How do you cover for ineptness

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Piper18O

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Piper18O
I am looking for stories where you were less than prepared for a circumstance, or lacked knowledge, or maybe just didn't quite have the skills you needed at particular point in your aviation career. What did you do or how did you recover?

My first was my long solo cross country when working on my PPL. I got my briefing, and planned to fly to Limon Colorado. Being from Kansas, I wanted to go to a destination where I could at least be able to see mountains off in the distance. The forecast was supposed to be VFR with occasional scattered and good visibility all the way out there and back. This was in the summertime, and as I got closer and closer, it looked like I might have an issue with pop up thunderstorms before I got to Limon. I wanted no part of that, so I looked at my chart and saw that Burlington Colorado was just a few miles ahead. That was more that good enough for me, I just wanted to land get my book signed and go home. I had the current sectional, and it showed that the airport was just on the northwest corner of the city. I was about 5 miles south of the airport, I announced my position and my landing intentions. Someone on the ground called back and gave me the winds. I continued on and made my approach and landing into the airport. As I was descending on final, I saw a big X on the end of the runway. I also saw an airplane sitting on the ramp. I was very confused and didn't know what to do, so I just landed. I taxied up to the FBO and nobody was around. Just the plane on the ramp. With everything seemingly deserted, I quickly thought I needed to get out of there asap. I remember seeing a really nice landing strip 4 or 5 miles south of town, but I just figured it was some rich guys private strip. It wasn't on the chart. As I was taxing to take off, it hit me that maybe they built a new airport for the city. I flew to that new strip and sure enough It had opened a few days earlier. I was so embarrassed. I quickly got a signature from someone in the fbo and left as soon as I could. Fortunately, no one asked me any questions. I took back off and was worried sick about landing at that closed airport for months. Nothing ever became of it. I have never been back there. I figured that even though they never said anything, I was still the laughing stock of the community.
 
My first was my long solo cross country ...[/QUOTE]
Piper18O said:
I am looking for stories where you were less than prepared for a circumstance, or lacked knowledge, or maybe just didn't quite have the skills you needed at particular point in your aviation career. What did you do or how did you recover?

My first was my long solo cross country....
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That was you?
 
Piper18O said:
What did you do or how did you recover?
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I called up center and asked for flight following for Cirrus 666. They gave a squawk and never expected me to to know a damn thing.

Wouldn't work in a C-152 though, since Cirrus 666 never flies that slow. Even when it should!
 
Piper18O said:
I am... Limon Colorado. Being from Kansas, I wanted to go to a destination where I could at least be able to see mountains off in the distance.
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LOL. First mistake? :)

As you get older you realize you aren’t ever going to stop making mistakes. Spending time covering them is just wasted.

Making fun of them with a good laugh and learning from them is worth the time.

A whole day without one is a blessing and a curse. Just means you’re overdue. :)
 
I’ve made so many boners I can’t even think of them all.

The first one I remember should probably have been interpreted as a suggestion from somebody up there that I give up flying. It was my first short cross country in 1992. I was flying into Grayson County Texas and made a wrong call in the pattern. I don’t even remember what the dumb call was. It resulted in me almost landing on another plane. I was so rattled I forgot to close my flight plan, but the FBO caught me to tell me the FAA was calling before I got away. On the return trip I thought seriously about giving it all up, but kept going.

Not long after that I did spins with the instructor because he wouldn’t sign off for a check ride without spinning. I spun twice In his Champ and got out of them both times, but didn’t come out of the spin in the right direction so he would not enter it as a spin endorsement, only an introduction. At that point I had to do a bunch of European business travel and didn’t fly for about six months. Upon returning, he took me up in a 150 for checkout so I could fly alone again. In the course of that flight he asked me if I remembered how to recover from a stall from a climbing turn. I said, yeah sure. I banked left and when it stalled a tried to pick it up with the ailerons, So you can guess what happened. It fell off hard and fast left. I leveled the wings and then pulled it out of the dive. I had been going due North, but when recovered had turned 270 degrees to East. At that point I wish I had given it up after the Grayson County trip.

I have done plenty of dumb things since then, most of them not life threatening.
 
Ravioli said:
I called up center and asked for flight following for Cirrus 666. They gave a squawk and never expected me to to know a damn thing.

