I'm an idiot (aka dropped my dip stick)

Finding out what lies at the bottom of an old, heavily used, training airplane seems similar to those funny "inside a human" x-rays.

You know, the ones where things were found inside a person that should NOT be there.

Kimberly
 
kimberlyanne546 said:
No, and I did hear a story from another student pilot that a more important item was "in-op" (not placarded) and yet the plane was still in use but this was back in 2005.
Click to expand...

Remember when they don't repair broken items they risk your life, not theirs.

When you refuse to rent from them, they get the idea. You might better find an owner that would rent to you.
 
I found another place, and it was worse. Older planes, more expensive, closer airport to my house, and my hands turned BLACK from the pre-flight. Oh and it took two hands to push the mixture in (full rich) - that was how dirty and ill-maintained everything was.

So I hate to say it but I guess I got the idea that "most" places are like this.
 
I took a lanyard off a USB thumb-drive, and zip-tied it tightly to the fuel dipstick I use. I added another zip-tie above and below the one with the lanyard. Adds a little piece of mind and has held up for several years. I don't want to be another victim.

And I keep a pair of mechanics gloves for pre-flight. Takes a lot of the fun of wiping bug carcasses of the leading edges with my bare hands, though.
 

Attachments

  • DSCN2067.jpg
    DSCN2067.jpg
    218.7 KB · Views: 222
  • DSCN2065.jpg
    DSCN2065.jpg
    209.9 KB · Views: 231
  • DSCN2066.jpg
    DSCN2066.jpg
    209.1 KB · Views: 225
  • DSCN2064.jpg
    DSCN2064.jpg
    208.8 KB · Views: 211
Tom-D said:
You could touch every thing on this with a white glove
Click to expand...

That is awesome. I'm jealous. I "air touch" the leading edges of my wings; they are covered in dead bugs and the only thing I get to clean off is the windshield but not the wings.

There is a clean white rag each day at the fuel pump and some special liquid for cleaning windshields. No matter how many times I check the windsock, though, I often seem to spray the darn stuff right into the wind and therefore right into my own face, instead of onto the windshield.

I guess every time I pre-flight a plane it is like a comedy show. I have also spilled avgas all over myself while looking at the numbers of gallons on the machine instead of keeping my eyes on the tank, and I'm sure a dozen other little things too.

As much as I wish I was graceful, I am not.
 
kimberlyanne546 said:
That is awesome. I'm jealous. I "air touch" the leading edges of my wings; they are covered in dead bugs and the only thing I get to clean off is the windshield but not the wings.

There is a clean white rag each day at the fuel pump and some special liquid for cleaning windshields. No matter how many times I check the windsock, though, I often seem to spray the darn stuff right into the wind and therefore right into my own face, instead of onto the windshield.

I guess every time I pre-flight a plane it is like a comedy show. I have also spilled avgas all over myself while looking at the numbers of gallons on the machine instead of keeping my eyes on the tank, and I'm sure a dozen other little things too.

As much as I wish I was graceful, I am not.
Click to expand...

You want to talk about taking an AvGas bath, I bet I've got you beat many times over! You know how Avgas evaporates fairly quickly, thus making your hands/arms cold where it touches you? Try doing that in Ames, Ia, in the middle of the winter, when the pump get stuck on, and the plane's tank blows back. The window cleaner thing, too; I've seen several people (myself included) inadvertently drink several gallons worth of various cleaners, solvents, and sprays. 4 years of working the ramp I did plenty of stupid stuff with airplanes, without ever taking one flying.

You're in good company, you just seem to be more willing to share than most of us. :yesnod:
 
Tom-D said:
Learn to be deliberate. I can't sew, but I can if I am very deliberate in each movement.
Click to expand...

Geez, don't take my post the wrong way! I am not retarded. I am no ballerina, that's all. I can hand sew - I'm not like poking holes in all my fingers or anything. And those "funny" aviation mishaps - I will soon learn from my mistakes and not repeat them again. But for now they are amusing and remind me of how far I have to go in this whole pilot thing.
 
