I am a rude hangar neighbor

schmookeeg

schmookeeg

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Mike Brannigan
So this afternoon I was elbows deep in my RHE's induction system, which I have had to basically rip out to gain access to a starter adapter that needed an attitude adjustment. Wrenches and expletives littered the air. A hammer was involved at several points.

Somehow people know when I'm stretching my fingertips to their fullest to start some tiny little bit of hardware -- and pop their head in to chat. Today was no different. That mooney guy from across the way who I had never spoken to before -- it was his day today.

I usually try to be cordial, but this dude was a puzzlement to me. Skipping pleasantries and pourparlours altogether, he opened with this question to me:

"Did you just spend an hour in the pattern?"

I looked at him. I looked at the strewn wreckage of my engine and cowling pieces all over the hangar, then looked back at him. I gave a laconic "uhhh.. nope"

He then acted like he "got the gist", nodded, and took a different tack. His next question:

"Is this that plane that had been sitting for a while?"

I bit my tongue. I like my plane a lot and it does not resemble some lazarus hangar project. After tamping down a few rich mouth-filling expletives I had in retort, I settled for another laconic "nope"

"Ah" was all he gave me. I gave him that squiggle-eyed look that says "we're done here"

I continued turning the fuel line nut with my pinky fingernail. He beetled off back to his hangar or whatever rock he crawled out from under.

I mean, what? I'm pretty socially inept, but this was worse banter than anything I've ever done.

Anyway, if you were that Mooney guy at KHIO Hillsboro this afternoon, and some D-bag baron owner was immune to your charms and pretended you didn't exist -- sorry. That was me. I am the worst.

:D
 
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While helping my A&P with the annual on a Bo today, he was under the panel while I was doing my untrained gorilla work of removing, cleaning, and testing spark plugs. Every once in a while, I'd hear special magic words float out across the hangar from within the aircraft, with the most common one being, "Come on, you PIECE OF SH*T!!!"

That got me thinking... I suggested we form a parts company called "Piece of SH*T." We then spent the afternoon coming up with various advertising slogans. Had us laughing silly for a good hour.

For instance..

"Your airplane deserves a POS."
"Tell your hangar friends that you'll only put something on your airplane if it's a POS."
"With our company, you can be assured you'll be getting an authentic POS."
"If it's not from our factory, it's not a POS."

So forth and so on. Try it at home. It's fun, and all the hangar neighbors can join in. It's a great bonding exercise.
 
I’ve had similar. Some years ago when I pulled the 310 up to the pumps for fuel some jerk in a rented 172 cut in front of me, literally threw his luggage on the ground with his wife standing there for her to pick up, then walked over to me.

“That’s a 310 right?”
“Yes”
“Those have lots of ADs and break a lot right?”
“Umm... no. It’s quite reliable really.”
“I see cages, what do you do with that thing, fly dogs?”
“Yes”
“That seems really stupid. I mean no offense but why save dogs when there are humans that need saving?”
“People like you are the reason why I fly dogs and not humans.”

Yes, people are dumb.
 
schmookeeg said:
...Anyway, if you were that Mooney guy at KHIO Hillsboro this afternoon, and some D-bag baron owner was immune to your charms and pretended you didn't exist -- sorry. That was me. I am the worst.

:D
Click to expand...

Just as I suspected. Some of you MCMs take your Ban Hammer introductory training waaaay too seriously. ;):p
 
I earned the hangar neighbor douchebag award a couple of weeks ago. I was in the t-hangar doing some maintenance and the guys in the adjacent hangar were doing something in theirs too. I had the door on my hangar open 6' to get some illumination - theirs was about the same, maybe open a bit more.

So when they got done, they were "the nice neighbors" and closed their doors. Then (didn't ask) they opened my door to provide more light in my hangar. Noooo, I said, as the door slid open. Because if you don't do it right, the way the seals on their door work, they grab the hasp on my door, bend it back, and make it impossible to lock my hangar without un-bending the hasp and possibly breaking it off.

