[JonJay]

We all have done it, we all see it done,... but do we really need to turn our 150++ Hp fans into other parked airplanes?

At our local EAA montly bkfst, here comes the 200HP RV, nice person, good guy, fellow RV'r... get's a bit stuck in the grass as he makes his flank turn and proceeds to blow the you know what out of the guys beside and behind him.

I have seen even worse examples recently on a dusty, rock strewn ramp.

I like to think we RVr's have better SA, are more responsible, and simply better pilots than the bulk of the GA spam can drivers that seem to have been trained this way.

RV's are light, easy to move, and even on grass you can usually get a man or two to help you push it back if you need to.

Who knows, if we all practice responsible parking of our machines maybe some of the others will follow our lead.

Ok, done with my peeve.

 

[Jamie]

I prefer the stop the engine, roll and turn method. Works well and doesn't blow junk in my hangar even if the hangar door is open.

 

[kentb]

Jon, I'll see your peave and raise you....

My hangar neighbor spun his plane around so that he could push his plane into his hangar. With my hangar door open to receive all the dust between the hangar.

Grrrrr..

Kent

 

[JonJay]

Agreed

I prefer the stop the engine, roll and turn method. Works well and doesn't blow junk in my hangar even if the hangar door is open.

...but it is hard to do an orderly shut down and keep your eyes out of the airplane.

 

[SteinAir]

That is a huge pet peeve of mine as well since I'm on a grass strip. When people do that in front of my hangar, I walk out to greet them with a large broom (as they wonder what for)....they usually don't do it a 2nd time!

Cheers,
Stein

 

[TomVal]

Add to the "PP" list are those who start while still parked in their tie-down spot blowing the %@!* out of those tied down behind him.

 

[RV8iator]

Amen to this thread

Rude and situationally unaware is all you can say about someone that points his tail into an open hangar or at planes or folks. Stein, you definitely have the right idea. I did the same not long ago and politely let the offender know that I had just finished cleaning out my hangar and would like to see it the way it was before he taxied up.. He swept

If they have that bad a case of cranial rectitus I really don't even want them flying around me.

Call me unbending in this, but it's just plain rude..

 

[foka4]

Not just Rvs

Most of my power flying time is behind a raucous 90 HP Continental. Even with that little engine I think it's rude to ever blast another aircraft behind me. If the plane weighs less than 2000 lbs, it's no problem to just push it into position in crowded areas.

I'm not a smart cookie - I learned this lesson by making a mess of my own hangar. Lucky me!

M

 

[andyrv]

Grass Catcher

Still pulling bits of grass out of my 7A interior from an 8 pilot that needed to park right next to me at a grass strip with my tip-up opened and me sitting in the airplane. I guess I wasn't expecting that behavior after seeing the group do a nice overhead break to land or I would have quickly closed the canopy sooner.

 

[n5lp]

Yep, it is a matter of bafflement to me. And no, shutting down the engine is a matter of pulling one knob out; not complicated at all.

 

[Casey Stewart]

Flank turns

I have seen even worse examples recently on a dusty, rock strewn ramp.
Ok, done with my peeve.

If that is the time and place I think it is, our plane has some very noticeable chips and many more small scratches, especially on the leading edges of the wing from that weekend.

As I dont fly my dads -7 in respects to landings and such, I dont do shutdowns, but he often does the turn while pulling mixture to cut off. Just as effective on asphalt and IMHO, it looks cool to

It works quite well. I found out the hard way to keep his hangar door closed until shutdown when he gets back from giving someone a ride and I am waiting at the hangar. I was picking up rags and other sail type items and the floor had a lot more dirt on it than before.

Be courteous out there. I know everyone would appreciate it.

 

[SteinAir]

Along that same line, when people are starting their plane for departure - and if they still have the tail pointed into the hangar I'm never afraid to literally walk out and push their tail 90 degrees, even if they are sitting in the plane! It also never ceases to amaze me that some people can't figure out that simply turning a different direction will also sometimes help a whole lot when leaving.

At least we're not in huge planes, some years ago in a previous life we had a DC-10 on the runup pad aimed the wrong way. The #2 eng literally sandblastd and blew the windows out of a whole pile of employees cars!

