Scared silly in a GA plane.

AdamZ

AdamZ

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Adam Zucker
I recently started a thread Airlines that Scare the Tar out of you. My buckeye friend Michael posted in that thread that no airline scared him but he has had some " doosies" in private aircraft. So all credit to him for the inspiration of this Thread.

So tell us about a time that you were a pax front or back in a GA plane and you thought it was all over. You can leave names out if you like.
 
wouldn't go as far as "it's all over" or "I'll never fly with them again" but it was definitely a "never do this again without training/complete pilot-to-pilot briefing & planning"... "OMG I can't see him!" .... "I'll photograph from the ground next time" .... Windwood Air-to-Air Photo Ops 2009 :yikes:


Also, I think someone was scared in this plane,... look at that "Let me Outta Here!" Expression
 
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I was in a plane crash some of you know about. Actually, that wasn't that scary because it was so quick.

Flew safety for a friend's instrument currency. I doubt he was nightime current, and when he landed the aircraft it was so hard that the aircraft bounced about 30 feet in the air. I thought it was broken in half, but the aircraft was OK.

Gave myself some serious heebie-jeebies flying over an overcast layer in the mountains. Almost ran out of service ceiling to get over it. Wife slept though it all in the right seat.

The time I entered an incipient spin by accident would have been scary had it not been so much fun. The time I nearly did a JFK Jr. over Lake Michigan was scary enough to burn that lesson into LTP.
 
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The only things that scared me at the time I've since looked back on and weren't as bad as I thought. That doesn't mean I'll do them again, though. I think most people blow things out of proportion because it's not something they're used to, which most humans don't handle well. Keep a cool head, process the situation accordingly, take appropriate action.

Then again, I have very low blood pressure.
 
dmccormack said:
A few student landings :yikes:
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On my CFI ride, the FAA gave me the warning of being careful with students. On more than one occasion, one had done something incredibly stupid, but was in such a situation that he was pretty much along for the ride at that point and couldn't do much. Obviously it never killed him, but that is a real danger for CFIs.

I'll still fly with students, though, because at least they'll (theoretically) listen to me. If they don't, they won't be my students for long.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
On my CFI ride, the FAA gave me the warning of being careful with students. On more than one occasion, one had done something incredibly stupid, but was in such a situation that he was pretty much along for the ride at that point and couldn't do much. Obviously it never killed him, but that is a real danger for CFIs.

I'll still fly with students, though, because at least they'll (theoretically) listen to me. If they don't, they won't be my students for long.
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Sure, they listen, but it takes nerves of steel to let them make the mistakes they need to without bending anything.

Early in my PP training my CFI was always on the yoke so much I never knew when I was flying or when he was. I finally told him, "Jim, I don't know who just landed -- me or you..."

I can't say I've always been able to resist "saving" a landing. It's just too hard to know the drift is gonna cause a swerve and a trip into the weeds.

One thing for sure -- when I teach in my taildragger it's gonna be on wide grass until I know they have it. There's no saving after that back end comes whipping around.
 
I wouldn't say scared silly, but it was definitely the most concerned I've been...

Flying out the back side of a cold front with Tstorms in Texas, I thought i was in the clear - nothing but clear sky ahead, big wall of clouds behind, phew, made it, when suddenly the Matrix is being tossed around like a kite. i was pretty much along for the ride. Made sure i was under Vma and tried to keep the wings level. Made any rollercoaster seem like a walk in the park. 5 minutes, maybe 10 of not very fun flying.

If I had been carrying pax, they definitely would have been scared silly.
 
I do have a list of pilots I'll never fly with again. Not all scared me silly.

One that created a wet spot in my drawers was a formation flight. I was backseat in #2 as my introduction to their group. Each of these pilots were military aviators (active and retired) and had flown with each other on numerous flights. Of course each flight was fully briefed.

For some reason Lead began his break early and just about tore our wing off. Not only was his turn early but it deviated from the profile so there was a very high rate of closure. How we escaped I still don't know. Never again.

Another scared silly was me and another on our next to last leg of a long cross country IFR. His leg. We departed a fuel stop at night in mtn terrain. He deviated from the DP. ATC quiered, I quiered. Pilot stated he knew the area and was certain we could avoid the terrain. I quiered a 2nd time and said I too knew the area and thought we would barely clear the ridges at this current climb rate. So instead of returning to the DP he pitched up. We entered IMC and still no turn to the DP. I pleaded with him. Through a break in the bases we both spied snow covered terrain ahead and to to our right. Lower terrain to our left (we were right of course). Mr Top Gun pulled about 4 Gs as I watched trees skim by. We had been sucking O2 for hours and we were coming up on 12 hours of flight. Never again which is unfortunate because he has a really nice TAA I was gonna' buy a share of.