Wouldn't work in a C-152 though, since Cirrus 666 never flies that slow. Even when it should!
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Explanation please? No idea what you’re getting at...
 
My first XC after getting my ticket was a flight to Boise. First glitch was a radio issue after I was with their approach controller. Wasn’t receiving their calls and ended up getting relayed through another aircraft. That was interesting. Then when I was taxiing for departure I inadvertently crossed a closed runway without permission. Ground laughed it off and told me not to worry about it.

We learn from mistakes. Unless it is a fatal mistake. Just try not to let that happen. Continue learning and continue flying.
 
My first long solo CC to a controlled airport got me confused. The tower had me going downwind to land on the north runway. As I am going downwind (south) I see airplanes landed in a south direction on the same runway. Even worse an airplane approaching the airport had traffic (Me) west of the airport and I was East. I was so confused I called the tower and left the pattern to get my wits. My instructor had a GoPro onboard and reviewed the flight. Turns out the wind was less than 5 knots and the tower had me setting up to get into the wind on landing (north). Twin engine commuters the tower was bringing straight in south which was direct for them and evidently a 5 knot tail wind was no matter and better than passing the airport to head south and then turning north for final. As for the call that had me sighted on the wrong side of the airport, it was just a bad call. However for a newbie his first time solo into a controlled airport it was just plain confusing and I did not have the foresight to call ATC and question my position. To add humor to the story when I re-entered the pattern the tower asked me to extend my downwind to let another airplane land. You can hear me on the GoPro say,”I think they are going to have me extend my downwind to the next airport so I am their problem.” (I did not have the mike keyed so this was only picked up on the GoPro for posterity). Have to say the tower recognized I was a rookie and kept coaching me that I was where I should be and even said “good job” when I landed. However when my instructor and I reviewed the video he understood my confusion and even chuckled at my comment. I still felt like a bone head!
 
I don't try to cover up ineptness any more. Instead I work to fix it. For aviation sometimes it's just a dumb mistake, I review it, figure out how not to do it again and move on. If it is more serious or I can't figure out how to take care of it, I call my flight instructor and work it through, either on the phone or I schedule a flight. It works well for me. I haven't had to do it in a while, but you never know. Also, for the airplanes I rent, I do a required 6 month recurrency review, at first I didn't think I would like it, but it's been great. Ends up being an IPC once a year, and BFR on the other review. Good stuff.
 
The first time I got lost one of my mentors told me a story that made me feel better about the situation. He said "there are two kinds of pilots, those that HAVE gotten lost, and those who WILL get lost.

After I soloed in 2004 I made a pact with myself. If I mess up, I land and back off for the day or at least long enough to get my head screwed on straight again. You'd be surprised how much difference it makes when you back up and try again tomorrow, or simply later in the same day. It really helps.
 
dual training flight with my CFI. everything was good and normal during pre-flight, start, etc. but just after the wheels were off the ground and during climb the engine sounded and ‘felt’ rough. power was steady but dramatically less than normal. i leveled off at around 2K, made a right turn and notified the tower of my intention to return with a rough running engine but did not declare an emergency. we took off on 27, this was a 3-strip field and i was more-or-less on base for 15. wind was calm and CFI had not corrected any of my decisions so i set up and landed. i taxied back to the ramp with the engine now sounding pretty much like it was during the takeoff taxi. can anyone guess what the problem was?

well, it wasn’t until i shut down the engine that i found the magneto switch was not on ‘both’. i had failed to return the key to that position during the run-up, had failed to see that during the climb and had failed to see that when i scanned the controls. my CFI said he didn’t notice that either. this was very late in my training so i think mentally he was just along for the ride. this was my error and mine alone but i know he was just as embarrassed as i was. we re-started the flight from scratch and all was well.

lessons driven home: don’t just go thru the motions with the check-list. don’t just look...see. and scanning the controls during an in-flight emergency is not just a thing you do casually. again, don’t just look...see.
 
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Ineptness? Ok, last Friday, which was the last time I flew. Flying a new tail number for the first time and I totally zoned out on ATC - missed radio calls, fumbled responses and sounded like someone who had no business being there. In truth, I wasn't mentally up to being there and it only took me 10 minutes before I could admit it to myself. By that point I was out of the airspace and could drop services. But I still feel like a total dud for letting it happen.

