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Re-learning old lessons

flyenforfun

Well Known Member
I've been flying since 1989 I was a flight instructor through the 90s and it's amazing to me how every once in a while you relearn an old lesson.today was a beautiful day 70° in December so I thought I would bring out the RV-8 for short flight. Doing the pre-flight I got distracted by a man asking me questions about my airplane and of course I'm a talker so I answered his questions and then moved on. Putting gas into the airplane I got distracted again by a new pilot asking pilot asking questions about the RV and complementing me on how well It looked. Again I was distracted from the task at hand. I had reeled up the fuel hoses and got my receipt then another plane pulled up behind me to get gas at the pumps so I rushed I got in the airplane started the engine and started to move forward and out of the corner of Me eye I saw the orange ground cable that was still connected to my exhaust pipe I promptly shut down the airplane an unstrapped myself and got out and remove the ground cable. I don't think anything would've happened it probably would've just put in the ground wire off however there were other possibilities like I could've ripped the ground strap and flew with the ground wire hanging behind me at any rate something happen but it just reminded me to pay attention and don't be distracted by others. So pay attention.
 
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I think the clamp would've released, granted it was clear of the prop. The distractions/interruptions has happened to a lot of us. I've been caught and inquiried while refueling and I make a point to either stay focused on what I'm doing, politely, or stop completely. But the older I'm getting, the more I realize I need to make a checklist for my checklist.

When I see other guys hop in and start up, forgetting to remove the wheel chock, I don't feel so bad.
 
Distractions are evil. I was preflighting a spam can (PA-181) for a flight when I noticed a an adjacent pilot taking some kids up for their first flight. Awesome, I thought. However, in her quest to get into the air, she didn't untie one wing tiedown. On taxi, she got a bit of a surprise. I was able to get her to shut down; I untied her wing, and then sent her on her way.

Distractions form the "normal" preflight are worrisome. If I have to call the fuel truck, and it's late, I'll redo the full preflight just to be sure I didn't miss any thing!

Interested pilots and lookie-loos are great, but are not conducive to a good preflight. Give them the show, and restart at the top of the checklist.
 
Hmmm...Distractions. Maybe I shouldn't admit to:

1. Failing to remove the nose wheel chocks before trying to power away from the tie down.

2. Failing to remove the pitot tube cover. Someone from the FBO called over the radio while we were doing the runup. My instructor graciously got out to remove it saying, "A lot of people do that once."

I can almost guarantee these two things will never happen again. :eek:
 
Distractions/interruptions are evil

I can almost guarantee they are not happening again. Missed on preflight during last 4 years luckily all were discovered before takeoff except pitot cover.



Pitot cover
Cowl plugs
Nose wheel chock
Rudder lock
Aileron lock
Canopy latch
Oil door

:eek:
 
Vlad covered most of mine, except

unused seat belt INSIDE before closing door ----- makes one H of a mess on fuselage paint during runup!

R.
 
OK... Since we are all going to confession...One cold morning last month I did my preflight on the PA28 I am taking lessons in. I got to the point where I had the right cowl open and was going to remove the extension cord plugged into the electric engine heater. My instructor wasn't there yet so I said to myself...."Self; be good to the engine and wait to unplug it untill just before you are ready to go." I went back inside to warm up. My instructor arrived and we went out to the plane. Well I'm sure you can finish the story from here. We got in and did the usual checklist for startup. Started real nice too because someone kept the engine nice and warm. Taxied to the runup area and did an uneventful runup check. Cleared for takeoff and off we went. This is when it got interesting. When we reached about 500ft AGL, the right cowl popped patially open and twisted down in the airstream and got caught under the rear of the nosebowl. NOWWWW I remembered leaving the cord plugged in and the cowl unbuttoned. Since this was a flying lesson, I got to practice a SHORT base leg approach on the return to the field. When we got out to view the damage we found only a small dent in the front of the cowl panel where it got caught. Much to my surprise the extention cord had gotten caught in the front wheel support tubing and hung there trailing in the wind for the whole ride. The person working the desk for the school came out and surveyed the damage. I don't know why he didn't laugh when I suggested that because of the trailing cord, I should get tow plane time in my log book.
You are all correct. THAT will never happen again. Good to hear I'm not alone.
Rich.
 
so I said to myself...."Self; be good to the engine and wait to unplug it untill just before you are ready to go."
I learned to never -- EVER -- think "Oh, I'll do that right before I get in".