As I unbent the hasp, I 'splained the golden rule to them. If it isn't yours, don't eff with it without asking.
 
I'm certainly not a naturally gregarious guy, but I've come to appreciate the local hangar community. I've benefited from hangar neighbors, everything from advice, to physical help, to tool and equipment loans, to shoveling snow in front of my hangar door. The FBO is happy to pull my plane out to fuel it, and their mechanics free-lance for maintenance work in-hangar on weekends at substantially less than shop rates. It's a nice environment and I appreciate it.
 
Rude is one of those weird words that means one thing according to the strict definition and means something else according to how most of us perceive the concept.

The common perception of rudeness requires malice, i.e. I know better but I'm doing it anyway because I'm rude.

Per your description there was far more inept than malice in this scenario. I'm calling stupid, not rude. Doesn't mean its a guy you'll want to hang around. But I'm not sure rude is the accurate description of what went down here.
 
There is NO DOUBT at all that as recently as 15-20 yrs ago hangar neighbor relations were MUCH kindler and gentler. A sign of the times that we are all so harried that camaraderie has disappeared. Hell, most often it is better to ignore your hangar neighbors than endure the condescending BS-short retort lines my close residents bark. The lack of civility and manners is amazing. So mostly I talk to my airplane and God. “What the hell happened!?”​
 
Rude hangar neighbors, is what I'm noted for.

I work for a customers. It is not fair to be on the clock for a customer, and wanting some yahoo shi- head spending my time elsewhere.
 
As a new hangar tenant and pilot, I feel an overwhelming desire to go up to any open hanger and gawk at the airplane and talk to the pilot. So far I've been welcomed the couple times I've tried.... what is the correct etiquette for approaching neighbors? And how do I get people to stop and talk to me? Mini fridge?

I learned more than i ever wanted to know about grumman aa1's the other day.....
 
When I was removing my engine I had a neighbor who is an IA drop by and start “helping” detach stuff without my asking. It’s probably the only time I’ve ever raised my voice in my hangar to an animate object. It didn’t deter him either. I had to work with the door closed whenever doing something critical.
 
Talking to other pilots is a key way to expand your aviation knowledge, and it’s also simply enjoyable. Disappointing to read how many pilots apparently want to locked in their little bubble. Maybe it’s a hangar thing ... those of us stuck with tie downs tend to be a more gregarious lit.
 
I'm lucky, surrounded by good hangar neighbors and friendly Op's folks too. Then again I'll chat with anyone that pulls up to the hangar, and I've been know to pull up to a perfect stranger/transient pilot and offer a ride to the terminal. Of course it always helps to have the beast with me, she loves when people stop by. Hmmmm.....maybe they are stopping by to see the dog and not me.
Ziva tired pup.jpg
 
The more gregarious of my two Choc Labs takes it upon himself when not closely supervised to go visit in hangars’ open doors....so far no adverse consequences. Seems it’s always my wife who is supposedly supervising him while I’m pre- or post-flighting.
 
When Autumn is at the hangar she usually sits under Candy's wing. Then if someone goes walking by, as they tend to do, she'll go join them for the walk.

I've had to jump on the golf cart and go bring her back more than twice. "Thanks for walking my dog for me, heehee" The people never seem to mind. Some of them have come to expect it. And if my door is open and she doesn't come out they ask us how she is.
 
Salty said:
When I was removing my engine I had a neighbor who is an IA drop by and start “helping” detach stuff without my asking. It’s probably the only time I’ve ever raised my voice in my hangar to an animate object. It didn’t deter him either. I had to work with the door closed whenever doing something critical.
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THAT is freaking amazing. :eek: What on earth could that dude have been thinking?!
 
Juliet Hotel said:
Rude is one of those weird words that means one thing according to the strict definition and means something else according to how most of us perceive the concept.

The common perception of rudeness requires malice, i.e. I know better but I'm doing it anyway because I'm rude.

