The club Cessna with three paperwork defects

Show-stoppers (any one of them ends the flight):

1. ARC expired nine days ago. The Airworthiness Review Certificate is what keeps the Certificate of Airworthiness valid. With the ARC expired, the aircraft is not airworthy and may not fly; a renewal booked for next week is irrelevant, because there is no discretion to fly on an expired review.
2. Insurance limited to the United Kingdom. A flight to LFAT is outside the territorial limit, so the flight would be uninsured. Insurance is compulsory for the flight and for third-party risk; the policy term is therefore a legal barrier, not a comment in a folder.
3. 50-hour check due in 1 h 50 min. The check must be carried out before the interval is exceeded, and the flight time is counted against the remaining 1 h 50 min. A 2.5-hour round trip would exceed the limit, so it cannot be flown as planned.

Not a show-stopper:

• Right navigation light inoperative, deferred day VFR only. A properly signed deferral permits day VFR flight without that light, and this trip departs 09:00 and returns before sunset. If the return slipped into the hours of darkness, the aircraft would become unserviceable.

Conclusion: grounded on three separate counts, none of which the crew can waive.

Carry at least:

• Certificate of Registration - proves the aircraft is registered in a State and identifies the operator.
• Certificate of Airworthiness, including the valid ARC - proves airworthiness; the ARC is the item a ramp inspector will look for because it shows the review is current.
• Noise certificate - required for most international operations and checked at some aerodromes.
• Aircraft Flight Manual (or approved equivalent) - defines limitations and performance; you may be asked for it if performance is queried.
• Technical log / journey log - records defects, deferrals and maintenance status; the deferral for the navigation light is only valid because it is written and signed there.
• Insurance certificate - shows the cover, including the territorial limit that fails here.
• Radio station licence - where the State requires one for the installation.
• Crew licences and medical certificates - the pilot's privileges are part of the aircraft's lawful operation.
• Weight and balance data - with three passengers and fuel for the trip, this must be checked, not assumed.

For the Channel crossing, customs and immigration notification for the aircraft and passengers is a separate but equally mandatory step.

The engineer's view confuses a likely outcome with a legal permission. Until the review is completed and a new ARC issued, the C of A is not valid and the aircraft is unairworthy.

Consequences if flown:

• Insurance. Flying an unairworthy, out-of-territory aircraft is a standard exclusion. A hull loss or a third-party claim would be met by the club and possibly by the pilot personally.
• Regulatory. The State of Registry can suspend or revoke the C of A and act against the pilot's licence; the destination authority can detain the aircraft on arrival.
• Maintenance chain. Exceeding the 50-hour interval compounds the problem: it creates an undocumented maintenance overrun that has to be resolved before the aircraft flies again, and it may affect the ARC renewal itself.
• The pilot owns the pre-flight check. Rental does not transfer the responsibility. 'The club said it was fine' is not a defence when the folder in your hands was missing a valid ARC and had the wrong territorial limit.

Judgement point: with an expired ARC and an insurance territorial limit, the decision is not marginal - it is a refusal to fly, followed by a phone call to the club.