Teller1900 said:
You want to talk about taking an AvGas bath, I bet I've got you beat many times over! You know how Avgas evaporates fairly quickly, thus making your hands/arms cold where it touches you? Try doing that in Ames, Ia, in the middle of the winter, when the pump get stuck on, and the plane's tank blows back. 4 years of working the ramp I did plenty of stupid stuff with airplanes, without ever taking one flying.

You're in good company, you just seem to be more willing to share than most of us. :yesnod:
Click to expand...

Exactly. I learned on the other aviation website that a lot of students actually WANT to hear all the bad stuff. In other words, they thought they were the only ones who were making xyz mistake, or they were the only ones who were "rating" their landings or other manevers. No, sir. I am here to show that it is OK to post about the things you have done wrong. Especially if it helps you or someone else to learn, not make that mistake, and improve.
 
Are you training at O69? Nice! We need some more pilots from this area!

I've probably flown that 152, so you're right to be afraid of your fellow pilots and what they inadvertently do to rentals :D
 
sba55 said:
Are you training at O69? Nice! We need some more pilots from this area!

I've probably flown that 152, so you're right to be afraid of your fellow pilots and what they inadvertently do to rentals :D
Click to expand...

Wait, you are a pilot, and in my area, and ride horses? I've never jumped a horse over anything very high but I did take dressage (and western) lessons. I'm guessing from your avatar that you own / compete?

Yes I train at O69 and just the other day discovered a pilot on here who had trained in my plane / flying school. Finally the CA people are appearing on POA!!!
 
kimberlyanne546 said:
Yay for me making a go / no-go decision against the maintenance tech's advice

Boo for me making an idiot's mistake that forced my instructor and his next student to fly in the Piper instead of the 152. The receptionist told me she would not charge the other student more money since the 152 was out of commission, so that was nice.

I will of course call tomorrow to make sure my little plane gets out of surgery OK. No idea how those guys fish those things out, I never once did hear it or see it or feel it with my tools.


Kimberly
Click to expand...

We use a long snaky "grabber" thing. You should have flown the plane, freaking dip stick tube isn't going to hurt anything in that tank. I once fished 5 of them out of a tank, and when I replaced the left main fuel bladder on my Travelair I gained a very large screwdriver for my tool box. It doesn't have the ability to clog your fuel flow, and it won't contaminate the fuel, so rock on.... No big deal.
 
kimberlyanne546 said:
I wanted to be safe. If I left it where it was so the techs could fix it in the morning.
Click to expand...


"Safe" is not only an illusion, it is a multi variable illusion with many uncontrolled and random variables. "Safe" isn't avoiding something you are unsure of. "Safe" is gaining a full understanding of the situation and acting accordingly. Mechanic said "Go", you said you were going to stay in the pattern, and the area around Petaluma is pretty good for having an engine failure if you're gonna have one.

Complete and accurate risk assessment is the one of the key components of the "command" in Pilot in Command. Risk elevation assessment here is "Minimum".

You know, you might hang out in the maintenance hangar now and again to get a look and sense of how things are and work under all those covers. It's always good to get some mechanical education if you're going to be a pilot.

I ended up getting my first aircraft mechanic job standing there talking to the owner of the shop while he was working on the engine of a plane. As a lifelong mechanic, as we were talking I'd notice when an extra hand to place or hold something was useful and I'd put mine there. After a bit he asked "Do you want a job?", and that started me on my way to aircraft ownership. Ward Foley was very good to me. Aircraft ownership cost me next to nothing for a couple of years.
 
Last edited:
ajstoner21 said:
Thats funny! I wonder what else youd find in a trainer if you completely dissassembled it.
Click to expand...

For some reason I always find tubes of Chapstick in the weirdest places when opening planes up...:dunno:

I find tools & rags mostly, but fuel tank dipsticks are definitely the #1 item in trainers...:rolleyes2:

They really aren't a big deal.
 
kimberlyanne546 said:
Um, I did not video tape my boob shake method of finding a dipstick.
Click to expand...

