Never Again -- preflight

LOL @ the panicked "One day you'll die from that." In reality, worst case scenario, you would have flown uncoordinated and had to land with a side-load.
 
wabower said:
I mentioned it to another pilot later. He said that in the past an unchocked airplane had rolled somewhere it shouldn't have been and the head line service guy had been threatened to be sure it never happened again.

I learned a little chock placement trick that I still use occasionally, especially if the line guys aren't around and I must remove the chocks before boarding to release the brake. I remove the chocks from the mains and turn the chock in front of the wheel ~45 degrees to the straight ahead, with the chock still firmly jammed against the wheel but angled in the direction the nose will move during taxi. Once the engine(s) are running, I can move the rudder pedal sufficiently to free up the nose wheel and taxi away from the parking spot without running over the chock.
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AMEN. Another mutual veteran aviator trick :)
 
I was taught by a very wise instructor (he's an old pilot! And only a little bold) that once you're done with the thorough preflight you should "step back" a minute and just glance at the airplane. Just look at it for the big picture. He's right. You're more likely to notice something out of place when you're not looking for *it* but looking at the airplane in general. Besides, I like to admire my plane anyway :D
 
Unregistered said:
Guess who started up the plane with the cowl plugs still in?

This guy.

Luckily, the prop just took out the little connecting fabric and sent the whole thing flying. I got distracted because I had just preheated and was trying to rush things before the engine cooled back down.

Lesson LEARNED.
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Heh... BTDT. Not to the point of actually getting the engine started, but stopping when the prop threw the "remove before flight" tag up in front of me (one blade).

Lesson not learned, though... I've done it twice. :redface:
 
Unregistered said:
I was taught by a very wise instructor (he's an old pilot! And only a little bold) that once you're done with the thorough preflight you should "step back" a minute and just glance at the airplane. Just look at it for the big picture. He's right. You're more likely to notice something out of place when you're not looking for *it* but looking at the airplane in general. Besides, I like to admire my plane anyway :D
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One of mine found a completely cracked main spar on a 172 that way at Embry-Riddle. Wing dihedral didn't match the rest of the 172s parked side by side.

And it had flown twice since the overstress. They found out when investigating who broke it that it had happened three flights prior to his pre-flight.

Yikes.
 
redtail said:
About a year ago, I was taxing back after landing. The CFI and I both spotted a guy taxiing to the runup area with the red cowl plugs in:yikes:.

Before I could speak what I thought I was seeing, the CFI said "is this guy taxiing with the cowl plugs in?". I said yep. The CFI called ground control and alerted him.

It was a good feeling to know that we probably saved this guys azz.
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BTW--what would have happened? Would the plane have taken off with the cowl plugs still in? Would the engine quit very soon or after a while? Overheat? What?
 
denverpilot said:
One of mine found a completely cracked main spar on a 172 that way at Embry-Riddle. Wing dihedral didn't match the rest of the 172s parked side by side.

And it had flown twice since the overstress. They found out when investigating who broke it that it had happened three flights prior to his pre-flight.

Yikes.
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What broke it? where was it cracked? something to be said for a strut braced wing, eh?
 
The major #1 pre-flight mistake that I made for years? Realizing I put the keys in my pocket after I got into the plane, buckled in and went to start it.

Go on and laugh! I'm sure most if not all of you have done it too!
 
Marauder said:
The major #1 pre-flight mistake that I made for years? Realizing I put the keys in my pocket after I got into the plane, buckled in and went to start it.

Go on and laugh! I'm sure most if not all of you have done it too!
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Yup. My pre-preflight checklist needs to read like so:

1) Take keys out of pocket.
2) Take checklist out of car. :mad2: :redface:
 
denverpilot said:
One of mine found a completely cracked main spar on a 172 that way at Embry-Riddle. Wing dihedral didn't match the rest of the 172s parked side by side.

And it had flown twice since the overstress. They found out when investigating who broke it that it had happened three flights prior to his pre-flight.

Yikes.
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:hairraise:
 
We all have potential to make dumb mistakes when things get too routine. Reminds me of when I was a kid. My dad would occasionally let my brother take the family truck to school instead of riding the bus. Twice I found myself waiting out in the parking lot for him...yep...he took the bus home. Still laugh when I picture my dad yelling at him "Son, didn't you wonder where your brother was?!?!"

Besides the key in the pocket, my nemesis is closing the door before the seatbelt's fastened.
 
Marauder said:
The major #1 pre-flight mistake that I made for years? Realizing I put the keys in my pocket after I got into the plane, buckled in and went to start it.

Go on and laugh! I'm sure most if not all of you have done it too!
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Gosh, (confession time <ahem>) I'm pretty sure I did that on my IR checkride last Monday... I was sooo nervous.
 
New plane has its key attached to a doohickey that's necessary for walkaround. So, now I've become really prone to the "key in pocket" annoyance.
However, I'm finding that it's not an issue right now. It's winter. I'm wearing a jacket. It's easy enough to get it out of a jacket pocket without unbuckling.
NOT looking forward to the days when the key will be in my jeans pocket and I'll have to get out of the four-point harness.
Oh, well. At least I won't be strapped into a Pitts. :what:
 
JHW said:
You probably haven't seen one because it's only really exotic models. C-150 springs to mind.
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I have C-150 maintenance experience. No springs between the rudder bars and rudder. The only springs in the whole system are the rudder bar return springs (they keep a little tension on the cables and keep the pedals from flopping back) and in the nosegear steering bungees, which let the rudder have full travel when the nosewheel is held straight by the centering cam in flight. Neither of them have anything to do with springiness between the pedals and the rudder.

Can you elaborate?

Dan
 
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