Interesting aviation tales

[1524J]

So it's a little slow and I always like hearing about aviation stories.....one of my favorite that I experienced. My partner and I had just finished taking our written exam about a week prior for our instrument rating and we show up at the FBO to do some flying with our instructor, who also happens to be the FAA designee. Anyhow, he looks at us with this serious look and says " I know you boys have been cheatin' and I've solved the problem." We both look at him, stumbling with our words "we don't know what your talking about!" He says "follow me, I'll show you." I'm thinking "Man, what did we do that he'd be so upset." We round the corner coming out of the hanger and there sits our Mooney with the windows completely covered in cardboard. And I mean completely.....there was a 12"X12" hole, if that big, in the right seat windshield. "Lets go see if you boys can really fly IFR" Now I wasn't concerned about flying by instruments, shooting approaches, or tracking a VOR. From the time I was a student pilot my instructor was always chastising me to "quit looking at the instruments and fly the plane." What 'ya gotta understand is our instructor and this was 10 or so years ago, was in his mid 70's and I'm thinking "he's lost his mind!!" It was the middle of the summer. Buzzards are ALWAYS in the vicinity of the airport and I know that neither of us can see diddley squat! Obviously I survived the flight, but it's something I'll never forget!

[Jeff_S]

Explain to us how you taxied out and took off with the only visibility a small hole on the right side of the windshield? Or did your instructor take the cardboard down for land ops and then put it back up while in the air?

[1524J]

1 hour ago, Jeff_S said:

Explain to us how you taxied out and took off with the only visibility a small hole on the right side of the windshield? Or did your instructor take the cardboard down for land ops and then put it back up while in the air?

Ahhh......you think I'm spinning a tall tale perhaps.   Not so, although I thought it was unbelievable myself when we came out of the hanger and saw the all the windows covered. The instructor taxied and took off......gave me control of the airplane shortly after. You do understand what an FAA designee is? He's still active today. Sharp as ever. 

[jrwilson]

Yeah we know what an FAA designee is. This is just an example showing that even someone with tons of experience can have very bad judgement.

You guys had your private certificates already and were getting your IFR and you still went along with this? Knowing "buzzards" were around, not to mention other possibly nordo planes?

Bigger question, knowing what you know now, would you do this again?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Bob_Belville]

Good tale, well told. Gentlemen do not nitpick fables. Poets have licence.

[1524J]

Tough crowd......i think the point of the story was I questioned the judgement involved. His and ours. The truth is out there.

 

[Brian Scranton]

My check ride was insane. Here's my write up...

 

Passed my PPL Check Ride this past weekend! Whew. We only have one examiner around here so we have lots of beta on his profile. Strangley...the Check Ride was not like any profile I had heard of from 3 CFIs and two students who had taken a ride with this Examiner. Here's a little recap:

After the oral, we walked to the airplane (C182L). I had flown that morning so he told me that I didn’t need to preflight. He was cold and wanted to get the show on the road. 

I used the checklist to start the engine…I began to brief him. He told me he did not need a passenger briefing and knew how to work the doors and the seat belt. He urged me to get going.

I made my call to Unicom. I taxied to 31 and did a run up. Made sure I checked my checklist to ensure I did not miss a thing. I asked him if he’d like to see a soft field take off because I know he is hot on them and he said yes. While working through the run up and doing final checks, he nonchalantly mentioned that there was snow past the threshold. I lower 20 degree flaps and talk through the procedure for a SF t/o, make my departing call and roll past the threshold, forgetting that in his incessant talking (he does this to throw you off your game), that he mentioned the snow. As I roll past the threshold, he says, “Well you just buried your nose wheel in all that snow. Better get out and push.” I say “really?” He says, “No, but soft fields don’t begin on the runway—this is real life, not practice life.” Damn good advice.

We depart. He tells me to climb to 7500 feet. While doing so he has me put on the foggles. Once foggles were on, he has me vector towards a tiny private airpark about 20 miles north of my airport. He’s talking the whole time. Asking questions about family, flying, work…just trying to throw me off.