I could fly the my club C172 to 6Y9 and drop a dip stick in there for you to repeat if you like:D. I am sure we can find someone with a camera there to post to youtube for you.
 
kimberlyanne546 said:
Really? I was kind of wondering about this myself. There have been a few times the chain which connects the fuel cap to the wing has come off and I have re-attached it to the fuel cap by sticking my hand down inside the fuel, fishing it out, and threading the "s" part back through the fuel cap.

That always made me wonder what if BOTH sides came off and the thin metal chain went into the tank?
Click to expand...


DO NOT stick your bare hand into the fuel. As much as I love 100LL, the stuff is toxic 6 ways from Sunday and you can get all of it transdermaly. Also, in no time your hands will look like mine...:hairraise: You don't want "man hands":nonod::nonod::nonod:
 
kimberlyanne546 said:
I climb down from the left wing, and climb up to the right wing. I uncap the tank, stick in my dip stick, go to pull it out and - bam! It slips through my fingers and falls deep into the tank!
Click to expand...

Been There Done That! We happend to find one of those long bolt grabbers with the fingers. Took us all lesson to fish it out but the next person got to fly. My dip stick now has a giant rubber band attached to the top that I can slip my wrist through so I don't do it again!
 
kimberlyanne546 said:
I found another place, and it was worse. Older planes, more expensive, closer airport to my house, and my hands turned BLACK from the pre-flight. Oh and it took two hands to push the mixture in (full rich) - that was how dirty and ill-maintained everything was.

So I hate to say it but I guess I got the idea that "most" places are like this.
Click to expand...

Lot of old men like the company of a pretty young lady, wouldn't be too difficult for you to get access to some better planes.
 
kimberlyanne546 said:
Exactly. I learned on the other aviation website that a lot of students actually WANT to hear all the bad stuff. In other words, they thought they were the only ones who were making xyz mistake, or they were the only ones who were "rating" their landings or other manevers. No, sir. I am here to show that it is OK to post about the things you have done wrong. Especially if it helps you or someone else to learn, not make that mistake, and improve.
Click to expand...


There isn't a mistake you can make that hasn't been made 1000 times....
 
Don't worry about it -- If you haven't done something like this, you're not flying enough!

;)

(Show of hands who's been ready to roll and realized the chocks were still in place? The pitot tube cover? The handbrake still applied on takeoff?...)

:rolleyes2:


Anyway, there is a lesson to consider....

Aeronautical Decision Making includes "using all resources."

So if someone who you trust, has the requisite expertise, and isn't the named beneficiary on your life insurance says, "It's safe to fly," you should strongly consider that advice.

Sure the easy answer is always "I used good ADM and didn't fly! Ya me!"

That response means you will only fly pristine airplanes on CAVU days with no winds, no other traffic, and a CFI in the right and two more in back.

For the rest of us, we have to learn to trust, stretch a bit, and do the best we can with the information we have, then trust the airplane, our skills, and chance to ensure it all ends well.
 
dmccormack said:
Don't worry about it -- If you haven't done something like this, you're not flying enough!

;)

(Show of hands who's been ready to roll and realized the chocks were still in place? The pitot tube cover?
Click to expand...

I once had to go around the pattern with no airspeed for a forgotten pitot cover, as for chocks....errrr.... well...:idea:... lets say anymore I just look around for small things to chock with that I can power over and leave behind....

Sure the easy answer is always "I used good ADM and didn't fly! Ya me!"
Click to expand...

But that isn't really "good" ADM, it is just "any fault=default to 0" ADM.
 
Last edited:
You need a cat's paw. This will fix you up.
Well maybe not this one, its made in China.
 

Attachments

  • Cats Paw.JPG
    Cats Paw.JPG
    5.4 KB · Views: 183
Let'sgoflying! said:
You need a cat's paw. This will fix you up.
Well maybe not this one, its made in China.
Click to expand...

Never heard one called a Cat's Paw before. To me a Cat's Paw is for pulling nails in construction. I always thought the technical name for this tool was the "Long push button spring snake grabber thingy."