Per your description there was far more inept than malice in this scenario. I'm calling stupid, not rude. Doesn't mean its a guy you'll want to hang around. But I'm not sure rude is the accurate description of what went down here.
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Por que no los dos? :D

I actually think I was rude, and the others in this thread have keyed on why I felt that way, even though I wasn't seeing it clearly at the time -- hangar camaraderie is definitely an ember that needs nourished, and I did a terrible job of it. I was too self-absorbed to stop my difficult task, put down the hammer, and stroll over and say hello and talk airplanes. It's sort of a "malice by omission"

I may never see the Mooney guy again, but if I do, I think I will need to go over and introduce myself and apologize for being too preoccupied on our prior encounter. I'll overlook the implication that I had recently fished my plane out of a boneyard, and hopefully he can overlook my assortment of facial expressions and the willingness to make him look like an idiot while in my court. :D

I appreciate the remarks, you all distilled what I was feeling perfectly, even though I wasn't seeing it at the time, just vaguely sensing it. Also, the induction system on a Continental is apparently not designed for removal/reinstallation unless the engine is pulled, those are the real freakin jerks here. Two lessons learned!

To wit: I have no idea how to apply a calibrated torque to this stupid little nut without removing the engine mount leg. I can barely get two of my sausage fingers in there. The calibrated elbow will need to serve, along with a stubby 12-point box end wrench, which i can barely fit by placing it diagonally and rocking it "forward" to end up over the nut. Eesh.

s3xzcqO.jpg
 
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I don't get to many folks stopping by. If someone does stop by and I'm busy I stop what I'm doing chat a bit than continue my project. I don't like to chat and work.
 
Some of us (looking in the mirror, here) have a harder time than most changing tasks midstream, or restarting tasks once interrupted. This is especially true when working on airplanes, where we often find ourselves either (1) in the midst of a complicated sequence of difficult and fiddly sub-tasks, or (2) in a very complicated and hard-to-establish physical location (say, inside the tail structure or under the wing on a creeper with hardware carefully arranged on your belly in an exact sequence with the flashlight carefully situated "just so" in your mouth).

Or, both.

When Captain Happy comes along to gab, it always seems to be at *exactly* these moments.

That can be a factor.
 
A friend of mine coined the term "Time Vampire" for those people that will stop by to chat and prevent you from completing whatever tasks you are working on. It's one thing to be socialable, but sometimes you have something to get done and limited time to accomplish it. Not to mention getting distracted when doing something important like working on an aircraft is an easy way to miss a step.
 
schmookeeg said:
So this afternoon I was elbows deep in my RHE's induction system, which I have had to basically rip out to gain access to a starter adapter that needed an attitude adjustment. Wrenches and expletives littered the air. A hammer was involved at several points.

Somehow people know when I'm stretching my fingertips to their fullest to start some tiny little bit of hardware -- and pop their head in to chat. Today was no different. That mooney guy from across the way who I had never spoken to before -- it was his day today.

I usually try to be cordial, but this dude was a puzzlement to me. Skipping pleasantries and pourparlours altogether, he opened with this question to me:

"Did you just spend an hour in the pattern?"

I looked at him. I looked at the strewn wreckage of my engine and cowling pieces all over the hangar, then looked back at him. I gave a laconic "uhhh.. nope"

He then acted like he "got the gist", nodded, and took a different tack. His next question:

"Is this that plane that had been sitting for a while?"

I bit my tongue. I like my plane a lot and it does not resemble some lazarus hangar project. After tamping down a few rich mouth-filling expletives I had in retort, I settled for another laconic "nope"

"Ah" was all he gave me. I gave him that squiggle-eyed look that says "we're done here"

I continued turning the fuel line nut with my pinky fingernail. He beetled off back to his hangar or whatever rock he crawled out from under.

I mean, what? I'm pretty socially inept, but this was worse banter than anything I've ever done.