I could blame the constant speed prop that I wasn't that familiar with or the extremely high traffic, but the truth is I shouldn't have been flying because I wasn't mentally ready to aviation, navigate AND communicate.
 
During one of my pre-ppsel solo flights I was doing some pattern work in Charlie airspace I had been signed off in. The controller instructed me, "Flying Gnat Barf 42, turn left downind 33."... I was expecting to be left downwind 33, but heard her call as "turn left........downwind 33" rather than "turn left downwind.....33." After a few seconds of confusion, I replied, "Omniscient Approach, Flying Gnat Barg 42 would need to turn RIGHT to be downwind 33...."

I couldn't hear the laughter from the myriad of professional transport pilots within range. Thankfullu, the controller just giggled a bit and held my hand for the next thirty minutes in the pattern.
 
I got my instrument rating in 1995. Sids and Stars had not been developed yet, at least not that I remember or ever studied. I seldom if ever flew into Bravo's back then, and had a period of time when I quit flying as they started coming in and becoming common place. When I resumed flying, they were in all class B's but I still hadn't ever needed to use one or had one assigned to me. To be honest, I had never even tried to understand them, because I just never flew into Class B airports. Well as luck would have it, my first trip into Charlotte N.C flying into JQF to visit my sister-in-law's family, the weather was IFR. 'We were flying out of somewhere in Virginia if I remember correctly. I filed just like I always had at the time, VOR to VOR and then direct JQF. (the only legal way I could since my GPS was VFR only) My clearance came back as filed. Somewhere in North Carolina I got an amendment. You guessed it. Fly the NASCR3 arrival. (or whatever number it was back then) I had no idea what that meant, and I didn't even know where to find it in my paper charts. I repeated the clearance, and the uncertainty in my response obviously raised a concern in the controller. He just calmly told me what my next fix would be after I passed my next VOR. I wrote it down, and I gave the approach plate book to my son who is not a pilot but was sitting right seat. I told him to see if he could find it, as I was constantly in and out of IMC without an autopilot. After about 10 minutes he found it, I pulled it out and studied it, and eventually figured it out. It was the sickest feeling, not knowing for sure what I was doing, especially in and out if IMC. Rain started hitting us at about the outer marker, and while the gps track file probably looked ok, it sure didn't feel ok in the pit of my stomach for the latter part of it. I sure learned how to not take things for granted after that.
 
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I looked at a 182 today at the hold short and was sure it was a Cardinal. The 182 was doing one thing, the Cardinal another. I was sure it was a confused Cardinal pilot talking on ground, so I asked (on ground) if he was sure about his tail number. When he replied confused, I quickly realized my mistake, and said, "Never mind." That one phrase can cover a lot of ineptness! No one noticed mine, my reputation as a stone-cold warrior pilot is intact, so I smiled and drank a beer in my honor after the flight. WINNING! :cool:
 
I was on a training flight in the later stages of military training for jets. On a cross country, we landed at an uncontrolled civilian field to refuel before heading west for some low-level flying. On departure, there was some confusion at the end of the runway where several civilian planes were doing their run-ups. So, my instructor angrily grabbed the controls and announced that we were taking the active and departing. As we line-up, a tailwheel Cessna was landing opposite us and after several radio calls from us to query his intentions he lands unannounced, ground loops, and FODs the runway. My instructor flips out, taxis to the other runway and takes off nearly yelling obscenities at the local traffic and supremely PO’d. I was fairly rattled at that point but it wasn’t over yet. As the gear was coming up, I looked up and see a King Air on the nose opposite direction. I took the controls to set a 50’ left to left pass, all the while hearing nothing announced on CTAF. My instructor entirely melts down and begins cussing everyone and everything over VHF, so he thinks.
Once we get cleaned up and out of the area, I’m trying to make sense of everything and decide to check my radio settings. I quickly noticed that I had inadvertently selected ADF instead of the usual TR&G, which was the usual setting for normal comms. I panicked realizing I may have been responsible for much of the preceding confusion. I waited a little while til things settled down and calmly asked the instructor what would happen if the radio was in ADF instead of TR&G. He said he was unsure and didn’t make the possible connection to all the mahem in our wake. So, I let it go at that and chalked it up to a lesson learned. From then til the end of training, I quadruple checked my radio to ensure it was in TR&G before takeoff. I still don’t know exactly what that setting did, or for sure how it impacted our flight but I figured I would leave well enough alone and avoid it in the future.
 
