Plane full of pilots. Formula for mistakes

SixPapaCharlie

SixPapaCharlie

May the force be with you
Joined
Aug 8, 2013
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First Officer 6PC
For a few months I had no access to a flying machine and several really kind people allowed me to tag along on flights so I could get my fix.

Tonight I collected a couple and one was my former CFI and one a seasoned pilot.

My CFI complimented the heck out of me and that felt really good. He never holds back and there were times as a student where he let me know how bad I sucked.

This evening he goes "Bryan I am going to complement you. You are doing everything right, professional, and you radio work is spot on I am really impressed. You have turned out to be an excellent pilot" He really made me feel awesome.

It was just after those comments that I lined up for a downwind landing. :mad2::mad2::mad2:

The other pilot goes "Hey, how come you called final for 14 but we are lined up for 32"

"Cuz I'm an idiot and the worst pilot in the world. Just pull the chute and lets be done with it."

And if you were in Texas today, the winds out of the south were rough.
15G25 when I went to go get them.

Geez. I have never done that before.

So I did this big stupid "180 of shame" to enter left base for 14.
Greased the landing at least.

From now on all my passengers are going to be little kids and nuns or something.
 
I rolled about 4500 feet when I did that once with no pax to correct me....this is anonymous isn't it???
 
Hooks airport circa 1978 I was eighteen and a PPL for about a year. So this hot date of mine wants to go flying... so what's a horny teen pilot to do?

You sneek out your Dad's T206 which you are NOT insured to fly and impress your girl.

"Cessna xx you're cleared to land on 16" .... "Clear to land on 16 Roger!" So we land and I'm beaming it was a good one until tower says "Ah, Cessna xx, you landed the wrong way! You were not cleared to land on 34!" I apologized profusely, told them I was a young and stupid pilot and we taxi'd to the hangar and I've never put an aircraft up so fast and skeedadled... :lol:
 
My one and only engine failure was in a 182 with a plane load of pilots.

My right-seater was a CPL with way more hours than me.
"He made a couple really good suggestions. "HEAD FOR THE AIRPORT." Which one? "OFF THE NOSE STRAIGHT AHEAD."

Good idea, work the checklist, no joy, land.

The two guys in the back seat were quiet and just like any other pax.
 
Mason said:
My one and only engine failure was in a 182 with a plane load of pilots.

My right-seater was a CPL with way more hours than me.
"He made a couple really good suggestions. "HEAD FOR THE AIRPORT."
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During PPL training, my cfi asked: "engine just quit, where is your best landing?" I'm searching for all sorts of nice farm fields. Forgot that the primary training field we used for practice was just two miles to the left. He was like... ummm... how about that nice large stretch of runway there? Durrrr. Lesson learned. Those things stick with you for a long while.
 
Flying out to a new airport for the first time. Descend to 2500 as we come into town and start scanning for the airport. I can make it out in the distance, just off the nose and to the left. Start planning my approach and talking with tower to enter the class D. A couple minutes pass and we're not closing in fast. Look out my left window and see an oddly shaped airport not on my map. Look at the GPS, look out the window, look at the GPS, look at the airport diagram.... Supposed to be three runways but I only see one...
Tower: "Skychicken 12345, do you have the airport in sight?"
"Uhm... Would that happen to be the airport directly below Skychicken 12345?"
"Affirmative Skytard345, you're cleared to land runway 20 but you need to descend to pattern altitude now."
"Roger, 345" :redface:

If you could have seen the contrast difference between 2-20 and those other two runways.... :(
 
ollopa said:
If you could have seen the contrast difference between 2-20 and those other two runways.... :(
Click to expand...
Santa Fe is like that. Runway 15-33 is made out of a different surface material than the other two runways. Hard as heck to see it if it's a hazy day.
 
woodchucker said:
During PPL training, my cfi asked: "engine just quit, where is your best landing?" I'm searching for all sorts of nice farm fields. Forgot that the primary training field we used for practice was just two miles to the left. He was like... ummm... how about that nice large stretch of runway there? Durrrr. Lesson learned. Those things stick with you for a long while.
Click to expand...

Did something similar on my checkride. The DPE told me I had some sort of oil problem with the airplane. I told him what I could do and started looking for a place to land. "There is a nice field right here to the left" I tell him. I could feel his glare without looking at him. As I look out the front, I realize that I'm on around a 4 mile final for a local airport. "Or I could land there" I said sheepishly. "Yeah, probably a better option" he responded dryly. I had to slip it down, but made a decent landing and calmed down for the rest of the ride.
 
:lol:

That's NOTHING compared to what I once did with a pilot sitting next to me. I was coming into Stinson (SSF) and had been cleared to land RWY 32 (told to do a right base) and was getting set up and fat, dumb and happy until tower said something along the lines of "Cessna 123 you just blew through the final state intentions". :eek::D

Turns out I was setting up to land at Lackland AFB right next door. Landing on the wrong runway at the right airport? Bad. Landing at the wrong airport? Worse. Landing at the wrong airport and it also happens to be a military airport? Worst!

:redface:

The only time I ever almost landed at the wrong airport and it was with another pilot.
 
I once missed my intended airport by probably 25 miles, and my boss at the time was with.

The joys of navigating across south dakota on a dark light with nothing more than a sectional. Had no GPS with, and the single VOR was INOP. It was something like a 400 mile trip and there just wasn't crap for good checkpoints to reference when we were over rural south dakota. Something was "off" with my wind calculation, or the forecasted winds were off.

I realized it was the wrong airport when I was coming over the numbers and they were wrong. Decided it was best to taxi up to the FBO to figure out where the hell we were actually at.

My how times are different now with a GPS in about every device you own. This wasn't even that long ago...maybe 2005?
 
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jesse said:
I once missed my intended airport by probably 25 miles, and my boss at the time was with.



The joys of navigating across south dakota on a dark light with nothing more than a sectional. Had no GPS with, and the single VOR was INOP. It was something like a 400 mile trip and there just wasn't crap for good checkpoints to reference when we were over rural south dakota. Something was "off" with my wind calculation, or the forecasted winds were off.



I realized it was the wrong airport when I was coming over the numbers and they were wrong. Decided it was best to taxi up to the FBO to figure out where the hell we were actually at.



My how times are different now with a GPS in about every device you own. This wasn't even that long ago...maybe 2005?
Click to expand...


Roger that. I earned my PP in North Carolina in 2005. There isn't a straight road in the entire Carolinas, and great landmarks were tough to find for me on my solo XCs. I actually did the "read the water tower" thing when I got totally turned around.
 
Coming into Brown field for the first time, I started to setup for Tijuana. (It's a LOT more visible).

Fortunately, I noticed before I crossed the border or did anything stupid. I was still pretty far out..
 
I was getting night current a few months ago and I had no idea where the airport was so I just kept flying back and forth until I found it.
 
I've lined up on the wrong one before, except it was at a towered airport. I was just in the habit of a certain runway all the time was in the zone. I caught it the second I turned final. That was a fun call "Tower.. I've lined up on the wrong one, gonna go around" ... Tower: "Roger that, go around and enter on a left base "

EDIT: forgot to mention on the last call I added "Going around..... student pilot"

Towers response was "Copy student pilot"
 
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