How do you cover for ineptness

[Piper18O]

A couple times I've set up for a long final on a road that I thought was the runway at unfamiliar airports.

There is a feedlot near the Pratt Kansas airport that has long alleyways between cattle pens, and there are lights on the edges of those alleyways. I have been told that several times over the years, pilots set up to land on those alleyways when coming in at night, because from pattern altitude, they thought they were the runways. This is probably less common now, with gps, but I have flown over those feedlots and I can see how that mistake could be made.

 

[Piper18O]

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.

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.

That reminded me that I once let a friend of mine talk me into landing in a pasture just outside of his small town in Oklahoma. Crop dusters used it frequently. Landing was no problem. taking off again was. the grass was a little taller then it should have been, and the drag on the plane just about didn't let us get enough speed to take off.

I had some pretty good BBQ in Okmulgee once on the north end of town. We flew in just to try it. I can't remember the name of the place though.

 

[SoonerAviator]

That reminded me that I once let a friend of mine talk me into landing in a pasture just outside of his small town in Oklahoma. Crop dusters used it frequently. Landing was no problem. taking off again was. the grass was a little taller then it should have been, and the drag on the plane just about didn't let us get enough speed to take off.

I had some pretty good BBQ in Okmulgee once on the north end of town. We flew in just to try it. I can't remember the name of the place though.

Yeah, it wasn't a "mistake" becuase it was a conscious decision I made. Just a poor decision given the potential risks in a rented 172 and a student pilot cert. I would imagine you ate at The House of Smoke, as it's about the only BBQ worth eating in Okmulgee.

 

[Will Kumley]

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......

I bet that was an interesting experience. Not a restricted frequency, just draws some great debates. Similar to what plane is better, what oil should I use in my car, and Ford vs Chevy. At our local home drone it's fairly common to hear pilots having some regular conversations on that frequency. Although its usually when you have multiple pilots going to/from locations as a group and they want to plan their own routes or sequences over uncontrolled fields prior to arrival without cluttering up the ctaf frequency.

 

[Will Kumley]

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.

I imagine the passengers responded loud and clear as well.

 

[Piper18O]

I would imagine you ate at The House of Smoke, as it's about the only BBQ worth eating in Okmulgee.

That was it. Pretty good BBQ if I remember correctly. Really nice airport too.

 

[wsuffa]

Cover for ineptness? Become a politician.

 

[MauleSkinner]

Cover for ineptness? Become a politician.

They don’t cover it, they flaunt it.

 

[Rocketman4992]

I landed once without my landing gear down. Luckily it was on the sim. CFI was smiling ear to ear and said, "there you go son, now you won't do that again." I was so red.

 

[Bender Aviation]

They don’t cover it, they flaunt it.

Same. Except it's more like "don't do what I did" when speaking with student pilots. I try to treat my mistakes like a lesson learned and share it with others.

 

[guzziguy]

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.

the FIRST time???

 

[Larry Vrooman]

I started early. With all of 7 hours of total flight experience, I made 3 perfect full stall landings in a row and my instructor had me taxi the SuperCub to the side of the runway, where he hopped out and told me to go make three more landings solo.

I was mortified and not all that well schooled in the nuances of aerodynamics, the combination of which resulted in a stupid mistake and three of the worst full stall landings I'd ever made, each with three or four progressively smaller bounces on each one. The instructor waved me over to him after each one and told me to be sure to keep the stick back, but kept me out there for all three - all equally bad.

Afterwards, on the long taxi back to the ramp (about a mile and a half on a WWII era former B-17 and B-25 base) he was focused on the need to keep the stick back and not give up back stick once the aircraft is settling in the flare. I was mystified by this as I had been practically bending the stick back over the seat frame. They should have been perfect landings. Afterall, during that last perfect landing with the instructor in the back, l'd trimmed it perfectly, and naturally not wanting to mess with success, I'd left it trimmed that way after the instructor got out. What could have possibly gone wrong, there's no way I'd burned enough fuel to change the trim, right? That's when it finally dawned on me that with 200 pounds of instructor standing beside the runway instead of sitting in the back seat, and with just 130 pounds of 16 year old me, about 1/3rd fuel, and the jack screw adjusted horizontal stabilizer trimmed nose down the way it was, there wasn't enough aft stick available to stall the airplane. I chalked it up as a lesson learned and never told the instructor what the actual problem had been - an idiot student. In retrospect, I probably should have so that he could integrate that into teaching a future idiot student who also went into brain lock and ignored the basics of CG and trim in tandem seat aircraft.

