Most embarassing GA story...

Short of my experience a quarter century ago, I've only managed to run off the runway when turned loose on practicing crosswind landings. There were no lights and the mechanics watching me thought nothing of it. "It happens. You just happen to pick a good place for it to take place. You'll improve." With no edge lights, I got lucky.

But, I'll be interested in hearing more about another guy from today...

A guy departed Georgetown (GTU) for San Antonio. Georgetown is a Class D and the tower was in operation. Approach asked him if he was cleared for takeoff. He claimed he was cleared by approach.

Approach Controller: "I'm approach and I didn't clear you. Advise when ready to copy a phone number. Call immediately upon landing."

Uh oh... Can you say, "Pilot Deviation Report"?
 
dmccormack said:
I felt better after reading Dick Collins one day -- he wrote, "If you haven't had to shut down to pull a chock you forgot, you haven't been flying enough..."
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BTDT. Three days in a row. It was the first three of four days that I flew with this instructor. By the third day I was a little embarrassed. At least I remembered on the last day.
 
Well, I'd say one of two stupid moves:

1) Trying to taxi with nose chocks in, then trying to power over it and realizing I was being really stupid and I'd better grab them....starting to exit the plane WITH THE ENGINE RUNNING and realizing that I was about 10 steps down the stupid chain and I'd better stop and recollect before my flight started.

2) How about filming a video for all of your internet friends to see, where you demonstrate the approach to a very popular gathering spot for said friends, and forgetting to close the oil door on your Cherokee. The camera was positioned so that the flapping oil door was dead center on the video, but because of the curvature of the cowling, I was unable to see that I had forgotten.....

Then posting that video in pride, still not noticing the door.

edit:
It would look something like this:
http://www.ridetheskies.com/Video/LandingGastons.wmv
 
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Haha I've done the oil door thing as well in the 182. I was #1 on the taxiway, and the guy behind me call me on the radio telling me that the oil fill door is open. so I call the tower, and tell them I'm conna taxi down the RWY to the first taxiway exit, and fix the issue. So there I am shutting down 71G and getting out on the Taxiway to close the damn oil cover. Kinda cool to be standing where you normally don't get to be...
 
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!
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
Is that sort of like a "Sabotage the Flight" breaker?!
I am having a hard time figuring that one out, any ideas?
Click to expand...

It was labeled the "Ess Bus something-or-other." Every time it popped (or we pulled it), we would get a "Low Volt" master caution and the battery would stop charging. I couldn't figure it out either, and none of the mechanics/instructors could explain it in detail. They said it was a known problem and the breaker was just a symptom of some other problem within the magic computer. They sent it down to a shop in NC the week after the flight to get that (and a few other things) fixed.
 
There are so many... but here's a good one:

Flew into an unfamiliar Class D field once, and they had a largish terminal building which housed just about everything. I wasn't sure about the fees, so I inquired at the first counter I came to. Which turned out to be the car rental counter. :crazy:

Somehow that's more embarrassing to me than my less-harmless screwups, like the time I forgot to close a flight plan because of time zone confusion.
 
Am I the only person that has gone through this scenario multiple times, before finally modifying my routine so it won't happen again?

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?

Modifed routine: Key is set on glareshield when I first open the cockpit and do the interior checks. Seeing the key sitting up there is also heartwarming when you start handling the prop up front.
 
TangoWhiskey said:
Am I the only person that has gone through this scenario multiple times, before finally modifying my routine so it won't happen again?

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?

Modifed routine: Key is set on glareshield when I first open the cockpit and do the interior checks. Seeing the key sitting up there is also heartwarming when you start handling the prop up front.
Click to expand...

And it is so hard to get that key out of your pocket with the seat belt fastened. Don't ask how I know. :rolleyes2:
 
TangoWhiskey said:
Modifed routine: Key is set on glareshield when I first open the cockpit and do the interior checks. Seeing the key sitting up there is also heartwarming when you start handling the prop up front.
Click to expand...

Not so heartwarming when the key slips down into the defroster duct...big key fobs can be useful...


Trapper John
 
Troy do you mean the whre the h*** is my key hokey pokey? I swear is Till do it just about everytime I go flying. I always seem to come up with a new "really good" spot to put them that I subsequently can't remember :D

Although hanging them on the DG has been working reasonaby well as of late.
 
