TowBar Story

[Seth]

This is just a quick story of ensuring that you ALWAYS check and double check.  No damage, no ego busters, just an "oh no" what could have been, and then thinking of what others have done.

 

I had my Mooney Missile up at an airport in PA (LNS - Lancaster) to have the prop looked at for dynamic balancing (that's another issue - may end up refinishing it and then balancing it) and to have a radio repaired.  After the consultation, I hand towed the Missile to the self serve fuel pumps about 100 feet away by hand, and used the tow bar as the "chock" while fueling.  During fueling, a Piper Aztec landed and pulled up to the fuel pump nose to nose as opposed to behind me (I had evidently pulled in opposite of what this guy normally does).  He shut down, I finished fueling, and then had to push the plane back to get it out of the way.  it was slightly uphill there, so he helped me push it far enough and I helped get his plane in front of the pump.  I again used my tow bar as a "chock."  I drained fuel samples, checked oil, took the tow bar and put it in the cargo door, before locking the door, doing my final "does anything look out of place" walk around, and starting the engine.  I then started, called up ground, tower, and departed the area.

 

Upon landing at Gaithersburg, MD, GAI, I taxied to my hanger and as I was about to turn down my row I saw a twin starting up opposite my hanger (what's with the twin's that day?).  I passed my row, did the smallest 360 I could on the taxiway with just enough room to spare and didn't have to shut down to get back in position, I then when to go down my taxiway to my hanger and saw that my next door hanger buddy had his plane just about ready to pull out.  If I stopped, I'd block him in.  SO, I taxied past him, and shut down just clear, so he could pull out his 182, fire it up, head on out, and I could then push my Mooney an extra hanger length before putting it away. 

 

I jumped out, took out the tow bar, and put it in the nose wheel.  Then I went to my hanger, opened the doors, pulled, my car out, and then waited another minute until the 182 started up.  I then headed back to my plane to grab the tow bar from the luggage area and to my surprise, it was gone.  I thought.  OH NO!  Am I fool and did I leave it at LNS next to the self serve fuel on the tarmac?  Idiot!!  I realized I would need help getting the plane into the hanger if that was the case so I was about to go ask some people at the airport for help when I saw the tow bar in the nose wheel socket ready to go for the push back.  I smiled, hit myself in the head, and thanked goodness I wasn't a complete idiot. 

 

I remember reading stories of people who leave and start the engine, ruining their prop, or taking off with it attached.  Thank goodness that was not the case with me, but it goes to show that if you get messed up, and this time it was at both ends, you need to double check before you move on.  There was no danger, but I had to move my plane uphill after fueling, so I checked, an then had to taxi out of my way twice to try to get to my hanger upon landing. 

 

Make sure you tow bar is not attached, and you don't leave it behind, when taking off, fueling, landing, whatever.  And always put your gear down.  GUMPS GUMPS GUMPS

 

Just glad I didn't make a mistake even though I got the sinking feeling in my stomach.

 

-Seth

[bonal]

 its Most important whenever something breaks our routine the tasks that we do on mental autopilot will bite you on the ass real hard. never stop flying the airplane even after shut down. Always check and if your not sure whats bugging your gut. start over from the beginning. like if I get distracted doing my preflight I go back and start over.

[John Pleisse]

You scared me Seth... thought you were going say it went up with the gear in the nose well. :)

[mooniac15u]

I got distracted once and started taxiing my old M20D with the towbar still attached.  Fortunately someone else on the field spotted it and flagged me down.  Since then I never leave the bar attached to the gear unless I'm holding the other end in my hand.  If I have to walk away briefly I detach the bar and set it on the ground.  I may fly away without my towbar someday but at least I won't fly away with it attached.

[Seth]

I got distracted once and started taxiing my old M20D with the towbar still attached.  Fortunately someone else on the field spotted it and flagged me down.  Since then I never leave the bar attached to the gear unless I'm holding the other end in my hand.  If I have to walk away briefly I detach the bar and set it on the ground.  I may fly away without my towbar someday but at least I won't fly away with it attached.

 

Yeah I just thought I left it at the fuel pumps at a different airport only because I changed my routine on heading back to my hanger.  But it does make me think. 

 

Missile is fine - just got me thinking.  No actually issues, just scared me that there could be.