Cheers,
Stein

 

[AlexPeterson]

Oh yeah, this one raises my ire also.

A few years ago: Imagine about 10 picnic tables full of pancake eaters, on the grass next to a taxiway at a small town grass strip. Along comes a Piper 6 of some sort, taxis right by the tables, and does a turn. When I talked with an RVer who was also there witnessing this, he said "yep, same pilot blew trash into my hangar (at a different airport) recently".

Another: I had literally just finished a complete wax job on my RV in the hangar. The neighbor (with whom I had already had discussions about this same problem) taxis up in his Conquest jet prop, does a turn, fills the hangar with sand. The dumbbell has a 4-wheeler he uses to pull the plane out, so it would be simple to not do that last turn. I was close to pulling mine out, aiming the tail at his hangar and plane, and doing a full power run-up. Thankfully that plane is gone.

 

[yakdriver]

Don't get me started on helicopter pilots. Don

 

[Mike D]

Clarification needed

So, I may need to clarify this pet peeve.

I don?t, and never have, started my plane with it pointed at a hangar.
I don?t turn the plane during taxi when the prop wash will hit a hangar door.
I would never prop blast a person or a car.

BUT, I have and still do, start up in the tie down parking spot. I learned this from watching other pilots who do the same. In fact, I have never noticed a pilot pull the plane out to start up, unless it was to pull the plane to the fuel pump. Is this wrong? I want to be as courteous as I can, so If this is wrong, please correct my behavior.

But to be honest, If I did pull the plane out for startup, I would then be blocking the taxiway. And most times the tie down spot does not have planes or buildings behind it. Other times there are other planes in a ?T? configuration behind me. So when should I pull the plane out of the tie down spot for startup???

Flame if you want, but I am looking to be a nice pilot.

 

[islandmonkey]

That is a huge pet peeve of mine as well since I'm on a grass strip. When people do that in front of my hangar, I walk out to greet them with a large broom (as they wonder what for)....they usually don't do it a 2nd time!

Cheers,
Stein

Give them a small broom, it will take them longer to clean up!

 

[ArlingtonRV]

I Do

BUT, I have and still do, start up in the tie down parking spot. I learned this from watching other pilots who do the same. In fact, I have never noticed a pilot pull the plane out to start up, unless it was to pull the plane to the fuel pump.

I must be the odd one then. Any time there is an airplane either behind or beside (at least that would be behind me during a turn) I always pull the airplane out of the parking spot and turn it parallel to the parking row (yes, I sometimes get some strange looks).

I was tought to do this very early in my pilot training at a flight school that just happened to be owned by my father using airplanes we had to maintain, so that may have had an influence on the policy. I have never yet been anywhere that this practice would create a hardship for other aircraft. The only time I deviate from this practice is when there is not another aircraft within several aircraft lengths of me.

There have been times I have had to get help pushing the airplane up a small rise or out of a hole (imagine how much power would be required to taxi out of that). I try always to be considerate of other people and be aware of the affect that my actions have on others.

You have to be careful what you learn from watching other pilots. It is other pilots that take off without enough fuel, that continue VFR into IMC, that fly into the ground, and engage in all sorts of other potentially hazardous practices.

Don't get me started on helicopters!

 

[N8RV]

Mirrors

Actually, that's one of the reasons why I mounted mirrors on my rollbar. I can see my tail surfaces when I do control checks, AND see if there's anything/anyone behind me when I do my run-up.

More than once, I've taxied up behind a spam can at our airport who decides to do his run-up without checking to see what's behind him. I've learned to always taxi off to the side a bit since then.

 

[bkthomps]

EXAMPLE OF TITLE IN A SINGLE POST

I have a pet peeve on this forum that people "title" their individual posts, the "title" dialogue is there for creating threads, or private messages, not posts!

can I rant about that in this thread?

 

[Auburntsts]

BUT, I have and still do, start up in the tie down parking spot. I learned this from watching other pilots who do the same. In fact, I have never noticed a pilot pull the plane out to start up, unless it was to pull the plane to the fuel pump. Is this wrong? I want to be as courteous as I can, so If this is wrong, please correct my behavior.