Under the hood he has me track toward the field, do slow flight above the stall horn speed (50 mph, full flaps)…no turns, no descents or anything…just fly in slow flight. We do 2 recoveries from unusual attitudes under the hood. Both were nose high. Then the hood comes off. He’s still talking.

Still in slow flight, he asks me to go full power, full flaps and stall the airplane. I had never done a full flap, full power stall—I tell him this. He asks, “Well, what are you going to do if you stall on a go around?” I say, good point. We do one…lots of left yaw. Lots. I ask to do one more. Tons of right foot and nail it. 

We then head to this tiny field…he’s still talking the whole time. I did not have the airport info handy for what I thought was a pretty random request…he shows me how to find it on the Garmin 430…I make my call to traffic. He tells me I talk to much on the radio. I say I am announcing my position in case of other traffic. He says I don’t have to. I slow up the airplane to give me more time. He asks why? 

He tells me to land. It’s fully snow covered. Looks like it hadnt been used since the snow started falling months ago. He tells me to land on RWY 04—I ask if I can do right traffic due to the 500' hills surrounding the strip. He says, no—the standard is left traffic. I begin to **** my pants. Fully snow covered, terrain all around, I do my prelanding check (GUMP), cross midfield and turn downwind, with 20 degree flaps, I notice I am high and add full flaps…and line up on final. Nervous of the tiny, snow covered runway, with no obvious centerline, and terrain all around, I begin to sweat. I keep my speed just under 80, still high, he asks me to do a slip. More sweat. I get down quick, bleed my speed, keep the nose up, kick the rudder, and bam—greased it. He says, “good job! Let’s do another but from the other direction.” We taxi to the end of 04, turn around, he cautions me not to stop because that’s an immediate fail…we depart on 22 and he mentions how rare it is to do an actual soft field on a check ride (lucky me). We climb 500, left turn, downwind, base…making calls the whole time, he tells me to stop making calls and fly the airplane. High again, we slip again…same deal, just landing the other way this time—he has me do a touch and go, which on a very short runway seems a bit scary. He’s still talking.

We then proceed to 6700 feet, make a right turn and he asks me to do some S turns over the highway. Done. He has me do turns about a point. Done. He directs me back to my origin airport and after 45 seconds pulls the engine. “Where you going to land?” I get to 80mph and begin to pick my field. I find a nice one. Really nice. And he says, “Why the hell would you land in a field and flip me upside down when you can land at the airport below us.” We were right over the soft field!!! But it wasn’t in front of me—and the pressure of the check ride…didn’t even occur to me where I was!!! So, we turn left, super high for Rwy 22, slip down into…100 feet above the ground he says, “Deer in the runway!” I push carb heat in and then power for the go around…he screams, “FAIL! That’s a FAIL!!!!” Fully ****ting my pants now, I ask, “What’s a fail?” He says on a go around, NEVER put carb heat to cold before power. That can freeze up the engine—he’s seen it happen. Always power first on a go around. Always. I tell him I will never, ever, ever do it again—he says, “Good.” Still talking. 

Days after, my PTSD is subsiding and have had the family out for a few flights. Loving it.

[Shadrach]

Just now, Brian Scranton said:

My check ride was insane. Here's my write up...

 

Passed my PPL Check Ride this past weekend! Whew. We only have one examiner around here so we have lots of beta on his profile. Strangley...the Check Ride was not like any profile I had heard of from 3 CFIs and two students who had taken a ride with this Examiner. Here's a little recap:

After the oral, we walked to the airplane (C182L). I had flown that morning so he told me that I didn’t need to preflight. He was cold and wanted to get the show on the road. 

I used the checklist to start the engine…I began to brief him. He told me he did not need a passenger briefing and knew how to work the doors and the seat belt. He urged me to get going.

