Ever Have a WTF Mental Moment ?

ARFlyer

En-Route
Joined
Dec 31, 2011
Messages
3,180
Location
Central AR
Display Name

Display name:
ARFlyer
So I had my monthly WTF moment while flying with my instrument guy today.

While taxiing clear of the runway and talking to my student about his approach, I decided that I'd also attempt radio work. :nonod:

The radio call went something like this: "Bugmasher XXXXX, Back Taxing 123, err I mean 13 to A for Taxi to 238, er 2... disregard I'm going to the runway via a taxiway"

123 was the VOR radial for the missed and 238 was the outbound radial. The correct runways were 13 and 23. :mad2:

My student had a good hardy laugh. :rofl: You have to laugh at yourself sometimes.
 
Nope, never done that... You are the first :)
 
"Ground, N12345 main ramp with Xray........**** where am I going?"

Overheard that recently. I think everyone had to take a quick breather we were laughing so hard. Probably about 10 guys (and the tower) heard
 
Yep, I had one. I was in a meeting where my former management team told the union that a third party, neutral consultant (chosen by management and the lenders) told them that the pilot group was grossly overpaid, but that the managers were underpaid by 25%. Therefore to save the company, we should take a second bankruptcy pay cut and fly MD-11 and B-747 for less than what they pay regional airline pilots. Management's scrafice was to not ask for a raise, until we emerged from bankruptcy. WTF :mad2:
 
Last edited:
Yep, I had one. I was in a meeting where my former management team told the union that a third party, neutral consultant (chosen by management and the lenders) told them that the pilot group was grossly overpaid, but that the managers were underpaid by 25%. Therefore to save the company, we should take a second bankruptcy pay cut and fly MD-11 and B-747 for less than what they pay regional airline pilots. Management's scrafice was to not ask for a raise, until we emerged from bankruptcy. WTF :mad2:
Pay and compensation are such relative things though. If you are making minimum wage, then everyone in the company is being overpaid. If you are a CEO with a $2 million dollar a year pay and bonus package, and the other CEOs in the same field are getting $3 mill, they're overpaid.
Relative. See?
 
Yup....."turning left final".....uh, WTF?!?

And...."turning final rwy 33. Dayum, that's 15, not 33"....WTF?!?!
 
"Cessn...Arch...Cess..no...yeah...Archer123 turning left base..." - On a day I flew at least 3 different airplanes.

"...left downwind for 36..no 1..yeah..18..." - More than once.
 
I call it MOD.

Mature Onset Dyslexia.

Not that it's ever affected me, of course.

"Miami Approach, Tiger 74629, 30 west, 6,500, landing Opa Locka with Uniform."

"Roger, 74629' squawk xxxx."

Pause.

"Ummm, 74629, we do have a target 30 miles EAST, confirm that's you."

That has never happened to me.

Must have been a friend. With MOD! :yes:
 
Last edited:
Yep - I ended up married.




(juuuust kidding, dear!)
 
Approaching from the north, I get "report midfield left downwind for 5". I responded, wouldn't that be right downwind?" "Ah, where are you again?"
It happens to all of us.
 
I confess I've done the "10 miles northwest" - "Confirm position 10 miles northeast" - "Oh yeah" before. With my CFI in the right seat and he was as confused as me! :)

I have also blanked out on final at a class C airport: "Cherokee, say parking" - "We are parking at ... umm .... errr .... standby". :)

Human nature ... it is sometimes fun to listen to.
 
I call it MOD.

Mature Onset Dyslexia.

Not that it's ever affected me, of course.

"Miami Approach, Tiger 74629, 30 west, 6,500, landing Opa Locka with Uniform."

"Rodger, 74629' squawk xxxx."

Pause.

"Ummm, 74629, we do have a target 30 miles EAST, confirm that's you."

That has never happened to me.

Must have been a friend. With MOD! :yes:

Yes, that kind of thing has happened to me. But only for "east and west", NEVER "north and south!"
 
Approaching from the north, I get "report midfield left downwind for 5". I responded, wouldn't that be right downwind?" "Ah, where are you again?"
It happens to all of us.

Heh, I too received confusion from the tower before:
"Cherokee, cleared for takeoff rwy 18"
"Negative, Cherokee climbing through 1,300, southbound"
"Cherokee, roger. Cessna cleared for takeoff rwy 18"
:)
 
I love listening to them, but always hate when I'm the one. :D

My favorite trick is one a good friend taught me. If you forget your left and right, make an "L" with you thumb and pointer finger. The one that's an L is left.
 
I had one a few weeks ago. I was in a right downwind for 19. I knew I was kind of wide, my CFI is always worried about getting too close to the runway so he prefers to take it wide until the towers yells at us and asks to keep it tighter. LOL

Anyway, I'm about to turn right base for 19 and I see a runway off to my right. It was pretty windy so I thought that I had gotten blown closer to the runway and now my DW to base turn should be DW straight to final. So I do it, CFI didn't say anything. I then notice that I'm lining up for 14. WTF!!!! 19 would be a little to the left. Wake up moment. Tower didn't notice, or maybe just didn't say anything, but I quickly corrected.
 
