Just my luck (1st XC as Private Pilot, low oil pressure)

[murphey]

Just curious - did they bill you for the airplane retrieval? If so, all the costs or just some?

If it's X then it will be interesting. A few years ago (story is somewhere on POA) 2 airplanes (me and another) flew over to Goodland for lunch and a student pilot had serious mechanical difficulties, and the rental/school demanded that the student pay for everything and would be reimbursed, or else the school would charge for the retrieval.

As I said, I've seen the school's contract, and the reimbursement was credit for lessons and rental, not cash. So OP did right by demanding the school deal with the shop. I'd be interested in what the school ended up charging the OP, too.

 

[dell30rb]

Outside of something smaller like a landing light or maybe a flat tire, I wouldn't expect to pay for repairs and then be reimbursed.

I would think it is expected of me however, to take responsibility for retrieving the plane once it is fixed.

 

[ionosphere80]

Pilots of rental airplanes should make an effort to stick around long enough for a mechanic to assess the problem and estimate time for repair. Abandoning the airplane prematurely leads to logistics problems for retrieval, inconveniencing other renters, and loss of revenue. Also, if repairs are necessary, the owner can almost always pay the bill via phone or web site.

 

[RV10flyer]

First of all, I would not take the rental aircraft that I had available more than a three hour car drive from home. I also would never fly one after dark as I was not familiar enough with it. If I rent a car, boat, plane or house and it breaks through no fault of my own, I would let the owner know first then come up with a plan. If I was expected to stick around then the owner better hop in another rental and head my way or pay my expenses while I wait. That is one of the few advantages of renting. FBO's renting aircraft should take better care of them and charge enough to cover these occasional break downs away from home. More than likely the owner knew about the DG and prop shaft leak before this trip was ever made. I have rented several times only to find out after preflight or a trip around the pattern that something was broke and when mentioned...oh we knew about that...transponder, radio, PTT switch, DG, bald tires that blew out, etc.

 

[GauzeGuy]

...and we have the rest of the story.

I flew this plane on multiple occasions since this occasion, always keeping an eye on the oil consumption. On more than one occasion, I had to add a couple quarts prior to flying. I let the club know that was the case and that it might be a good idea to let pilots know these issues were occurring. I didn't ever see that noted anywhere, but whatever...

Anyway, I reserved it again to attend the wx workshop in April. Got an email that I had been switched to a different aircraft, which I thought was interesting. So I looked at the schedule, and low and behold, the aircraft is now listed as being down for maintenance until September.

Reason?

Wait for it...

"OIL LEAK."

So, in other words the plane that was perfectly fine when I left it in North Platte is now all of the sudden bad enough that it needed to be taken down for maintenance. Not sure I get that, especially since I just flew it to KABQ and back...

Anyway, the lessons to me here are that old rentals will often use more oil, fuel, etc than planned, and will have known problems that are not disclosed. Ironically, the inconveniences, costs and logistical challenges posed in getting it back could easily have been avoided had information like this been communicated.

Ya know, I love flying. I just hate the Bravo Sierra that goes with it sometimes...