Another was I was PIC on a moonless night cross country VFR in mtn terrain. Two current instrument rated pilots sharing pilot duties. On this intial leg his duties were navigation and radios. While still in the departure, he started yammering about taking a short cut to another airway. His scratchy mic made it unbearable. He missed several calls by ATC. I said we would fly the plan we briefed. He challenged that by saying we should turn to (unitelligible). I unplugged his headset and said when we reach our assigned alt we could talk. The problem became apparent in a few miles that his 'shortcut' would have put us very close to terrain. After arrival at our destination he noticed he missed a minimum crossing alt for that other airway. Never again.

Last but not least...Jesse in the front, me in the back. OMFG:yikes::yikes::yikes:
 
flyersfan31 said:
I wouldn't say scared silly, but it was definitely the most concerned I've been...

Flying out the back side of a cold front with Tstorms in Texas, I thought i was in the clear - nothing but clear sky ahead, big wall of clouds behind, phew, made it, when suddenly the Matrix is being tossed around like a kite. i was pretty much along for the ride. Made sure i was under Vma and tried to keep the wings level. Made any rollercoaster seem like a walk in the park. 5 minutes, maybe 10 of not very fun flying.

If I had been carrying pax, they definitely would have been scared silly.
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Sounds like a flight last summer. A developing thunderstorm formed right in front of me as I was descending. First I'm going from 500 fpm descent, next thing I know I'm in a 1500 fpm climb with the nose down, power back, and trying to keep the airspeed out of the yellow.

ATC: "Are you descending?"

Me: "Working on it!"
 
My first encounter didn't really scare me...maybe I was too dumb to know better. I had just leveled off at 5,500 msl (approx 5,100 agl) after departure. I went eyes inside for quick scan and cruise checklist. I looked up to see a really effing huge Sikorsky blossom in my windscreen ascending from below my engine cowl. He was a S-76 or maybe a -90 series. Brightly painted like a friggin rainbow. It looked like he was climbing in a hover (whatever the term is for that). He saw me before I saw him. He dove to west, I climbed to the east. I guess we missed by 200' horizontal and a rotor blade vertical. I think if he hadn't seen me it would've been all over since I think I saw him too late. What he was doing at that alt on the extended centerline I have no idea.
 
Ted, that sounds like a time I encountered a downdraft while crossing above the ILS to VNY. ATC was having fits that day. I was denied entrance to LAX Bravo so I couldn't turn away from the localized downdraft and SoCal APP wanted me to maintain direct to my destination for traffic. Okayyyyyy...here we go.......

Busy freq, couldn't get a word in...I'm descending at 1,800 fpm and restricted to turn out of the downdraft. SoCal finally gave me a block alt but by then I had already passed through the ILS approach path and had pretty much bottomed out.
 
On the way back from our first OshKosh trip, we were smack dab in the middle of Lake Michigan at 9500 feet along V510 when something exploded on the airplane. I tried to act like I didn't hear it when Beth asked what it was. Five minutes later, a second explosion occured. I nearly shat a turnip and Beth knew I heard it and let me know about. We had no choice but to continue straight along V510. I did a controlability check and all seemed well, and backed up by all instruments in the green. As soon as land was in site, we descended and landed at the first airport I could find. I checked under the cowling and all was well; all windows in tact, no oil, no smoke, no fire damage. hmmmm????? I opened the baggage compartment and a bunch of fruit loops (cereal) fell out onto the tarmac. Beth had bought some cereal that comes in styrofoam cups with a foil lid over the top. I guess the pressure built up and finally each cup couldn't hold it in any longer. I cleaned the plane, cleaned the cereal from the tarmac, cleaned my shorts, and we flew the rest of the way home nervously chuckling about what had happened. That "it can't be happening to me" voice got very loud and clear for a few minutes. I didn't declare anything and after doing repeated system and control checks, my confidence began increasing that whatever it wasn't, wasn't taking the wings off with it...yet.
 
steingar said:
Flew safety for a friend's instrument currency. I doubt he was nightime current, and when he landed the aircraft it was so hard that the aircraft bounced about 30 feet in the air. I thought it was broken in half, but the aircraft was OK.
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dmccormack said:
A few student landings :yikes:
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While figuring out how to land a C152, I discovered that it's landing gear could take a horrendous beating without becoming damaged.
 
