Switched-off pilot has wings clipped
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Switched-off pilot has wings clipped
The following story is simply one of stupidity....
Switched-off pilot has wings clipped
15.07.2003
By STUART DYE
A promising young Auckland pilot has been temporarily stripped of his licence after disconnecting safety equipment on a joy-flight with friends.
David Rouse turned off a master switch, disabling important safety indicators needed to warn of the possible onset of engine failure.
He also deactivated the radio, meaning he lost touch with other aircraft using the busy airspace above Auckland.
The Waitakere District Court heard yesterday that the 22-year-old then failed to record his flying time and number of landings so he did not have to pay for full use of the aircraft.
Judge David Mather banned Rouse from holding a licence for three months and described his actions as extraordinary.
"All of this appears to have been with the intention of reducing the charge that would be made for this flight, and the saving to you and your friends looks like it might have been of the order of $200 to $500.
"The fact that you jeopardised your whole flying career for this amount of money is quite extraordinary."
Rouse, holder of a commercial pilot's licence and a Category C flight instructor, took the Cessna 172 from Ardmore Flying School, where he was a member, on February 3 last year.
He flew the four-seater for more than 2 1/2 hours on scenic flights over the Auckland region, landing four times.
When Rouse returned to Ardmore he recorded an hour's flying time, costing $165.
Mark Woolford, prosecuting on behalf of the Civil Aviation Authority, told the court that Rouse waited until he was outside the Ardmore and Auckland City's mandatory broadcast zones.
He then deactivated the time recording meter, which in turn switched off all electrical components within the plane, including the radio, turn and slip co-ordinator, oil pressure, oil temperature and fuel indication gauges.
Rouse, a quality manager, told the aviation authority that he had turned the switch off because the radio was emitting an annoying squelch.
In addition to the licence disqualification, he was fined a total of $700 plus $260 costs for two offences.
He had earlier pleaded guilty to using a document to obtain a pecuniary advantage and operating an aircraft in a careless manner.
His lawyer, Maxine Pitch, said Rouse had already suffered "in a major way."
"His dream has long been to be a pilot and he has been working three jobs to finance his pilot's certificate.
"As a result of being charged, he has had to resign from jobs with Sun Air, Origin Pacific and the Coastguard. He has also been banned from the airfield.
"The New Zealand air industry is a very small industry and the rumour mill has been working. His life is flying. He is very remorseful."
Ms Pitch asked for a discharge as the consequences of a conviction would be "disproportionately severe".
But Judge Mather said: "This is not minor offending, it's potentially serious.
"In this case the consequences were minor in that there was no collision or crash, but the risk is always there."
Switched-off pilot has wings clipped
15.07.2003
By STUART DYE
A promising young Auckland pilot has been temporarily stripped of his licence after disconnecting safety equipment on a joy-flight with friends.
David Rouse turned off a master switch, disabling important safety indicators needed to warn of the possible onset of engine failure.
He also deactivated the radio, meaning he lost touch with other aircraft using the busy airspace above Auckland.
The Waitakere District Court heard yesterday that the 22-year-old then failed to record his flying time and number of landings so he did not have to pay for full use of the aircraft.
Judge David Mather banned Rouse from holding a licence for three months and described his actions as extraordinary.
"All of this appears to have been with the intention of reducing the charge that would be made for this flight, and the saving to you and your friends looks like it might have been of the order of $200 to $500.
"The fact that you jeopardised your whole flying career for this amount of money is quite extraordinary."
Rouse, holder of a commercial pilot's licence and a Category C flight instructor, took the Cessna 172 from Ardmore Flying School, where he was a member, on February 3 last year.
He flew the four-seater for more than 2 1/2 hours on scenic flights over the Auckland region, landing four times.
When Rouse returned to Ardmore he recorded an hour's flying time, costing $165.
Mark Woolford, prosecuting on behalf of the Civil Aviation Authority, told the court that Rouse waited until he was outside the Ardmore and Auckland City's mandatory broadcast zones.
He then deactivated the time recording meter, which in turn switched off all electrical components within the plane, including the radio, turn and slip co-ordinator, oil pressure, oil temperature and fuel indication gauges.
Rouse, a quality manager, told the aviation authority that he had turned the switch off because the radio was emitting an annoying squelch.
In addition to the licence disqualification, he was fined a total of $700 plus $260 costs for two offences.