TangoWhiskey said:
Modifed routine: Key is set on glareshield when I first open the cockpit and do the interior checks. Seeing the key sitting up there is also heartwarming when you start handling the prop up front.
Click to expand...

the DG adjustment knob is also a good place to hang it... tho you can't see it when handleing the prop. But then it won't slide down to the area where the dash and the windscreen where all the buggies seem to gather.
 
i bet i forgot the keys on 80-90% of the discovery rides that I gave in Ames. I was always used to the students getting the keys.
 
kevin47881 said:
*ahem* A "landing" at Gaston's last year which was just a tad long with a group of fellow POA'ers watching the ordeal unfold. :yikes:
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You too?

Not that I landed long - I don't do that when I learned where "normal" is 2700 feet. I had one landing at Gastons that went real fast and had a squirrelly rollout. I'm still wondering if I forgot to lower the flaps or I just came in steeply.
 
> And it is so hard to get that key out of your pocket with the seat belt fastened. Don't ask how I know.

I know because I have to unfasten my seat belt almost every time I fly :)
 
vontresc said:
Troy do you mean the whre the h*** is my key hokey pokey? I swear is Till do it just about everytime I go flying. I always seem to come up with a new "really good" spot to put them that I subsequently can't remember :D

Although hanging them on the DG has been working reasonaby well as of late.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I've hung it there, too! That works well.
 
TangoWhiskey said:
Am I the only person that has gone through this scenario multiple times, before finally modifying my routine so it won't happen again?

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?
...
Click to expand...

I only did that 12 times or so when flying a plane full of Young Eagles kids from Meigs. I got good at unsnapping the seat belt and digging the key out.
 
Ghery said:
And it is so hard to get that key out of your pocket with the seat belt fastened. Don't ask how I know. :rolleyes2:
Click to expand...

Been there, done that too.

A couple of weeks ago I had grabbed the keys for the plane I was planning on taking. Then decided to switch planes pretty early in my pre-flight. Long story short, I get in the new plane, get buckled in, go though checklists, and when it gets time to start the plane, I'm baffled as to why the key won't turn in the ignition. I continue to make sure I have the right key, try the other 2 on the key ring just to be sure. Took me 3 of 4 more fiddles of the key, making sure it's seated properly etc... before I finally realize it's the key for the other plane. DOH!
 
astanley said:
She looked over at me, and said "Oh, I just thought you were a terrible pilot! I didn't know that was turbulence!". She then profusely apologized for thinking I was a terrible pilot.
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:lol: Andrew, that is an absolute classic!


dmccormack said:
I felt better after reading Dick Collins one day -- he wrote, "If you haven't had to shut down to pull a chock you forgot, you haven't been flying enough..."
Click to expand...

Nope, never happened to me. Especially with the nosewheel chock.


Trapper John said:
Had an instructor that liked to wait inside in the cool while I preflighted. So, I went out to preflight, pulled the 150 up to the pumps, filled the tanks, cleaned the windshield like the experienced 20 hour student I was...then hopped in, taxied out, did my runup and took off...

Right about as I was turning crosswind...he's on the Unicom, asking me if I forgot anything...:rofl:.
Click to expand...

That is awesome! :tongue:


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?
Click to expand...
Nope, never happened to me more than once when I used to rent. Must've been something about those Cessna keys. :wink2:

How about getting the plane cover off, reaching into the pocket and finding... nothing! After I became an owner, I managed to forget the keys (i.e. left them at home). After all, I was used to picking up the keys at the front desk. I'm surprised my parents didn't hear me cursing all the way down in Florida the first time I did that. :incazzato: I was cured completely after the second time. :cheerswine:
 
rpadula said:
How about getting the plane cover off, reaching into the pocket and finding... nothing! After I became an owner, I managed to forget the keys (i.e. left them at home). After all, I was used to picking up the keys at the front desk. I'm surprised my parents didn't hear me cursing all the way down in Florida the first time I did that. :incazzato: I was cured completely after the second time. :cheerswine:
Click to expand...

Had that experience a couple of times as well, after joining a club and receiving my own set of keys. Had a spare set made to keep in my flight bag... which also provided a safety lest I lost the pocket set at a destination (which never happened).
 
TangoWhiskey said:
Am I the only person that has gone through this scenario multiple times, before finally modifying my routine so it won't happen again?

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?