Jack Spectre said:
While figuring out how to land a C152, I discovered that it's landing gear could take a horrendous beating without becoming damaged.
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I honestly wonder if a 150 would have survived it, although I don't know that the gear is any better on a Skylane. I really did think he'd busticated the airplane until I saw for myself it was OK.
 
Wind shear just after turning base-to-final. The bottom just fell out. I immediately go to full throttle in rather well worn 172. Got it pitched for 70 knots and look at the VSI, 700 fpm down when it should be climbing at least 400 fpm (this is at BJC so I don't expect a lot).

Eventually flew out of it and I tell the tower that I'm going around. The controller asked if it was "some sort of training maneuver." I told him about the sink rate and said I was leaving the airport for now.
 
I have seen a Piper Tomahawk with tire skid marks on the underside of the wing. And it was still airworthy. And it wasn't me who did it.

"...shat a turnip..." I'll have to remember that one.:rofl:
 
Wow looks like most of you have not flow with folks that have given you that pucker factor. Looks like most of you did it to yourselves LOL.
 
I've only been a passenger in a GA plane once and all went well.
However I did manage to give my self a good scare on my third Flight Lesson. We were up at 3,000ft doing Stalls. The power off stalls went great but I failed to use the proper amount of control inputs on the first power on stall. That coupled with letting the stall progress to far, The plane started rolling over in to a spin. Lucky for me, my CFI was fast on his feet and quickly corrected my mistake.
I'll admit it gave me a heck of a scare and I almost told my CFI I was done for the day. But I told my self I needed to stay and get back on the horse.

Needless to say, I learned my lesson.
 
This thread brought back to my rememberication one of my first IFR flights with pax -- my wife in the back, my son in the right seat, me flying the club PA-180.

Of course I must stay on the victor airways and I must keep the needles centered (funny what training mode will do)-- our delayed takeoff meant we were crossing the middle of PA on a hazy, hot, humid mid-morning.

Of course, now we have towering CU all along the route. I plunged headlong into the first and we're climbing 1000 FPM with power to near idle. It's all I can do to keep blue over black and my son's yelling "Yee-ha!" in the right, my wife's crying and panicking in the back.

Popped out to smoothness, hit the next one a few seconds later. NYC yells at me for busting altitude, I ask for 13k. I finally get it, and we fly there long enough to top and navigate around the TC.

When we finally arrived my not-ever-happy-to-fly wife tells me she's driving home.

A few days later I'm able to coax her back in, we get nearly home to find home field is below mins with fog. We sit it out, launch after lunch, and bounce our way through the now hot, humid air. She's once again not happy, and with good reason.

Lessons learned -- depart early or late, deviate around build-ups, and pay more attention to the overall weather picture, especially when you have passengers.

In the last few years I've been able to re-introduce Janet to flying. She's flown with me on some pretty long hauls (MGW-CSG, CSG-AVL, FWQ-CDN, etc), but now that I'm a bit wiser and more experienced I usually know when to go and how to avoid most of the pax-frightening nastiness.
 
If my flight from Dekalb Peachtree to Savannah had been my first with my wife it would have been my last. Hours of hot, humid, bouncy nastiness. She was a real trooper that day.
 
AdamZ said:
Wow looks like most of you have not flow with folks that have given you that pucker factor. Looks like most of you did it to yourselves LOL.
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I've gotta say that the GA stories are more entertaining than the airline ones. :eek:

I've also gotta say that I can't really recall being scared on an airline flight but I've done things myself that were, in retrospect, pretty stupid. I've also been flying with people who have done questionable things although I was too ignorant at the time to be afraid.
 
I can't say I was scared, it happened so suddenly. It was probably my 3rd or 4th lesson in a C-150. The CFI said we'd work on climbs and turns. So somewhere above 3000 msl I had my foot on right rudder, climbing, yoke slowly coming back. Quietly, he advised, "a little left aileron." Dutifully, I complied; hey, he's the teacher. "Heyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!" and I was looking straight ahead -- at the ground.

"Not bad; only lost 100 feet," he said, having recovered the maneuver.

"You suckered me into that, didn't you?"

