The Hierarchy of Aircraft Rental Is Real

If only it was that easy.

One of the things you learn when you begin flight training is that sometimes the airplane you are slated to fly that day will be rented to someone else, and you will be put into another airplane, or, in some cases, your flight canceled. Sometimes this happens at the last minute due to maintenance issues, and it's one of those things you need to be emotionally prepared for. The school should be prepared too, and someone, either dispatch or your CFI, should call you in advance to let you know. Don’t buy the “they were supposed to call you” line. There is no “they.”

Check rides will always take priority over all other aircraft rentals. The well-managed flight schools will structure the schedule so that the check ride aircraft is airworthy and protected for the day of the ride and its logbooks in good order and complete.

It is not uncommon for that airplane to be protected a day or two in advance of the check ride, so it doesn't “time out” on an inspection or airworthiness directive.

Pro tip: You can request a particular aircraft to use for your check ride, but you don't want aircraft availability to be a hindrance. For example, although the fleet consists of multiple Cessna 172s, don’t limit yourself to “one favorite” if you can fly them all. During your training, fly all appropriate aircraft, so you don't get in your own way. 

Not everyone who works at a flight school knows the importance of not overflying an inspection or an AD, as they may be there just to answer the phones and check pilots in and out.

Ideally, the person who does the scheduling and dispatching double-checks the numbers when an aircraft comes and goes out again— do the numbers make sense? Is that a “0.1” written in the dispatch book or “0.7”? Ultimately, this responsibility lands on the pilot in command, be they flight instructors, learners, or renters building their hours. You do not want to be the pilot who overflies something because the person at the front desk "just handed you the dispatch book," but you can't do much about it if the person dispatching you puts in the wrong numbers.

When an aircraft is approaching an inspection, some flight schools put large, red laminated placards on the cover of the dispatch books with notes such as “100 Hour Inspection Due No Instruction Or No Flight After (insert Hobbs reading)” along with a verbal admonishment and a placard inside the dispatch book to make sure the person who takes the aircraft is aware of the limitations.

If the business has enough aircraft, the ones coming due for inspection will often be out on limited duty, so to speak, such as rented for an hour of pattern work but no cross-country flights.

The professional CFIs take note of this and educate their learners about the upcoming inspections, followed by a lesson in how to find the signoffs for each inspection in the maintenance logbooks to verify the aircraft is airworthy. Teach your learners how to read those books before they need to know how.

Have you tried to rent an aircraft for fun lately? If the FBO or flight school has clients enrolled in airline access programs that may be difficult or impossible. Even after a learner finishes their certificate, they may have a difficult time finding an aircraft to rent for fun or time building. The priority is given to learners enrolled in the pursuit of a certificate or rating.

Even being enrolled in these programs doesn't guarantee  access to an airplane for time building. Dual lessons take priority.

Some schools may also have aircraft designated for time building only. These are often the smaller, slowest aircraft, and when it comes to time building, slow is what you want. Fly that crate at 55 percent power and watch the Hobbs meter tick.

Please remember that time building means the Hobbs rolling and those hours going in your logbook. It doesn't mean booking the aircraft for five hours and, of that, one hour is the total flight time and for the rest of the time the aircraft is sitting on the ramp while you go into town for lunch or attend a festival at the destination.

There are learners who, because of their physical size, have a limitation on the aircraft they can fly. I have a few like this, very tall men that, because of their body geometry (read that long torsos), they cannot fit in Cessna 172s with certain types of seats. Think of the learner standing over 6-foot-6 whose CFI tried him in every aircraft in the fleet and came up with two that he could fit into. A note was added to his rental record: “Only Fits In (insert tail numbers here).” Despite this, he found himself shifted to aircraft he didn't fit in because the person doing the scheduling didn't read the notes.

If you are the person scheduling, please check the fine print, and CFIs advocate for your learners. If they have a size challenge, gently remind the scheduling staff.

Try to avoid being that person who becomes difficult if their “favorite” airplane is not available. Every fleet has an airplane that is not a particular favorite. At my first CFI job, there was one referred to as “Christine” after the 1958 Plymouth Fury from the Stephen King novel and movie, because it was the problem child of the fleet. The transponder failed, the flaps got stuck, etc. It wasn't necessarily dangerous, but it was annoying. No one really wanted to fly it, but we did if we were assigned to it. If a mechanical issue was found, it became a teachable moment—and we always had a backup plan.