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I had a real scare today-total pilot error

tom paul

tom paul

Well Known Member
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This is embarrassing and I probably should keep this to myself, but I am not going to.
The other day, after my plane had been sitting for 6 weeks, I noticed that the throttle control was sticking. I have a throttle quadrant with a prop control and mixture. When advancing the throttle, the cable housing was deflecting down a lot first before the inner cable was moving inside it. I addressed this in two ways: I used a plastic cable tie to affix the throttle cable to the stable prop control cable that is next to it, up close to the quadrant. I also sprayed some LPS-1 greaseless lubricant on and into the inner cables for all three controls, as they felt sticky and made little squeaking noises. I also noticed a squeak coming from the hinge of the levers, so I sprayed a little lube there.

It worked great. I flew an hour across NY state, and had a wonderful flight.
The next day (today) i went for another 30 minute flight to complete my trip home. As soon as I took off, I noticed that the throttle and prop levers were not staying in position at all. The lube had done more work sitting overnight, and the levers would not hold their position. The mixture would stay put by itself, thankfully. I leaned for cruise, set the throttle and prop to around 24 square, and committed to holding both levers for the duration of the short flight. If I let go, the prop would immediately advance to full fine pitch, and the throttle would drop to around 15 inches or less.

I was flying along fine, having found a sustainable hand position on the quadrant, occasionally reaching over to the radio with my left hand while I steadied the stick with my knees.

Then I noticed a slight vibration. It was very subtle, but also undeniable. Everything looked good on the instruments. I could see my ADSB receiver shaking in a way it never had. It was a bit of a turbulent day, so I convinced myself it was just rough air. Then it got worse, and the RPM started to drop. I scanned the instruments, and cycled the mags (one of them is a Lightspeed) with no effect. I was trying to deny that this was happening, but the vibration got really bad and the RPM dropped through 2000. I became worried about a structural failure if the vibration got much worse. I cycled the prop control and full fine seemed to smooth it out a bit, though I was aware that I would want it as coarse as possible to get the best glide if things got really bad. I was over tree covered hills at 3500'. I hit "direct to nearest airport" on my Garmin GPS and it was 6.5 miles away. At 3500, that was dicey as a glide because i had never been there and didn't know exactly how high the hills around the airport were. I wasn't developing any real power by then as my RPM had dropped to 1500 and the shaking was getting really bad. I set up for best glide, and decided my best target was the thruway right below me. It was moderately busy, but I didn't see an option, looking around. My mind was racing as I accepted the reality that this was happening to me.

I thought I had done the Aviate and the Navigate, so it was now time to communicate. I dialed in the Stewart International Airport tower and was about to tell them what was happening. I set radio freq with my right hand, as I no longer needed to hold the engine and prop controls. When I returned my hand to the quadrant and did a muscle-memory push up on all three levers. The engine immediately sprang to life and developed full power.

It was the mixture. For 20 minutes the mixture had stayed put, but then it had slowly crept down and I didn't see it because my hand was in the way, holding the throttle and the prop. This explains the rough engine that quickly deteriorated to what felt like fuel starvation, because it was that.

Holy ****. I climbed back to my on-course altitude and heading and sat stunned at what I had just been through. I had to accept the fact that I was about to emergency-land a perfectly good airplane because of ridiculously bad piloting. The thing i didn't know about my new plane (been flying it solo since July) was that the throttle quadrant had a tension adjust lever on the right side! I never saw that and no one told me about it. The levers held their position just fine until i lubricated them, so I never questioned it. I found it after I landed at my home base. A 20 degree twist of the tension adjustment and the levers would hold their positions again.

There are many constructive takeaways for me from this, and it has made me a better pilot, I hope.

I think this speaks to the potential perils of purchasing a one-of-a kind homebuilt, especially as the third owner. Though there are close to 2,000 RV7s flying, none are exactly the same. I bought it from the second owner, who bought it nine years ago from the builder. I test flew it with a friend of the seller, and didn't get more than an hour sitting in the hangar with the seller, so there are perhaps a lot of idiosyncrasies that are mine to discover.

