours on the airframes I've been associated with.
 
I knew someone who flew to lunch. One hour later he came back to the airport, jumped in, took off. Almost immediately there was a control problem with the elevator. He landed at another airport 5 miles away. An elevator was badly damaged, as if someone had pushed the plane hard back into a fence post. Since he had flown away the FBO claimed it hadn't happened while they had it, and he couldn't prove otherwise.
 
What I do

I also keep my plane in a locked hangar (RV-4), but stuff can still happen there. I religiously wipe my plane down after every flight with squirt bottle of water and microfiber towel..it takes 10 minutes max, and allows me to look at the majority of the airframe while doing so, post flight..Id rather find issues then instead of pre-flight.I always pop my oil door after flight, and the latch is bright red, which reminds me to check oil and lock door before flight. I keep cowl plugs ,pitot and canopy cover on, even inside, so bugs/tweetie birds don't settle in . My preflight is more of a walk around and tire kick with an oil check/fuel sump, which I would do again if I decided not to fly that day, or even later that day.
 
Different scenario but remember reading about a couple out West prepping their aircraft the night before a long flight. they filler it up with fuel themselves . The next morning at the first sight of daylight they departed. Minutes later they lost their lives as they ran out of fuel. An investigation ruled that the fuel must have been stolen as numerous witnesses saw the fueling the day before.
Someone could break in and steal your fuel or something else critical to flight.
Myself I don't feel right on yesterdays preflight. I have done preflights the day before a long flight but these are probably closer to an 100 hr. inspection and a preflight the next day was still preformed.
 
scrollF4 said:
My recommendation: Don't break the habit pattern. I perform a preflight every single time, without fail, regardless of whether I already did one a day or two before.
Click to expand...

Gotta go with Sid on this-----------preflight is a matter of attitude as much as it is a matter of looking at stuff.
 
Risk vs

I had a dirt dauber clog the dual static ports during lunch once. Then there was the time that we stopped a plane from taking off from a fly-in because an elevator chock wasn't removed before taxiing. Both of these happened without pre-flights.

Seems to me that the failure mode (FMEA) associated for not conducting an pre-flight would outweigh any gain. Maybe a counter point is if you have incoming bogies and life, liberty, and pursue of happiness was at stake.

cj
 
Mel said:
If you walk away from the aircraft and come back later, the original pre-flight inspection is void.
This is just my opinion. And we all know about opinions!

The final decision (and responsibility) is yours.
Click to expand...

I operate the same way.


I only allow for the airplane to be out of sight long enough for a restroom break. Other than short restroom break, if the airplane has been out of sight, the preflight is void.
 
I have to admit this one. After an annual (hey, that is a pretty good pre-flight, right?) I headed out for the check flight with the cowl plugs in! I had put them back at some point in the process and forgot about them. Any break in the routine is a no-no to me. Do it every time...

Bob
 
Actually after a condition inspection is when I REALLY want to do a thorough pre-flight inspection.
 
videobobk said:
I have to admit this one. After an annual (hey, that is a pretty good pre-flight, right?) I headed out for the check flight with the cowl plugs in! I had put them back at some point in the process and forgot about them. Any break in the routine is a no-no to me. Do it every time...

Bob
Click to expand...

Put the plugs in with the strap between them *over* the prop, so that if you forget, the prop will sling them out and away (hopefully)...although that still might be, er, not so good.

We had a company plane and a pretty dodgy company pilot one time...took the wheel chocks out and hung them on the prop. You can guess what happened...
 
So - lots of opinion here (no shock), but does anyone know of a legal requirement. I did a brief search in the AIM and didn't find it.

Just imagining a scenario where a pilot performs a preflight inspection of the airplane but the engine quits on takeoff due to induction system blockage.

In the ensuing investigation the fed asks when the preflight was performed...

It seems unreasonable to expect that airplanes are given a thorough preflight inspection and then ALWAYS boarded and flown immediately.

Sometimes the pilot goes into the line shack and pays for gas and uses the restroom - he has left sight of the aircraft... Is the inspection invalid?

...How about after multiple legs of a cross country day?

...How about the night before and the aircraft is in a locked hangar?


Just to be clear, I'm not talking about a quick walkaround before boarding, but a formal "Pre Flight Inspection".

Anyone have anything other than personal preference/opinion?
 
Mel said:
Actually after a condition inspection is when I REALLY want to do a thorough pre-flight inspection.
Click to expand...
Agreed! I have flown several military cargo/passenger planes and been fortunate enough to have crew chiefs and flight engineers who accomplish the preflight for me. I can recall a few times finding panels still open, and fuel caps not installed during my walk around. A fresh set of eyes iso always a good idea. Especially if you are doing your own preflight, a second look is a good idea before you hop in. We tend to see what we want to see some times and you may not notice something the first time.

Mel, When ever we get airplanes back from heavy maintenance we always look for easter eggs...there are always at least 5 that will bite you if not found.
 
Put away

fixnflyguy said:
I always pop my oil door after flight, and the latch is bright red, which reminds me to check oil and lock door before flight. I keep cowl plugs ,pitot and canopy cover on, even inside, so bugs/tweetie birds don't settle in .
Click to expand...


How did you train the bugs not to use the oil door?

(I'm half kidding) I pop mine for a while to let the heat out, but before I close the hangar door I close the oil door and put in the plugs.
 
Ask why not.....

.....Do another! I fly in rugged Mts. alot but even when I'm not I can not see any good reason to not do another. If you cheat on safety you cheat yourself. And that's when it's just you and figuring you do not hit anyone else if things go south. If you cheat on this what else? Those seat pans to much trouble to remove? Ah heck there's not much to see under that panel anyway! Why repack the bearings they feel smooth.
Come on kids take a ride with Gramps. Don't be afraid of nothing I just flew for a few hour just last week it'll be fine!
 
Hard Lesson

I learned this the hard way, in my own hangar, atached to my house, at my field. I always perform a post flight. I want to know if anything needs fixing BEFORE I want to go flying again. I keep the airplane ready for flight. In my locked hangar.

Imagine my surprise when I pushed out, took off, and watched cylinder head temps climb through the roof. Immediate power off and land. First thought was a brid's nest, but I had never seen that in our enclosed hangar. I get out and walk around to the front of the engine and there were the inlet covers neatly installed in the cowl inlets (although one had blown back and was letting some cooling air in). Yep, my son had seen them in the hangar and decided to put them where he thought they belonged! We had a discussion about not touching an airplane one wasn't going to fly. :)

Vic
 
Feds

I would had done the same as you Vic but imagine if the outcome of your flight would have been tragic. The Feds would have faulted you for the lack of a pre-flight inspection and your son would have been off the hook. Let's not mention that to him though as dad's are always right ;) (At least that's what I tell my daughter)
 
Autralian regs say you must do a pre fflight before the first flight of every day. So if you are flying at night, stop to refuel at an airport after midnight, you are obliged to do a daily inspection.
Fly another hour, land and leave the plane to 2359 and you are still legal to fly.
 
Yen said:
Autralian regs say you must do a pre fflight before the first flight of every day. So if you are flying at night, stop to refuel at an airport after midnight, you are obliged to do a daily inspection.
Fly another hour, land and leave the plane to 2359 and you are still legal to fly.
Click to expand...

Yip, and just because it's technically legal, doesn't necessarily mean it's a good idea. I like to think the PPL is a licence to learn and to use our best judgement. Not everything can be written in black and white.

Bevan.
 
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