Came to the aeroplane and found this.
Thanks to the visiting aerobatic crowd, someone had stabbed my prop with his ironmongery on his wing tip.
Cost me $2500
View attachment 12018
Came to the aeroplane and found this.
Thanks to the visiting aerobatic crowd, someone had stabbed my prop with his ironmongery on his wing tip.
Cost me $2500
View attachment 12018
I always kinda wondered what would happen if I forgot the plugs. It's like a boat. I am always paranoid about the plug.
Took my 172 to a nearby strip for cheap self-serve fuel. Connected ground cable, got ladder, removed fuel cap to dip tank before filling (just checking the gauges). Fueling system had a credit card glitch, couldn't get it to work. Put ladder back, disconnected ground cable, flew to another airport, asked to be topped off. Line guy says "Did you realize your fuel cap is missing?"
The line guy at the first airport found it for me, about 300 feet down the runway.
It was pretty common in NAS Beevile (my spelling) to find a snake coiled next to the tire, or on one walkaround, on top!
Gotta love Texas!
It was pretty common in NAS Beevile (my spelling) to find a snake coiled next to the tire, or on one walkaround, on top!
Gotta love Texas!
Roach......why did it have to be a roach?
Not on an RV.
Preflight before my first night flight for my Private.
I checked oil and reached in to check for loose stuff.
I grabbed a Mag and was able to shake it quite a bit.
My CFI was very impressed. We switched to another airplane. Since then I never abbreviate a Preflight no matter what. Even if I flew it earlier. It still gets a thorough Preflight.
Years ago my friend and I purchased a Stinson 105.
The airplane looked good and had 8 annuals signed off after a major engine overhaul and new dacron cover. We were getting ready to go for a flight with the seller/broker and conducted an extensive preflight. We noticed the horizontal stabilizer a bit loose and found that the front attach bolts had never been inserted on either side, in fact there was not even a hole in the fabric....
From what we could tell, the slant in the vertical stab spar kept the horizontal from departing. The seller got a couple of bolts, drilled holes and properly attached the horizontal.
We were a couple of young overzealous airplane buyers who bought a one way ticket to Oklahoma and we were pretty much set on buying that plane. On the way home to California we discovered a host of other issues, the worst of which was stuck valves on that Franklin engine. The engine would shudder every so often and scare the heck out of us, especially crossing the Sierras. Many thousands of dollars later and a new engine overhaul finally made that Stinson reliable and a joy to fly.
After turning on my fuel pump I noticed strong fuel smell … after closer look into the engine compartment and I found this …
https://youtu.be/kDW1AOBs3VE
I had a Cessna 150, and just after liftoff I heard the worst banging noise. Thought the engine was going to fall off of the aircraft. Pulled power, slipped down, landed uneventful. Found the seatbelt hanging out the door. It was banging on the side of the fuselage.
Seat belt check makes me think of that day every time.
Not exactly preflight, but before flight. I was renting C-182’s at a flight school. Completed my preflight and thought everything was good. My passenger came to the plane. I reached across the cockpit from the left side and opened the right door. The door promptly fell to the ground. Apparently maintenance had removed the door hinge pins due to wear, ordered the pins and put the door back in the hole with the latch holding it in place. Neglected to make any writeup about the work or otherwise ground the airplane. Had I not had a passenger leading me to discover the missing pins the door would have certainly left the aircraft at some inopportune point.
During my private pilot training I found a crack nearly an inch long in the trailing edge of one of the ailerons on the Warrior III I was about to fly. I went back in and told the dispatcher. He said something link, "oh, there are always little dings and scrapes, it's probably nothing, go fly it." I said I'd feel more comfortable if an instructor would look at it. The chief pilot came out and took one look and grounded the airplane. Who knows how many others had flown it with this crack growing and growing.