Dumbest thing you've done in your hangar (AKA Hangar Rash)

HangarSphere

HangarSphere

Filing Flight Plan
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HangarSphere
There was a great thread about "the dumbest thing you've ever done in an airplane and lived to tell about it." I'm asking the same type of question: What's the dumbest thing you've ever done in your hangar resulting in a bad case of hangar rash or bruised ego.

I'll go first.

I left the tow bar on the airplane when starting to taxi. Fortunately I missed a prop strike but severely bent my hand tow-bar and bruised my ego as all my friends were watching.
 
I don't really think it was stupid, but my engine sump leaked an entire tankful of gas, 50 gallons, onto the floor of my hangar. Damn good thing I don't smoke.
 
Paid $505/month for an unheated hangar

smart thing: left circa 2007 when they raised the rates (yet again) to $625/month.
 
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Bob Noel said:
Paid $505/month for an unheated hangar

smart thing: left circa 2007 when they raised the rates (yet again) to $625/month.
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I've paid less in the last 10 years for a place to live... Did your plane at least get kitchen privs?
 
One of my fellow employees was taking a King Air out of the hanger but forgot to raise the door all the way taking off the top of the rudder.
 
The first time I put the Navion into the hangar in CJR I hit the shelf in the back of the hangar. I moved those.

The most painful thing I did in the NC26 hangar was walking across the floor while washing the plane and slipping on the slippery smooth concrete.
 
2nd place: Stood up under the wingtip of my ultralight and jabbed myself in the crown with a bolt.:mad:


1st place: (about 2-3 minutes later) Stood up under the wingtip of my ultralight and jabbed myself in the crown with a bolt. :mad3::mad3::mad3:
 
I put a 1" scuff in the paint in the left wingtip about a month after I bought into the co-ownership. I was seriously dreading that phone call...

I called... 'fessed up (the horizontal folding door on my right, airplane left came unlatched and slowly closed in wind as I was pushing in) and everyone came out to the hangar to take a look the next day...

"Oh, that's nothing! Haven't you seen the one in the right wingtip that's been painted with touch-up paint??" (It's actually touched up pretty well, and no I'd not seen it in the hangar. Out in the sunlight it's more noticeable.)

LOL! I was sooooo nervous calling the new co-owners to tell them I dinged the paint on their baby... hahaha...
 
Clearly the dumbest thing I did was to back the plane into the hangar while my car was still parked there. Pushed from the nosewheel with a power tug the fuselage completely blocked my view of the car but what made this especially stupid is that I had just loaded some of my bags into the car before grabbing the tug and pushing the plane. Fortunately the damage was limited to some black marks on the tailcone and some white paint on the black rubber strip around the car's windshield and more white paint on the car's A pillar. It actually "buffed right out" leaving nothing more than a tiny scratch in the car's paint and the black marks came right off the airplane with a little polish and elbow grease.

But a friend of mine holds the all time record for this event IMO. The rented hangar where he kept his recently painted Cessna 310 had a manual (counterweighted) bifold door. One winter morning he was preparing to depart on a business trip but couldn't manage to drag the airplane over a ridge of ice that had formed next to the door. He was in to much of a hurry to summon help from any one of several nearby FBOs (I've gotten similar service for free from two of them) he decided to fire up the engines and taxi the plane out of the hangar. Of course it took nearly full power to get the nosewheel over the big ice curb and just when the plane finally managed that and had moved a few feet forward the door collapsed onto the plane crushing the cabin just behind the pilot's seat. Now this was a pilot who'd never busted a reg, always flew conservatively, was extremely competent and safety conscious, the last guy I'd have guessed would try something that stupid.
 
gismo said:
Clearly the dumbest thing I did was to back the plane into the hangar while my car was still parked there. Pushed from the nosewheel with a power tug the fuselage completely blocked my view of the car but what made this especially stupid is that I had just loaded some of my bags into the car before grabbing the tug and pushing the plane. Fortunately the damage was limited to some black marks on the tailcone and some white paint on the black rubber strip around the car's windshield and more white paint on the car's A pillar. It actually "buffed right out" leaving nothing more than a tiny scratch in the car's paint and the black marks came right off the airplane with a little polish and elbow grease.

But a friend of mine holds the all time record for this event IMO. The rented hangar where he kept his recently painted Cessna 310 had a manual (counterweighted) bifold door. One winter morning he was preparing to depart on a business trip but couldn't manage to drag the airplane over a ridge of ice that had formed next to the door. He was in to much of a hurry to summon help from any one of several nearby FBOs (I've gotten similar service for free from two of them) he decided to fire up the engines and taxi the plane out of the hangar. Of course it took nearly full power to get the nosewheel over the big ice curb and just when the plane finally managed that and had moved a few feet forward the door collapsed onto the plane crushing the cabin just behind the pilot's seat. Now this was a pilot who'd never busted a reg, always flew conservatively, was extremely competent and safety conscious, the last guy I'd have guessed would try something that stupid.
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Believe me, we all have our shining moments :wink2:
 
I've broken a few tow pins on various Beech BO's and Baron's moving them in and out of the hangar to get the Warrior out for a flight. Thankfully they were only about $40 a piece for the tow pins.
 
