Whats the scariest thing that's happened to you in flight.

Matthew said:
Great story Greg.

Kind of kills my story about the turtle on the runway, though.
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:)

I gave a young deer a close shave early one morning at the Elkins airport in WV.

FSS was still on the field then. I announced intentions and FSS said, "Watch for deer -- there's a small herd about 1000 feet down the runway..."

I waited and watched -- 5- 6 -7 deer crossed. Then no more. That was the whole herd...

Centerline, full throttle -- speed's building, all green, ready to ro---

Man....

The World's Slowest and Dumbest deer comes loping out of the weeds, straight across the runway, then freezes right on the centerline.

I lifted off early -- stall horn's blaring, controls mushy, but I have enough speed to be sorta flying in ground effect... deer passes right under the left gear....
 
In 1980 I was VFR westbound back to KS, over Ohio at 10'500 in a Cessna 310L. I looked down at my map then looked up to see another Cessna 310 filling the whole one piece windshield, I could clearly see the other pilot in his seatand it was an L model too. This happened so quickly that I did nothing, we passed right behind his tail and flew through the turbulence behind him. He came from our left in a decent to somewhere and I don't think he saw us, I wasn't using any flight following either. You can't look around to much and never tell the 3 sleeping people in the plane what they missed.

Kevin
 
Not too long after getting my PPL, I took a friend on a trip to Crystal River, Florida for a $100 Dairy Queen Blizzard®. On the approach to RY 9 you cross US Hwy 19. (see attached). There was a good deal of thermal/wind activity, and two pretty big guys in a C-152. Anyway, we get a little low on final approaching the highway and out of the corner of my eye I notice a large Publix® tractor trailer northbound. Since I was a pretty new PPL, and I already had my hands full with a bumpy approach, I dismissed the truck. Big mistake. We sank a little more, and crossed the highway at maybe 75' AGL seconds after the truck passed under. Next thing I know the turbulence from the truck has us everywhere but upside down, but definitely not pointed at the runway. I always fly final with my hand on the throttle, unless changing trim or flaps, and something instinctively made me shove forward. The nose tried to pitch up fom trim and flaps, and we ended up on a heading 45° left of the runway. We did a not too graceful departure over the FBO, then flew off to the northeast to do a "seat of the pants" laundry check. After that, we headed back and made a successful, if not a bit high and long landing.
 

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Flying right seat in a Seneca. Late afternoon in winter with snow cover on the ground. Headed approximately WNW on a 500fpm descent into a local airport. As we passed through ~1500 AGL the pilot and I saw a Bonanza just lower, and headed almost directly at us on a slight left to right crossing path.

Instincts are powerful. We both pulled back on the yoke and turned a bit towards the right. A second later, the Bo passed underneath us by about 20 feet. Not exactly scraping paint, but close enough.
 
About 5 years ago, I took off in my Arrow. When I leveled off at 1500 AGL and started to pick up speed, I heard this loud bang. Looked at the panel, everything normal. Looked out the windshield, couldn't see much of anything. The right side of the upper engine cowl had come loose, and air pressure had pushed the cowl back against the windshield. Checked the panel again, airspeed, rpm, mp all OK so immediate turn back to the airport, called tower with request for runway, landed looking out the side window.

That turned out to be expensive, since the cowl had twisted and damaged the trailing edges of the prop so had to do a prop strike inspection.

Always double-check the cowl now... :yikes:
 
Paying for my last annual inspection and the subsequent repairs that it required. It all hit me when I was flying the plane home.
 
I thought I was being big and bad posting the stuff about inadvertent stalls and whatnot. But the dude with the nuclear weapons has me beat all to hell. Nuclear weapons trump nearly anything in my book.
 
I just had my "Most Scariest thing" happen today.

I was doing Power on stalls and I did not put in enough right rudder. Anyone who has done Power On stalls will know that not enough right rudder will cause a sharp yaw to the right. I'm pretty sure I scared my CFI. lol
 
Anthony said:
Now that in and of itself, no matter what mode of transporation would utterly, and certainly scare the HELL out of me.

:D
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Would you feel better going TO banjo camp?
 
Snaggletooth said:
I just had my "Most Scariest thing" happen today.

