What was your most embarassing moment in Aviation?

AdamZ

AdamZ

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Adam Zucker
Ok a couple of weeks ago I asked what was your most rewarding flying experience. So today I'm asking you to tell us about your most embarassing moment in avation. I had a friend try to taxi while the tail was still tied down.
 
Definitely hauling-azz out to jump into the plane so we could take off and get on down from Montgomery, AL to Tallahassee, FL during a limited but adequate gap in the trains of thunderstorms.

Wheel chock on nosewheel- had to tell the ground controller we'd taxi in a couple of minutes.

D'oh!
 
Hmm, forgetting to pull the chocks on my private pilot checkride ranks up there with my most embarrassing. The examiner tried to jump them but they were too big, I had to shut down, pull them out and start up again. The rest of the ride went pretty smooth, but I was definitely sweating after that kind of a start!
 
On my first solo XC. I was 15 miles out of KBMI and it was a CAVU day. I listened to ATIS and then called the tower asking if it was really was OVC @ 1000. They replied that it was OVC at One ZERO thousand. Shoot I could see the airport form where I was at and should have known to listen better.
 
My most embarrassing moment was probably during my first solo XC. I became disoriented so thankfully I was just within range of my destination airport. I called tower and asked for a general heading. They proceeded to address the other arriving traffic: " (aicraft) would you please slow down, I've got a lost cessna I'm going to put in front of you." DOH!!

I was never lost, just temporarily positionally unsure. :D
 
Oh, there are so many to choose from....

I was leaving Louisville Bowman field one afternoon in a 310. As I taxied out to the runway the tower called and asked me if I had anything in the baggage compartment I wanted to keep. When I told them I did they suggested I shut down, get out, and close the baggage door. They thought it was pretty funny.

Then there was the time I took off early one morning (about 4:00 am) from my home airport. During the climb it occurred to me that I hadn't sumped the tanks. Then it occurred to me that I hadn't done any preflight at all, just climbed in and took off.

Then one time.....
 
I went over to another airport < 50 miles from home base while I was still a student. Flew a perfect pattern for runway 8, unfortunately I was calling 26 the entire time. There was no one else in the pattern (thankfully), but there was a plane taxiing for takeoff that noticed my touch & go, and, being a bit concerned, asked if there was another plane landing on 26. I was just going to shut up and get out of dodge, but someone else on the ground ratted me out. So, I admitted to my mistake, and vacated the area as quickly as possible.
 
Well, there was the time I was in an unfamiliar plane. Coming in to land I'm religiously making radio calls. I realize midway through that something was amiss and started having my copilot make the calls, but... Only later do I realize that I'd been hitting the AP disconnect instead of the PTT! Doh!
 
On my first solo cross country to Vandalia, IL (KVLA) in a Tampio (TB9). Had to refuel my airplane at my destination, but realized that I had no idea how to do that, especially since it was self-serv. At Vandalia there is a lot of sky diving activity and there was a company there getting ready to do a jump. I went into the building to ask for help, walked up to the desk and asked the lady at the counter. She couldn't help me herself so she put her mouth up to the mic and blirted "Can anyone help this kid refuel his airplane, he doesn't know how." I just stood there thinking "yep...of course"

Soon after, a pilot willing to help, helped me. So that was nice.
 
krenmaster said:
On my first solo cross country to Vandalia, IL (KVLA) in a Tampio (TB9). Had to refuel my airplane at my destination, but realized that I had no idea how to do that, especially since it was self-serv. At Vandalia there is a lot of sky diving activity and there was a company there getting ready to do a jump. I went into the building to ask for help, walked up to the desk and asked the lady at the counter. She couldn't help me herself so she put her mouth up to the mic and blirted "Can anyone help this kid refuel his airplane, he doesn't know how." I just stood there thinking "yep...of course"

Soon after, a pilot willing to help, helped me. So that was nice.
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Hehe, reminds me of my solo XC! (mentioned above)

The first time I tried self serve, I was so thankful there were directions on the tank! I would have had to do the same.
 
Well, I was registering this domain...some .com site - started with a P...

Seriously, during my checkride, INSIDE the ADIZ no less - I forgot to turn the transponder on.
 
On the second x-c for my PP-RH add-on, one of the legs was Lancaster, PA. I called the tower about 15 miles out, told them I was 15 to the northwest. He told me to expect some pattern that didn't make sense, but I figured we could straighten that out when I got closer.

As I got closer, tower came back on and asked me to ident. He said he showed me 5 miles to the southeast. Yep, you guessed it. In spite of about 400 hrs of fixed wing time, I had given him my heading, not the direction I was approaching from. I mumbled my apologies.

I guess he didn't hold a grudge though. He asked me my destination on the field. I told him the Airways ramp. He asked if I wanted the runway (31) or direct to the ramp. I told him the ramp, and he let me come in parallel to 31 directly to the ramp!
 
This question is disturbing, because I am reminded I've had more "d'oh!" moments than I'd like... but fortunately it's been a while since I screwed up when anyone was watching or listening. :D

But my #1 is still the time when as a PP student on a solo flight, I got so focused on rolling out in time to exit at the desired taxiway at KTEB that I started to make said turn with another plane, in plain view, approaching the hold-short on that taxiway.

