Dumbest thing you have done and lived to tell about it

Nothing wrong with Landing NORDO and getting the charts after being back on terra firma
 
When I'm in a plane alone I put my "stuff" in the right seat right next to me - no need to reach around and try to get it from back that way. The right seat becomes the "desk".
 
Flew a perfect glideslope down to treetop level before my SP said, "Umm, we're kinda low.."

I tore off the hood and saw we were 3 miles out and about 200' AGL.

The Glideslope had malfunctioned once before. We took it in, they checked it out -- it's fine. We flew it a while and then it worked fine -- until this approach.

No flag, no nuttin -- just a perfect slope down the beam.
 
dmccormack said:
Flew a perfect glideslope down to treetop level before my SP said, "Umm, we're kinda low.."

I tore off the hood and saw we were 3 miles out and about 200' AGL.

The Glideslope had malfunctioned once before. We took it in, they checked it out -- it's fine. We flew it a while and then it worked fine -- until this approach.

No flag, no nuttin -- just a perfect slope down the beam.
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Did they find anything wrong with it? I assume that it wasn't just a false glide slope? How was the FAF supposed to have been identified on this approach?

I'd think that it'd be pretty hard to do this if the approach were flown to the plate. Though, I'll be the first to admit that I've started down the chute without turning up the sound on my marker beacons.
 
jason said:
Did they find anything wrong with it? I assume that it wasn't just a false glide slope? How was the FAF supposed to have been identified on this approach?

I'd think that it'd be pretty hard to do this if the approach were flown to the plate. Though, I'll be the first to admit that I've started down the chute without turning up the sound on my marker beacons.
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... which is why this is posted on the "Dumbest things..." thread....
 
dmccormack said:
Intermittent Equipment Failure....

(The worst kind)
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A good reason to have both nav heads setup for the approach - and if you start getting differing indications - get the hell out of there.

I almost always have two nav heads and a GPS setup. If one of them all the sudden doesn't make sense I'm going to go missed and will use the two that agree to accomplish it.

Not sure what the stupidest thing I've done in IMC is...Will have to think about that.
 
jesse said:
A good reason to have both nav heads setup for the approach - and if you start getting differing indications - get the hell out of there.

I almost always have two nav heads and a GPS setup. If one of them all the sudden doesn't make sense I'm going to go missed and will use the two that agree to accomplish it.

Not sure what the stupidest thing I've done in IMC is...Will have to think about that.
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You have two Glideslopes???
 
A 172RG I used to fly had an instrument student flying the ILS into Livermore, CA, with the CFII watching from the right seat. Had the needles nailed, no flags, station identified, and was a half mile to the left of the course. The CFII was puzzling over this when they got barked at by the tower as they were conflicting with traffic for the left runway (which has no ILS).

No idea what caused the error. Really glad it didn't happen to someone in IMC. Really hard to spot an error when everything is "working" as expected. I'm pretty sure that if I was in the clouds and ATC told me I was a half mile off course I'd tell them that they need to get their RADAR serviced.
 
I once told Barb that she was wrong, does that count?
 
dmccormack said:
I've yet to fly a single with two glideslopes. Nav sure, but glideslopes -- quite rare...
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Weird. I'm not sure I've flown an IFR single that didnt have two glideslopes, and I don't generally fly the fanciest of aircraft.
 
jesse said:
Weird. I'm not sure I've flown an IFR single that didnt have two glideslopes, and I don't generally fly the fanciest of aircraft.
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Consider yourself very fortunate. I know that such animals do exist, but I've never actually seen one in person.
 
Let Mr 1 800 WX-BRIEF talk me into scud running across lake Michigan, in the dark. Learned a lesson on that one.

Another was not checking that my traveling companion hadn't messed with cowling fasteners while I wasn't looking, that was, well, fun...
 
Skylane81E said:
Let Mr 1 800 WX-BRIEF talk me into scud running across lake Michigan, in the dark. Learned a lesson on that one.