He had earlier pleaded guilty to using a document to obtain a pecuniary advantage and operating an aircraft in a careless manner.
His lawyer, Maxine Pitch, said Rouse had already suffered "in a major way."
"His dream has long been to be a pilot and he has been working three jobs to finance his pilot's certificate.
"As a result of being charged, he has had to resign from jobs with Sun Air, Origin Pacific and the Coastguard. He has also been banned from the airfield.
"The New Zealand air industry is a very small industry and the rumour mill has been working. His life is flying. He is very remorseful."
Ms Pitch asked for a discharge as the consequences of a conviction would be "disproportionately severe".
But Judge Mather said: "This is not minor offending, it's potentially serious.
"In this case the consequences were minor in that there was no collision or crash, but the risk is always there."
kinda funny-like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife!
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Forgive my ignorance, but how did he turn off the "time recording meter"???
Isn't it a little difficult to turn off the hobbs/tacho?
How did they find out he'd done it?
If he'd only turned off the master switch, surely the hobbs/tacho wouldn't be affected (turns to a 172 electrical system diagram.....)
Cheers,
Dupre.
Isn't it a little difficult to turn off the hobbs/tacho?
How did they find out he'd done it?
If he'd only turned off the master switch, surely the hobbs/tacho wouldn't be affected (turns to a 172 electrical system diagram.....)
Cheers,
Dupre.
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Dupre,
It is quite common for NZ aircraft operators to charge their a/c out on an electric Hobbs meter. Obviously requiring electric power to operate, turning off the MASTER will stop the Hobbs meter working.
Years ago it used to be Tacho charging, but they worked out that the pilots were getting 15-20% more flight time than chargable tacho time, due lower rpm in circuits in particular. Then they went to the Hobbs which were from memory oil pressure operated (and increased the hourly rate to make up for the time not charged due insufficent oil pressure to activate the Hobbs) and came close to ripping off the student but not quite, so they then went to electric Hobbs which started charging from the moment you turned on the master (without altering the hourly rate I might add).
So for those students thinking that I'll get the ATIS etc before starting to save money...then you are mistaken.
They tried or are in the process of trying to use electric Hobbs for twins instead of airswitch Hobbs, which bodes the question about money sensitive students hurrying up things on the ground prior to getting airborne and possibly forgetting something critical.
As to how they found out - they (AFS) probably found a discrepency with the Tacho times (which is uneffected by electrical power) remembering he flew something like 2.7 hours and recorded only 1hr for charging, adding 15-20% to the tacho time will give you an approx. hobbs time, then they checked his logbook for the flight entry and he had obviously entered the full flight time.
S2K
It is quite common for NZ aircraft operators to charge their a/c out on an electric Hobbs meter. Obviously requiring electric power to operate, turning off the MASTER will stop the Hobbs meter working.
Years ago it used to be Tacho charging, but they worked out that the pilots were getting 15-20% more flight time than chargable tacho time, due lower rpm in circuits in particular. Then they went to the Hobbs which were from memory oil pressure operated (and increased the hourly rate to make up for the time not charged due insufficent oil pressure to activate the Hobbs) and came close to ripping off the student but not quite, so they then went to electric Hobbs which started charging from the moment you turned on the master (without altering the hourly rate I might add).
So for those students thinking that I'll get the ATIS etc before starting to save money...then you are mistaken.
They tried or are in the process of trying to use electric Hobbs for twins instead of airswitch Hobbs, which bodes the question about money sensitive students hurrying up things on the ground prior to getting airborne and possibly forgetting something critical.
As to how they found out - they (AFS) probably found a discrepency with the Tacho times (which is uneffected by electrical power) remembering he flew something like 2.7 hours and recorded only 1hr for charging, adding 15-20% to the tacho time will give you an approx. hobbs time, then they checked his logbook for the flight entry and he had obviously entered the full flight time.
S2K
I don't want to be the best pilot in the world - Just the oldest
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Sqwark
If the operators are wiring the VDO / Hobbs to start recording on the master switch then that is indeed something of a ripoff. I remember one aircraft when I was doing my PPL navs in 95 was set up in this way. I couldn't understand why the meter would sometimes tick over .1 whilst I was doing the beacon, fuel pump, stall warner etc checks during the walk around . My instructor pointed out that the owner had been 'a bit naughty' and set it up this way. Apart from that I have only seen one or two Hobbs meters that were wired to start timing when the master switch was turned on. However n Oz, it is generally wired to be switched on and off via connection to an oil pressure switch thus recording engine start - engine stop time.
