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-   -   Dumbest mistake in an airplane (https://vansairforce.net/community/showthread.php?t=181009)

RV7A Flyer 04-03-2020 11:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amazon-1 (Post 1419108)
Attempting to start a discussion and ward off boredom: tell us something dumb ?a guy you know? did in an airplane. Not to judge, just to discuss. I?ll start: I know a guy who in a rush to get in the air rushed through his preflight and neglected to remove his cowl plugs. The cord connecting the two plugs runs past the propeller (as it should) so as soon as the engine fired up it tore the plugs out and chewed them up and threw foam all over the ramp area. No real damage done, a fair amount of embarrassment though.

Bruce

I do know of a case, and I swear this was not me, of a flying club where a guy put the cowl plugs in but *didn't* run the cord over the prop, went off for a while, came back and forgot to remove them. The prop *didn't* catch them (obviously) and fling them out, and off he went.

Surprisingly, the engine didn't seize up, but the CHTs must have been screaming at him during the short flight back home. UNsurprisingly, it resulted in an engine overhaul.

There's a right way and a wrong way to put those cowl plugs in...

RV7A Flyer 04-03-2020 11:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by odens_14 (Post 1419172)
+1....at a towered field....after telling ground ready to taxi..."guess I'm not ready to taxi, will call back shortly" :o

I'll fess up. Done the same thing.

I'll bet the number of pilots who *haven't* done that is less than those who have. :)

KTOA 04-03-2020 11:54 AM

Picked up a friend?s Bonanza from the mechanic on the field. They had just installed three new cylinders (~$7K) and I was to test fly the plane along with starting the break-in of the new cylinders. Taxiing for takeoff was more than a mile and I wanted to keep the low power idling to a minimum to help prevent glazing of the cylinders. So, I did the whole runup checklist while taxiing.

Meanwhile the stratus was moving in?from the east. It almost always moves in from the west and I didn?t notice this until I?m about to takeoff. Also, it?s very near sunset and I?m concerned about losing the sunlight. Okay, no problem, plan B. Instead of circling the field at 3,000? I?ll do it at 1,500?.

So now I?m loudly screaming over suburbia at 1,500? while pulling 25? & 2500 RPM in a big oval?ish race track pattern. And I?m getting rocked due the 15-knot wind pushing the stratus in from the east. On my first orbit, I turn for what would normally be final and out of the corner of my eye I see a small Cessna zoom underneath my nose. No joke, the Cessna was less than 50? below me. Tower suddenly comes on the radio and calls a traffic alert for me. Really?!?, well thanks for that. Now my cage is rattled and the Cessna got in my head. I continue the ?test? process.

On the second orbit I?m on a modified downwind about 3 miles from the runway. I look down and have zero oil pressure. [SHOOT!]. I turn direct to the runway and climb what little I can to the cloud base while pulling the power back. I?m easily doing 160 knots and need to slow it down. I wait for the aircraft to slow with the power reduced. Finally, I get slow enough and drop the gear. No joy. No three green. Nothing.

In fifteen minutes, I went from having a good day to an almost mid-air collision and to now putting an expensive airplane on the runway with no landing gear.

I have my finger on the PTT switch to declare an emergency when I look down at the alternator switch. I turn it on?whirr?down goes the gear?three green lights illuminate?and oil pressure in the green. I make a normal landing and no one knows anything but me.

I was near the end of the classic accident chain that day. I was in a rush, ignored the weather, didn?t look outside the window, didn?t have a good game plan, lots of etc.

The story has a lot of ?I? in it because it was 100% all on me.

Squid 04-03-2020 11:54 AM

Almost landed...in the wrong country!
 
I was a student pilot flying out of Montgomery Field in San Diego. One morning I headed south to Brown Field (close to the border) for touch & go's. I reported to the tower on a 2 mile right-base as directed and we went back & forth about me being "beyond the extended centerline of the runway...advise of intentions". I insisted they were wrong as I had the runway clearly in sight...until I realized that was Tijuana's runway, just south of the border! Early 80's so maybe they were more forgiving back then. No repercussions and my instructor back at the FBO was none the wiser. ;-)

rv8ch 04-03-2020 12:50 PM

wow
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Brettc (Post 1419328)
.... I've added the video, which doesn't do it any justice (1:00 and 3:45 is the only interesting part). ... From that day on, I made my own decisions on whether or not I was comfortable with departing.

https://youtu.be/vQDxa8iSBFw

That didn't look good at all from what I could see on the video. That's the stuff of NTSB reports, that's for sure. They would have appreciated the video, had it turned out bad. Glad you made it out.