I retrain and recheck ‘em, apparently. :rolleyes:

And point fingers at others’ ineptitude to distract from mine. ;)
 
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Lots of them.

As co-pilot, left a tow bar attached to the Arrow I was in and taxied to a fuel pump.
Announced I was five miles out to a runway that didn't exist on the airport of intended landing.
Didn't read the notes that at a dual runway airport that one frequency was to the South runway and another was for the North. I got them backwards.
Forgot the "camera" portion of "lights, camera, action" on take off roll a few times. (landing light/fuel pump on, transponder to ALT and throttle up)
Got in a hurry and took off right behind another airplane and hit it's wake turbulence with another POA member with a gazillion hours on board

Sometimes, you just have to laugh at yourself, learn from it and make sure it doesn't happen again.
 
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My instructor threw me into the deep end on my first solo XC to a controlled airfield (ITH). The little snag was that my instructor forgot that the crappy ARC radio in the C152 didn't work on a range of frequencies that included Tower at ITH. So I got there and got to figure out light signals while circling near the field. I probably should have just gone elsewhere, but I was determined to complete my "mission." Thankfully, ITH was not that busy, and they found the light gun and I landed and called the tower to explain. They were super helpful, and gave me instructions for light signals for my departure. I probably gave them a laugh for the day.

Of course, nowadays, I would have a portable COM with me for such a circumstance. And I have more than one working and well-maintained COM in the aircraft. After that flight I learned my light gun signals!

Stuff happens. So fly the airplane, and try to do a safe and logical thing.
 
NordicDave said:
With ADS-B, who stills requires a signature after each leg?
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This was actually almost 40 years ago and my instructor had begun instructing I think in the early 50s. He always required his students to get a signature on all their cross countries.
 
Piper18O said:
I am looking for stories where you were less than prepared for a circumstance, or lacked knowledge, or maybe just didn't quite have the skills you needed at particular point in your aviation career. What did you do or how did you recover?
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After getting my solo ticket as a student I was effectively grounded for almost a month as the plane I trained in was down for maintenance. After it was completed my instructor flew it back to our airport and I was the first person to take it up the next day. While Comm 1 had the proper frequencies entered in it and I could hear everything, I never noticed that Comm 2 was selected on the audio panel so all my transmissions were on 123.45 which was the channel the instructor used the night prior when flying the plane back with another plane. The other plane made all radio calls and they were treated as a flight of two so it wasn't an issue for him. I on the other hand, never transmitted on the ctaf frequency as I spent an hour in the pattern practicing landings. Oddly enough, there were a couple of other pilots out flying the same time as me using the same frequency for their own personal comms. It did throw me off that these two were saturating the frequency with non standard banter back and forth but never once did they ever chime in to say I was on the wrong frequency. They commented once when I said I was tuning base and told me they'd keep an eye out for me but it wasn't until I landed for the last time and walked back into the school that I realized I was never actually on the ctaf frequency. Thankfully even though it was a busy day at the airport all pilots were self aware of others in the pattern and it was a non-issue.
 
MauleSkinner said:
Without ADS-B, who has required a signature for the last 50 years or more since the FAA stopped requiring it?
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A lot of old timer CFI's seem to ask for this for a long time, either mistaken it was required or just part of the tradition like clipping the shirt.

Piper18O said:
This was actually almost 40 years ago and my instructor had begun instructing I think in the early 50s. He always required his students to get a signature on all their cross countries.
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Might have been good to say this was 40 year ago. Navigation was a different game back then without GPS. Even today with a plane restricted to VOR and compass, a student would likely still whip-out their iPhone for a GPS confirmation.
 
