What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

Dumbest mistake in an airplane

Amazon-1

Active Member
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
 
OK, I go first;
During my flight training years ago the airplane that I was using had a slight right wing heavy. One day the instructor commented/complained that I have the tendency to turn right instead of following the coarse straight to which I replied, it is not me that is turning, the airplane itself is going that way.
 
OK, Believe it or not!

A long time ago the runway at Aero Country Airport had one, mid field, turn off. It required periodic patching. One hot summer day the asphalt patch was somewhat soft. A gentleman in a Cessna 421 slowed to make the turn off and the nosewheel began to sink. The gentleman continued to add power (and NOT holding back pressure on the yoke) until he actually got to full power, collapsing the nose gear. The airplane was totaled because the cost of the engines and props came to more than the value of the airplane. A mechanic friend and I watched in amazement.
 
A long time ago the runway at Aero Country Airport had one, mid field, turn off. It required periodic patching. One hot summer day the asphalt patch was somewhat soft. A gentleman in a Cessna 421 slowed to make the turn off and the nosewheel began to sink. The gentleman continued to add power (and NOT holding back pressure on the yoke) until he actually got to full power, collapsing the nose gear. The airplane was totaled because the cost of the engines and props came to more than the value of the airplane. A mechanic friend and I watched in amazement.

Was he a former Marines pilot?
 
Taking off on a contest launch in my glider and realizing I forgot to turn my oxygen on.....

In the RV, once all strapped in, started up, and then realized I left the wheel chocks in.

Didn't do my full checklist on a stop-and-go, so the prop was not full forward. On the go, things just didn't sound or feel right, so I aborted and turned off. Just as I turned off, I figured out it was the prop pulled back to 2400.

When I was getting my SEL transition training, there came the night to do a night dual cross country. The CFI had me do a short-field take-off. We flew all the way to Fresno from Moffett Field with the flaps down.
 
Last edited:
Okay, I'm pretty sure this one was embarrassing. This guy had been flying corporate jets for several years after quite a few years in turboprops. The typical turboprop has power levers, prop levers, and condition levers. Power is generally controlled by the power levers. Upon landing, the power levers are lifted over a "gate" and pulled back to get reverse thrust. The engines are shut down by lifting the condition levers over a gate and into idle cutoff. On the typical jet there are only the thrust levers. Hanging down off the upper forward side of the thrust levers are the reverse levers. Upon landing, with the thrust levers at idle, the pilot reaches slightly forward and lifts the reverse levers which deploys the thrust reverse "buckets" and lifts further for more reverse thrust. The engines are shut down by lifting the thrust levers over a gate into idle cutoff.

See where I'm going with this? ;)

On a busy afternoon, at Teterboro, NJ (TEB), no less, on runway 24, this pilot, again, after several years in turbojets, reverted to old habits, and, on touchdown, well...if you can't guess what happened, PM me. Fortunately, there was enough momentum to roll clear of the runway but tower wasn't too happy as he cleared at the most used runway exit. :rolleyes:
 
1982, a certain very junior FBO employee gets detailed to deliver a new Dakota to a dealer and new owner at Canaveral. So said junior birdman launches late after a departure delay due to fog. No problem, this a a Dakota, just climb way up and enjoy a tailwind. Problem was, our intrepid idiot was a smoker back then, and chained a dozen while pacing the lobby prior to launch.

Cruisin' along, beautiful sunny day. Something kept nagging, but what, why worry...this is GREAT! Eventually he started puzzling over the fuel gauges. One was full, the other nearing empty? Gee, that's odd...

Hmm...forgot to swap tanks. Hey, maybe a little hypoxia here. Started a descent. When the lights came back on, Junior Birdman realized he was about to punch through the Orlando Class B.

To to put frosting on this sorry story, he then proceeded to wheelbarrow the landing and do two or three skips in front of the local dealer, the new owner, and the pilot detailed to carry his humbled butt over to Orlando to catch the airlines home.

Not a proud day.
 
Last edited:
I heard a story of a ferry pilot that totalled a newly restored P-51. He was a high time jet pilot that wasnt particularly experienced in tailwheel aircraft. I heard It was a 2 million dollar restoration and cost another 2 million to repair the damage from it.
 
A long time ago I blew through the turn to final because I was in the process of lining up on the wrong runway at...Nashville I think?

Like I said, it was a long time ago, but I remember it was late at night, not much other traffic and severe VFR. We all know that tired and complacent is a bad combination, and I decided to just eyeball it rather than load the approach.

I've always loaded the approach or the runway heading into the bug after that.
 