Modifed routine: Key is set on glareshield when I first open the cockpit and do the interior checks. Seeing the key sitting up there is also heartwarming when you start handling the prop up front.
Click to expand...
oh, man, what you talking 'bout... ALL the time! Drives me NUTS!! :rolleyes:
 
Hmmm. Probably the time where I made a really rambling, terribly long and fairly useless radio call on the CTAF at an uncontrolled field, thought "Thank God there were no other planes in the pattern to hear THAT!" and then looked over to see that I'd forgotten to swap radios and was transmitting on guard so every plane in the freakin' sky heard it! :redface:

I've only called "left final" once.
 
TangoWhiskey said:
Am I the only person that has gone through this scenario multiple times, before finally modifying my routine so it won't happen again?

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?
Click to expand...

All the freakin' time. Enough that I finally put "KEYS!" on my checklist. And then I started leaving the checklist in the car by accident instead. :rolleyes:
 
vontresc said:
Troy do you mean the whre the h*** is my key hokey pokey? I swear is Till do it just about everytime I go flying. I always seem to come up with a new "really good" spot to put them that I subsequently can't remember :D
Click to expand...

Like, say, on top of a pile of magazines on the counter in the FBO? ;) :rofl:

That's why you fly with me. I always keep my keys in the same place. If I don't have my keys, it's because I forgot my pants! :hairraise:
 
So I'm at the field yesterday getting ready for a dual flight. Sitting at the table when I come in is a roughly 22 y/o brunette bombshell in a little sundress. I'm doing my best to slyly check her out, and I suspect failing. My CFI (a tough old bird) arrives and says he needed to meet with this girl for a minute. They start talking (oh my! She's from Spain and has an accent!). Apparently she'd flown a bit in Spain and wants to get licensed here yada yada.

So they finish up talking, and in an attempt to be friendly I ask my CFI if he'd like to invite the young lady along on our dual, to let her sight see the area a bit.

In full voice my CFI replies: "Nah, your crosswinds landings are bad enough without you trying to look into the back seat..."
 
Never left the chocks in only because I don't use them at my home airport so they're still foreign to me. I have left my portable radio sitting on top of the plane as I taxied away. Enough so the FBO put my name on it for me.
Worst one though was a rental almost new fuel injected 172. Out of MQI on a day trip to MRH with my best pax and vacation partner. Apparently, I left the ALT turned off during the run up. Landed at W95 for a quick pitstop at Howard's pub. As I was shutting down, I realized the ALT was off. This being Veteran's Day, and W95, there's no services. I called the FBO at MQI who said he'd either come down after the next lesson or he'd send someone.
An hour or so later, Pelican Air, then based on W95, came to my rescue. With the plane now running (his 5 minutes to set up the jump start), I figured the day was a bust and headed back to MQI (having run the checklist a couple of times). Ended up (HAVING TO DO a roadtrip from MQI to Howard's Pub.
 
Duct tape a set to the back of an inspection panel or onto the firewall where they aren't obvious but where you can reach them if you know where they are.
TangoWhiskey said:
Had that experience a couple of times as well, after joining a club and receiving my own set of keys. Had a spare set made to keep in my flight bag... which also provided a safety lest I lost the pocket set at a destination (which never happened).
Click to expand...
 
A controlled airfield that I fly out of a lot always keeps you north of the field when flying the pattern... which means a left pattern for 6 and a right pattern for 24. However, if you approach from the south or south east and they're landing on 6 they'll give you a right pattern so that you don't have to cross to the north side. On more than one occasion I've acknowledge the right pattern then crossed to the north side anyway.

At another uncontrolled airport I ended up making calls for the correct runway, but approaching in the opposite direction. When I could see the numbers I went around and tried to sneak off quietly, but someone on the ground felt the need to highlight my mistake to everyone within radio range.
 
I refuse to contribute to this thread on the grounds of possible extreme humiliation, your honor.
 
Just a few weeks ago coming back from skiing. I was semi-eastbound. There was a nice tail push that got better with altitude, so I went up to 12.5. Talking with ABQ center after a few minutes of straight and level there they asked if I was going up to 13.5 or down to 11.5. DOH!

I replied 'just shoot me down I guess'. Got down to 11.5 for the rest of the trip.
 
Bump.

C'mon people... we can all learn something! I learned to explain turbulence to passengers before taking off... :)
 
astanley said:
Bump.

C'mon people... we can all learn something! I learned to explain turbulence to passengers before taking off... :)
Click to expand...

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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