Had my newly purchased plane tied down overnight on the trip back home. The next morning I did my preflight, but didn't pull the nose wheel chock. Oh, it's a little breezy. I'll remove that right before I get in so I don't have to worry about the plane rolling. Yeah.

Strapped in, canopy closed, reached for the key to start it... nope. It's in my pocket. Fumble around, squirm around, finally give up and unbuckle, dig it out of my pocket, get all buckled back in and start the engine. Engine looks good, let's taxi... umm, let's taxi... Oh, crud. Guess who forgot to pull that chock? I'm sure the FBO guys were having a good chuckle. Or maybe not, they probably see it a couple of times a week at least.

Shut it all down. Unbuckle. Canopy open. Climb out. Go pull the chock. Do it all again. Lesson learned... Thou shalt begin thy preflight inspection at the beginning, and thou shalt end thy preflight inspection at the end, and thou shalt not interrupt it; and if thou gets interrupted thou shalt begin anew from the beginning.
 
be good to the engine and wait to unplug it until just before you are ready to go.
I did the same thing just the other day, though with a C-172. I took one step away when I realized it was a bad idea. However, my solution was to coil up enough of the extension cord tom top of the cowl that I couldn't miss it from the pilot seat.
 
I was up at Lebanon, TN airport a couple of weeks ago. We were walking out to our RV-10 while I was admiring a new model Pilatus PC-12. Just as he fired up the engine I noticed that he had forgotten to remove the nose wheel chock. So I stood in front of the plane and started waving my arms to get the pilot's attention. Was pretty well ignored. When he applied power to taxi I got out of there. Fortunately the chock blew out from in front of the wheel and flew out the backside. So off they went blissfully ignorant of how close they came to damaging a VERY expensive prop. :eek:
 
Ha!!! That's exactly where I left the chocks in. Maybe it wasn't my mistake after all. Maybe M54 just has really enthusiastic chock elves that stick 'em back in while you're not looking.
 
During preflight (without any interruptions!), I decided to leave the locking tabs up on the fuel caps, so that when I taxied from the ramp, past the fuel farm, I would see the lifted tabs and be reminded to top off the tanks.
Besides, my pre-takeoff check is very, very thorough.

After starting and a cockpit scan, I asked, out of habit, to taxi directly to the runway; ground gave me permission. I taxied at a walking pace past the fuel farm, using very little brake, holding the stick full aft, 'cause I'm soooooo safety conscious.

As I warmed the engine, I boxed the controls (looking over the top of fuel caps), seeing only what I expected to see: full and appropriate aileron deflection.

After a normal takeoff, I checked in with ATC; cause I'm a thoughtful pilot, and SoCal airspace is busy. Four freq changes later, I'm in the vicinity of KONT when I see the blue stains, starting where my fuel caps should be...

(Note to self: after landing, I should have inspected the seats closely for any evidence of diamonds...) Oh, forgot to mention I was meeting my mother at the destination airport for lunch.

On returning home, I received the local "FUBAR award." This polished prop, bent from a groundloop, doesn't spin well, and has no names, dates, or infractions engraved (not enough room?), but it rolls very easily from winner to winner. I don't think there's been a 2nd award for the same error, so I have that going for me.
 
Wheel chocks seem to be the most common in this thread. It has happened enough times to me that Mary always asks, just before engine start, "did we get the chocks?" Now that is an excellent co-pilot!