Some years back a jet jock reported here (I think) that he had purchased a (built) RV-10, but was disappointed with its climb performance in the high teens. Asked about power settings, he said ?Everything firewalled?. Asked about the mixture, he said ?Full forward, for max power?. Guess it had been a long time since he was in a piston airplane.
 
preflight

Somebody I know took off with the rudder external gust lock fitted. He lived to tell the tale.
 
Somebody I know took off with the rudder external gust lock fitted. He lived to tell the tale.

Lucky you have an "A". On the other hand, with a tailwheel airplane, that mistake is much less likely - you would figure it out as soon as you taxi.
 
One guy I know once got a serious case of get-there-itis, which culminated in the decision to push fuel margins, with part of the "plan" including intentionally running one tank dry. When that happened, thanks to another unfortunate coincidence, said pilot found himself suddenly unable to reach the fuel selector, resulting in some rather tense moments in the cockpit.

This guy even posted the full story here on VAF quite a few years ago. I hear he keeps meaning to write it up real-like and submit it for the Never Again feature in AOPA Pilot, but he never quite gets around to it.
 
The fuel truck driver at KCCR decided that texting and driving on the ramp was a good idea. He proceeded to plow into our clubs 182 folding the wing strut, snapping the wing spar, munching the firewall, and hitting the prop. The fuel truck ended up with a broken window. The driver then proceeded to park the truck back at the fbo without informing anyone. Good times. Ps. The plane was totaled out.
 
I "knew a guy" who once flew out of Lantana, FL airport (LNA), did some maneuvering out over the Everglades, then flew towards Pompano airport for a T&G. However, with the airport in sight and about 4 miles to go, the examiner in the right seat took control, made a broadcast to the Boca Raton control tower apologizing for encroaching on their airspace. Apparently this "guy" was slightly off on his dead reckoning and headed to the wrong airport. And, it was is PPL check-ride. Whoops.

The "guy's" examiner was pretty reasonable about it, gave the PPL hopeful a choice to either return to home-base, try again another day, or continue the remainder of the check-ride and return to do the errant tasks another day.

Ok.... that guy was me. I felt horrible, but I did choose to continue, I did great the rest of the flight (and even before). Did some extra training with instructor, and nailed the practical the 2nd time. That was 15 years ago, still hurts, but I've never repeated that mistake and hopefully never will.
 
Not too long after getting my PPL when I was serving in the navy I loaded up a 172 with three buddies from the ship. The mission was to drop one of them off at his home 75 miles away. Dang if I didn't get mixed up on wind direction and landed downwind. ALMOST went off the other end of the runway... like maybe 20 feet left. I finally figured that the wind sock POINTS TOWARDS the business end of the runway. No problems since.
 
When I was a student pilot at Ruth Johnson flying school in Chino, CA, another student had to make his solo cross county flight. Upon returning he was asked how it went and he replied that it was fine except his left leg was worn out. He went on to state that there was a nasty cross wind all along his flight path and his leg was tired from holding constant rudder input to counter the cross wind! True story.

-Marc
 
I knew a guy that got distracted during preflight and ended up taxiiing to the runup area with the tow bar still on the nose wheel. Lesson learned. If the tow bar is on the plane, at least one hand is on the tow bar. No exceptions.

Erich
 
It was just another wonderful evening flight till I was abeam the numbers and reached down to apply a notch of flaps, with no response.
I looked down to see my flap handle was held down with my seat belt.

Those with manual flaps on a 6 will know what I am talking about....... It only happened once.
 
I know, for a fact, that a Grumman Tiger will taxi over (with enough power) a nose-wheel chock you were too embarrassed to shut down and remove (and that is only one of several over a 67 year flying adventure!)

Ron
 
I know a guy too. He's got plenty of proof of his humanity but today's story is from his 300 NM x-country for his commercial rating. With a rented 172 and his son along for the ride, he made the outbound leg without incident. The return takeoff, with full fuel on a very hot day at an unfamiliar airport, was a little too interesting. At the mid runway taxiway, between a couple of ATRs he decided to do an intersection departure (his home airport was a similar setup, 2500' from intersection). As the departure end approached much more quickly than the required airspeed this foolish pilot continued his takeoff and managed to get airborne, barely clearing the lights at the other end. As it turned out, this particular "midpoint" intersection provided only 1100' of runway. Hot, heavy and fighting wake from the just departed turboprop made for a great recipe for trouble. The kicker is that if I, I mean he, had done a short field takeoff it would have no trouble at all. Back tracking like everyone else would have been even better.

I never did get my commercial rating and this was by no means my last moment of stupidity but I've been sure to make each of them a lesson in what never to do again.
 
this is from flying magazine from 50 yrs ago. anyone remember?
pilot took off in his s.e.l. for a business trip. airplane was barely controllable. he was lucky enough to turn around and make a landing. his hanging suit bag was still draped around his elevator about where he had left it during preflight.
 