I made my call to Unicom. I taxied to 31 and did a run up. Made sure I checked my checklist to ensure I did not miss a thing. I asked him if he’d like to see a soft field take off because I know he is hot on them and he said yes. While working through the run up and doing final checks, he nonchalantly mentioned that there was snow past the threshold. I lower 20 degree flaps and talk through the procedure for a SF t/o, make my departing call and roll past the threshold, forgetting that in his incessant talking (he does this to throw you off your game), that he mentioned the snow. As I roll past the threshold, he says, “Well you just buried your nose wheel in all that snow. Better get out and push.” I say “really?” He says, “No, but soft fields don’t begin on the runway—this is real life, not practice life.” Damn good advice.

We depart. He tells me to climb to 7500 feet. While doing so he has me put on the foggles. Once foggles were on, he has me vector towards a tiny private airpark about 20 miles north of my airport. He’s talking the whole time. Asking questions about family, flying, work…just trying to throw me off.

Under the hood he has me track toward the field, do slow flight above the stall horn speed (50 mph, full flaps)…no turns, no descents or anything…just fly in slow flight. We do 2 recoveries from unusual attitudes under the hood. Both were nose high. Then the hood comes off. He’s still talking.

Still in slow flight, he asks me to go full power, full flaps and stall the airplane. I had never done a full flap, full power stall—I tell him this. He asks, “Well, what are you going to do if you stall on a go around?” I say, good point. We do one…lots of left yaw. Lots. I ask to do one more. Tons of right foot and nail it. 

We then head to this tiny field…he’s still talking the whole time. I did not have the airport info handy for what I thought was a pretty random request…he shows me how to find it on the Garmin 430…I make my call to traffic. He tells me I talk to much on the radio. I say I am announcing my position in case of other traffic. He says I don’t have to. I slow up the airplane to give me more time. He asks why? 

He tells me to land. It’s fully snow covered. Looks like it hadnt been used since the snow started falling months ago. He tells me to land on RWY 04—I ask if I can do right traffic due to the 500' hills surrounding the strip. He says, no—the standard is left traffic. I begin to **** my pants. Fully snow covered, terrain all around, I do my prelanding check (GUMP), cross midfield and turn downwind, with 20 degree flaps, I notice I am high and add full flaps…and line up on final. Nervous of the tiny, snow covered runway, with no obvious centerline, and terrain all around, I begin to sweat. I keep my speed just under 80, still high, he asks me to do a slip. More sweat. I get down quick, bleed my speed, keep the nose up, kick the rudder, and bam—greased it. He says, “good job! Let’s do another but from the other direction.” We taxi to the end of 04, turn around, he cautions me not to stop because that’s an immediate fail…we depart on 22 and he mentions how rare it is to do an actual soft field on a check ride (lucky me). We climb 500, left turn, downwind, base…making calls the whole time, he tells me to stop making calls and fly the airplane. High again, we slip again…same deal, just landing the other way this time—he has me do a touch and go, which on a very short runway seems a bit scary. He’s still talking.

We then proceed to 6700 feet, make a right turn and he asks me to do some S turns over the highway. Done. He has me do turns about a point. Done. He directs me back to my origin airport and after 45 seconds pulls the engine. “Where you going to land?” I get to 80mph and begin to pick my field. I find a nice one. Really nice. And he says, “Why the hell would you land in a field and flip me upside down when you can land at the airport below us.” We were right over the soft field!!! But it wasn’t in front of me—and the pressure of the check ride…didn’t even occur to me where I was!!! So, we turn left, super high for Rwy 22, slip down into…100 feet above the ground he says, “Deer in the runway!” I push carb heat in and then power for the go around…he screams, “FAIL! That’s a FAIL!!!!” Fully ****ting my pants now, I ask, “What’s a fail?” He says on a go around, NEVER put carb heat to cold before power. That can freeze up the engine—he’s seen it happen. Always power first on a go around. Always. I tell him I will never, ever, ever do it again—he says, “Good.” Still talking. 

Days after, my PTSD is subsiding and have had the family out for a few flights. Loving it.

 

Brian,

Are you a rock climber or mountaineer?

 

 

[Brian Scranton]

Ha! How'd you know? Big Mountain skier would be a more accurate description! 

[Shadrach]

Just now, Brian Scranton said:

Ha! How'd you know? Big Mountain skier would be a more accurate description! 

