Umm no....

TK211X

TK211X

Pre-takeoff checklist
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So yesterday was the first time I refused an airplane on pre-flight inspection. It was a 152 that had, in my opinion, too many abnormalities. However what caught my eye initially was that the paint on top of the trailing edge wing tip "fin" completely started to deteriorate and you could see stubborn flakes sticking up every-which way. The leading edge wasn't looking it's best either. I started looking more closely at the exterior and noticed the outside facing tip of a prop blade had a small area where the "skin" of the metal sort of perforated outwards a bit and appeared to be filed down. Anyway I squawked my findings in the can and swapped it out for another airplane.

I wanted to know if any of you had some interesting stories to share. What would you have done in my position? If you squawk something as the operator must it be complied with?
I know AW/FD's must be I just don't have a wealth of experience on this.
 
TK211X said:
I started looking more closely at the exterior and noticed the outside facing tip of a prop blade had a small area where the "skin" of the metal sort of perforated outwards a bit and appeared to be filed down.
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Not sure if I'm completely understanding, but was it at least smoothly filed down?
 
when I was 17 years old, taking lessons at Kupper AP in NJ, I found the entire stabilizer loose on a C-150 Aerobat...Yes, the whole frigg'n thing was loose!
 
Cajun_Flyer said:
Not sure if I'm completely understanding, but was it at least smoothly filed down?
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If you slid your finger down the flat side of the blade you would be able to feel the groove half way down and be able to slightly bend the very thin "sheet" away from the prop a very small amount. In a sense.
 
On my very first lesson my CFI noticed a flat spot on the nose wheel tire and was worried it might blow out on landing so we swapped for another plane.

During another lesson we were doing the run-up and I got to the "throttle to idle" part of the of checklist and the tach was showing 900 RPM instead of the usual 600-700. My CFI decided that might cause problems during landing and we scrubbed the flight. It turns out the plane was just out of maintenance and the mixture was rigged incorrectly.
 
Yes, my old flying club has some beater 172s for flying lessons. I decided one day to take one up just for fun and because they were cheap. Found the front cowling had impacted something and there was bare fiberglass held together what what appeared to be duct tape. I didn't want to take a chance and have the cowling come apart on me. Plus, WTF??

The other time was actually a CAP plane. I noticed the pushrod for the left aileron on a 172 didn't twist like it should upon closer inspection it was rubbing against the stringer. Turns out the pushrod was bent due to helicopter propwash and someone not putting on the gust lock.
 
labbadabba said:
Yes, my old flying club has some beater 172s for flying lessons. I decided one day to take one up just for fun and because they were cheap. Found the front cowling had impacted something and there was bare fiberglass held together what what appeared to be duct tape. I didn't want to take a chance and have the cowling come apart on me. Plus, WTF??

The other time was actually a CAP plane. I noticed the pushrod for the left aileron on a 172 didn't twist like it should upon closer inspection it was rubbing against the stringer. Turns out the pushrod was bent due to helicopter propwash and someone not putting on the gust lock.
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I always twist that pushrod during preflight but I've always wondered if there was a point to it. Now I know there is.
 
I've rejected a number of planes for various reasons, from leaking brakes to to broken cowling latches (PA28) to 91.205 items (including an FN clock for IFR -- THAT ****ed me off) to inadequate static RPM. But never for bad paint or a dressed prop nick.

When in doubt, ask a mechanic. And if you won't fly it, it should be grounded. Just make sure it's not a BS reason. Like, paint isn't going to corrode you to death. It might make the owner unhappy in a year.
 
I've come across a 2' section of leading edge missing on an 145 which made for a good morning chat with maintenance. I've also found the entire floorboard swimming in brake fluid in a Piper Arrow.
 
Bad paint is a bigger deal than a lot of you seem to think. A very bad paint job on a wing has the same effect as icing. There is no real guide to what is air worthy and what isn't, my decision is based on if there are sections of paint that are loose, or missing on the top surface. This tells me that the integrity of the paint could fail at any time disrupting the airflow over the wing which could cause a stall at an airspeed you wouldn't expect.
 
FlySince9 said:
when I was 17 years old, taking lessons at Kupper AP in NJ, I found the entire stabilizer loose on a C-150 Aerobat...Yes, the whole frigg'n thing was loose!
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Yea so, did you take her flying anyway? Stabilizers are so overrated these days....
 
Bad paint?

Not really a issue

But better to err on the side of saftey, what did the AP say about the snag?
 
Bad paint is sometimes an indication that the metal beneath it is going bad. The OP mentions that the prop blade metal was flaking away; that's exfoliation and a very dangerous sort of corrosion. if the propeller has that, what do the hidden areas of the airframe look like?
 
FlySince9 said:
when I was 17 years old, taking lessons at Kupper AP in NJ, I found the entire stabilizer loose on a C-150 Aerobat...Yes, the whole frigg'n thing was loose!
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That's what makes it aerobatic, right? :)

What you describe on the prop would concern me. Good call!
 
The paint, seen worse but it's up to you.

The prop, sounded from the odd description that it needed service.

Worst story I've heard was a former CFI of mine worked at [insert Florida puppy mill here] and he stepped away from a 172 while his student was preflighting it and noticed the wing dihedral looked "off".

Grabbed another CFI who agreed. Grabbed maintenance guy who looked closer and realized the last pair of yahoos to fly the thing had snapped a wing spar and were lucky to have made it back to the airport alive.

Investigation led to a firing over unauthorized aerobatics in a 172. And a lot of instructors wondered which other airplanes that CFI had overstressed besides the one that finally broke.
 
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denverpilot said:
he stepped away from a 172 while his student was preflighting it and noticed the wing dihedral looked "off".
Grabbed another CFI who agreed. Grabbed maintenance guy who looked closer and realized the last pair of yahoos to fly the think had snapped a wing spar and were lucky to have made it back to the airport alive.
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Wow.

The last thing I do as part of my preflight is to step away from the plane and look at it in full from afar. Never know what you might catch. This would definitely be one of those things.
 
Cajun_Flyer said:
Wow.

The last thing I do as part of my preflight is to step away from the plane and look at it in full from afar. Never know what you might catch. This would definitely be one of those things.
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Thought you said you did that AFTER you abused, I mean flew it. :D
 
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