Well, I know "a guy" who was checked out in a friend's retractable high-performance amateur-built and managed to put 5 hours on it before landing it gear-up...

Mind you, this was a Vari-Eze, so the damage was limited to a 2x2" metal skid-plate on the nose. Replaced it with a couple of hours of work, and I am still flying it (ah, I mean... "the guy" is still flying it...).

Has to be one of the best airplane in the world for learning not to land gear up, in terms of the consequences of forgetting to lower it, IMO.
 
C-130 Ahead

My home airport (at the time - KRFD) was used almost daily by the Air National Guard to conduct training in C-130s. It was very common to be in the pattern with a pair.
I was piloting my Musketeer on final. In the right seat was a friend with almost 400 military jumps. My friend had no qualms flying with me...until that day.
A C-130 was landing in front of me. I was about a mile back and I thought above his approach path. About 300' AGL my plane suddenly banked/flipped 90 degrees! We were flying knife-edged and not on purpose!
As fast as it happened the plane righted itself to level flight and we landed with no further issues.
My friend turned to me as we taxied up to the hangar and said he had never been so scared in his life as when we nearly went inverted so close to the ground. Not a single one of his 400 jumps, day, night, into water, had ever made him pucker as much as that day with me.
I think he had good reason to say that and I drove home repeating "wing-tip vortices" over and over in my head.
 
VFR into IFR

In the late 70s I had about 100 hours in my logbook when I decided to rent a 172 and fly from San Antonio to Long Beach CA. My wife and I wanted to spend Christmas with our family. A TV meteorologist that was teaching a weather class I was in said it looks good, but just watch out for that low pressure system over Mexico.

First leg to El Paso was nice and smooth, but about 50 miles from the airport things began to change. I continued on, decending so I could see, trying to remain above mountain tops. Finally, with viability about one mile, I decided to do a 180. Too late. It was worse behind me now. I dialed in 121.5 and declared an emergency. FSS immediately answered and had me key my Mike so they could locate my position. They gave me a heading to fly. I was now 500 feet below mountain tops and 30 miles out.

10 minutes or so later I got the runway lights a mile away. I've never seen anything more beautiful than those lights. Once on the ground I went to the FSS station and thanked those guys for saving our bacon! Fagitaboutit was their response. No report. No consequences. Haven't done anything that stupid in a plane since.
 
Last edited:
Nice try FAA!

To be clear, I have never done anything dumb or against the regs!

But I did know a guy who was flying around central Texas in the 1970s in a tripacer and didn't pay attention to the forecast, ended up scud running around to try to get home, and ended up flying below some radio towers, possibly under the guy wires. Scared straight! Last time I spoke to him, he's never scud run again.
 
With only about 10 hours in the newly completed RV, I landed at a very sleepy airport not far from home base to practice some landings. On roll out, that thing wouldn’t slow down. I was pulling the throttle back so hard. Thought the throttle was partially stuck open. Had my hand on the ignition ready to turn the key off and realized the flaps were still up. Check the no flap landing off the list...

My first coast to coast trip, we arrived at the airport before sunrise. RV had partial fuel, was going to fill it up prior to departure. The pump was INOP. Had to adjust plans for a fuel stop in Utah for fuel and a snack. After the “hot start” in Utah, I reached down for my iPad to load the next leg in. Was not there. Taxied forward a few feet and spun plane around and saw it laying on the ramp with the case lying a few feet from it. The same iPad that had our whole route planned and saved in ForeFlight. Shut down to retrieve it. Luckily it barely had a scratch on it. Things were going better until a low fuel pressure alarm over Wyoming. Got everything worked out, but that was a long day, and barely noon!
 
Last edited:
I knew a guy that was practicing an IFR approach to a favorite nearby airport, noting the very beautiful newly paved runway. When he landed and rolled out he came to a stop about 50 yards from the construction crew. Luckily, it was a long runway, he turned around and departed after a friendly wave. Upon departing he did notice the temporary X's on the threshold. I bet he never forgets to check a notam again .. ever!
 
PPL Lesson Learned

On my first solo cross-country I did a weather check and of course it wasn't a good day to fly. After a long conversation with my instructor, he talked to me into it. The weather was nice directly over the airport and that was about it. So with a grand total of 27 hours (1.6 of those were solo) under my belt, I took off and within 1 minute I was socked into the clouds. That was the longest 30 seconds of the flight.