I'm not convinced that this system is such a ripoff as the pricing structure is such that whilst you pay for the taxi runup time, your time in the air is less than what it would otherwise be if you were charged by airswitch.
If the operators are wiring the VDO / Hobbs to start recording on the master switch then that is indeed something of a ripoff. I remember one aircraft when I was doing my PPL navs in 95 was set up in this way. I couldn't understand why the meter would sometimes tick over .1 whilst I was doing the beacon, fuel pump, stall warner etc checks during the walk around . My instructor pointed out that the owner had been 'a bit naughty' and set it up this way. Apart from that I have only seen one or two Hobbs meters that were wired to start timing when the master switch was turned on. However n Oz, it is generally wired to be switched on and off via connection to an oil pressure switch thus recording engine start - engine stop time.
I'm not convinced that this system is such a ripoff as the pricing structure is such that whilst you pay for the taxi runup time, your time in the air is less than what it would otherwise be if you were charged by airswitch.
Last edited by Islander Jock; 17th Jul 2003 at 16:48.
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Enginair... you have a peculiar C210
Yes, I also learned during my training that the hobbs meter was linked to the oil pressure meter, about 3 years into it I was 'shown the light' by some seniors who thought the day dream had to end some day. Although it's possible that your master switch can be off and the hobbs still work on oil pressure activation, that is a more complex and expensive system... which isnt common here. I would not be surprised if somebody has pulled the foggles over your eyes and taught you something else, but I may stand corrected. As for 'DR' I know people in high places... who think the world of him, and say he is being unfairly punished for 'owning up' to something we've all done... tested our curiosities. What kind of fool would openly and honestly 'own up' to this though, does he not want to fight for an aviation future? - it sure is a battlefield out there!
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Well Done.
Gee I think Randy you are mislead, the oil pressure driven hobbs arent as uncommon in NZ as you think, it appears that was mr rouse's understanding also. due to a loss of medical I have retired from the deck however i still keep in touch with my 'heavy' colleagues (no reference to anybodys' rump). This is extremely common, both in NZ and all over the world. Dale you may be the perfect exception and I hope you are enjoying a prosperous airline career yourself, rather than being stuck in the instructing rutt race. I personally would be more concerned by this: who in their right mind would pass a loaded shotgun to the caa, and then ask them to 'fire away'. was this character in a stable state of mind a couple of years ago? I certainly havent heard of anyone owning up outright the very next day! does anybody know this person? I hear through the senior grapevine he is extremely intelligent, which doesnt' weigh up with this act of stupidity. obviously concentration lapses (for weeks on end) don't just affect the silver haired amongst the flight deck. I will do some research into this one.
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Yeah this ex Sunair QA man is a vey smart cookie. But thats his problem over thinks and has to many pots on the boil at the same time.
I hear he is off to Austria at the end of the month, for a ski tour, thanks to Air NZ. Apparently he has talked somebody into believing his is an up and coming talent....
I hear he is off to Austria at the end of the month, for a ski tour, thanks to Air NZ. Apparently he has talked somebody into believing his is an up and coming talent....
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Exacary
Skiing in Austria?? why would you ski in austria when there are so many beautiful girls there? Intelligence.. I think we've all agree'd he's much smarter than myself. Too many pots on the go simultaneously... now that is something I would agree with!--- although at least he's still got plenty of 'boiling pots' to keep himself busy over the next 3 months. Flight Attendant? Havent heard of this fellow dating a hostess before, not unless they're fresh out of school perhaps!
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Spindoctor - they have a couple of glaciers, but agree that in general the piste would be rather slow (unless Julie Andrews is there to push ya!)
Squawk2K - thanks for pointing that it. In future I'll tune into the ATIS on the base station in the school before going out the door.
Finally a question - if I turn the master off on the ground after I have been cleared to the club and read abck has been done, can I switch the master off to save the odd $?
Squawk2K - thanks for pointing that it. In future I'll tune into the ATIS on the base station in the school before going out the door.
Finally a question - if I turn the master off on the ground after I have been cleared to the club and read abck has been done, can I switch the master off to save the odd $?