I was doing Power on stalls and I did not put in enough right rudder. Anyone who has done Power On stalls will know that not enough right rudder will cause a sharp yaw to the right. I'm pretty sure I scared my CFI. lol
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I think you either ment left Rudder or Yaw to the left. More than likely your instructor was thinking, "I bet he doesn't do that again" or Lesson Learned.

Brian
CFIIG/ASEL
 
Snaggletooth said:
I just had my "Most Scariest thing" happen today.

I was doing Power on stalls and I did not put in enough right rudder. Anyone who has done Power On stalls will know that not enough right rudder will cause a sharp yaw to the right. I'm pretty sure I scared my CFI. lol
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I did that working on MCA. It felt like it went wings vertical, although I know it didn't. It sure startled me though.

John
 
I have a few memorable moments, Not sure how scared I actually was. Most scary moments are over with before I have time to be scared.

Inadvertant Night IMC in snow was a bit scary (and dumb)

Collapsing the left Gear on a Aeronca Champ on take off was memorable as was the Gear up landing that followed.

Going into a Slip for landing and seeing another airplane 50 feet below me also on final.

A couple self induced engine failures, Ran a tank dry in the pattern and landed, other tank had plenty of fuel. Pulled the Mixture instead of the Carb heat, Caught it before an off airport landing occured.

Brian
 
I haven't been flying long enough to have a truly scary moment. :D

However, on my long XC, I had a moment that qualified for me. I'd departed Argyle, NY (a small grass strip) and was heading for Windham, CT. Crossing over the Berkshires near Bennington, VT, I needed to descend from 7500 to 5500 to maintain VFR. As I got to 5500', I found I couldn't stop descending.

I didn't know what the heck was happening except that I was continually descending. I tried everything I could think of to climb but a 172 isn't a good match for a mountain wave downdraft. I remember looking down at the miles and miles of nothing-but-trees below me and thinking "I can't crash here! What will they say on the forums!" :rolleyes:

I did manage to eventually arrest the descent to 100 fpm and flew out of the wave when I was around 1000' AGL, if I recall correctly. It certainly got my attention. When I got home, I spent quite a little bit of time researching and reading about mountain waves and what to do if you get caught in one.
 
Snaggletooth said:
Whats the scariest thing that's happened to you in flight?
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Mine don't even come close to the seasoned pilots here.

1. Soloing as a student on a "windy" day getting tossed around in a BE-77 Skipper. Just over 20 kt winds but within 30* of rwy hdg. My CFI smiled at me as I walked out to the plane. After some air work I was ready to come back in but the winds had picked up. I requested the option and on touchdown realized I didn't master the sideslip as I shot across the runway and went around. A few attempts later I thought I would strike my wingtip for sidesliping so hard and flew down the runway <10' judging tip to ground clearance for 5000' of runway. Each time around I wished for kinder winds and thought "If I total this thing how will I explain it?". 9th time was the charm & it took only 4000' of runway.

Back at the FBO asked my CFI why he didn't stop me from going up. He said, "You made it back didn't you?"

2. Longer then expected night flight with estimated fuel within FAR minimums & 2 faulty fuel gauges wildly dancing around while over the La Basin. It's amazing what goes through you head when you honestly believe u might go down. For me it was "I can't afford to fix whatever I hit. How will they (FBO) manage without this plane?"
 
Keith Lane said:
Not too long after getting my PPL, I took a friend on a trip to Crystal River, Florida for a $100 Dairy Queen Blizzard®. On the approach to RY 9 you cross US Hwy 19. (see attached). There was a good deal of thermal/wind activity, and two pretty big guys in a C-152. Anyway, we get a little low on final approaching the highway and out of the corner of my eye I notice a large Publix® tractor trailer northbound. Since I was a pretty new PPL, and I already had my hands full with a bumpy approach, I dismissed the truck. Big mistake. We sank a little more, and crossed the highway at maybe 75' AGL seconds after the truck passed under. Next thing I know the turbulence from the truck has us everywhere but upside down, but definitely not pointed at the runway. I always fly final with my hand on the throttle, unless changing trim or flaps, and something instinctively made me shove forward. The nose tried to pitch up fom trim and flaps, and we ended up on a heading 45° left of the runway. We did a not too graceful departure over the FBO, then flew off to the northeast to do a "seat of the pants" laundry check. After that, we headed back and made a successful, if not a bit high and long landing.
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That's eerily similar to a situation that claimed the life of a student pilot and his 152 at an airport near me in 2001, except he didn't miss the semi.