You're crossing jargon/vernacular from one discipline to the other!  

"We only have one examiner around here so we have lots of beta on his profile."

I don't think that many folks on this board understand the use of he word beta in above sentence (though context makes it easy to figure out it means info).

It is still a commonly used word amongst me and a number of my friends.  Many of us spent a fair amount of our 20's sport climbing in and around Tahoe and Donner Pass; we still try get out at least once a year for a backpacking trip in the Cascades or the Sierra (It's a challenge with kids, business and being on the east coast).  Anyway, I can always tell when I've inadvertently used the word "Beta" in this way around someone with no connection to mountaineering from the confused look on their face.

 

[Brian Scranton]

Ahhhh...that's funny. Lexicon pervades us all. 

[Hank]

I've always used/heard "gouge" in this application. What does that make me? 

[Jeff_S]

2 hours ago, 1524J said:

Ahhh......you think I'm spinning a tall tale perhaps.   Not so, although I thought it was unbelievable myself when we came out of the hanger and saw the all the windows covered. The instructor taxied and took off......gave me control of the airplane shortly after. You do understand what an FAA designee is? He's still active today. Sharp as ever. 

For the record, I wasn't questioning the veracity of the tale. I just honestly wanted to know how they manged ground ops with the cardboard inserts. But now that this has been revealed, I have to say that there is no way I would let someone taxi and takeoff in MY plane in such a condition, FAA inspector or not. But perhaps when I was less experienced I wouldn't have been so bold as to refuse.

[Shadrach]

48 minutes ago, Hank said:

I've always used/heard "gouge" in this application. What does that make me? 

Live by the gouge, die by the gouge...  Were you USN?

[jrwilson]

2 hours ago, 1524J said: Ahhh......you think I'm spinning a tall tale perhaps.   Not so, although I thought it was unbelievable myself when we came out of the hanger and saw the all the windows covered. The instructor taxied and took off......gave me control of the airplane shortly after. You do understand what an FAA designee is? He's still active today. Sharp as ever. 

For the record, I wasn't questioning the veracity of the tale. I just honestly wanted to know how they manged ground ops with the cardboard inserts. But now that this has been revealed, I have to say that there is no way I would let someone taxi and takeoff in MY plane in such a condition, FAA inspector or not. But perhaps when I was less experienced I wouldn't have been so bold as to refuse.

That's my point. It's ok to refuse, even if the guy is an expert. It's ok to say no. In the story above about the snow covered runway, I would have said no. Granted, I fly a mooney and don't have much snow covered runway takeoff/landing experience (1 takeoff ever) so maybe it was fine.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Hank]

54 minutes ago, Shadrach said:

Live by the gouge, die by the gouge...  Were you USN?

Close . . . Spent the first 16 years of my life in the USMC. So my definition if "normal" is a little different from most civilians.

[Shadrach]

31 minutes ago, jrwilson said:

That's my point. It's ok to refuse, even if the guy is an expert. It's ok to say no. In the story above about the snow covered runway, I would have said no. Granted, I fly a mooney and don't have much snow covered runway takeoff/landing experience (1 takeoff ever) so maybe it was fine.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The snow was a hypothetical.  Notice that no one actually got out to extricate the aircraft from the aforementioned snow?  It was the instructors way of communicating that a pilot has to be mindful of field conditions at all times, not just during the take off roll.

[Hank]

Just now, Shadrach said:

The snow was a hypothetical.  Notice that no one actually got out to extricate the aircraft from the aforementioned snow?  It was the instructors way of communicating that a pilot has to be mindful of field conditions at all times, not just during the take off roll.

There was imaginary snow on the first takeoff. Later there was a landing in a snow-covered runway. I thought the snow was real this time, but maybe it was also imaginary. Nope, he says "it was completely snow covered, looked like it hadn't been used since snow started falling months ago." Not sure I'd have done that at an unfamiliar field.

[Shadrach]

Just now, Hank said:

There was imaginary snow on the first takeoff. Later there was a landing in a snow-covered runway. I thought the snow was real this time, but maybe it was also imaginary. Nope, he says "it was completely snow covered, looked like it hadn't been used since snow started falling months ago." Not sure I'd have done that at an unfamiliar field.