I washed the airplane last week and then took off for a fly-in breakfast Saturday AM and immediately noticed that my AOA was not working. I put tape over the static ports and the AOA ports when I wash the airplane. I had dutifully removed the tape from the static ports, but then got interrupted by questions from my passenger. So, forgot to get the AOA port tape. Certainly not an emergency, but one more example of being wary of getting interrupted during pre-flight, checklists, etc. Along the same lines as "I'll wait till just before XXXX before doing that", is skipping a checklist item and telling yourself you will go back and clear it just before XXXX. :eek:
 
Brenham, TX

Recently bought a spam can in Brenham. Two huge 3-blade props were mangled, and laying on two wooden pallets, beside where my 'new' plane was stored.

I asked the mechanic at the FBO if those were from a gear up landing? He said: "Nope. A guy was about to taxi out in a King Air. Forgot to pull the chocks from under the gears. Instead of powering down and manually pulling the chocks, he decided to try and 'jump' them. The nose gear somehow collapsed from the forces, and of course both props hit the pavement".

Talk about a VERY expensive mistake! I forget the dollar figure he said the repairs cost, but it was well into the six figure range.

Moral of the story? Don't forget to pull your RV chocks during preflight!
 
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I've done the chocks once, left the oil door open once, and I've strapped in with doors closed once and reached for the ignition before realizing the keys were in my bag in the back.

We're human, we make mistakes. Best we can do is catch as many as we can and deal with the rest.
 
Tow bar

It had been a log time since I had a nosewheel plane. I bought a 7-A and should have done a final walk around before flight. So I taxiied and flew off with the tow bar attached. I don't know how it didn't come up and hit the prop on my grass strip. I found it later half way down the field. It must have fallen of on takeoff. Lesson learned, always do one final walk around before flight
 
Last steps of my checklist: 1) tiedowns removed (3 places), 2) roll the plane forward (double check chocks/tiedowns removed), 3) check fuel caps are secure.

Then, belt in and "clear prop".
 
Here we go again

I've been flying since 1989


.....



but it just reminded me to pay attention and don't be distracted by others. So pay attention.


I came to the airport very early to do a light maintenance. Was almost done when a non flying neighbor stopped by to tell a story. I don't remember the story but do remember a missed fastener.

 
i won't mention his name to protect the guilty. but during my build my buddy who also has a RV-4 came down to my hanger and asked if he could borrow my fuel caps. I asked, what did you do? he went to a nearby airport for fuel, lifted the tabs on the caps and then went to swipe his fuel card. well, the card reader was inop so he decided to go to another near by airport. well along the way, because it was such an nice evening he decided to do a roll. you can guess what happened. he never pushed the tabs back down and both fuel caps fell out.

vlad, van designed a way to never forget the nose wheel chock, they will sell you all parts needed to make the change......................:D

bob burns
RV-4 N82RB
 
A departed friend of mine had a little plywood and caster tailwheel dolly on his non swivel tailwheel. It was fun watching him taxi on it until he turned a corner and it shot off in the weeds.
 
Will it ever end? Was talking with a nice gentleman while refueling. Sure enough a gas cap wasn't locked. :eek:


 
I know this guy...

... who has flown all the way to his destination with the canopy held only by the secondary latch because the forces are too strong to pull a tip-up closed in flight. It tends to suck your sleeve out of the gap along the top longeron.

This same guy has shut down and climbed out more than once because the oil door popped open during the run-up. He needs a better place to access his plug-in Reiff heater.

This same guy, this week, did a compression check, oil and spin-on filter change that lasted two evenings. Not wanting to forget to add the oil, he put it in before he went up to the house for dinner the first evening. The next afternoon he figured he better check the high and low pressure screens before buttoning back up. He got an expensive and messy reminder that one pulls the coarse screen while the sump is empty, not after refilling it.

I question the wisdom of flying with a guy like that, but I literally have no choice :rolleyes:

-Stormy
 
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