http://www.amarillo.com/stories/082301/tex_pilotkilled.shtml

Does the view look familiar to your story? Short final to Parker County / Weatherford airport:

ScreenShot026.jpg
 
Hummm, well it might have been the time I tried to recover from a 3-turn spin and the Citabria didn't want to recover.

Or maybe when I exceeded Vne coming out of a maneuver and the ground was coming up fast and I wasn't sure how hard to pull as I was getting close to my G limit.

Then there was the time when I had landed and was rolling out and hit the ditch next to the runway and started flipping over and it took a long time to go over and all I could think of was getting out fast because I didn't want to be trapped in a burning airplane inverted on the ground.
 
Snaggletooth said:
I just had my "Most Scariest thing" happen today.

I was doing Power on stalls and I did not put in enough right rudder. Anyone who has done Power On stalls will know that not enough right rudder will cause a sharp yaw to the right. I'm pretty sure I scared my CFI. lol
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Yeah, that was pretty scary to me when I was a student, too. I did the same thing, just not enough rudder. My instructor, ever calm and cool, sat there until I said "Help?" (the only time I said that as a student), and he then said "Oh, you want me to do something?" Power on stalls take a bit of getting used to before you get comfortable with them. I have some friends with over 500 hours who don't like them.

I doubt you scared him. If you did, then it was a good learning experience for him, too. :)
 
gkainz said:
Why is it always snakes?
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Great stories everyone, really enjoying them.

Although, I don't have any "scary" things that have happened to me yet (I'm a ~13hr student pilot) I did land the airplane for the very first time today. First time I landed without any instructor input, up to this point he had assisted in some way, sometimes more than others but oh boy. It was AWESOME! Next time we go up (tomorrow depending on an oil temperature (gauge?) issue, we'll be doing emergencies in the pattern (balked landings, engine failures in the pattern) and then I'll solo sometime shortly after that :D
 
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Arbiter419 said:
I did land the airplane for the very first time today. First time I landed without any instructor input, up to this point he had assisted in some way, sometimes more than others but oh boy. It was AWESOME!
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Not to steal your glory or anything, but I landed with no help from the CFI today, and I'm a 7.2hr student pilot.
 
Diana said:
Hummm, well it might have been the time I tried to recover from a 3-turn spin and the Citabria didn't want to recover.

Or maybe when I exceeded Vne coming out of a maneuver and the ground was coming up fast and I wasn't sure how hard to pull as I was getting close to my G limit.

Then there was the time when I had landed and was rolling out and hit the ditch next to the runway and started flipping over and it took a long time to go over and all I could think of was getting out fast because I didn't want to be trapped in a burning airplane inverted on the ground.
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And you give me a hard time for slowing down to 60 MPH over the numbers... :lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:
 
Snaggletooth said:
Not to steal your glory or anything, but I landed with no help from the CFI today, and I'm a 7.2hr student pilot.
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First time I've been up at all in a little more than a year. :thumbsup:

But hey, it's a pretty big milestone, so here's to more where those came from :D
 
Just as soon as you agree to not exceed Vne. ;)
 
Other than flying with Flippy...it was when the elevator cable broke while I was flying solo as a student...

Exciting night. :yikes:
 
4763E said:
Other than flying with Flippy...it was when the elevator cable broke while I was flying solo as a student...

Exciting night. :yikes:
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Uh... yeah, no kidding; that's more than most students would be prepared to handle... tell us more.
 
Except for your likely confusion about which yaw and which rudder I got a shock one time, also. After the mishap as pictured earlier in this thread I was flying a C-150 I bought. The CFI said we'd do some power-on stalls. No sweat, I thought.

Well, about the moment she broke I was in a spin, from which the CFI saved it. WTF!
I said that I'd practiced stalls in my 172, solo, and never had a sign of a spin.