----

My most recent goof was at a sleepy uncontrolled airport with no traffic in the pattern. I checked the winds and reported ceiling on the AWOS, then *thought* I'd successfully hit the flip flop button on the radio and made my departure call on what I *thought* was 122.8 and departed. Then I heard the AWOS repeat in the middle of the takeoff roll. After I'd established the climb attitude, I properly flipped the channels - just before another aircraft called in 8 miles out on a practice ILS approach. I thought maybe the goof had went undetected until someone on the ground advised that a no radio Citabria had just departed to the south. <sigh> I advised the traffic I would be turning on course to the west and would not be a factor.

 

[EdFred]

Not a restricted frequency, just draws some great debates.

How are you defining restricted? Because by regulation it is only to be used (in US airspace) for test flights (upon approval from the FCC), not chit-chat.

 

[WDD]

Given the FAA constantly monitors all things internet so they can bust pilots, I've never done anything wrong ever. Now where is my tin foil hat??

But my friend, let's call him Bob, once kept landing a Tiger one day at the right knots final approach speed - maybe a bit fast - but the stall horn chirped here and there on round out before the flare. He landed harder than should have a few times.

Did you know the year that specific Tiger was built had the air speed indicator in both kts AND MPH?

 

[William Pete Hodges]

the FIRST time???

LOL!!! I really didn't think about it when I wrote that, but I haven't been lost since, so technically that is the ONE time I got lost. But I do recognize it is easy to have your 3D position awareness slide off kilter, if only for a minute or two. Being aware it can happen helps keep me humble and hopefully stay focused.

 

[smv]

LOL!!! I really didn't think about it when I wrote that, but I haven't been lost since, so technically that is the ONE time I got lost. But I do recognize it is easy to have your 3D position awareness slide off kilter, if only for a minute or two. Being aware it can happen helps keep me humble and hopefully stay focused.

When I was training near an Air Force base I had a primary student who was a navigator instructor in the Air Force. One would think he would be familiar with the area. After about 15-20 minutes of maneuvering in the practice area SW of the airport, I told him "Take us home." He turned south. He had no idea where we were.

It is easy to get lost if you let your attention slip for even a moment.

 

[Piper18O]

It is easy to get lost if you let your attention slip

After about 15-20 minutes of maneuvering in the practice area SW of the airport, I told him "Take us home." He turned south. He had no idea where we were.

I can't ever remember getting lost, so to speak, however when I was working on the private, my instructor had me under the hood doing multiple maneuvers for 20 or 30 minutes. When we finished he said, "Okay, take the hood off and let's head back to the airport." I took the hood off looked out, and didn't know where we had ended up. (This was long before GPS and moving maps, etc.) I asked him where we were. He told me if you ever aren't sure, just tune into the VOR you think is closest to you and find out what radial you are on. Then look at the sectional and find another VOR and discover what radial you are on for that VOR. Where the two lines intersect, there you are. I tried it and sure enough, within a couple of minutes I knew exactly where I was. It was an aha moment I never forgot. We really hadn't done hardly anything using radio navigation yet, and I just thought it was the coolest thing. Remembering that moment almost makes me feel sorry for today's students. They have so many more tools available to them, and that is just on their phone! The only thing I had on my phone back then was a rotary dial.

 

[MauleSkinner]

When I woke up I didn’t know where I was, but I wasn’t lost. I was right on course.

good thing airplanes fly straight and level without autopilots.

 

[Ghery]

My original CFI and I were both Amateur Extra class hams. Did that help me the first time I had to talk on the airplane's radio? Are you kidding? That was 20 years ago and I think they're still laughing in the tower. You'll survive.