This makes me want to hangar-fly more and crawl around inside my plane to learn more about everything in there.

Sorry for the long post. I hope it wasn't too boring.
 
Tom, great write up! You bravely admitted your error, and now we can all learn something from your ordeal.

Glad to hear it turned out well, and thanks for sharing. Be safe!
 
Good story - thanks for sharing! Anyone who has flown for any significant number of years and/or hours has done something or other that scared them - sharing these stories is what helps us ALL do better in the future!

Your lessons learned are excellent thoughts for very one that has bought their homebuilt - and many that’s built theirs, as there is always more to learn.

Paul
 
Shoot, brother. I got scared in the plane I have had forever just yesterday. Scared is good, makes you look for what's wrong! Guess what? I found it, after only a few seconds! Lived to tell the tale, and embellish it to make me look good in the eyes of the fairer sex!

I kid. But I was scared, if only for a short bit.

Definitely crawl around your plane. Look at every little detail. Get "upside down the wrong way in an airplane" as I say, under the panel, etc. Find someone to talk to anytime you say, "Hmmmm . . ." not just when you say "HOLY EFF!" Just like chair flying, chair systems thinking is a good tool.
 
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engine loosing power: mixture rich, switch tanks, fuel pump ON, carb heat ON, throttle up, check mags. it's difficult to recognize when engine trouble comes on slowly but the actions should be the same. it's good to practice this in the hangar, blindfolded.
 
Thanks guys!

I appreciate the feedback, guys! It helps to share this. It was pretty upsetting.
Of course, as Steve Melton points out, I was lacking on the basic procedure.
I'll practice this.



Steve Melton said:
engine loosing power: mixture rich, switch tanks, fuel pump ON, carb heat ON, throttle up, check mags. it's difficult to recognize when engine trouble comes on slowly but the actions should be the same. it's good to practice this in the hangar, blindfolded.
Click to expand...
 
I still practice this procedure in the hangar.

some would also say the the first thing to do is turn towards the nearest airport at best glide speed. I argue that I can execute this procedure in a couple seconds, then I will begin looking for and turn to the nearest airport.
 
Memory items

Any Canadian military pilot of my generation will clearly remember: “Boost (fuel) check, change (fuel tanks) check, rich, hot, both (mags)” as the initial memory items for an engine failure on the mighty Musketeer. I didn’t fly piston aircraft for 33 years after basic flight training and I could still recite those items.

Good on Steve for reminding us that the basics are important and should be practiced regularly.

Thank you Tom for sharing your experience. Wise pilots must learn from the mistakes of others….

Keep your stick on the ice!
 
No Plaque

Tom, certainly no plaque for being the first guy to do something dumb in an airplane. As they say, there are those that have….

That was a great post and by you sharing it, we all learn. Thank you.

You make a great point with all the “one-off’s” in the experimental world. I didn’t build my plane either and I am surprised on a regular basis. Just completed an owner assist CI and that helped a lot. Have a feeling there is more to discover though. Thanks again for the write-up, glad you made it home!
 
Good write-up Tom!

Throughout my career I've flown knowing at some point I will need to mitigate or fix my mistakes. Happens to the best of us.
 
Great writeup. Something that could easily happen to any of us, especially in a new airplane. Thanks for sharing!

If I may, McFarlane Cables recommends replacing the cables when they need to be lubricated. They claim that the cables are internally lubricated for the life of the cable, and if they cables begin to stick, then there are fraying wires, or other issues with the cables causing the issue. Instead of a zip-tie, maybe look into replacing the engine control cables if they're nearing the end of their life.
 
I was giving a bi-annual in an ARROW once on a short grass field where the long time owner had leaned a little too much for the density altitude, scary indeed.

I agree with Steve and others above about the memory checklist and practicing blindfolded. I actually placed my throttle position by closing my eyes and pointing at the panel multiple times holding an imaginary throttle. Why not use the same checklist on every flight?

My Startup memory/flow checklist follows an L pattern, Starting with the fuel selector and goes vertically up to the panel and then horizontally. Works with practically every single piston I’ve flown and it’s not just memory, it’s looking and touching as you go.