My mistake.

[Brian Scranton]

Nope. It was 6 inches deep, unplowed, and scary as hell (until I stuck the landing--then I was all, "huh, that wasn't too bad"). Plus, I was too high so I had a pretty hefty forward slip in there as well. His quote, "I never get to do actual soft field landings during a check ride...you're in luck!"

He's a renown FAA DPE around here, one helluva pilot, and owns the airport, so I trusted him....afterwords, I took it as a compliment. At the time however, I wished I had a diaper.  

Edited March 18, 2016 by Brian Scranton

[carusoam]

Brian has some writing skills...

Mooney pilots are so logic oriented/driven...

It must be tough for a CFI when the student expects and sees through all the artful trickery that they are trying to deploy, and safely deliver the plane through all the hoops.

preparing for the check ride includes getting all the available information about the flight.  Which includes the Gouge...

Best regards,

-a-

 

[1524J]

18 minutes ago, jrwilson said:

That's my point. It's ok to refuse, even if the guy is an expert. It's ok to say no. In the story above about the snow covered runway, I would have said no. Granted, I fly a mooney and don't have much snow covered runway takeoff/landing experience (1 takeoff ever) so maybe it was fine.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It's tough to tell the guy who'll be giving you a check ride that he's gone to far, this is over the top. I still don't know to this day if he was serious about us cheating. We had both taken our written exam on the same day, scored within one point of one another, and both did really well. He's got a dry sense of humor so it's hard to read whether he's joking or not. I know someone went to a lot of trouble to pull our plane from the hanger and cut out the cardboard to fit the windows. Our airport is fairly rural so other traffic wasn't my first concern, but I've come close to taking aboard buzzards more than once in the pattern.  In hindsight, we both should've declined or just said let's wait for actual IFR weather and you can test us all you want. Hopefully we learn from our experiences.....

You guys have any good stories......?

[Bob_Belville]

I suspect looking out the windows is a lot more useful for avoiding other planes. With birds, not so much.

Absolute trust in the plane's instruments is essential to flying IMC when your body will lie to you. And when the examiner starts killing components being able to calmly aviate with what you have left might save your bacon someday. Thank the nice man.

[1524J]

Alright....so here's one more in an effort to kickstart this thread.....or maybe it's like showing other people pictures of your babies. Their polite but not really interested.

I had just passed my check ride for my PPL (from same guy in previous story) and my wife and I decide to go see her family in Bartlesville, OK. I flight planned the Cherokee for 100 miles per hour and man am  I pumped. We've got a 30 to 40 mile an hour tailwind and cruising' along. Make it there in a couple of hours and I'm just excited to be an airplane owner! We stay a couple of days, I check the weather and everything looks good for the flight home. We've leave late in the evening and i'm thinking it'll take us 3 to 3 1/2 hours to get home. I climb to altitude and that great tail wind is still there but now I'm flying against it. There were cars on the interstate that were going faster than I was in the air. Anyhow, it's dark and I realize if we make home we'll be well into our 1 hour reserve so I get the airport directory out so I can find an airport that has self serve fuel. I'm trying to juggle the directory and fly the plane so I ask my lovely wife "honey, hold the yoke so I can find an airport". She looks and me and says "Nope"! So I struggle a little longer then tell her "if you don't hold the yoke, we'll probably die" She looks at me just as calm as can be as says "I guess were going to die because I'm not touching that yoke" I managed to find and airport and get fuel but learned a valuable lesson. Never buy an airplane w/out an autopilot!! 

I'm trying to talk my wife into going with me to Don Maxwell's maintenance  seminar in May for the right seat portion. She starting to melt just a little.....only taken 16 years.

[Yooper Rocketman]

I was going through my aviation photos and spotted this one from one of our Ford Airport Days a few years ago.  This was a unit the old command (before my time) would use in the local parade to generate interest in the chapter.  For some reason I could never get enough speed going to get the nose wheel off.

Tom