NordicDave said:
Might have been good to say this was 40 year ago. Navigation was a different game back then without GPS. Even today with a plane restricted to VOR and compass, a student would likely still whip-out their iPhone for a GPS confirmation.
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Might be good to assume people soloed prior to January 2020. ;)
 
Not really a "mistake" per say, but a risky decision. Needed to rack up another one or two hours to have the 40hrs minimum to take the Private exam. It had just snowed about 4"-6" the day prior and I went to KOKM (Okmulgee, OK, just south of Tulsa) to practice pattern work and typical exam maneuvers. When I got to OKM, the runway had a blanket of snow on it and didn't have a single set of tracks from aircraft yet, but the AWOS didn't notate anything being closed. I didn't really notice it until I was on final and decided to land anyway as I could clearly make out the runway/taxiways. Landing was actually pretty uneventful since the windsock was dead, but taxiing back around to the runway through the snow took a good bit of power to keep it moving. I made a short field takeoff running in the tracks I just made upon landing and headed out of there. Could have been pretty ugly if there had been a botched landing or much of a crosswind. Shoved that one in my bag of experience for later!
 
No one knew this but me since I wasn't in D, C, or B airspace. I was a new pilot and was testing out my newfangled aviation GPS. I'd chosen to track to another area airport, KINK, but instead had the GPS tracking to INK - a VOR. There I was, like a doofus, flying in a circle wondering "where's KINK?" and throughly confused. Then I noticed the VOR down below, looked around, and there was KINK in the near distance.

I've also flown the opposite downwind from the runway I've announced, but luckily no other traffic was in the pattern.

A couple times I've set up for a long final on a road that I thought was the runway at unfamiliar airports. Figured out my mistake before actually landing, thank goodness.

Flown at the wrong VFR causing altitude a couple of times (as in cruising even+500 going east) and suffered the wrath of ATC. Haven't done that again.

I'll also admit to flying briefly in IMC conditions a couple of times when I was younger and braver (dumber?) during VFR flights due to "get thereitis."
 
Will Kumley said:
I never noticed that Comm 2 was selected on the audio panel so all my transmissions were on 123.45
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Reminds me of the time my instructor had me practice emergency procedures. One of the things he had me do was change the radio to 121.5 and make a fake distress call. (not key the mike) Once after doing one of those I forgot to switch the frequency back. Upon returning to the airport to I did not check the frequency, and called my position on the radio assuming I was still on CTAF. I don't think I had ever heard the radio sound so loud, crisp and clear, when the reply came back, telling me to check my frequency. They must have been transmitting on twice normal power. It scared the bejeebers out of me, and my instructor looked extremely concerned with my error.

By the way, for some reason, I thought 123.45 was a restricted frequency......
 
Piper18O said:
Reminds me of the time my instructor had me practice emergency procedures. One of the things he had me do was change the radio to 121.5 and make a fake distress call. (not key the mike) Once after doing one of those I forgot to switch the frequency back. Upon returning to the airport to I did not check the frequency, and called my position on the radio assuming I was still on CTAF. I don't think I had ever heard the radio sound so loud, crisp and clear, when the reply came back, telling me to check my frequency. They must have been transmitting on twice normal power. It scared the bejeebers out of me, and my instructor looked extremely concerned with my error.
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Sometimes we create ineptness...years ago my chief pilot told me about when he was a lowly copilot for a now-defunct regional. They were given a LAHSO instruction, with "let us know if you can't make that."

He then proceeded to make his cabin PA announcement, and forgot to select his mic back to the comm radio.

Captain, noting that the mic was still on PA said, "Tell tower we're not going to make it."

Lowly copilot keyed the mic and said, "Regional 1492, we're not gonna make it," loud and clear for all the passengers.

:D
 
MauleSkinner said:
Sometimes we create ineptness...years ago my chief pilot told me about when he was a lowly copilot for a now-defunct regional. They were given a LAHSO instruction, with "let us know if you can't make that."

He then proceeded to make his cabin PA announcement, and forgot to select his mic back to the comm radio.

Captain, noting that the mic was still on PA said, "Tell tower we're not going to make it."

Lowly copilot keyed the mic and said, "Regional 1492, we're not gonna make it," loud and clear for all the passengers.

:D
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Had a United pilot try to raise KSFO tower on the PA during an IMC approach... Three times. He got a bit more frustrated each time.
 
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