Another was not checking that my traveling companion hadn't messed with cowling fasteners while I wasn't looking, that was, well, fun...
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I heart mister 800WXBRIEF. Heck a few weeks ago I guess I got the same briefer I always had and didn't know it - after my tail number he says to me - so you must be near your checkride right? Totally threw me for a loop. They know me or something. Weird. I mean I guess calling them for months does that but - it was really out of the blue. Sorry your mister briefer did not do you any good. My briefers and I always share a joke, a laugh, or a nice hello. They seem awesome to me.
 
They tend to be very good, but I let him make MY PIC go/no-go for me.

That was quite the stupid pilot trick.
 
I just thought of a really stupid one.

Flying IMC in an Aerostar, flying an approach to minimums, with a strong crosswind. I had the autopilot engaged and coupled to the approach, and it was having a very difficult time dealing with the turbulence and crosswind component, starting to stray off course to the downwind side. I decided to disconnect the autopilot and fly manually, but instead of just hitting the disconnect button, I reached up to the switch panel to shut it off, only instead of the autpilot power switch, I hit the avionics master switch. Everything went dead.:yikes: Powered the avionics back up, and fortunately we had the secondary VOR and glideslope tuned to the ILS, so it came up quickly, otherwise we would have had to go around and wait for the 430 to reacquire. As it was, I drifted right of course just as we broke out and I had to bring it back to the runway.
 
jesse said:
Weird. I'm not sure I've flown an IFR single that didnt have two glideslopes, and I don't generally fly the fanciest of aircraft.
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Hell I did all my IR training and check ride with one radio, and not a flip flop either. Since then I'd say it's been about 50:50 on having 1GS+1OBS/LOC vs 2GS heads.
 
Topped off the tanks and headed off on a short flight. Normal flight, normal landing. When I opened the door at the FBO, I noticed a cable laying across the door. I thought the ADF wire had broken lose until I saw the diameter of the wire. Then I thought to myself, "Did I remove the ground wire after fuelling"?

The clamp never let go and I flew with the cable for 100 miles. Somehow it ended up wrapping over the fuselage. Luckily is never got drug into the prop or wheels and strangely enough, didn't even scratch the paint.

I took the cable and clamp back to the FBO with a $20 A**hole fee for the poor guy who had to re-attach it in the freezing temps.
 
Before a very early morning IFR flight (still dark) with heavy weather about to roll in I pulled up to a certain self-service stop to top off. I didn't need the fuel but feel better flying IMC with full tanks.

I'd called for my clearance and had a void time in 15 minutes.

For some reason the cabinet light is out. Oh well, these things are all the same, right?

I pulled the hose and out by hand and then refueled. I was putting everything away when I saw a "fuel hose return" button (basically a motor connected to the drum the hose is wound onto). I pressed the button and watched the hose slowly wind onto the drum.

I was walking to unhitch the static line when I heard a heavy squeak, I turned to see the hose now being wrapped around the axle (outside of the drum).

I figured I was too far away to reach the off button, so I tried to get the hose to feed back onto the drum. It was wound so tight it wrapped it jumped across the drum and starting wrapping around the opposite axle.

So I run to hit the button -- it won't shut off. I check again -- wrong button. Before I can find the off button the auto-shut off engages and the nozzle wedges underneath the whole rubber mess.

I look at the sky. I look at the airplane. I look at the ramp. I look back at the hose mess, now a bit more visible in the early morning twilight.

I jump in, start up, do a runup along the taxiway, and blast off. As I'm about to switch over to departure I hear someone using non-standard phraseology on the CTAF, asking about an N number....


:redface:

















POST SCRIPT: A couple of months later landed late and rolled in to top off. Sure enough, someone else had left the hose wrapped around the axles. I spent a solid 45 minutes unwinding it, then carefully guided it back onto the drum in such sweet rolls a sailor would have been proud.
 
