Most embarassing GA story...

Missa said:
My first passenger (mom) taught me to include the stall horn as part of the perflight breifing for new passengers.

Luckly she didn't freak out but asked what it was after and told me she would have felt much better knowing that BEFORE it was sounding durring landing.
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Reminds me of my first flight in Nashua, NH. We were taking off from runway 14, and a few feet off the deck, the inner marker goes off. You know, the quick one that sounds like the master alarm in Apollo 13....

"beep beep beep beep beep beep...."

I flipped out. "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!?!?"

The instructor laughed for a while about that.

I now warn people that when there's a problem, there isn't some crazy alarm, and if they hear one, its probably nothing.
 
I heard some doozies this weekend at Wings. Come on PoA'ers... I know we have some good ones out there!
 
I still think nothing will ever top the glider pilot who crashed wearing a condom and a cock ring as an embarrassing GA story....

However, in my case, the most inglorious moment in my short involvement in aviation has been when one of my former instructors and myself (I was at the controls) was accidentally took off with a cat that was an "unofficial pet" of the FBO staff in the plane. The cat apparently had gotten into the cockpit when we left the door open and it freaked the hell out during the takeoff climb, tried to jump through the windscreen and bounced off landing on my instructor's lap. He then tried to restrain it and it attacked him. I looked at him and go "What the hell do we do?" to which he responded "Just get us on the ground". We came around to land and touched down without any problems- other than my instructor being pretty cut up from the cat.

That pretty much ended the flying for the day. While I was patching him up on the ground, the other pilots were giving the both of us crap about what had happened. Examples:
"Hey kid, if you go to apply to the airlines, you can always put down you survived an attempted hijacking by Al Cat-da!" *rimshot*
"So do you squawk 7500 for that or do you just call the tower and request them to roll the animal control truck?"
"Does this count as an animal strike?"

The story became one of the favorites of my instructor and it was even mentioned in his eulogy by one of his brothers.
 
vontresc said:
HUH?!?!?!

So what were the details????
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I can't exactly give out the "details" since it would identify the pilot and I'm bound by the privacy rules from releasing "identifiable information" based on what I learn through my research. Suffice to say, the NTSB stated they couldn't figure out why precisely he crashed and despite asking every glider pilot I could come across, I have yet to come up with a non-sexual aberrant reason the dead pilot would be found wearing such devices. He was alone in the glider and it impacted terrain....that's about all I can say. Sorry....
 
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SteveinMichigan said:
I can't exactly give out the "details" since it would identify the pilot and I'm bound by the privacy rules from releasing "identifiable information" based on what I learn through my research. Suffice to say, the NTSB stated they couldn't figure out why precisely he crashed and despite asking every glider pilot I could come across, I have yet to come up with a non-sexual aberrant reason the dead pilot would be found wearing such devices. He was alone in the glider and it impacted terrain....that's about all I can say. Sorry....
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How about a link to the NTSB report?
 
SteveinMichigan said:
I can't exactly give out the "details" since it would identify the pilot and I'm bound by the privacy rules from releasing "identifiable information" based on what I learn through my research. Suffice to say, it was written off by the NTSB as "loss of control for undetermined reasons" and despite asking every glider pilot I could come across, I have yet to come up with a non-sexual aberrant reason the dead pilot would be found wearing such devices. He was alone in the glider and it impacted terrain....that's about all I can say. Sorry....
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Well the condom could be part of a relief tube system. The ring...well, that's a little harder to explain, so to speak.

Reminds me of something a guy I went to school with said, "if I'm ever going to crash, and I know there's absolutely nothing I can do about, the last thing I'm going to do is drop trou and sit on the yoke. At least that way the NTSB will really have something to ponder over."
 
Well the condom could be part of a relief tube system.
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I asked the medical examiner. It was not a condom catheter. To quote, "It was definitely a prophylactic".

Reminds me of something a guy I went to school with said, "if I'm ever going to crash, and I know there's absolutely nothing I can do about, the last thing I'm going to do is drop trou and sit on the yoke. At least that way the NTSB will really have something to ponder over."
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Nice.....