"Ground, Cub XXXX Clear of the runway... I don't know where I am"

I was with the pilot who said this and we both had quite the good laugh. So did the tower.
 
Doing touch and goes, the tower told me to extend downwind for a CRJ coming from the west. I saw it pass in front of me and turn towards the airport. I got on the radio and said "is that guy making a really wide turn?" The tower came on and told the CRJ that 18L was closed and he should be using 18R. CRJ comes back with "sorry, brain fart" and does a quick "S" turn to get back on line.
 
Tower: Cessna 12345 clear touch n go, 28R

Me: I know, I'm ten feet off the runway (I had been cleared on the downwind)

Tower: Cessna 54321 clear touch n go 28R as number two. You're following a Cessna ten feet off the runway.

:rofl:
 
A few weeks ago I was doing practice approaches in actual around STL. While being vectored on my last one back into KSUS, it suddenly hit me that I hadn't heard the magic words! :yikes: "St. Louis approach, Cessna 31K, confirm cleared into the class B?"

Got a little chuckle from him...
 
Most of my flying is in helicopters, but I fly airplanes as well. I've transmitted quite a few "Seattle Center, heli-Cessna 1234,... "
 
Forget how to enter a traffic pattern. I got all turned around and confused the controller. Luckily it was at night and I was the only one doing landings at the field
 
Oh, I had a serious WTF moment in mardi gras one year (1996). I slept with the fattest chick on earth and the next day (and every day since then) have said "WTF did I go and do THAT for?!?!?"
 
Oh, I had a serious WTF moment in mardi gras one year (1996). I slept with the fattest chick on earth and the next day (and every day since then) have said "WTF did I go and do THAT for?!?!?"

Wow! Seems the above should be an automatic 3rd class medical revocation.:goofy:
 
Every time I called out the other day in a cirrus I was testing I started off, "Cess... Cirrus!" Even on the last one where I joked that I was going to get it right this timetime.
 
Wow! Seems the above should be an automatic 3rd class medical revocation.:goofy:

I think he'll be OK. According to Dr. Bruce, it takes two in a lifetime for it to be considered presumptive abuse.
 
Oh, I had a serious WTF moment in mardi gras one year (1996). I slept with the fattest chick on earth and the next day (and every day since then) have said "WTF did I go and do THAT for?!?!?"
herpes?
 
Then there was the time I used the radio call N123AC for a call up to a class D tower just about closing time. She had me left downwind 17 when she closed. My base and final call was 234AC. I wonder if she was still monitoring the frequency. Both Warriors, both I used often. Just forgot which one I was in at the time. And they both had their number on the panel.
 
Oh, I had a serious WTF moment in mardi gras one year (1996). I slept with the fattest chick on earth and the next day (and every day since then) have said "WTF did I go and do THAT for?!?!?"

I asked myself that about two weeks after I married my first wife. :mad2::mad2::yikes:
 
This topic opens a bit of scar tissue. I fly out of a Class D and we use Taxiway Yankee as our runway since it's right next to the heliport. I usually get clearance to taxi to Yankee and ask for departure clearance from a hover at the end of the taxiway. While on my PPL check ride, I was trying so hard to do everything perfectly - all the way up to starting my departure. I was breaking ETL when the DPE asked plainly "did the tower clear you for takeoff?" Yikes! At least I had the opportunity to perform a textbook perfect emergency stop.
 
Speaking of confusing tail numbers, it is so frequent, it's not funny anymore. I've used "Experi-cherokee 52N", "Ex-citation 5MX" or "Cher-kingair 5TK" so many times, they have lost their juice.
 
Ohhh yeah I've had WTF moments. This past Saturday I tried to start the engine with mixture lean, without realizing it. I was getting frustrated as the engine kept igniting and then quitting! After 4 or so unsuccessful attempts at starting, I looked around and saw the big red knob out.... Started right up on the 5th attempt.
 
A few weeks ago I was doing practice approaches in actual around STL. While being vectored on my last one back into KSUS, it suddenly hit me that I hadn't heard the magic words! :yikes: "St. Louis approach, Cessna 31K, confirm cleared into the class B?"

Got a little chuckle from him...

How were you doing a practice approach in actual?
 
How were you doing a practice approach in actual?
Oh, semantics. Ok, they weren't technically "practice" since it was actual, but the sole purpose of the flight was to brush up on approaches in the 172.
 
I call it MOD.

Mature Onset Dyslexia.

Not that it's ever affected me, of course.

"Miami Approach, Tiger 74629, 30 west, 6,500, landing Opa Locka with Uniform."

"Roger, 74629' squawk xxxx."

Pause.

"Ummm, 74629, we do have a target 30 miles EAST, confirm that's you."

That has never happened to me.

Must have been a friend. With MOD! :yes:


Why is it that no one ever confuses north and south, but almost everyone screws up east and west sometimes? :dunno:
 
Back
Top