Champ 04-03-2020 03:13 PM

When I got my Champ a long long time ago I had it tied down next to a barn at a grass strip near me. On the first flight from this tie down I decided to taxi out on the lane running parallel to the barn that I drove in on. Well, apparently I forgot the Champ had wings and the left wing made contact with the barn. Luckily I was so slow at the time that no damage was done. Good thing cars don?t have wings.

Sam I Am 04-03-2020 04:27 PM

Just last weekend
 
Pulled into our local cheap gas airport for some $2.68 100LL this past Sunday. The lineman said the v tail on the ramp was out of commission as it would not stay lit when started. The pilot in the lounge told me he was on a cross country from the west coast to middle America, stopped in for the cheap gas, and now the engine won't run. He was sure the fuel pump had gone bad, but wasn't able to get a mechanic as it was Sunday. So, called my A&P buddy to see if he would drive the 1 hour to help the man. He agreed. The next day the buddy told me he asked the guy to get in the plane, go through the pre-start check list, then start the engine. The guy was very uncomfortable having the A&P in the cockpit with him because of the pandemic social distancing requirements so he stayed on the wing. The pilot pulled out the throttle and fuel mixture, pushed the starter, the engine sputtered a few times, then quit. The pilot commented that the racket must be the fuel pump. The A&P asked him to do it again. As soon as the engine fired, he slammed the mixture control forward, and the engine roared to life. Obviously the pilot was a bit red faced. The pilot had recently purchased the plane but this wasn't his first cross country...the human mind is fascinating.

Pilotjim77 04-03-2020 04:31 PM

Flying home from Myrtle Beach to Massachusetts, my oil pressure looked a tad low.... then lower... then lower. I landed at the first available airport, in New Jersey I think. I hop out to investigate, and there is oil streaking down the side of the engine cowling. I open the oil door, and there is the oil fill cap dangling beside the engine on it's chain. I had added a quart and apparently forgot to replace the cap.

The shop on the field helped me pull the filter and cut it open.... no metal found, thankfully. Filled it back up with oil, secured the oil fill cap, and went on my way.

JDeanda 04-03-2020 06:47 PM

My Turn
 
Oh gosh, where to start. I've been in the flying biz since high school, lo these many decades back. I've seen lots of dumbth in aviation, but the worst I can think of right now was when my main boss at the time... not me! came to the airport one day, loaded his family into his Cessna 310, taxied out and took off with the electric power towbar still on the nosegear. His first clue was when the gear failed to show an "up" indication on retraction right after takeoff. But that was just a clue, he didn't know what the problem was until he asked the tower to look at his gear as he flew by. They told him what they saw and cleared him to land. Dumb thing number 2 was landing in the grass in case the nose gear collapsed. It didn't and he taxied back to the hangar. Next day, my actual boss and mentor, an experienced A&P and I jacked up the airplane and cycled the gear a few times, checking for problems. All we could find was the pointy fiberglass nose was chipped where the Robotow swung up and tapped it, and the landing light, mounted on the nosegear leg, was broken. Some days later, I was working in the hangar by myself and noticed that the towbar had been left on the nosegear (again) and some wag had wandered in and put one of those long pole, orange bicycle flags on the towbar, visible from the cockpit. It said "Wake up (his name)!" Then the main boss rode in on his motorcycle, told me good morning and asked who put the flag there. I answered honestly that I didn't know. He took the flag off, stuck it on the motorcycle, returning a few minutes later, and put the flag back on the towbar. No idea where he went.
Fair enough, earlier, I'd found an FAA Sarcastic Award plaque in the hangar, awarded to the guy by name "For Excellence in Preflight Inspections and Runup Checks." We already knew he didn't preflight and never did runups. He'd been warned, but still managed to do all that. Plenty of stories about my goofs, but I think this guy has me beat.

F1R 04-03-2020 08:49 PM

Beat this one if you can.
 
The day I wrote my last two ATPL exams was July23 right before Sept 11th. I was walking 10 ft tall for being finished. On the way across the apron to my humble wood and cloth tail dragger, a woman so beautiful I had no business even looking at asks me if I would like a look inside of the Gulfstream, she was evidently a crew member of. Actually I was admiring the Gulfstream when she asked. The interior was an intoxicating mix of new leather and what ever she was wearing. She took a perch in the right seat and after a show and tell of the avionics I asked her what kind of background and aircraft got her into the right seat of a Gulfstream. As I recall she had about 400 hours of C-182 time. But then she confessed that she had married into the job. Without hesitation I asked her if she would please marry me. With an ear to ear smile and laugh she said "Well thank you very much, ..... but I am still married and the guy I married is right here in the left seat." And she grabbed his elbow. Thankfully he just had a proud smile on his face. At that point I said "Thanks for the tour and the moment, but I better get out out of here."

Thankfully all I heard was all three of us laughing as I walked out of the first and only Gulfstream I have ever been inside of.


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