T-Hangar/Ramp Etiquette

labbadabba

labbadabba

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Lawrence, KS
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labbadabba
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KIXD, KLWC
While pre-flighting the 172 in the hangar yesterday, a fellow aviator pulled up to his hangar and began to do the same with his Mooney. My preflight took longer because I had to deal with loading carseats and making sure the kiddos didn't leave peanuts all over the hangar floor. Mr Mooney pulled his plane out onto the ramp and I was about to do the same. But I had to consider the fact if I pulled out my plane, I'd be positioned in front of his on the ramp blocking his access to the taxiway.

It would take me a few mins to strap in the kiddos and the wife and button things up prior to start-up. That said, I had kids that were getting restless and I didn't want to spoil their first flight. So I pulled my plane out ahead of his.

So my question, did I violate an unwritten rule of ramp etiquette? Mr. Mooney didn't seem to mind but in hindsight, I probably should have just asked...
 
labbadabba said:
I had kids that were getting restless and I didn't want to spoil their first flight. So I pulled my plane out ahead of his.
So my question, did I violate an unwritten rule of ramp etiquette?
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Blocking others is uncool unless it's your turn.
 
If he was still in the midst of pre-flighting, than no, you didn't do anything wrong.

OTOH if he was in the airplane about to crank it and you pulled your airplane out in front of his, than you should've waited.
 
Being the well known whimpy guy with a sense of entitlement... read with caution.

I preflight the RV in the hangar, load the passenger if any, and then pull the plane out ready to fire. I also have a remote control for the hangar door so I'm in the lane for a very short time. I'm talking a minute or two from removing the tow bar to lighting the fire.

Club planes I have pulled up to the FBO ramp and the passengers wait in the air conditioning while I preflight. Different story.

All that written, IF someone blocked the lane while I was sitting with the prop spinning I would be a little annoyed, but I'd do a 180 and beat them to the run-up area :)
 
Stuff like this is similar to the awkward "how close does a person need to be for me to hold the door open for them?" situation. But next time just talk to the guy and sort it out.
 
Once had a Bo block me for 45 minutes at Llano doing what I guess was a run-up. From fuel area to runway there is a single lane choke point. He didn't respond on CTAF. Grass runway wasn't an option due to recent rain.
 
Ryanb said:
If he was still in the midst of pre-flighting, than no, you didn't do anything wrong.

OTOH if he was in the airplane about to crank it and you pulled your airplane out in front of his, than you should've waited.
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I think his preflight was basically done but he was still standing on the ramp when I pulled out. Lesson learned on my part. Next time I'll just ask...
 
Unfortunately in my row, there are two hangars with FBO rental planes that are "down stream" from my hangar towards the runway. This is a never ending problem for me...students, that pull the plane out, and proceed to take over an hour to preflight their rental plane before I can get out to the runway. If you can preflight and get out without blocking someone, then there's no problem.
 
I would be concerned about spacing. It is always bad manners to go high RPM in front of another plane. On days when there is another plane out in my row of hangars, I'll pull it out at an angle so at start up the blow back is away from the other planes. NEVER do a run-up with a plane behind you.

And like it's been said before, talk to your neighbors before to prevent an incident than after an incident occurs.
 
one of the first xc's I ever took was to Ocean Isle. there was a columbia on the ramp with his engine running and it took me quite a while as a noob to go thru my checklist and get the engine started. when I was ready I just taxi'd and then the columbia started taxiing behind me. I should have asked if he was ready to go but I assumed he wasn't since he sat there for so long. turned out he was getting his ifr stuff ready and I goobered that all up. oh well, lesson learned, it's as easy as asking on the radio.
 
danhagan said:
Once had a Bo block me for 45 minutes at Llano doing what I guess was a run-up. From fuel area to runway there is a single lane choke point. He didn't respond on CTAF. Grass runway wasn't an option due to recent rain.
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What can one possibly checking on a Bonanza that takes 45 minutes?! Good god, some people...
 
Load the rugrats while you're still in the hangar.

Go forth and sin no more.

Jeff
 
You need to back up a couple steps. Why did he pull his airplane out by himself? Why did you pull yours out by yourself? There's your trouble. The other issue would not be an issue if you had given each other a hand.

You didn't do anything wrong, but we generally don't watch people pull their planes around without lending a hand around here. Nobody expects it, but it's just the courteous thing to do, and you get a chance to say howdy and/or decide who's going first. At the very least, I'd say say hi and ask if he needs a hand.

Please don't take that as condescending. Just pointing out what is considered etiquette in these parts. Everywhere is different.
 
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pre-flight in the hangar, and talk to your neighbors
 
GCA319 said:
What can one possibly checking on a Bonanza that takes 45 minutes?! Good god, some people...
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He was just being extra cautious making sure the V-tail was still firmly attached. ;) :D
 
BigBadLou said:
^^^ This.
Which pilot won't be happy to talk to another pilot, especially his neighbor? Oh right, the grumpy pilot. Well, ignore that one.
But other than that, waving hi, walking up and talking to another pilot isn't forbidden. :)
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Shhhhh! @Ravioli is right there! He can see you talking about him. =D
 
I think the etiquette would be that if you think you're doing something that might cause difficulty for others then there's a good chance you are... then just talk to the other person to sort something out if necessary. Simple.
 
BigBadLou said:
^^^ This.
Which pilot won't be happy to talk to another pilot, especially his neighbor? Oh right, the grumpy pilot. Well, ignore that one.
But other than that, waving hi, walking up and talking to another pilot isn't forbidden. :)
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I'm a grumpy pilot and I go out of my way to say howdy to the hangar neighbors and lend a hand when I can. Never know when you might need to borrow a tool or get some help with something.
 