Cessnas start at the fuel console, move vertically over trim and cowl flaps/flaps to the mixture, throttle, carb heat, lights, mags, primer Etc. Bonanza’s start on the left at the fuel selector and move vertical to the mags and across the switches and trim to the throttle and mixture. RV’s dependent on the build.

I run the paper/digital checklist and then just prior to crossing the hold short line taking the runway I run the same checklist flow again.

Because of the RV canopy accidents prior to rolling on the runway I start with “canopy closed.” It’s relatively irrelevant in a Cessna but a Piper of Bonanza you’ll be landing soon with an open door. Takeoff memory flow, verbal memory with visual and touch verification, takes about 3 seconds.

-Canopy closed
-fuel selector desired tank
-mixture to takeoff
-fuel pump on
-lights as required
-ignitions on
-master/Ebus/alt/stby alt on
-have FUN

When I stuck an exhaust valve for a couple minutes several years ago, it was preprogrammed with my hand to the fuel selector, mixture, throttle, fuel pump, who cares about lights/trim/flaps, ignitions and master/ebus on.

I essentially practice my emergency checklist on every start and prior to entering the runway. Probably should adapt my landing checklist to it as well but Primacy training has ruled as I was drilled the “BCGUMPS” from my first flight….

Why not incorporate the emergency checklist into your normal flying and habits so you can practice it every time you fly?
 
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tom paul said:
This is embarrassing and I probably should keep this to myself, but I am not going to....
Click to expand...
Don't feel bad.

I've taken off with the pitot cover firmly in place before. Recognised it too late in an very-performance-limiting runway and decided to take it airborne and sort it out at the longer, sealed strip a few minutes away.

If you can't recognise or admit your screwups, you shouldn't be flying.
 
Best post of the week so far (IMHO). Not because of the good writing and entertaining drama. No. Reading this just might save my life some day. Our experience and risk management grows as we share these types of stories given by fellow pilots humble and wise enough to share them. Honesty and openness are traits that endear and make me comfortable flying with a pilot.
 
Normal vs. not normal scenario

Great post! It certainly goes to show that when we are compensating for a "not normal" situation to continue flight using alternative methods, and another effect of the not normal situation comes into play, even our best training routines may get jumbled or forgotten. As you found out, all the normal emergency procedures were the solution, but the mind is often still connected to the compensation process that was in play during the flight. Fortunately, you had a cool head, some altitude and got it worked out before abandoning powered flight and shutting down for the emergency landing. Good job! ..Now time to do some cable and quadrant adjustments I bet!
 
We are all human and humans are experts at making mistakes/errors especially under duress. The takeaway here is to apply the std troubleshoot procedure regardless of airframe type. Engines only require 3 things to keep operating assuming there’s been no mechanical damage and fuel being the biggest ticket item.
 
Great post. Excellent safety culture. Nice work keeping a cool head. We all make mistakes and learn best from them…better to do so by hearing stories from others.

My recommendation is to review the “Critical Items” in engine failure reference FAA Airplane Flying Handbook p. 8-27. FFFMMC - helps me remember.
- (F) Position of Fuel Selector
- (F) Quantity of Fuel
- (F) Fuel Pressure (fuel pump?)
- (M) Position of mixture
- (M) Position of magneto
- (C) Carb Heat

Works with most engine troubles and in most GA planes. You could also take sometime to chair fly through various emergencies by yourself or with a CFI or buddy.

Thanks again for a great write up!
 
Tons of good support here, as well as valid recommendations.

I think someone may have already said this, but just to jump on; I believe those cables are likely internally lubricated. If they are grinding, they may be at the end of their service life. On the other hand, you said you lubed the quadrant levers as well, which may have been what was grinding to start with.

Sounds like you knew what to do, eventually figured it out, and had a happy ending, which is how this is supposed to work.

This is a real world example of a cautionary tail about how we can all get tunnel vision when faced with "This can't really be happening" Thanks for sharing, it makes us all better.
 