I broke out of that cloud and flew the remainder of the trip between two decks. Within twenty miles of my target airport the sky was clear and all was well. I called the instructor on landing and told him there was no way I was comfortable going back until the weather lightens. I was responded to with heavy pressure and told "the skies are clear here at the airport". So grudgingly, I took off. I spend about 30 miles of that flight socked between two cloud decks, looking for a hole to get down to the airport. Eventually one single hole opened up about 10 miles before the field, and I was able to fly home at about 800 ft AGL, with rain. Indeed, directly over the field, the skies were clear. I had no idea how close I was to the several radio towers in the area, or how bad that could've been if the weather worsened, and I didn't find a hole to get down.

After a few weeks of deciding it was time to look for a different instructor, I ultimately went back to him and finished my PPL. I've added the video, which doesn't do it any justice (1:00 and 3:45 is the only interesting part). An experienced pilot may have had no issues at all, or even better, just decided not to take off that day. I had a couple dozen hours under my belt and not nearly enough solo experience. From that day on, I made my own decisions on whether or not I was comfortable with departing.

https://youtu.be/vQDxa8iSBFw
 
Last edited:
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...
 
+1....at a towered field....after telling ground ready to taxi..."guess I'm not ready to taxi, will call back shortly" :eek:

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. :)
 
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.
 
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. ;-)
 
wow

.... 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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
Like many ?This guy I know? has some learning moments.
1st solo cross county did not top off tank, did not lean mixture, landed with about 1 gallon usable.
Robinson R22 smelled something burning while practicing short approaches. ?Probably nothing? want to keep flying. Burned up clutch bearing gave reason to quit flying.
When advancing throttle from run up on aircraft that won?t roll, don?t advance farther until it finally does scrape along the asphalt on wheel pant as a result of flat tire.

Really glad that ?those guys? shared these learning moments. I guess beating Darwin is a lesson best remembered.
 
Cloudy Aerobatics

This guy I know went up to fly aerobatics in his RV on a day with high cirrus and a little haze. Imagine his surprise when in middle of a loop, the view out the canopy suddenly went all white! It seems that a lower layer of stratus was not apparent due to the cirrus and the haze. Fortunately he continued the loop normally and came back through into the clear on the backside and all was OK! Dumb!

Skylor
 
One beautiful morning I did my check list, got in my RV, fired up and taxied out to runway. During run up I looked out and saw the oil door flopping up and down. ****, I forgot to secure the half turn fasteners. Within a few seconds my CFI taxied up and keys the mike to ask me if knew my oil door was flapping in the prop wash. That really put the embarrassment to next level.
 
One beautiful morning I did my check list, got in my RV, fired up and taxied out to runway. During run up I looked out and saw the oil door flopping up and down. ****, I forgot to secure the half turn fasteners. Within a few seconds my CFI taxied up and keys the mike to ask me if knew my oil door was flapping in the prop wash. That really put the embarrassment to next level.
Ooh, I forgot about that. A couple of months ago I did that, but the door didn't jump up until I left the runway on takeoff. Thankfully, long enough runway that I just cut the power and landed again, turned off at the end, and secured it.

In hindsight, I should have stayed in the circuit and come around for a "normal" landing instead, as I elected to make a landing from takeoff configuration when I was already 1/3 of the way down the runway... If i'd made that decision 5 seconds later the "long enough" runway wouldn't have been.
 
tow bar along for the ride

I knew a guy that got distracted during preflight and ended up taxiiing to the runup area with the tow bar still on the nose wheel. Lesson learned. If the tow bar is on the plane, at least one hand is on the tow bar. No exceptions.
 
Last edited:
Ooh, I forgot about that. A couple of months ago I did that, but the door didn't jump up until I left the runway on takeoff. Thankfully, long enough runway that I just cut the power and landed again, turned off at the end, and secured it.

It's just a little bitty oil door. Ummm, just so you know, an RV-8 flies just fine with the front baggage door standing open. Actually, it's AOA sensitive...closes itself on downwind, then opens automatically in the flare so all your buddies can see ;)
 
Not me, but saw a guy taxi, takeoff, fly around the pattern in a Mooney with a concrete block attached to the tail tie down. He got it back on the ground in one piece. Any CG issues there?
 
Apparently not!

Not me, but saw a guy taxi, takeoff, fly around the pattern in a Mooney with a concrete block attached to the tail tie down. He got it back on the ground in one piece. Any CG issues there?
Apparently not! I guess they are at least 30 pounds, so i guess that would be about the same as 300 lbs in the back seat, but just pulling these numbers out of my back seat.
 
4 stroke tail weight

California Highway Patrol took off in a Cessna 180 with a tug attached to the tail. Briggs and Stratton proved to be a big CG factor. It flew, but the gyrations it took to dislodge it were wild. Interesting note... during the event Cessna design engineers refused to believe it. Said it could not fly that way.
Wish there was a youtube... as lots of officers went out to see it play out.
 
Back
Top