"Well, you never know what can happen in a climb if you don't pay attention to right rudder and your ailerons. Welcome to spins; now, you do it."

It was an awakening.

HR
 
This is probably the sketchiest thing i've ever experienced in an aircraft...

http://ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20080304X00255&key=1

Long story short, we bounced up, and kited on the tow plane and pulled the release right away. Thankfully we didn't kill the tow pilot! Instructor in back executed what was going to be a 270 onto the crossing runway which would have pointed us into the wind. Unfortunately we didn't have enough altitude to make the 270 safely so we landed after turning 90 degrees down wind into the scrub brush.

I can tell you seeing the entire windscreen fill up with ground got my attention. We hit hard, but wings level. Unfortunately we hit a gully and ground looped the hell out of it. Needless to say that was the end of flying for that day.
 

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Once as a passenger when our ELT went off in IMC and we went lost comms for about 20 minutes. Not a biggie in retrospect, but it was my first time in the clouds in a GA plane and I hadn't even taken my first lesson.

Once as a student pilot when I was nearly blown into the trees on a landing.

And once as a private pilot, classic VFR into IMC on a long XC. Very much a wet underwear moment. I descended out of the clag, scud ran to my destination (it was by then the only nearby field with an AWOS) and vowed to get my instrument rating.

That was almost 5 years ago... :frown3:
 
dmccormack said:
A few student landings :yikes:
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I'm sure I scared a CFI or two.

Jack Spectre said:
While figuring out how to land a C152, I discovered that it's landing gear could take a horrendous beating without becoming damaged.
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Same here

steingar said:
I honestly wonder if a 150 would have survived it, although I don't know that the gear is any better on a Skylane. I really did think he'd busticated the airplane until I saw for myself it was OK.
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Yes on both. Just ask my CFIs.

I also levitated a CFI learning stalls. There isn't anything wrong with the C-150, C-152, or C-172 wing attachments. I'd have found out if there was a problem there (referring to http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archives/avflash/1538-full.html#201736)
 
I guess it'd have to be the corn field incident. Although, the iced up incident is a close second. Unfortunately, I was flying both times, although not technically the PIC for either flight.

Sitting in the back seat while the PIC covers the windscreen to practice instrument scan and then flying inside the pattern of a Cessna to a short final with the stall warning horn blaring throughout final, and being able to land only because the Cessna did a quick touch and go also ranks right up there on the fear for your life meter.
 

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Scared as a passenger? Only once and even then it only creeped me out after the flight.

A long time ago I worked with a guy in his mid 20's who's parents owned a 182 and he flew it regularly. After a bunch of talk for months and seeing his logbook, he had the plane at the local airport one day and since I had never been in a 182, I thought what the heck. So we went up for an hour and I got fly it a bit - it's basically just a big 172 when an extra knob by the throttle. It was a bit heavy on the controls but nice enough and would probably be a good plane to take into backcountry runways on camping trips. He was always a bit hesitant about decision making at work sometimes however he was much better in the plane though he was a checklist fanatic in the extreme. He was actually reading the checklist on base.
During landing, he came over the numbers a bit high (no biggie) and way too fast for what I knew of the plane at that point (ok, sure plenty of runway ahead) with a really high descent rate but yea whatever for the moment. Below 50ft he still hasn't arrested the descent rate at all. I mentioned something about the ground looking too lifesize and falling like a rock...and got no response from the left seat. I looked over and he had that sit at a desk hesitate thing going. Somewhere under 30AGL I took the plane from him, pushed the throttle forward and shoved us into the seat a bit to keep from running into the ground. We had ourselves a little discussion during climbout and downwind before I let him have the plane. Back over the numbers again and he just wasn't there mentally, as in, he was somewhere else or deep in target fixation. Two rounds of extreme stupid that close to the ground requiring taking the plane from him was three times too many for me. He can kill himself if he wants but he's not taking me with him. The second conversation didn't involve being polite and ended with me telling him to put his hands under his rear end and to keep them there. The sort of upshot of the fiasco (which will likely make the CFI's here cringe) was that we left the pattern and I got to check myself out in a 182, did an approach and go around over the runway then got to land the thing from the right seat. As soon as we were clear of the runway, I shut down, got out, left him there and walked across the airport back to my car.
Later that year he quit flying though he would never explain exactly why though I have some pretty good theories.

I'm picky on who I will fly with now.
 