Good one for the grandkids

Ok time to confess.
A year or so ago I was taking one of my 9 year old twin grandsons for his first ride in my RV6A. He is all in for aviation, reads everything. Talks like a pilot.
We taxied to the pumps and gassed the plane up. As we are getting ready to taxi out for the take off, He says don't forget to latch the canopy Grandpa.
Yup you guessed the rest. I took off canopy unlatched and he goes HEY grandpa you forgot to latch the canopy. Yup
I will never hear the end of that story till I die.
Yes, we took off and got some altitude to get slow enough to latch the canopy. A noisy, windy, non event, Great laughs though. Grandpa isn't perfect.
Dumb, But, alive and lesson learned. Don't get distracted by a kid.
Great kid Art
 
fixnflyguy said:
.. .when we are compensating for a "not normal" situation to continue flight using alternative methods, and another effect of the not normal situation comes into play, even our best training routines may get jumbled or forgotten. As you found out, all the normal emergency procedures were the solution, but the mind is often still connected to the compensation process that was in play during the flight.
Click to expand...


Man, this is so true. I should have returned to the airport to land as soon as I discovered the issue. Now, that seems like the obvious thought, and not doing so at the time was clearly my first mistake, which is what led directly to the others. It seemed like a small problem that I could easily handle, so it didn't even occur to me to consider aborting the flight. But that unusual situation, as easy as it was to correct, so I thought, became my focus. A normal flying experience, with the constant scan and awareness of everything from traffic to oil-pressure got far less attention.

For me, the danger of active compensation for something unusual is the most important, and most universally applicable take away from this. From now on, I will err on the very conservative side of tolerance of things that might distract me or knock me off my game, even if they seem very simple and easily dealt with.

One of my favorite lines from this thread:
"all the normal emergency procedures were the solution"
Can you imagine how stupid I would feel if I survived, but wrecked my plane, only because I didn't think to check the mixture, the MOST IMPORTANT engine control. sheeeeshh. checklists. acronyms. practice.
I have to say, being very new to this community, I am blown away by you guys.
The comments and discussion in response to my post are brilliant, and they have truly helped me process and learn from this somewhat traumatic event. I feel very much in community. This is awesome, and I look forward to continuing to learn from you all.
 
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Thank you for posting Tom! It's truly admirable that you'd publicly share your experience and risk the criticisms in exchange for helping others! I wish more people would do so. It's how we all learn! Good job!
 
Adventures in Used RVs

tom paul said:
I think this speaks to the potential perils of purchasing a one-of-a kind homebuilt, especially as the third owner. Though there are close to 2,000 RV7s flying, none are exactly the same. I bought it from the second owner, who bought it nine years ago from the builder. I test flew it with a friend of the seller, and didn't get more than an hour sitting in the hangar with the seller, so there are perhaps a lot of idiosyncrasies that are mine to discover.
Click to expand...

Third owner of an RV-9A here. I think this is a super important point.

I posted once about my own adventure due to my incomplete knowledge of my RV's electrical system (and a wrong fuse possibly installed by the second owner....). Not quite as exciting as your story but it was all I wanted that night, I assure you. :)

Idiosyncratic problems find their way into certified aircraft also, of course, especially old ones. My 1979 Warrior's alternator, for example, had apparently been wired by a distracted middle-schooler using materials found around the house. That caused a small adventure. But used homebuilts are just in a whole different league. And there are a lot of people flying them! I think Vic Syracuse is really onto something important when he focuses on this issue with his book, videos, etc.

One solution is the generosity and patience of builders on this forum, which have saved me huge amounts of time, money, and frustration. As just one example, advice here helped me diagnose and solve an *extremely* idiosyncratic problem with my RPM reading.

Another key part of the solution is the willingness of people like you to relate their experiences, embarassing and otherwise! Your post is really in the best tradition of aviation safety culture.

Maybe we should have a new subforum: "Embarassing Stories and Sheepish Questions from Non-Builders" :D
 
The singer John Denver didn’t know his fuel system well on the longez he bought and it cost him his life. Sometimes the most seemingly insignificant thing can bite you. Knowing your airplane inside out and backwards is imperative, especially for a homebuilt as they are like snowflakes. There is no guarantee that an airplane that looks very nicely built doesn’t have a gotcha in it somewhere.
 