Henning said:
Hell I did all my IR training and check ride with one radio, and not a flip flop either. Since then I'd say it's been about 50:50 on having 1GS+1OBS/LOC vs 2GS heads.
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When I bought my current airplane the owner said it had "dual glideslopes". It didn't take me long to figure out that there was only one GS receiver (external to the KX175Bs) which was driving two KNI-520s (OBS/CDI w/ GS pointer). The only redundance this provided was a second indicator if the GS needle in the #1 CDI failed and it could be rather confusing if you had an ILS tuned on #1 and something else on #2. Since then I've come across a few other airplanes equipped this way and in each case the owner thought he had two independent GS systems.
 
gismo said:
When I bought my current airplane the owner said it had "dual glideslopes". It didn't take me long to figure out that there was only one GS receiver (external to the KX175Bs) which was driving two KNI-520s (OBS/CDI w/ GS pointer). The only redundance this provided was a second indicator if the GS needle in the #1 CDI failed and it could be rather confusing if you had an ILS tuned on #1 and something else on #2. Since then I've come across a few other airplanes equipped this way and in each case the owner thought he had two independent GS systems.
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A friend has a 172 with dual glideslope needles. I'll have to go fly with him and see if they are fed off Nav 1 or independently off Nav 1 and Nav 2. Thanks for the heads up on that.
 
Ghery said:
A friend has a 172 with dual glideslope needles. I'll have to go fly with him and see if they are fed off Nav 1 or independently off Nav 1 and Nav 2. Thanks for the heads up on that.
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Glideslopes are not necessarily fed off the navs. Sometimes the GS receiver is a separate box of its own and SHOULD have individual antennas (for redundancy) All G/S are on the same frequency so you don't "tune them in" you just pick them up (ever notice flying through a glideslope while flying along?).
 
Doing buzz jobs in an ancient T-34A. The exhaust augmentor tubes made the T-34 ideal for this sort of foolishness. This was a little while before the spar AD came out that grounded the T-34 fleet.

While out in the same A/C one CAVU Fall afternoon, the engine threw #5 rod (which took out #6 cylinder) and began dumping all the oil overboard. I managed to get the heap on the ground before the engine seized......
 
Henning said:
Glideslopes are not necessarily fed off the navs. Sometimes the GS receiver is a separate box of its own and SHOULD have individual antennas (for redundancy) All G/S are on the same frequency so you don't "tune them in" you just pick them up (ever notice flying through a glideslope while flying along?).
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Henning, it's unusual to see a post from you filled with errors and misleading statments but you messed this one up pretty badly:D

GS transmitters are NOT "all on the same frequency. There are 40 different frequencies, all in the 320-330 MHz range. In most if not all GA installations the GS receiver is "channeled" by the associated VOR/LOC receiver meaning that the VOR/LOC receiver tells the GS receiver which channel to use via a group of discrete signals (or more recently via a serial connection).

As to the redundant antenna issue, a separate GS antenna is no more reliable or robust than a combined VOR?LOC/GS antenna although it's not all that uncommon for such an antenna to provide less range on GS than a dedicated GS only antenna. But more often than not this has more to do with antenna placement (dedicated GS antennas are often installed on the belly and VOR antennas typically are on the top or tail). Incidentally, since the GS frequencies are almost exactly three times the frequencies used for VOR/LOC, any VOR antenna will work pretty well for GS reception.

FWIW, a glideslope receiver is virtually always "electrically" separate from the VOR/LOC receiver but the GS receiver can physically be on one of three places. Originally they were always a separate box. This was still the case with the KX170/175 series except for the KI211 (see below). With the KX155/165 an internal GS receiver was an option although many were installed with an external GS box, especially if the 155 replaced a 175. The third location is in the CDI itself ala the Narco NAV122. Technically that's a GS internal to a nav receiver since the 122 has that built in as well. The rare King KI211 was exactly that, a loc/vor indicator/converter with a built in GS receiver.
 