There was never any danger of anything more than a traffic jam, but boy was that controller unhappy about it (and rightly so)!
Not only did my little scheme go to pieces, the humiliating long taxi from a dead stop to the next intersection was 100 times worse than had I just let the first taxiway go and rolled out for the next one. :redface:

I still cringe when I think about that, but fortunately I think about it every time I start to descend on final, especially at a busy airport.
 
Wheel chocks. I never use them on my own, and the FBO at Flint put them under the front wheel. Loaded up the lifeline pax, started the engine, got my clearance to taxi, plane won't move. Ah crap.
 
bkreager said:
Hmm, forgetting to pull the chocks on my private pilot checkride ranks up there with my most embarrassing. The examiner tried to jump them but they were too big, I had to shut down, pull them out and start up again. The rest of the ride went pretty smooth, but I was definitely sweating after that kind of a start!
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Heh - similar to my story. We got all buckled up, I pulled out my checklist, and I realized I hadn't pulled the chocks. We were in a Warrior so the examiner had to climb out and take care of it for me.
 
Other then radio flibs.. nothing embarassing. And they aren't too bad... like at Lancaster last weekend... "Lancaster Tower, Archer... no wait I'm a cessna today NXXXX ready to go at 32"

I've has some scary but not embarassing and all of those were without witnesses and I take the 5th.
 
SCCutler said:
Wheel chock on nosewheel- had to tell the ground controller we'd taxi in a couple of minutes.
D'oh!
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Aaarg, did that with an Angel Flight passenger with his wife looking on from the FBO. I am sure she thought OMG I am sending my hubby off with this moron!!
 
For me it probably has to be almost taking off in the wron direction at Oshkosh (not during the convention). It was early in my PP training, and we were going to do an intersection departure from the intersection fo 13/31 and 9/27. We were gonna take 27 and head west, but I promptly turned right. Just then the tower chimes in. "Cherokee 94J cleared for take-off 27, but you may want to turn around first".

Took a while for my instructor stop giving me crap about it :)

Pete
 
One of my first flights with the family, including my very nervous wife. It was chilly, so I left the cowl plugs in while I finished preflighting to keep the residual heat in. Finished preflight. Loaded family. Taxied merrily along until a Citation pilot waved me down on the ramp.

"Your cowl plugs are still in." Strangely, the guy had an Aussie accent, and this was suburban Phila.

Doh! Stop engine, climb out, pull plugs, get back in, start engine, explain to nervous wife that 1) everything is fine, 2) no, nothing else is wrong, 3) I'm sure, 4) Yes, I'm sure, 5) Don't worry, I've got it now, 6) Yes, I'm positive.

Now I have a set with the little flags that stick out above the cowling.
 
How did the plugs not get thrown off when you started the engine?
 
Trying to fly Steve's airplane last year. :redface:
 
honestly, this wasn't me (really!) but Missa's reminded me of radio traffic I heard...

"approach, this is piper 1234 Juliet. No, sorry, I'm 4567 Romeo. And it's a Mooney, not a piper..."
 
The only one I'll admit to was in the form of a radio call during one of my solo xcountrys. After the runup, I pulled up to the hold short line and called tower..."Craig tower, Cessna xxxxx number one for blast off."

I guess the controller thought it was funny because he cleared me to "launch on 23".
 
AdamZ said:
Ok a couple of weeks ago I asked what was your most rewarding flying experience. So today I'm asking you to tell us about your most embarassing moment in avation. I had a friend try to taxi while the tail was still tied down.
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Well, I can think of two:

1) I can't remember why, but I had to fly to C29 (Morey) and my mom met me there to give me something. It was the first time she'd seen me fly. Of course, I left one wing tied down, and broke the tiedown rope as I taxied away. I had to shut down and untie what was left of it. Mom was freakin' out. I talked to Rich Morey afterwards and said I owed him a new tiedown rope. He was very cool about it, he said if I'd managed to break it he needed to buy a new one anyway. :)

2) Forgetting about our brand-new cowl plugs and almost starting up at Gaston's with them still in. I only got one blade around, and I saw it throw the "REMOVE BEFORE FLIGHT" flag up. Luckily, Troy was waving like crazy too just in case I didn't see it. :redface:
 
etsisk said:
honestly, this wasn't me (really!) but Missa's reminded me of radio traffic I heard...

"approach, this is piper 1234 Juliet. No, sorry, I'm 4567 Romeo. And it's a Mooney, not a piper..."
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4 planes in the club, three of which I fly from time to time. I make a point of looking at the label on the panel giving the tail number before I call ground. And I still get it wrong now and then. Really bad when you're sitting in the Arrow and start out "Cess.. Ah, Arrow N9351N", or in a 172 or the 182 and say, "Arro... Ah, Cessna xxxx". :D
 
I was a fresh tailwheel pilot, in a hurry to land to get the kids from school. I flew final at 100 knots in the club's Citabria and tried to wheel land it at 90. Bounced three times, added a shot of power to stabilize and tried again. Bounced three times, added a shot of power to stabilize it and tried again. Bounced three times, added a shot of power to stabilize and tried again. Finally, the 10th time my mains hit the pavement, I stuck the gear. 7000 foot runway, and I used almost every inch of it.
 