Same here. That's pretty routine on any GA ramp that I've ever been on. The only time I've seen aircraft pulled out and turned prior to startup is at Oshkosh where I beleive that habit is highly encouraged (probably at all major fly-ins too). It makes since when aircraft are tightly packed and there's tents and what not all over the place. However, on a typical GA ramp, I wouldn't bother unless circumstances dictated otherwise (ie parked in front of open hangar, at a fly-in with booths or tables in close proximity, etc.) I guess what I 'm trying to say is just take stock of your surroundings and exercise the golden rule lest you become THAT pilot.

 

[Flyfalcons]

There's really no need to pull a plane out of a tiedown spot on a paved ramp, as the minimal power required to get the plane moving isn't going to cause a nuissance.

 

[larrynew]

As an entertaining aside, I have seen afterburner used to start taxi at night.

 

[leaker311]

Pet peeve squared

Along that same line, when people are starting their plane for departure - and if they still have the tail pointed into the hangar I'm never afraid to literally walk out and push their tail 90 degrees, even if they are sitting in the plane!

Stein, although we have never met, from what I have heard and read about you I bow down to your knowledge and expertise and please know that I have nothing but the highest respect for you, for all that you do, and all that you have accomplished. However, if you ever do this to me or my airplane while I am going through my startup procedures I hope that you either wear your running shoes or that you recently practiced your kung-fu skills because I am going to climb out and we are going to boogie.
I have many pet peeves and disregard for your own thrust vector (the start of this thread) is definately in the top 3 but my number one is NEVER EVER approach, let alone, touch an aircraft that is going through its start-up procedures. Actually, for me dont approach my aircraft without my approval during or after my ext. inspection because I dont know what is going on back there but that's probably just me.

Perhaps I am anal retentitive in this regard but it stems from my time in the Air Force, first as a crew chief and later as a Fighter Pilot. I have seen too many scenarios where people almost got killed or things got damaged, don't do it, for everyones safety yours but also the pilot and crew. Besides it is also plain rude and I therefore don't think you get the desired change in behavior pattern with this technique. I think the other pilot will walk away mumbling what an (insert own profanity) instead of thinking "wow, what a great guy, I just learned something today"

Please wave your hands, jump up and down, shine a light in my face and as soon as I notice I will shut down and let you yell at me. I then will proceed to thank you for teaching me something and I will be a better pilot because my big bag of pilot tricks just got a little bigger. I think many pilots think the same...

Sorry if I am out of line, but I don't want to see anyone get hurt.

Marco
RV-7
Texas

 

[JonJay]

Helicopters

Uh, oh, I think I just put a title in a post,.....

Several have mentioned Helicopter issues in this thread. While there certainly are those bad helo drivers that dont understand what they are doing, some of this can not be helped. My neighbor has a 206 and as hard as he tries, he is still going to blow the newly cut lawn clippings all over as he moves along the runway to take off or land. His only other choice would be to go vertical and lose any option he has should he lose power and become a rock with no airspeed and a quick victim of gravity.
So, I give my local Helicopter a pass on this one. I will take grass clippings over a 206 fully loaded with JetA coming down on the field.
He does not have a choice.
We have a choice.

 

[tejasflyer]

After screaming for a non-aviator passenger to lay on the tail of my plane to keep a VLJ from flipping it during a turnaround on a crowded ramp, I'm very sensitive to this problem. I do pull the plane out to start up, and I'll always try to avoid blasting people, planes or property with debris. More courtesy is definitely called for.

KB

 

[RV7Guy]

Peer Pressure

Usually this will take care of things. I think this falls into 3 categories.

1) The clueless. Example. I live in a residential air park. A neighbor has a Cessna turbo 206. He will taxi in front of his hangar, turn the nose away from the hangar and proceed to do his 5 minute cool down. Meanwhile, his next door neighbor has his hangar open, building his 7 and things get rearranged. After a few of these events he approached the offender who was completely clueless. No more problems.

2) The uncaring- These types just don't care. All that matters is their convenience.

3) The Attention getter- Falls into both 1 and 2!!! Several years ago at the Copperstate event in Casa Grande, AZ a guy comes whizzing by in a Turbine Legend, followed by the obligatory high G pull up to enter the pattern.

