Pre Flight Question...

I'm being taught to do a very thorough pre flight inspection. I check all cable connections, look for cotter pins..... My question is this... I'm basically only checking visible things, and that the rudders/stick/tow hook all are functional including of course the control surfaces of the ship. How do I know if there is a problem in a cable connection where I Can't see, for instance the cable connected to the stick, but hidden by the cover/boot at the base of the stick? Or the cable connections to the rudder pedals.....? TIA

you don't know... that's why there are annual inspections done by certified mechanics to check those things.. chances are if you can't see it.. then in the years time.. it had not broken or become rusted.. checking on the visible, means its exposed to wind/weather and tampering..

TIZ

GOOD FOR YOUR INSTRUCTORS!!

Some things are appropriately left for annual or 100 hour inspections, which require some considerable disassembly. But generally, anything that can be seen by opening an inspection plate should be examined on a preflight and anything that cannot be examined without disassembly is appropriate for other inspections.

Having said that, be sure you are alert to 'look for things that shouldn't be there'. In the past year, I'm aware of one instance in which a tire pressure guage was found in the aft end of a Club single place glider, and it had been there for months! And in another instance, several pilots preflighted (and subsequently flew!) a single place Club glider that had apparently been overstressed to the extent that, upon careful inspection by an A&I, was written off as a total loss! (And the only clues were paint popped off rivet heads on the spar cap and some bent edges to the spoiler caps.) And I've found wasps nests in the wings, and snakes in the aft fuselage. Better to discover them on the ground than in the air, eh?

Jim Kellett Skyline Soaring Club (http://skylinesoaring.org/)