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Great post, Tom! Thanks for sharing.

I am also originally from NYC. I grew up in Queens. As a kid, I used to watch the airplanes at the Flushing Airport, right next to LaGuardia.

I'm glad this all worked out and that you had a safe conclusion. We've all done similar things at times (I once forgot to replace the oil filler cap on a 172 before taking off... not good).

The good thing is that those of us who have never gone through your particular experience can learn from it. Thanks again for putting it out there.
 
John Denver

I disagree with the statement that John did not know his fuel system. This was a chain of events:
Declined to fuel the airplane
Was at a low altitude over water
Fuel selector was in a non standard location. Vice grips allegedly attached to John's fuel selector to assist in reaching fuel selector.
In attempting to reach fuel selector he inadvertently applied significant or even full rudder which caused the aircraft to roll and spiral into the water.
The builder of the airplane had a much longer reach than John so the fuel selector location had never been an issue for the builder.
 
Friction Lock

A former co worker died in the crash of a King Air. Quadrant friction lock not properly set, one engine went to idle, airplane rolled inverted and crashed.
 
Ironflight said:
Good story - thanks for sharing! Anyone who has flown for any significant number of years and/or hours has done something or other that scared them - sharing these stories is what helps us ALL do better in the future!

Your lessons learned are excellent thoughts for very one that has bought their homebuilt - and many that’s built theirs, as there is always more to learn.

Paul
Click to expand...

Paul, Remember the fuel valve on the RV3??.....:o
 
tom paul said:
It was the mixture. For 20 minutes the mixture had stayed put, but then it had slowly crept down and I didn't see it because my hand was in the way, holding the throttle and the prop.
Click to expand...
What kind of controls do you have? Do they have friction locks? Throttle quadrant levers or Push/Pull Teleflex controls. This is a good case for friction locks on Throttle, Mixture at and Prop.

jrs14855 said:
A former co worker died in the crash of a King Air. Quadrant friction lock not properly set, one engine went to idle, airplane rolled inverted and crashed.
Click to expand...
Are you talking King Air 350 crash in Addison TX June 30 2019.
There were more things going on there with the flight crew, especially PIC.
Creeping controls should not kill you. Even still they handled the plane poorly.
 
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jrs14855 said:
John Denver

I disagree with the statement that John did not know his fuel system. This was a chain of events:
Declined to fuel the airplane
Was at a low altitude over water
Fuel selector was in a non standard location. Vice grips allegedly attached to John's fuel selector to assist in reaching fuel selector.
In attempting to reach fuel selector he inadvertently applied significant or even full rudder which caused the aircraft to roll and spiral into the water.
The builder of the airplane had a much longer reach than John so the fuel selector location had never been an issue for the builder.
Click to expand...
I am familiar with the accident. I guess I didn't say exactly what I intended. He wasn't intimately familiar with the location of his fuel SELECTOR because it was behind the pilot seat and he had to fumble for it blind. If he was familiar with the airplane and the fuel selector location he would have been able to switch tanks without putting in a bunch of rudder (assuming that this is what happened - we will never know for sure). And of course getting low on fuel at low altitude boxed him into that corner.
 
Transair 810 is a pretty good read about a cargo 737 going into the water with a good engine. Good job going back to the basics.
 
Thanks for sharing your story, we all screw up, but most keep it to themselves.

Maybe off topic a little but related?
I know in the EAB world lots of folks have a "better idea" on how to build "their" aircraft, building a better mousetrap so to speak, and will deviate from accepted standard practices/systems which makes their aircraft better in some way.

The downside to this is when you no longer own it (which inevitably will happen), the average pilot trained in 'standard aircraft' will have no clue about all your 'non-standard' systems. Even simple things in systems or operational changes will be unfamiliar to the average pilot trained in standard category aircraft.