At that time, the organizers parked all of the RV's in a gravel area since they were easy to move. All were required kill the engine and get pushed into position. NO engine runs in the gravel.

So hot shiite, Legend driver is directed to park between a couple of RV's. The high speed pass wasn't good enough. Instead of shutting down perpendicular to the row of planes, he pull the 90 turn and proceeds to blow gravel over 3 rows of planes. Wait, I'm not done, there's more!!! The Trifecta!!! The first two things weren't cool enough, he now throws the prop into Beta and backs the plane into the space!!!!

Now there is a huge crowd around. He thinks they want to see his plane. Nope, the group surrounded the guy. Not sure exactly what was said. I do recall the our own mild mannered Rosie was in a very animated conversation with the guy. Good one Rosie!!!

If I recall, the guy didn't stay long.

 

[DCat22]

And...sometimes....don't forget:

#4. The mistake.

We all make them, and hopefully we're headed for your hanger asking for the broom to sweep up our mistake before you even ask us. (Haven't had to do that yet, hope to always avoid it.)

 

[Mel]

3) The Attention getter- Falls into both 1 and 2!!! Several years ago at the Copperstate event in Casa Grande, AZ a guy comes whizzing by in a Turbine Legend, followed by the obligatory high G pull up to enter the pattern.

At that time, the organizers parked all of the RV's in a gravel area since they were easy to move. All were required kill the engine and get pushed into position. NO engine runs in the gravel.

So hot shiite, Legend driver is directed to park between a couple of RV's. The high speed pass wasn't good enough. Instead of shutting down perpendicular to the row of planes, he pull the 90 turn and proceeds to blow gravel over 3 rows of planes. Wait, I'm not done, there's more!!! The Trifecta!!! The first two things weren't cool enough, he now throws the prop into Beta and backs the plane into the space!!!!

Now there is a huge crowd around. He thinks they want to see his plane. Nope, the group surrounded the guy. Not sure exactly what was said. I do recall the our own mild mannered Rosie was in a very animated conversation with the guy. Good one Rosie!!!

Maybe this has something to do with the Copperstate Fly-In. The last time I went, a Cessna 195 pulls in to his parking space and proceeds to run up the engine almost blowing away several rows of aircraft and their belongings parked behind him. I ran over and told him to shut it down because of what he was causing. He then began to "explain" to me that this procedure was necessary for "his" airplane. I told him, "either shut it down or I will!" He shut down and never apologized to anyone.

If you have a shut down procedure that requires running up the engine to high power, then do it somewhere else.

 

[dmaib]

I am late jumping in to this, but OH, Man!! This is one of my biggest pet peeves!! During my flying career, I witnessed plenty of this kind of bonehead behavior. I've seen windows blown out of FBO's, hangars filled with dust/debris, airplanes damaged, etc. There is simply no excuse 99.99% of the time. Usually it is nothing more than an amazing lack of situational awareness.
On the positive side, I was at Boeing Field in Seattle a few years ago in my old Bonanza. The ramp was very crowded and Rosie the Riveter and I were preparing the Bonanza for departure. There was a large business jet (a Falcon 2000 IIRC) parked right next to us. The Captain came over to chat because he was a Bonanza owner and wanted to take a look at our Bonanza. His APU was running as they were waiting for passengers to arrive at any time. He was a nice guy and we had a pleasant conversation. His pax showed up and they closed the door and fired up the engines. I realized that he was going to have to turn immediately leaving his parking spot and was going to blast the heck out of my airplane. I scrambled to latch the door and lock the controls as I advised Rosie and my sister to clear the area! Well, this gentleman gave the jet a good shot of power to start his taxi and got the airplane rolling pretty smartly. Then, as he made his turn and I cringed waiting for the blast, he throttled back to idle, deployed the thrust reversers, and coasted around the corner without ruffling even one of the few hairs I had left on my head!! What a class act that pro was!! I wrote a letter to the management of the well known Fractional Ownership company (whose initials are NJ) with an "attaboy" for that crew.
Long winded story, but there are those who are "air aware", and those who are not.