 

-Seth

[Seth]

You scared me Seth... thought you were going say it went up with the gear in the nose well. :)

Nope all good - that's why I started with "No damage, no ego busters"

[Danb]

Seth you wonder what's up with some of those rude pilots out there, I know the pumps next to sensenich and I ask myself why in the heck did that dude in Aztec pull in that way. I'm sure you had the pump on the left side of your Missile and the other guy had to pull in with the big hanger on his right as well as the fence...makes no sense no courtesy..at least you were close to Webers if you had to push your plane for repairs..that kind of stuff just irritates the heck out of me..jeez

[TWinter]

I often wondered if other guys always get that same gut thought going through thier mind like I do right after I start the prop on occasion..even though I've made a mental note and do my check list.. I still catch myself thinking, Did I remember to put the tow-bar away or pull it off the front wheel after closing the hanger doors etc..?.   I'm in a community hanger and I always try to close up shop and sIide the big bay doors closed to prevent flying debris into my hanger mates area. After all the pre-flight, pulling, tugging and closing doors I catch myself questioning, "Did I take the tow-bar off ?", knowing full well I did. I would be a liar if I said I've never shut down just to make sure I knew where it was.. Safe than sorry I guess.

[scottfromiowa]

My fuel pump "OOPS" was similar. Distracted by a plane coming as I was finishing fueling. Didn't replace pilot side cap and pushed back to get out of the guys way...Got a radio call "missing something Mooney"....? YUP, a quick return for the cap that had fallen off the wing shortly after start-up/taxi...

"DON'T EVER GET IN A HURRY WHEN TAKEN OUT OF YOUR ROUTINE"...bad things happen...

Slow down, be deliberate...THINK.

Glad it was just a brief stomach punch and nothing harmed Seth. Thanks for sharing. I used to leave my tow bar in when tied down as I always fuel up/tow to pump before departing (because of seeping tanks)...Now that my tanks are sealed I will be a "fill 'r up" upon arrival guy. I would often find bar removed by someone that didn't want to see me start with it in the gear...A nice gesture that I finally started to "listen too"

[Hank]

I went to Jerry's maintenance clinic with an F pilot, a nice early departure that had us both running a little late on a Saturday morning. I pulled out of the hangar, closed the door and was folding up the towbar when he opened his door. So I went to help him push. Having already done the preflight in the [box] hangar that I was sharing at the time, I climbed in, cranked up and we taxied out together.

 

A couple of hours later, my cell phone rang. Someone had picked up a towbar from beside the taxiway and they wondered if it was mine. Talk about a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach!! When we broke for lunch, I hurried out to check my prop for damage. What a relief! Nothing . . .

 

Best I can figure, when I went back to help my buddy I was collapsing the towbar and set it on the horizontal stab as I walked by, but being in a hurry I didn't see it coming back. The sharp turn onto the taxiway made it slide off.

 

Distractions come in many forms, and I have always tried to remind myself to not be in a hurry with an airplane. But I did try to taxi away from my tiedown the other day without removing the chocks, just because as a long-time hangar tenant, by the time I'm getting in the plane I've already towed it out of the hangar and there are no chocks to remove. I was running late that time, too; nothing quite like shutting down, removing headset and seatbelt, climbing out and walking around the wing to remove the dad-burned chocks, so that everything can be done again, when you are already late! 

 

Ya'll be careful out there!!

[laytonl]

I make it a habit to never leave the tow bar attached for any reason. My hand never leaves the tow at while it's attached. That is one less stupid thing for me to do.

But for my stupid pilot trick, I have taxied out without untying a tie down rope. It broke loose and flew along with me. I wondered why the airplane was slow to get moving!

Lee

[N601RX]

A friend flew his 172 with the tow bar still attached. It settled down on the wheel pants and did not dig in on landing. It stayed down and never hit the prop.

[aviatoreb]

Hi Seth,  ..I was afraid the the story was going to have you chasing the airplane down a hill to catch it before it hit a building.  Phew!

 

Hey - thanks for calling for lunch when you saw my airplane at Weber last week that same day!  Sorry I couldn't talk more - you caught me in meetings - at Princeton - check your messages I messaged you the next day - Saturday.

 

Cheers

Erik