How about a link to the NTSB report?
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Once again, it could potentially identify the pilot because they don't redact owner/operator information from most reports.
 
done the chock thing.

solution for keys: get a carabeener or other clip, and clip them to a loop on your flight bag.
 
This was on my IR checkride, with the spanking new 430.

While shooting the ILS into FDK, the examiner asks me how I would identify RICKE, the OM. I say by the beacon beeping and the blue light. "Ok, says she, "What if it's OTS?" I say, "No problem, I'll just take the cross radial from EMI". Finally she says, "What if they MOVED it?" I, the hotshot candidate with all the answers, of course say "They wouldn't have moved it without something being in the notams."

Could there have been a bigger hint for "Use the moving map"?

My instructor kept me on the needles pretty much through all my training. Using the magenta line was his version of a graduation present.

I passed anyway.
 
vontresc said:
HUH?!?!?!

So what were the details????
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It is a simple truth that there are things in the world that we are all better off not ever knowing. This is one of them.
 
Well I had assumed it was an irish condom (external catheter)...
 
My wife and I are settled in the Archer all set for a weekend trip to Myrtle Beach. I've run through the checklist and am ready to crank her up. In fron tof me sits a pickup with the Tom (who rents the Archer to me) and a couple other gentlemen gathered around hanger flying no doubt. I dutifully pump the primer and hit the starter while advancing the throttle. Engine catches and promptly dies. Okay, pump the primer a couple more times and hit the starter again, same result. Hey, I've done this before and it's nto really that difficult. Grab the primer again, hit the starter, advance the throttle. Engine catches and dies once more. Now I see Tom sauntering in my direction. I pop open the window and lean over intently as with all the wisdom of the world Tom says "try it with the mixture on" So much for that checklist. :yikes:
 
EppyGA said:
....snip.... I pop open the window and lean over intently as with all the wisdom of the world Tom says "try it with the mixture on" So much for that checklist. :yikes:
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Gee... I've NEVER done that. Nor flooded it either. Nor killed the battery some 80 miles from home.
Nope. Not me.
 
Teller1900 said:
I just thought of another one!

My first ever flight in a GA plane with my dad (this was only about two months ago...he's flown in the back of my plane on pt 121 flights before, but this was our first time ever in GA).

We went out to KCPK to pick up the DA-40XLS. The plan was to launch and fly around a bit so he could get a feel for the controls, then head up to KORF to pick up my mom and wife for a scenic flight around Norfolk and down to FFA. The weather is absolutely perfect and there's just enough daylight left. Of course the plane is at less than 1/4 tank, so we settle in for the long taxi to the self serve pumps. Start it up, let my dad taxi a bit, then shut down in front of the tank.

Put in full tanks, then shove the plane back onto the ramp. Settled in once again, I go through the engine start checklist. As a side note, I've always hated started fuel injected engines. Prime, starter, mixture, bump the throttle, cough, sputter, nothing. After three tries it gets close every time, but no dice. Now I'm getting a low volt caution. I give it a few minutes. My dad asks questions about the plane and the airport. Try it again. Three more times, it gets close, but no dice. Low volt warning.

I'm ****ed. Uber ****ed, if you will. My dad doesn't seem to care, it's a nice enough day to sit outside. Fortunately my friend (and the CFI that checked me out in the plane) is close to the airport, so I decide to wait for him.

Twenty minutes later, the CFI hop in next to me and takes a crack at it. No dice. Twice more, no luck. I FEEL RIGHTEOUS!

Then the CFI notices something. This little hidden circuit breaker (and by "little hidden" I mean one of the ones right in front of my face) had popped during the very first engine start. With this breaker out, it wasn't letting the battery provide full effort to the starter, which is why we couldn't get it to catch.

Apparently this has happened before and they thought they had fixed the problem...they hadn't. By the time we FINALLY got the plane in the air, we had just enough time to head up to ORF and pick up the women (who were wondering where the hell we were).