Oh man, after Kent brought up Gastons... I remember my most embarssing moment in Aviation.:redface:

I remember a walk of shame to the FBO at the end of my first Wings Fly-b-q... somthing about a masterswitch... :redface:
 
Most embarassing for me has to be shortly after my PPL after I moved up to the C172. I was flying solo and did a through preflight. Started the engine and tried to taxi out but the plane wouldn't budge. Looked to my left and see that I forgot the chocks. Fine, so I killed the engine, pulled the chocks and started again but this time it only gave a little and still didn't move. Killed the engine again and got out. Forgot the tail tie-down. Finally I was able to taxi!

Luckily the staff must have been too busy see me as this plane was parked infront of the window. No one even mentioned it, so I must have been real lucky.
 
Once in a Skylane both my CFI and I forgot the chocks on start up, so we added power & drove over them.
 
mine was not actually in an airplane, but it was an airport car. And it was strikingly similar to what happens when you leave the master on. Owwwwwwch. Still bites. A lot.
 
One of my first few students was an extremely attractive 18yr old female. The first day of flying she was having problems being smooth in taxiing. Me, "Dont over think and control, just keep it between your legs (centerline)." I knew it was over then. She looked at me (I red faced) and just started crying laughing. She never let me live that one down and joked about it the entire time. I apologized and she went on to be a great student and pilot. She's now flying a Learjet 45.
 
EdFred said:
How did the plugs not get thrown off when you started the engine?
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The rope on the plugs hangs behind the spinner. Nothing to get caught up with the prop.
 
Ghery said:
4 planes in the club, three of which I fly from time to time. I make a point of looking at the label on the panel giving the tail number before I call ground. And I still get it wrong now and then. Really bad when you're sitting in the Arrow and start out "Cess.. Ah, Arrow N9351N", or in a 172 or the 182 and say, "Arro... Ah, Cessna xxxx". :D
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If you hear this on the radio, it is usually one of us flight instructors, we don't ever know what the hell we are flying.
 
flyersfan31 said:
The rope on the plugs hangs behind the spinner. Nothing to get caught up with the prop.
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I've always thought that you were supposed to make sure that it ran around one of the props so that it would get flung out if you forgot to remove them. Of course, if the cord is too short, that's hard to do!
 
It wasn't super embarrassing, but at Flying Cloud, MN, I was told to taxi to 28L. I taxied right past the entrance to 28L and had to have Ground give me directions to taxi back around to 28L.
 
I can think of at least five occasions in which I've forgotten the chocks. Fortunately three of them were in a Skyhawk, so we could power over them. Unfortunately, two of them were in the 1900. At mx bases we don't have marshalers to pull the chocks for us, so I'm supposed to during the preflight. Most of the time between the captain and
I we can get them out before starting up, but twice now we've gotten the second engine running, gotten our taxi clearance, and only then realized why we can use takeoff power and not move anywhere. Had to cancel our taxi and tell him we'd call back later.

At least once a month, it seems, I forget our callsign. "Good evening approach, Colgan 497...uhh...483...oh ya, 9404, or whatever we are...level at 11,000."

Don't forget when I first started in the 1900...I was flaring it like a Seminole (so not much flare at all), which works if you keep a lot of power in, but at flight idle you have to flare! It was my first full week off IOE; we had 17 people in the plane when I landed (flat, as usual) in Lebanon, NH. One of the last guys off the plane was a real nice older guy, wearing a ball cap with the logo of the 8th Airforce on it. I had talked with him a bit in the La Guardia terminal before we took off, and he stopped at the base of the stairs on his way out. "That was a very nice flight, son" he told me as he shook my hand. "I have just one question for you...what carrier did you fly from?" Ouch.
 
Teller1900 said:
"That was a very nice flight, son" he told me as he shook my hand. "I have just one question for you...what carrier did you fly from?" Ouch.
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Yeah, it's quite a shock to the airframe when you bolter! :)

Having spent the last couple years in training, I'm not sure what may be the most embarrassing. I do recall a moment early in flying the 182RG trying to get down a good profile and do proper flows and checklists. Probably my first approach with an excellent profile ended up being a go-around at fifty feet. It was my taste of how complacent you can be when that "intermittent" stall warning horn is going off. :eek:
 
KennyFlys said:
Yeah, it's quite a shock to the airframe when you bolter! :)

Having spent the last couple years in training, I'm not sure what may be the most embarrassing. I do recall a moment early in flying the 182RG trying to get down a good profile and do proper flows and checklists. Probably my first approach with an excellent profile ended up being a go-around at fifty feet. It was my taste of how complacent you can be when that "intermittent" stall warning horn is going off. :eek:
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Ahhh, Ken. That's why what you refer to the dark side, isn't!

Too high, too fast, too low, too slow, no biggie, ya can still land that sucker :D
 
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