Swampfox201 said:
One of my fellow employees was taking a King Air out of the hanger but forgot to raise the door all the way taking off the top of the rudder.
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That just happened to our club's 172. Grrrrr. Wasn't me that did it, though. I mean, come ON... how hard is it to check to make sure the bloody door's up all the way?
 
There's also video kicking around of some guy lifting off in a helicopter and striking the overhanging hangar door.
 
It wasn't in the hangar, but...

I was flying off some of the test flight hours in the RV. I stopped for fuel at an airport within our test area. Pulled up to the tank farm and left the plane sitting 3/4 into the wind, but I didn't pull it completely into the wind. After I got out and walked around the nose, the wind picked up and swung the tail around and scraped the wing tip on the concrete stops next to the tank farm. I felt HORRIBLE. The plane had ~10 hours on it and I had already put a scratch 3/4 of the length of the wingtip.

Now I make double sure to park the RV DIRECTLY into the wind. That free castering nosewheel and lack of parking brake means that thing can go wherever it pleases on the ground with not a lot of wind.
 
flyingron said:
There's also video kicking around of some guy lifting off in a helicopter and striking the overhanging hangar door.
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numl0ck said:
:yikes::yikes::mad2::no: You can't fix stupid.
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That would be this one. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTqcZ3Ihsmo

http://www.ntsb.gov/aviationquery/brief2.aspx?ev_id=20040825X01288&ntsbno=CHI04LA212&akey=1
http://dms.ntsb.gov/aviation/AccidentReports/smdznb45vszb1myr4crkmluh1/U08022012120000.pdf


My (possibly faulty) recollection of the forum chat at the time. A little internet search might yield the details:


Pilot takes off with 9yr old passenger in left seat.

R44 strikes hangar door on lift off.

Pilot tells NTSB that 9 yr old interfered with the controls and caused heli to drift into the hangar.

Video then surfaces and shows no drift and "normal departure"

NTSB notes same in report.

Much forum noise ensued over pilot blaming little kid for the incident.

Unsuccessful activity follows to remove video from internet. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqA5YpgRZPc

​
 
CJones said:
Now I make double sure to park the RV DIRECTLY into the wind. That free castering nosewheel and lack of parking brake means that thing can go wherever it pleases on the ground with not a lot of wind.
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No parking brake? Back when I was flying tail draggers, I didn't get out of the plane without chocking both wheels.

The Navion is a bit dicey in strong winds. The big squishy tires on it will roll right over most chocks and while it's not going anywhere it will turn itself to align with the wind. My kids were sitting in the plane one day when it decided to do one of those weathervanes. My son hopped out, rechocked the wheels and got back inside. I came out to wonder why the plane was parked crooked like that.
 
flyingron said:
No parking brake? Back when I was flying tail draggers, I didn't get out of the plane without chocking both wheels.

The Navion is a bit dicey in strong winds. The big squishy tires on it will roll right over most chocks and while it's not going anywhere it will turn itself to align with the wind. My kids were sitting in the plane one day when it decided to do one of those weathervanes. My son hopped out, rechocked the wheels and got back inside. I came out to wonder why the plane was parked crooked like that.
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Coming from the fleet of CessPipers, I was used to planes that were too heavy to weathervane so quickly in such light winds (10ish kits, IIRC), but the RV-7A, with little fuel, and no extra 'stuff' in the back is pretty darn light comparatively.

Lesson definitely learned. ;)
 
ElPaso Pilot said:
That would be this one. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTqcZ3Ihsmo

http://www.ntsb.gov/aviationquery/brief2.aspx?ev_id=20040825X01288&ntsbno=CHI04LA212&akey=1
http://dms.ntsb.gov/aviation/AccidentReports/smdznb45vszb1myr4crkmluh1/U08022012120000.pdf


My (possibly faulty) recollection of the forum chat at the time. A little internet search might yield the details:
Pilot takes off with 9yr old passenger in left seat.

R44 strikes hangar door on lift off.

Pilot tells NTSB that 9 yr old interfered with the controls and caused heli to drift into the hangar.

Video then surfaces and shows no drift and "normal departure"

NTSB notes same in report.

Much forum noise ensued over pilot blaming little kid for the incident.

Unsuccessful activity follows to remove video from internet. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqA5YpgRZPc

​
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I can't watch the video at work, but I read the post by flyingron saying that he tried to take off while still in the hanger. I guess it wasn't as bad as that, but still pretty rough to blame the kid.
 