This was driven home to me once during my airline career, a crew showed up to test fly a 767 we finished and while I doing a walk around with the Capt, discussing the work we had done he remarked " this sure is a big SOB", my nonchalant reply was simply it's the same as every other 767, his reply: I've never actually flown one of these, the qualifications/type rating is the same for the 757/767 and I've never actually flown a 767!
You can imagine my surprise. :oops:

Moral to the story: standardization is good, unique is bad.
KISS (y)
 
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tom paul said:
This is embarrassing and I probably should keep this to myself, but I am not going to.
The other day, after my plane had been sitting for 6 weeks, I noticed that the throttle control was sticking. I have a throttle quadrant with a prop control and mixture. When advancing the throttle, the cable housing was deflecting down a lot first before the inner cable was moving inside it. I addressed this in two ways: I used a plastic cable tie to affix the throttle cable to the stable prop control cable that is next to it, up close to the quadrant. I also sprayed some LPS-1 greaseless lubricant on and into the inner cables for all three controls, as they felt sticky and made little squeaking noises. I also noticed a squeak coming from the hinge of the levers, so I sprayed a little lube there.

It worked great. I flew an hour across NY state, and had a wonderful flight.
The next day (today) i went for another 30 minute flight to complete my trip home. As soon as I took off, I noticed that the throttle and prop levers were not staying in position at all. The lube had done more work sitting overnight, and the levers would not hold their position. The mixture would stay put by itself, thankfully. I leaned for cruise, set the throttle and prop to around 24 square, and committed to holding both levers for the duration of the short flight. If I let go, the prop would immediately advance to full fine pitch, and the throttle would drop to around 15 inches or less.

I was flying along fine, having found a sustainable hand position on the quadrant, occasionally reaching over to the radio with my left hand while I steadied the stick with my knees.

Then I noticed a slight vibration. It was very subtle, but also undeniable. Everything looked good on the instruments. I could see my ADSB receiver shaking in a way it never had. It was a bit of a turbulent day, so I convinced myself it was just rough air. Then it got worse, and the RPM started to drop. I scanned the instruments, and cycled the mags (one of them is a Lightspeed) with no effect. I was trying to deny that this was happening, but the vibration got really bad and the RPM dropped through 2000. I became worried about a structural failure if the vibration got much worse. I cycled the prop control and full fine seemed to smooth it out a bit, though I was aware that I would want it as coarse as possible to get the best glide if things got really bad. I was over tree covered hills at 3500'. I hit "direct to nearest airport" on my Garmin GPS and it was 6.5 miles away. At 3500, that was dicey as a glide because i had never been there and didn't know exactly how high the hills around the airport were. I wasn't developing any real power by then as my RPM had dropped to 1500 and the shaking was getting really bad. I set up for best glide, and decided my best target was the thruway right below me. It was moderately busy, but I didn't see an option, looking around. My mind was racing as I accepted the reality that this was happening to me.

I thought I had done the Aviate and the Navigate, so it was now time to communicate. I dialed in the Stewart International Airport tower and was about to tell them what was happening. I set radio freq with my right hand, as I no longer needed to hold the engine and prop controls. When I returned my hand to the quadrant and did a muscle-memory push up on all three levers. The engine immediately sprang to life and developed full power.

It was the mixture. For 20 minutes the mixture had stayed put, but then it had slowly crept down and I didn't see it because my hand was in the way, holding the throttle and the prop. This explains the rough engine that quickly deteriorated to what felt like fuel starvation, because it was that.

Holy ****. I climbed back to my on-course altitude and heading and sat stunned at what I had just been through. I had to accept the fact that I was about to emergency-land a perfectly good airplane because of ridiculously bad piloting. The thing i didn't know about my new plane (been flying it solo since July) was that the throttle quadrant had a tension adjust lever on the right side! I never saw that and no one told me about it. The levers held their position just fine until i lubricated them, so I never questioned it. I found it after I landed at my home base. A 20 degree twist of the tension adjustment and the levers would hold their positions again.

There are many constructive takeaways for me from this, and it has made me a better pilot, I hope.