It ended up being a nice flight, but good lord what an embarassing PITA that was!
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FYI, there's a foolproof way to start FI engines. I'm on my phone but I'll find the link for you...
 
gkainz said:
...which then strikes a spark on my pet peeve ... why do people feel obligated to holler "hot mike! hot mike!" when everyone who CAN hear, ALREADY hears the hot mike, while the person WITH the hot mike CAN NOT hear you?!!!???!!!

like, DUH!!!

sorry ....
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When the hot mike gets "unstuck" the offending aircraft operator can now hear the call for checking your "hot mic"

duh.

Since we are talking about radios I'll give you my most embarrasing moments on the radio. I was flying locally and returning to the airport. I called out my location and there was no response and no traffic on the 122.80 CTAF. I get into the pattern and there are 3 planes! :yikes: No one is talking! What a bunch of morons right? Well, the only moron was the guy behind the guy infront of me, I look down at my radio and I'm on 128.00. :blush: Time for a beer. :rolleyes:
 
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I ground looped a Cub once on takeoff.

The tailwheel had become disengaged when I turned onto the runway. When I advanced the throttle, the airplane went off the runway to the left. Rather than just pulling back the throttle, I applied right rudder to try to "correct." The tailwheel engaged, and I ground-looped to the right and back onto the runway.

No damage occurred, but I felt like an idiot. Nothing ever came of the incursion, either; it was a friendly Classs D, I was a low-time student, and nothing was ever said about it once the laughs subsided.

I did learn to turn gently to the left and right to make sure the tailwheel is engaged before advancing the throttle for takeoff in a Cub.

-Rich
 
RJM62 said:
I ground looped a Cub once on takeoff.

The tailwheel had become disengaged when I turned onto the runway. When I advanced the throttle, the airplane went off the runway to the left. Rather than just pulling back the throttle, I applied right rudder to try to "correct." The tailwheel engaged, and I ground-looped to the right and back onto the runway.

No damage occurred, but I felt like an idiot. Nothing ever came of the incursion, either; it was a friendly Classs D, I was a low-time student, and nothing was ever said about it once the laughs subsided.

I did learn to turn gently to the left and right to make sure the tailwheel is engaged before advancing the throttle for takeoff in a Cub.

-Rich
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Well, at least you ended up on the runway... :D
 
TangoWhiskey said:
...Preflight, get into the cockpit, all buckled up, brief the passengers, get the cockpit set up, listen to ATIS, run the pre-start checklist, all the way down to "Engine-START", and realize the KEY is still in my pocket?...
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I haven't done that more than about 50% of the time. (At least it seems that way.)

However.....

I went on a short XC one day to an airport I'd never been to. Got there, stopped about 100 ft. from the main office (no other planes in the area) and walked to the office to see if anybody was around. Nobody was there and the office was locked so I walked back to the plane and ---- couldn't find the keys.

We checked everywhere. 4-5 people from the "empty" airport helped with the search at various points. We pulled back the loose carpeting (a rental plane in typical rental plane condition), checked the defroster vents, emptied all my pockets 2-3 times, emptied my flight bag, checked everywhere between the plane and the office many times (no other planes - just asphalt), somebody even insisted on checking the fuel tanks although I didn't remember checking fuel after landing, etc., etc. After about 1-1/2 hours of searching, the keys were still nowhere to be found.

One of the searchers was planning to go for a joy ride anyway and volunteered to fly me back to my home airport to pick up the spare set of keys. So we got the spare keys (the folks at the counter were nice and didn't laugh to hard - at least not to my face) and I eventually flew the plane back with no other issues than the significant embarrassment.

So, have I built the embarrassment factor up enough?

The next day I picked up my pants from the previous day to toss them in the laundry basket and guess what fell out!? Yep, I was wearing blue jeans that day and had accidently dropped the keys into that small "key pocket" - the one I never use and, therefore, never even thought to check.

(But I won't mention the time I was landing on 24 at a towered airport and as I turned base the controller asked me if I was landing on 24 or 6. He was nice and cleared me for 6 anyway.)
 
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