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Probably not the dumbest thing I have done, but the dumbest I will admit to on a forum. LOL
Tooling along on an IFR flight plan on a victor airway.
One of my first solo flights with my new ticket.
Needle is DEAD center, using the other nav head to track my progress along the route.
Had just climbed through a layer to get on top and life is good.
Just checked in with a new Approach, and they ask me if I am on the airway. Hmmm????? Check the needle, "YUP".
"Well we are showing you 8 miles south of it".
WHAT?????
Quickly dial in the other nav head, and YUP, the needles SWINGS to the side.
Not so quick to just answer yes now.
Advise them I have a nav head failure and am back on the airway. Hear a little chuckling as they just responded roger.
Never got any indication at all that it was dead.
 
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Unregistered said:
Still, the worst was leaving my wallet on the wing walk.
...
Yep, there it is, open and papers strewn about. I got everything except a couple receipts. I beat the evil lawn mower by minutes.
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I once flew with a friend who left his bundle of keys hanging from the pilot side door lock on his Rockwell 114. It hung on for dear life, but was within half an inch of falling out entirely when we noticed it after landing... Thankfully it wasn't a longer flight!
 
markb5900 said:
Probably not the dumbest thing I have done, but the dumbest I will admit to on a forum. LOL
Tooling along on an IFR flight plan on a victor airway.
One of my first solo flights with my new ticket.
Needle is DEAD center, using the other nav head to track my progress along the route.
Had just climbed through a layer to get on top and life is good.
Just checked in with a new Approach, and they ask me if I am on the airway. Hmmm????? Check the needle, "YUP".
"Well we are showing you 8 miles south of it".
WHAT?????
Quickly dial in the other nav head, and YUP, the needles SWINGS to the side.
Not so quick to just answer yes now.
Advise them I have a nav head failure and am back on the airway. Hear a little chuckling as they just responded roger.
Never got any indication at all that it was dead.
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I've had that happen before. Not on an IFR flight plan or anything, but, it did fail in a way it wasn't noticable.

I thought it was suspicious that it was so perfect. Too good to be true, so I started foolin with it, and it wasn't working. Turns out it had some kind of thermal like short? It would work fine until it got to a certain temperature than fail.

Since then, i've learned that if I can't ID a station with one radio, try it with the other instead of just assuming its down for maintenance.
 
I lost 2 different nav radios, one King 155 and a Narco all in one 3 1/4" unit over the Grand Canyon at the same time. Comms, transponder... everything else still good, just the 2 navs. I think I got zapped by an alien UFO...
 
XM Jazz is all I listen to. Other than flight following...... Perfect for trips to Oshkosh or Texas from NorCal.

Ooooops, wrong thread....
 
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I get good enough 3G coverage in most of Northern California I can stream Pandora in flight. Yep, breath taking view off the shore of Northern California, listening to Ice Cube sing about killing G's.
 
just got back into flying a few months ago, last prior flight was in 2000. well after doing what i thought was a complete preflight, we got in the 172 and i started her up, got taxi clearance and the damn plane wouldn't roll :confused:
The CFI said "did you remove the wheel chock?" I said "uh damn, i don't think so". He said pretty embarrassing huh? I said yes, i really feel like an idiot, that was a 1st for me:redface:

lesson learned, glancing at a checklist is not good enough! you have to actually precisely go through every item in detail.
 
redtail said:
just got back into flying a few months ago, last prior flight was in 2000. well after doing what i thought was a complete preflight, we got in the 172 and i started her up, got taxi clearance and the damn plane wouldn't roll :confused:
The CFI said "did you remove the wheel chock?" I said "uh damn, i don't think so". He said pretty embarrassing huh? I said yes, i really feel like an idiot, that was a 1st for me:redface:

lesson learned, glancing at a checklist is not good enough! you have to actually precisely go through every item in detail.
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And this is why I now walk once around the airplane, one last good visual check, from about twenty feet away, before boarding. Been there, done that!
 
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