I think this speaks to the potential perils of purchasing a one-of-a kind homebuilt, especially as the third owner. Though there are close to 2,000 RV7s flying, none are exactly the same. I bought it from the second owner, who bought it nine years ago from the builder. I test flew it with a friend of the seller, and didn't get more than an hour sitting in the hangar with the seller, so there are perhaps a lot of idiosyncrasies that are mine to discover.

This makes me want to hangar-fly more and crawl around inside my plane to learn more about everything in there.

Sorry for the long post. I hope it wasn't too boring.
Click to expand...
Thanks for sharing.. I read your story like a good book
 
Walt said:
Thanks for sharing your story, we all screw up, but most keep it to themselves.

Maybe off topic a little but related?
I know in the EAB world lots of folks have a "better idea" on how to build "their" aircraft, building a better mousetrap so to speak, and will deviate from accepted standard practices/systems which makes their aircraft better in some way.

The downside to this is when you no longer own it (which inevitably will happen), the average pilot trained in 'standard aircraft' will have no clue about all your 'non-standard' systems. Even simple things in systems or operational changes will be unfamiliar to the average pilot trained in standard category aircraft.

This was driven home to me once during my airline career, a crew showed up to test fly a 767 we finished and while I doing a walk around with the Capt, discussing the work we had done he remarked " this sure is a big SOB", my nonchalant reply was simply it's the same as every other 767, his reply: I've never actually flown one of these, the qualifications/type rating is the same for the 757/767 and I've never actually flown a 767!
You can imagine my surprise. :oops:

Moral to the story: standardization is good, unique is bad.
KISS (y)
Click to expand...
Also off topic, in regards to your post, most A&P's I've worked with are hesitant to work on home builts. Obvious Reason is the non standard issue you mentioned
 
KRviator said:
Don't feel bad.

I've taken off with the pitot cover firmly in place before. Recognised it too late in an very-performance-limiting runway and decided to take it airborne and sort it out at the longer, sealed strip a few minutes away.

If you can't recognise or admit your screwups, you shouldn't be flying.
Click to expand...
:LOL:

I would love to say I've never done that, I really would love to be able to say that...
 
Dugaru said:
Adventures in Used RVs



Third owner of an RV-9A here. I think this is a super important point.

I posted once about my own adventure due to my incomplete knowledge of my RV's electrical system (and a wrong fuse possibly installed by the second owner....). Not quite as exciting as your story but it was all I wanted that night, I assure you. :)

Idiosyncratic problems find their way into certified aircraft also, of course, especially old ones. My 1979 Warrior's alternator, for example, had apparently been wired by a distracted middle-schooler using materials found around the house. That caused a small adventure. But used homebuilts are just in a whole different league. And there are a lot of people flying them! I think Vic Syracuse is really onto something important when he focuses on this issue with his book, videos, etc.

One solution is the generosity and patience of builders on this forum, which have saved me huge amounts of time, money, and frustration. As just one example, advice here helped me diagnose and solve an *extremely* idiosyncratic problem with my RPM reading.

Another key part of the solution is the willingness of people like you to relate their experiences, embarassing and otherwise! Your post is really in the best tradition of aviation safety culture.

Maybe we should have a new subforum: "Embarassing Stories and Sheepish Questions from Non-Builders" :D
Click to expand...
Excellent post
 
Glad you solved your problem. Thanks for sharing your experience! It's thinks like you describe that get all our brains to thinking!

I've been flying the 7A I built for twelve years now. Thankfully never any issues. I have spent many many hours online/reading/listening to others stories... and every time I come across a situation or something I've never considered I write in down and if warranted, add it to my check list. Recently I was thinking about all of this and tried to think of every possible scenario of any kind of engine issues and compiled a list of every action. I began to realize that no matter what my engine problem might be there was none of the usual actions one would take with any engine issue that would make it worse. So I put them all together and in the event of an issue, I will do these six things that will hopefully solve the problem. Of course I would start with the most likely but here is every action I can take in flight.

Fuel pump on
switch tanks
mixture adjust
carb heat on
mag check
alternate air open

I can't think of any scenario where any action might make things worse. In my plane there is nothing more I can do. Basically it's kind of a change to my way of thinking. Rather that try to figure out why something is happening solve the issue first then spend time on the why. In a way they are kind of one in the same. But I will run through my list hoping to stop the issue first. Appreciate any input/thoughts.
 