I used to have a whole drawer full of various and sundry recovery tools and half the time I'd still end up with a brazing rod or coat hanger and a wad of gum smeared with grease or Seal Lube....
 
Kim, you're in very good company. Though I've never dropped a dipstick into a fuel tank (never say never though!), I once left the FBO's handmade dipstick for the 172 I rented as a solo student pilot on the cowl and then taxied off for departure. Didn't discover my mistake until I was looking for it during preflight the next day. Someone at Harbour Air in Traverse City got a nice dipstick courtesy of me that day (Aug 8, 2002).
 
Re: Dipsticks...

For oil dipsticks I don't put them down. Ever. Once pulled out, I hold onto it.

Bad idea to lay it on the cowling or hanging from the strut.

(I almost learned that the hard, very expensive way...)

If you need a rag or something else, out the stick back in and go fetch, then plan ahead next time.

I've made fuel dipsticks from long wooden dowels -- you can even calibrate them using notches or a sharpie. Make it long enough it can't fall in.
 
Henning said:
Never heard one called a Cat's Paw before. To me a Cat's Paw is for pulling nails in construction. I always thought the technical name for this tool was the "Long push button spring snake grabber thingy.
Click to expand...

It is always a pleasure to bring you up to speed on these things, my dear Henning.
Nail puller? Good Lord. I suppose for my wooden spar.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Mayhew-45046-Ca...352?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item56453350b0

actually I think you will find them best using "flexible retrieval tool" as a search phrase.

:D
 
For oil dipsticks I don't put them down. Ever. Once pulled out, I hold onto it.
Click to expand...

We do the something similar with the cabin entry keys on the CJ.
Even if you are 'only going in to get something', they go back in the pocket when done turning the latch.

(we'd been taught how someone left them in once, and sho nuff, on takeoff they vibrated out and went through the engine making a $500,000 loud noise)
 
Henning said:
"Safe" is not only an illusion, it is a multi variable illusion with many uncontrolled and random variables. "Safe" isn't avoiding something you are unsure of. "Safe" is gaining a full understanding of the situation and acting accordingly. Mechanic said "Go", you said you were going to stay in the pattern, and the area around Petaluma is pretty good for having an engine failure if you're gonna have one.

Complete and accurate risk assessment is the one of the key components of the "command" in Pilot in Command. Risk elevation assessment here is "Minimum".
Click to expand...
+1
Henning said:
You know, you might hang out in the maintenance hangar now and again to get a look and sense of how things are and work under all those covers. It's always good to get some mechanical education if you're going to be a pilot.
Click to expand...
I fully agree, Before and after lessons I often hang out in the Mx hangar and it has made me both a better pilot and more mechanically inclined, it is a great utility to learn.
 
Never dropped a dipstick in the tank. I do remember the first really windy winter day where I dipped the tank, brought the dipstick up to check, then took my finger off to release the fuel back into the tank. Except the 25 knot gusting wind blew all the fuel straight back onto my chest. D'oh.
 
spinfire said:
Never dropped a dipstick in the tank. I do remember the first really windy winter day where I dipped the tank, brought the dipstick up to check, then took my finger off to release the fuel back into the tank. Except the 25 knot gusting wind blew all the fuel straight back onto my chest. D'oh.
Click to expand...


Reminds me of the time I tested the tank in a '47 V Tail Bonanza. The drain was the Curtis push up style and a bit tired. When I pushed up, it locked in place and would not come down.

100LL -- precious 100LL!!! -- poured out onto the pavement. I rushed into the FBO hangar and grabbed a bucket, filled it, ran to the fuel dump barrel, ran back....

Fortunately there was only 10 gallons in the left tank. Now that fuel was no longer pouring out, I was able to use a screwdriver and force the drain back in place.
 
Old Thread: Hello . There have been no replies in this thread for 365 days.
Content in this thread may no longer be relevant.
Perhaps it would be better to start a new thread instead.
Back
Top