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MEL?

In order to use an MEL "for real", you need individual approval from the FAA, and it is a very time-consuming and tedious process with lots and lots of paperwork. Avweb actually has an article running on it right now: https://www.avweb.com/news/features/Good-To-Go-231976-1.html

MEL's are also considered essentially an STC for that aircraft; as RVs don't have type certificates, STCs aren't really applicable.

Now, there's nothing stopping you from making your own unofficial version of one that you use for your own decision-making. I've thought about doing the same for my airplane, as it will have (comparably) complex systems and an electrically-dependent engine. That way I'll have a good list of "this is what I need" and I won't be having to try and figure all that out on the road if I'm stuck somewhere (or possibly compromising my judgment due to time pressure). It's sort of like setting personal IFR minimums, I guess.
 
Now, there's nothing stopping you from making your own unofficial version of one that you use for your own decision-making. I've thought about doing the same for my airplane, as it will have (comparably) complex systems and an electrically-dependent engine. That way I'll have a good list of "this is what I need" and I won't be having to try and figure all that out on the road if I'm stuck somewhere (or possibly compromising my judgment due to time pressure). It's sort of like setting personal IFR minimums, I guess.

I had my CFI during a BFR ask for my Min Equip List 10 years ago. He must have read about it or had to do something with it at his work (chief pilot for a charity flying patients to receive treatment in other cities). I made one up and put it in my POH for all the reasons mentioned above by rmartingt. Good to have it thought through before you need it while out flying. I also carry electronically in a Dropbox my entire equipment list, including hoses, with serial numbers, phone numbers, and dates manufactured and installed just In case I need that while out and about.
 
MEL

I flew in a Part 91 corporate flight department for 18 years. We had several model Citations over that time period. We had MEL for the airplanes, but they came from Cessna and we got them approved by the FSDO. As I remember we started getting them when RVSM started. The MEL was a part of the RVSM material.
 
I am not familiar with US rules but my basic premise would be that if you don't need it, then don't cause potential problems for yourself by generating one. The decision making process you go through in producing an MEL is the same as you would in dealing with an individual problem day-to-day ie "is it sensible to get home with this issue and fix it later".

I have spent the last 30 years flying big jets and we used to have a tiny Ops manual and a lot of common sense. Now it's the other way round.....
 
The decision making process you go through in producing an MEL is the same as you would in dealing with an individual problem day-to-day ie "is it sensible to get home with this issue and fix it later".

The idea behind generating your own is twofold:

First, it allows you to sit down and really review the aircraft's systems when you have your schematics and manuals there to decide if you're still maintaining a level of safety that you consider adequate. That probably isn't as big an issue on a day VFR carb-and-mag airplane... but on something with a dual-battery dual-alternator electrical system, electrically-dependent (e.g. EFI) engine, and IFR glass, for example, things could be a lot more complicated.
Are you ok flying without that standby alternator? What are your abnormal procedures for doing so? What happens if you then experience another failure? Are all your avionics tied together on a bus, or does each EFIS screen "manage" certain components? Those questions are a lot easier to answer with your wiring diagrams, electrical load budgets, and operating manuals on hand instead of trying to remember all that on the fly. I know on the big jets at work, there are non-MELable items which aren't obvious--you think "surely I don't need that, it's just XX widget!" until you really dig deep into the schematics or consider interrelated failures and realize that with XX failed, you have no redundancy in safety-critical systems.

I want to do my engineering when I have my engineering hat on, not when I have my pilot hat on. It's like the rule for not troubleshooting failures in flight--deal with the problem and troubleshoot on the ground, instead of playing mechanic when you're in the air.


The other idea, as I said, is to exercise some form of self-discipline. How many times have we read stories from pilots who let get-there-itis push them into flying with inoperative equipment, when they should have stayed on the ground? Yeah, ideally we'd all exercise superior judgment all the time and never let ourselves be pressured (or never pressure ourselves) into making a bad decision. But the draw of "oh, I'll be all right... I'm almost home and then I can fix it tomorrow" can be awful powerful. We regularly see large jet pilots and operators asking "we're on a trip and this critical widget broke; it's not in the MEL but can we finish our trip anyway?".


It might be of even greater benefit if you ever let someone else borrow or use your airplane, if it's a shared/club airplane, or if you ever sell it, especially (again) if you have complex or non-traditional systems. You might know the airplane's systems intimately and be an experienced pilot with supreme judgment at all times... but the next guy might not be.


Of course, making such a list is only worthwhile if you're going to stick to it. Sure, it's unofficial and not legally-binding, and so you could just waiver yourself around it when it's inconvenient... but down that road lies "normalization of deviance", and that's somewhere I don't think we want to tread.
 
In order to use an MEL "for real", you need individual approval from the FAA, and it is a very time-consuming and tedious process with lots and lots of paperwork. Avweb actually has an article running on it right now: https://www.avweb.com/news/features/Good-To-Go-231976-1.html

MEL's are also considered essentially an STC for that aircraft; as RVs don't have type certificates, STCs aren't really applicable.

Now, there's nothing stopping you from making your own unofficial version of one that you use for your own decision-making. I've thought about doing the same for my airplane, as it will have (comparably) complex systems and an electrically-dependent engine. That way I'll have a good list of "this is what I need" and I won't be having to try and figure all that out on the road if I'm stuck somewhere (or possibly compromising my judgment due to time pressure). It's sort of like setting personal IFR minimums, I guess.

My apologies! When I started this thread question, I should have referenced above AVWEB article (post #5) which led me to believe I had found another list/document to have to be legal in my ELSA RV12. Did not intend to create any angst, nor time suck, for anyone pondering on what appears to be a non-issue. Again my apologies!
However your responses are very informative and it is neat to see the depth of knowledge in the forum.
 
I had my CFI during a BFR ask for my Min Equip List 10 years ago. He must have read about it or had to do something with it at his work (chief pilot for a charity flying patients to receive treatment in other cities). I made one up and put it in my POH for all the reasons mentioned above by rmartingt. Good to have it thought through before you need it while out flying. I also carry electronically in a Dropbox my entire equipment list, including hoses, with serial numbers, phone numbers, and dates manufactured and installed just In case I need that while out and about.

I have a friend that runs his 172 full rich all the time because a CFI told him to decades ago. Because CFI thinks it so doesn't make it true.
Check the regs on applying for a MEL, you're not flying a 787. Going to have a dispatch department too? We needed dispatch approval when deferring items via the MEL at the airlines.
Don't complicate your life these aircraft are not that complex.
 
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I have a friend that runs his 172 full rich all the time because a CFI told him to decades ago. Because CFI thinks it so doesn't make it true.
Check the regs on applying for a MEL, you're not flying a 787. Going to have a dispatch department too? We needed dispatch approval when deferring items via the MEL at the airlines.
Don't complicate your life these aircraft are not that complex.

My CFI asked if I had a MEL as part of discussion on what could be failed on my aircraft and I would still feel safe to fly. He did not force me to make it. I decided on my own that it would be a good idea. Since it is not part of my operating limitation I got, it is just a nice to have list, not a legal document.
If you don?t want to have a MEL, good for you.
 
I have the MEL discussion with students and sometimes during BFR's. There's a lot of bad info out there about MEL's and how they work. Especially now that newer certified airplanes have a KOEL list in the POH, even for part 91 operations.
 
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