I have a friend who is a test pilot, flew F-18s, highly experienced and also a brilliant engineer. He was within seconds of deciding to pull the BRS parachute on a Cirrus when the engine lost power. He had turned up his headset volume before calling a tower inbound for landing, and inadvertantly had the headset cord wrapped around the mixture lever and it pulled the mixture lean when he picked up the volume control. We're taught to undo the last thing you just did, but changing headset volume was so far removed from the mechanics of operating the airplane that it didn't occur to him. He ran through the checks and found the mixture lever pulled back.
 
Like all the other posts on this thread I also commend the OP for sharing his “there I was” experience. We all do things that remind us that flying has the potential to make a minor error into a tragic event.

I’ve owned my RV7A ten years and am still learning the aircraft. In the USAF I flew the Kc/EC-135A/E/R models aircraft. I can honestly say through out my flying career I never stopped surprising myself by “what I didn’t know.” My ownership of my RV7A has continued this growing trend.

Sharing these experiences with others reminds us all that there is never worthless knowledge. Learning and sharing that knowledge helps us all become better pilots and RV owners. I’d like to see a dedicated thread for these type of shared posts - something like “There I Was.”
 
Tankerpilot75 said:
I’d like to see a dedicated thread for these type of shared posts - something like “There I Was.”
Click to expand...
Perhaps this existing one?

Close Calls / Lessons Learned​

A place to debrief your flying, judgment and planning mistakes in a way so that others may learn. (a.k.a. 'I Cheated Darwin', 'Oh Sh%t', etc.). Similar to the 'Never Again' and 'I Learned From That' sections in some flying magazines.
 
A5555 said:
engine loosing power: mixture rich, switch tanks, fuel pump ON, carb heat ON, throttle up, check mags. it's difficult to recognize when engine trouble comes on slowly but the actions should be the same. it's good to practice this in the hangar, blindfolded.
Click to expand...

One thing that is almost always missing from "engine losing power" procedures is to start a shallow climb. If your engine is losing thrust but still has more than enough to sustain level flight, a shallow climb (200'-300'/min) can get you an extra thousand or two feet of altitude or more if the engine does eventually quit. This can buy you considerable extra glide distance and decision time.

Skylor
 
Nice write up and self reflection. As someone who truly loves flying way more than building, I have made it a point to crawl essentially take the plane apart to inspect and learn all that I can about that plane (similar to an annual or conditional inspection but a bit more curious). I've done this with several experimentals planes as well as certified planes that I've purchased. No one is perfect including the some of the best and most popular well known names in this very forum. Everyone makes mistakes but we all hope to simply learn from those mistakes. It's amazing what our brain does when we are flying... sometimes I wonder what the hell am I doing when I find myself making a simple mistake such as the one you outlined above. Those "Duh" moments helps us become better pilots.

Thank you for sharing.

Happy Holidays 🎅
 
Pop Quiz:
You are descending from cruise altitude with your RV and realize the r/m and manifold pressure are not responding as you move the throttle. What is the optimum procedure for dealing with this?
 
jrs14855 said:
Pop Quiz:
You are descending from cruise altitude with your RV and realize the r/m and manifold pressure are not responding as you move the throttle. What is the optimum procedure for dealing with this?
Click to expand...
Keep flying until you run out of fuel! :ROFLMAO:
 
jrs14855 said:
Pop Quiz:
You are descending from cruise altitude with your RV and realize the r/m and manifold pressure are not responding as you move the throttle. What is the optimum procedure for dealing with this?
Click to expand...
If you've never explored LOP operations, you're about to!
 
No matter how many flight hours we have, we do make mistakes and deviate from SOPs now and then. It happened that three experienced pilots were focused on very small problems and wrecked an otherwise perfect airplane. We are learning from our own and other mishaps and one important thing is to accept and learn from them. So admitting and sharing shows good airmanship if you ask me.
 
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