Anyway, if you were that Mooney guy at KHIO Hillsboro this afternoon, and some D-bag baron owner was immune to your charms and pretended you didn't exist -- sorry. That was me. I am the worst.

:D
Click to expand...

I expected a ''here's your sign'' at the end of the story....
 
pmanton said:
I keep my hangar door closed. No distractions that way.
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I learned to do that too. Had too many people stop by when it was open.
 
And get off my lawn..... ;)

I used to get madstrated (mad and frustrated) at times to the point of apoplexy during difficult repair jobs, but over the years that kind of faded. Now, I've adopted more of a "there's always a next time, tomorrow, nineteenth attempt, or a way to earn some money to buy another part to replace the one I just ruined" attitude. Taking a breath is always welcomed. As a result, I've found that I actually make less mistakes and enjoy wrenching more. I also enjoy it when people want to drop by and chat... unless they're total tools. Blessedly, there are VERY few of those, and so far none at my current airport. There was one at my previous airport, and unfortunately after his father died he became the owner of the airport. We moved.
 
I was doing an extensive overhaul of my cherokee 140 (everything firewall foward was replaced with new or overhauled)... this worked was owner-assisted. I was in a large shared hangar belonging to the HAFB aeroclub. And yup, there were a lot of people walking by and offering all sorts of suggestions. And this was when I learned to fear and hate when they would start the conversation with "ya know, while you are at it, you should...)
 
I'm of two minds about this. I enjoy the visiting around our hangars and any time the weather is good I'll open the overhead door when I am fussing with the airplane, doing routine stuff such as an oil change, servicing plugs or cleaning. And I knowingly plan to "cram an hour of work into a Saturday morning" given the inevitable distraction.

However, like the OP, I've had my moments. Once had a complete stranger catch me in a bad mood during an annual when I had the plane apart, wrenches out and ask me what I was doing. I told him I could no longer afford the airplane and was parting it out. I said the avionics, instruments, engines, props and landing gear were already spoken for, but I'd entertain an offer on the rudder. That ended the conversation abruptly.
 
I live next door to the avionics shop. These are really nice guys with a great reputation for their work and in the community in general.
The entitlement to the neighbors wasn't apparent until the third time I had to get out of my plane after arriving on a 3 to 4 hour trip, wait for them to answer the door then ask them to move a car or other piece of machinery so I could taxi by and put my plane up.

This frosts my ever loving nuts...

The first two times I was apologetic to have to ask but the third time I was 'abrupt'. These guys have now gone all passive aggressive on me...

I heard how rude I was from a few folks on the field...

I'll wear that badge proudly.
 
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We have a guy who is a couple hangars down. Does work on his own plane a lot. Then complains about how local mx shop jacked it up. Usually half in the bag when he comes over. He has that kind of inflammatory attitude that gets under ya.
Generally we spend a lot of time at hangar. To hang out. Open the door, watch planes. Solve world peace. Now more weekend am’s then Evenings.
 
The local A&P gets frustrated at times with old guys dropping in to chat. At least that's what he told me one day when I dropped by to chat. :D

Myself, there've been times when I had an hour or so to go for a quick local flight, only to have someone drop by and start chatting as soon as I get to the hangar. I normally enjoy doing some hangar flying with others, but not at such moments. So, in lieu if being an arsehole, I keep chatting and accept my fate as my window of opportunity slowly slips away. Then I close up my hangar and go home.
 
ETres said:
The local A&P gets frustrated at times with old guys dropping in to chat. At least that's what he told me one day when I dropped by to chat. :D

Myself, there've been times when I had an hour or so to go for a quick local flight, only to have someone drop by and start chatting as soon as I get to the hangar. I normally enjoy doing some hangar flying with others, but not at such moments. So, in lieu if being an arsehole, I keep chatting and accept my fate as my window of opportunity slowly slips away. Then I close up my hangar and go home.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't do that, I'd ask them to spot a wing, pull it out, chat while preflighting, jump in and go.
 
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