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My plan for when the SID hits:
Safety is my first and foremost consideration....always.
That being said, I rarely respond well to coercion, and I am yet to be convinced that this maneuver is anything more than an attempt to ground older aircraft to generate sales for newer models.
However...I struggle to keep an open mind and force myself to be objective.
I'm a private operator, so I will not be required (at first) to comply. But I will be very eager to hear what others find when they do their inspections.
If there is evidence of this being a rational concern, I will have the inspection performed.
If the SID is expanded to include Private operators, I will likely NOT do the inspection unless others start reporting that they are finding problems.
If the SID evolves into a regulatory requirement (AD, etc) then I will comply and perform the inspection.....and keep tracking others findings.
If the SID evolves into a RECURRING regulatory Requirement, then I will comply and perform the inspection ONCE and then investigate whether changing the registrtation to an "Experimental" catagory would circumvent the recurrency. And keep tracking others findings.
In the far more likely event that the insurance company chooses to join the frey and require SID compliance as a criteria for coverage, then I will self-insure...and keep tracking other findings.
I imagine most pilots are like me. We love aviation largely because of the sense of independance....that means we dont like getting pushed. I think if Cessna had approached this whole subject differently, the fleet would be more receptive. Regrettably, they chose a less participatory approach which has polarized the matter into "us vs them" and planted a vigorously growing seed of distrust.
In short. I did a lot of research before choosing the 337 type. I like the plane on paper. I like it in the hangar. I like it in the air. I dont think there is a "better" plane out there. I wont give up on it just because of the SID. I will comply if I must. I will comply if I should. But I wont comply merely on the conjecture that something MIGHT be wrong.
Thats my decision-making tree....for now. As I have said so often, I'm still new...still learning. I will watch others, listen to their input, and will quite likely adjust my approach along the way.
Cole
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