CJones said:
Coming from the fleet of CessPipers, I was used to planes that were too heavy to weathervane so quickly in such light winds (10ish kits, IIRC), but the RV-7A, with little fuel, and no extra 'stuff' in the back is pretty darn light comparatively.

Lesson definitely learned. ;)
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My Navion is heavier than your CessPipers and it will weathervane quite aggressively.
 
numl0ck said:
I can't watch the video at work, but I read the post by flyingron saying that he tried to take off while still in the hanger. I guess it wasn't as bad as that, but still pretty rough to blame the kid.
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I didn't say anything of the sort.
 
Maybe it is a good thing my rental plane is tied down outside (no hangar for me). I am enjoying the stories so far though.
 
HangarSphere said:
I left the tow bar on the airplane when starting to taxi. Fortunately I missed a prop strike but severely bent my hand tow-bar and bruised my ego as all my friends were watching.
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You did better than this guy:

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TangoWhiskey said:
Yeah, I wasn't sure which was more embarrassing--the dirty belly, or the tow bar hanging from the nose wheel.
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Dude, that's nothing. My hands would turn black from a pre-flight of a Skyhawk and I did not touch the belly. That was at another airport, and I only flew it twice, but now I appreciate my current rental even more.
 
TangoWhiskey said:
You did better than this guy:

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Ugh... that is crazy dirty. :( It would seem like it would be a good idea to have the planes that are used for rental detailed regularly so they would look better for the customers renting them. I know I would appreciate a clean airplane every time but I've never been a renter and had to deal with that before. The "detail guy" at my home airport is very thorough and has a lot of experience doing it. After the Young Eagles/Boy Scout day I'm helping out with this weekend, I'm having my airplane detailed. It gets a wash/wax/interior vacuumed and the belly cleaned as part of the service. :D
 
Frankly, I don't care if the aircraft is butt ugly. I care if it's airworthy, reasonably maintained, safe, and perhaps costs a bit less due to skipping the unimportant.

Most of the aircraft I fly have 30+-year-old paint jobs that look like an AMC Gremlin. And it's not unusual to have oil all over the bottom.
 
MAKG1 said:
Frankly, I don't care if the aircraft is butt ugly. I care if it's airworthy, reasonably maintained, safe, and perhaps costs a bit less due to skipping the unimportant.

Most of the aircraft I fly have 30+-year-old paint jobs that look like an AMC Gremlin. And it's not unusual to have oil all over the bottom.
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With some engines there's always going to be oil on the belly. The Frankenkota needed cleaned with every oil change since it'd blow a pretty good mist out the blow-by vent. I've heard the blow-by vent tube can be extended to get it mostly out of the boundary layer but never tried it. Put a wet vacuum pump on and that required an air-oil separator so now the nature of the problem has changed but not a lot. It blows less oil now but not a lot less. One dusty day and the belly is dirty again.
 
2) Locked my hangar key in the hangar.

1) We have bi-fold doors (top and bottom panel, with a joint running the length horizntally) with a human sized door in the bottom door panel. There is an electric winch that opens the bi-fold doors by pulling the bottom door up toward the ceiling. Push the button, and it opens all the way, as the two panels fold together. I opened the bi-fold hangar door without making sure that the smaller human size door in the bottom panel was fully closed. I went back to my plane to get my headsets, etc., as the electric winch continued to automatically open the hangar door all of the way to the top. As the winch pulled the door all the way up, I start to hear a loud crunching noise. As the door folded along the horizontal joint between the two panels of the door, the human sized door was caught in the open position, and the corner of smaller opened door then punched a hole right through the top panel of the hangar door. Oops.

(Fortunately, they had the foresight to design those large doors with smaller panels of corragated steel that can be switched individually without having to re-skin the entire panel.)
 
Stevel said:
2nd place: Stood up under the wingtip of my ultralight and jabbed myself in the crown with a bolt.:mad:


1st place: (about 2-3 minutes later) Stood up under the wingtip of my ultralight and jabbed myself in the crown with a bolt. :mad3::mad3::mad3:
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The above incidents are now officially demoted to 2nd and 3rd place.:mad3::mad3::mad3::mad3::mad3:
 
Since this thread has been resurrected, I'll add my recent Doh!

When I went to air up my main gear tires, I disconnected my blow off nozzle from the air compressor. The nozzle is attached to one of those curly cue yellow hoses. I had my hand on the nozzle and when I let the quick release go, the hose flew out and the end with the quick connect hit the wing of my plane. DOH!! It didn't dent the skin, but it did chip the paint as a nice reminder for me.

Fortunately, I have old and tired paint. If it had been a new $12,000 paint job like many of you have, I'd have cried the rest of the day and well into the week! I think it's a good thing for a first time owner to buy a plane with tired paint. I've been really glad more than once.
 
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The dumbest thing I've done in my hangar? Other than not opening the doors all the way?
 
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