Just talk to the other pilot,and ask if he will be ready before you.
 
OkieFlyer said:
You need to back up a couple steps. Why did he pull his airplane out by himself? Why did you pull yours out by yourself? There's your trouble. The other issue would not be an issue if you had given each other a hand.

You didn't do anything wrong, but we generally don't watch people pull their planes around without lending a hand around here. Nobody expects it, but it's just the courteous thing to do, and you get a chance to say howdy and/or decide who's going first. At the very least, I'd say say hi and ask if he needs a hand.

Please don't take that as condescending. Just pointing out what is considered etiquette in these parts. Everywhere is different.
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It's different with me...don't be touching my plane! I'll get it out myself just fine. No joke.
 
You did fine. You were aware of the other guy and at least thought about it. Next time.
 
They need a new airport design!! Whenever 172 pushes the ENTIRE airport grinds to a halt. We were told to expect holds because they were running out of tarmac to put people short of the entire ramp.

The other thing would be to install simple, low power transmitters transmitting the "stop" code. If a 172 pulls out at the wrong time, it's motors will be disabled and the tires would go flat before it could reach the apron.

A third option would be to keep a coffee can full of butterflies to release - then you could just follow them around the obstruction. Be sure to punch holes in the lid of the coffee can.

Or, call "Pan Pan" over the radio to get priority.

Did you fix any eggs or chocolate chip cookies for your passengers ahead of time? Trying to make them after you pull out of the hangar is a bad idea.
 
danhagan said:
Once had a Bo block me for 45 minutes at Llano doing what I guess was a run-up. From fuel area to runway there is a single lane choke point. He didn't respond on CTAF. Grass runway wasn't an option due to recent rain.
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After 10 minutes, I'd have shut down, gotten out, walked over and tapped on his window...I'd have exploded well before 45 minutes elapsed.
 
OkieFlyer said:
You need to back up a couple steps. Why did he pull his airplane out by himself? Why did you pull yours out by yourself? There's your trouble. The other issue would not be an issue if you had given each other a hand.

You didn't do anything wrong, but we generally don't watch people pull their planes around without lending a hand around here. Nobody expects it, but it's just the courteous thing to do, and you get a chance to say howdy and/or decide who's going first. At the very least, I'd say say hi and ask if he needs a hand.

Please don't take that as condescending. Just pointing out what is considered etiquette in these parts. Everywhere is different.
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^^^I vote for this answer.



danhagan said:
Once had a Bo block me for 45 minutes at Llano doing what I guess was a run-up. From fuel area to runway there is a single lane choke point. He didn't respond on CTAF. Grass runway wasn't an option due to recent rain.
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What about just using the taxiway for takeoff?
 
tawood said:
It's different with me...don't be touching my plane! I'll get it out myself just fine. No joke.
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Really? Why does it bother you for a fellow aircraft owner to touch your airplane. I'm genuinely curious.
 
tawood said:
Loosen up? Why? Or better yet, why does it bother you that you can't touch my plane?
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It doesn't, and I didn't mean to sound overly critical. It just struck me as an extremely unusual. However, it's none of my business. My apologies.
 
tawood said:
Loosen up? Why? Or better yet, why does it bother you that you can't touch my plane?
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But, if your avatar pic is correct, it's a 50 year old Cherokee; it's been touched by many others before you and most likely came out okay... but hey man, it's your plane. Just don't take it to Oshkosh, it might get touched there...
 
jbDC9 said:
But, if your avatar pic is correct, it's a 50 year old Cherokee; it's been touched by many others before you and most likely came out okay... but hey man, it's your plane. Just don't take it to Oshkosh, it might get touched there...
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Funny you mentioned that...it doesn't go anywhere unless there is a hangar waiting for it when I get there. My mechanic and I talked about it last night (it's in annual right now), and he mentioned that he wouldn't be surprised if it has ever spent a night outside. He said if it wasn't just so common a type, because it is definite show plane quality. So yeah, touched-in-the-past-but-now-only-by-me.
 
OkieFlyer said:
It doesn't, and I didn't mean to sound overly critical. It just struck me as an extremely unusual. However, it's none of my business. My apologies.
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No worries. And for the record I'd politely decline a request for help, but decline none the less.
 
tawood said:
No worries. And for the record I'd politely decline a request for help, but decline none the less.
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Not a problem. You can wait for me then....and hope the dead body I will be flying is already in a bag.....:lol::lol::lol:
 
Zeldman said:
Not a problem. You can wait for me then....and hope the dead body I will be flying is already in a bag.....:lol::lol::lol:
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Hmmm, not sure what you mean by this...sounds like "forced courtesy"...like the people that stop traffic to waive you through, and if you don't go when they waive (because it's unsafe), they get peeved. I've never understood that.
 
tawood said:
Because I'm beyond normal "anal-retentive", that's why. I clean my plane with q-tips.
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Hey, a fellow AR pilot, nice! Welcome to the CDO club. :)

OkieFlyer said:
The other issue would not be an issue if you had given each other a hand.
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Whoa whoa WHOA, slow down there! :D

bradg33 said:
After 10 minutes, I'd have shut down, gotten out, walked over and tapped on his window...I'd have exploded well before 45 minutes elapsed.
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I have been saying for years, we need a HORN in airplanes just like in cars. There are dumb people everywhere! (there are MILLIONS of them on the roads but some still make it to an airport)
 
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