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Can't remember that I've ever been really scared - maybe not because there wasn't a reason to be scared, but because I would work on changing whatever could have scared me and I was too busy to get scared.

It's sort of like people who honk at you instead of actually fixing whatever is going wrong. It's not a productive attitude in airplanes either.

-Felix
 
I haven't been scared too badly by anyone else - It's a VERY rare thing to find me in a GA airplane and not at a control station. The only time I can think of right offhand was with Tony Condon and Matt Sawhill occupying the front seats of the 182RG. I don't trust anyone 'til I've flown with 'em! Luckily, being 6'4" gives me a really good excuse to sit in the front seat - I don't fit well in the back of very many GA airplanes. :no:

That said, I've never had to take over from anyone. I guess the people that give me any reason to not trust them, I just don't get in the plane in the first place.

As far as scary moments in a GA airplane where I was in control, I've had a couple:

Once, I flew into a cloud that decided to pick that particular moment to become upwardly mobile - Nary a bump, but my VSI suddenly did a backflip and my altimeter started winding up like crazy. Lesson: Even if I'd had on-board radar, I wouldn't have seen that one coming, as I hit the developing phase, before precip happens. Luckily, that always results in UPdrafts.

The other was out west, where I got into a situation where I picked up some ice and my only out was to make a 180 on an airway. (I didn't complete the turn, as ZLC advised me that I was nearly out of the weather.) I didn't expect ice since it was August, but I had air-filed IFR to get through a particular "pass" (not really a pass in the traditional sense of the word as those aren't big enough for airways to go through). OROCA in the area is 15,300 while MEA on the airway was 12,000 and terrain immediately below the airway rises above 8,000. I was at 12K and on oxygen. I picked up a bit of ice, and immediately started mentally kicking myself because I didn't have any other good out than the 180: Climb wasn't a good option due to already-limited performance and I had no idea how high the tops were, plus didn't want to expose more of the wing to the ice. I couldn't descend because I was at the MEA, I couldn't turn because I was well under the OROCA and there was higher terrain both left and right. Luckily it was only a trace of ice, and it stopped accreting almost right away - It just looked like someone had "fogged a mirror" on the leading edges. A couple minutes later I was in the clear and got one of the best shots of the trip:

web.jpg
 
OtisAir said:
On the way back from our first OshKosh trip, we were smack dab in the middle of Lake Michigan at 9500 feet along V510 when something exploded on the airplane. I tried to act like I didn't hear it when Beth asked what it was. Five minutes later, a second explosion occured. I nearly shat a turnip and Beth knew I heard it and let me know about. We had no choice but to continue straight along V510. I did a controlability check and all seemed well, and backed up by all instruments in the green. As soon as land was in site, we descended and landed at the first airport I could find. I checked under the cowling and all was well; all windows in tact, no oil, no smoke, no fire damage. hmmmm????? I opened the baggage compartment and a bunch of fruit loops (cereal) fell out onto the tarmac. Beth had bought some cereal that comes in styrofoam cups with a foil lid over the top. I guess the pressure built up and finally each cup couldn't hold it in any longer. I cleaned the plane, cleaned the cereal from the tarmac, cleaned my shorts, and we flew the rest of the way home nervously chuckling about what had happened. That "it can't be happening to me" voice got very loud and clear for a few minutes. I didn't declare anything and after doing repeated system and control checks, my confidence began increasing that whatever it wasn't, wasn't taking the wings off with it...yet.
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OK...that is freaking funny! :rofl:
 
Hate to bring up an old thread but I was searching for something and ended up reading this.

Just recently I was trying to cross the mountains from the east headed west (highest is 5,500) in the face of a rip-snorting headwind the day after a cold front. It was clear as could be. I initiated my climb to 8,500 and somewhere around 8000 feet I got stuck in a really powerful downdraft. I was in a pa-28-161 probably 500lbs under gross and in a full power climb I was descending 500-700fpm. I went all the way under 7,000 feet before I got into a nice updraft, and rode it all the way up to 10,500 where I crossed the mountains at 55 kts GS

That was not a holy **** moment, but more of a wow moment.

Another time, during my first power on stall I got a huge wing drop. I had about 4 hours at that point and I was not too good with the rudder. I stomped the wrong rudder pedal to "correct" and wound up spinning us about a half a turn before my instructor took over and stopped us. Talk about a wakeup call...
 
Question:

What is the proper corrective action to a downdraft? Does one hold attitude or increase or decrease?
 
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