" and you just learned that a 150 is a lot less resistant to a spin than a 172." Now, that was a good lesson.

HR

HR
 
Climbing out from a $100 barbecue sandwich at Weiser (EYQ) a Grumman Tiger decided to let a stream of smoke loose through the air vent. Smelled electrical. It stopped after about 2 seconds, but I was already heading back into the pattern, calling smoke in the cockpit and focusing on getting the speed right, cause a fast Tiger will float forever... That one wasn't my fault.

This next one was..
Heading home from Liberty, Tx to Houston Gulf, I took off at night under what I thought were adequate ceilings (as briefed). I should have turned around. I didn't. 800 ft or less at night, some of it over water, was something I considered myself fortunate to have survived. I was still legal VFR but it was not safe nor fun. I didn't look to go scud running, but I never questioned my gut to turn around or land short again.
 
I've had two occurances of "Scared" moments, all of which I have learned from and respect more now for certain things.

1) On my first Solo XC, I missed my second checkpoint. I knew the area geographically, and knew where I was heading, but frustraited with myself that I missed a checkpoint. I continued on my present heading, and to what I thought would be my third. I was using pilotage and dead reckoning for this leg, and didn't see my third now. Took a few deep breaths to slow down my heartrate that was now pounding, as I new I was close to Allentown PA's Class C airspace, but didn't know where I was. Looked at my sectional, looked where I was thinking I was, and looked for landmarks outside. Found a watertower, circled it, and it was Kutztown University,... now I knew where I was, but what happened,... tuned the East-Texas VOR, and found where I was more precisely, and found I wasn't correcting for a slight wind from the east, and I was blown left of my intented course. Now, I use VOR's as backups all the time!

2) I took my wife out for her first breakfast run to lancaster PA. Weather was hazy, but good for VFR on the way out, as the sun was to our back. This was my first experience with Northeast Summer Haze, and I learned quite a bit. As we departed home, visibility was minimal, and I was on the instruments even though I was VFR. Scared because I should have known better than to get in this situation, but also because there are dark clouds forming around us. We made it back to Wings Field, and only about 30 minutes ahead of nasty thunderstorms that popped up all around our route. Apparently, we passed through the line just as they were forming, and just in time.
 
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Doggtyred said:
Climbing out from a $100 barbecue sandwich at Weiser (EYQ) a Grumman Tiger decided to let a stream of smoke loose through the air vent. Smelled electrical. It stopped after about 2 seconds, but I was already heading back into the pattern, calling smoke in the cockpit and focusing on getting the speed right, cause a fast Tiger will float forever... That one wasn't my fault.

This next one was..
Heading home from Liberty, Tx to Houston Gulf, I took off at night under what I thought were adequate ceilings (as briefed). I should have turned around. I didn't. 800 ft or less at night, some of it over water, was something I considered myself fortunate to have survived. I was still legal VFR but it was not safe nor fun. I didn't look to go scud running, but I never questioned my gut to turn around or land short again.
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Wow, good stories and I didn't realize there was another Houston-area pilot on here... pretty soon we're going to outnumber those DFW area guys! Was that Grumman one of the Fletcher/Flying Tigers birds?
 
t0r0nad0 said:
Wow, good stories and I didn't realize there was another Houston-area pilot on here... pretty soon we're going to outnumber those DFW area guys!
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Howdy...from Houston (DWH) as well! Mainly just been lurking here for a while...and just finished my PPC checkride last Sunday.

Anyway, I only have one truly scary moment that I remember. During my first round of training about 6-7 years ago I was on my second solo in the pattern at T41 in a Citabria.

As I was starting into the flare, as best I can remember, the winds gusted and shifted 90', and the next thing I was aware of has having ballooned up a bit, drifting off the side of the runway, and suddenly in a 45' bank. With full-stopped left aileron and full power...aimed a bit down to help pick up speed, trying to get the controls more effective...drifted past 45'...then finally stopped...hung there...then snapped back level and went around. It was probably less than a second or two, but it seemed like minutes.

I can't fully explain what actually happened and I'm probably not getting it all right, as it was so long ago. I do remember the winds afterwards being much stronger, and I switched to the crossing runway and made a normal landing. CFI was watching, and just said it looked like I had fun.
 
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