Missing Fuel Cap M20F

[Andy95W]

So, here's the question- if you forget your gas cap, would you rather lose the cap or beat the crap out of the top of your wing?  I guarantee replacing the gas cap is the cheaper option.

[Shiny moose]

3 hours ago, Andy95W said:

So, here's the question- if you forget your gas cap, would you rather lose the cap or beat the crap out of the top of your wing?  I guarantee replacing the gas cap is the cheaper option.

+1

[carusoam]

Andy,

Now that you mention it...

It all depends... on the brain...

Kind of like the baggage door... if there is a way to goof up the process... doing it half way, can be really bad...

 

My M20C caps were untethered... I liked them that way. Because, I didn’t like them being placed on the wing’s paint...

Then I realized, I kept getting in the plane, family after me... looking out you see the uncapped tanks, the caps next to the pump, and the receipt flapping in the wind.... taunting me... 

The next thing I did to avoid the cap being placed on the paint was to put the cap back in place, but not latched down... knowing I would latch them down after sumping the tank... this insidious situation didn’t look really wrong, and allowed you to get further, before deplaning the family, to get out to latch down the caps...

 

Today, with the M20R, and much nicer paint... caps are tethered.. they sit on the paint. They don’t get touched until the tanks are sumped.... then the caps get put on and latched down...  this often includes telling the lineman to just leave them off until I do the sumping.

 

As for the baggage door, very similar... I always put the door down to keep it from being blown around by neighborhood Robinson helicopters... again, deplaning the family to get out to latch down the baggage door that was left half closed...

 

If there was a use for a new Check list... the pre-pre-taxi checklist would have things on it like fuel caps placed and locked, both doors closed and ‘locked’, and probably the oil dipstick and door too...

If there is a way to half finish the job, I learned it early on... thinking the half finished job was efficiently getting me to the end goal...

 

Today... We are fully knowledgeable of how the brain works and doesn’t work. Distractions come in various flavors...

a half finished job doesn’t get you any closer to completion, but it has the insidious nature of not standing out either... a shut door that isn’t fully closed properly, looks closed... the fuzzy memory can’t cleanly remember latched or not...

 

Not sure what caused the OP’s loss of fuel cap, but if he is like me... he is going to learn to always keep the baggage door closed and latched, or all the way open...  

PP thoughts only, I wasn’t there when this cap went missing... just relaying the experience I had and the thought process behind it...

Best regards,

-a-

[DrQuinn]

I recently did the same thing with the same model cap.  I found a used replacement on the internet by looking for the part number.  Luckily a couple of different aircraft use the same part.  I have one spare now.

[xcrmckenna]

19 hours ago, carusoam said:

Andy,
Now that you mention it...
It all depends... on the brain...
Kind of like the baggage door... if there is a way to goof up the process... doing it half way, can be really bad...
 
My M20C caps were untethered... I liked them that way. Because, I didn’t like them being placed on the wing’s paint...
Then I realized, I kept getting in the plane, family after me... looking out you see the uncapped tanks, the caps next to the pump, and the receipt flapping in the wind.... taunting me... 
The next thing I did to avoid the cap being placed on the paint was to put the cap back in place, but not latched down... knowing I would latch them down after sumping the tank... this insidious situation didn’t look really wrong, and allowed you to get further, before deplaning the family, to get out to latch down the caps...
 
Today, with the M20R, and much nicer paint... caps are tethered.. they sit on the paint. They don’t get touched until the tanks are sumped.... then the caps get put on and latched down...  this often includes telling the lineman to just leave them off until I do the sumping.
 
As for the baggage door, very similar... I always put the door down to keep it from being blown around by neighborhood Robinson helicopters... again, deplaning the family to get out to latch down the baggage door that was left half closed...
 
If there was a use for a new Check list... the pre-pre-taxi checklist would have things on it like fuel caps placed and locked, both doors closed and ‘locked’, and probably the oil dipstick and door too...
If there is a way to half finish the job, I learned it early on... thinking the half finished job was efficiently getting me to the end goal...
 
Today... We are fully knowledgeable of how the brain works and doesn’t work. Distractions come in various flavors...
a half finished job doesn’t get you any closer to completion, but it has the insidious nature of not standing out either... a shut door that isn’t fully closed properly, looks closed... the fuzzy memory can’t cleanly remember latched or not...
 
Not sure what caused the OP’s loss of fuel cap, but if he is like me... he is going to learn to always keep the baggage door closed and latched, or all the way open...  
PP thoughts only, I wasn’t there when this cap went missing... just relaying the experience I had and the thought process behind it...
Best regards,
-a-

I bought a roll of clear rubber contact paper for kitchen draws vs the $100 fuel mats on aircraft spruce. I don’t have the lanyards so the copilot side goes on the wing walk. The pilot side I put rubber sheet down with a hole cut in it so the cap can sit on it. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[carusoam]

14 hours ago, DrQuinn said:

I recently did the same thing with the same model cap.  I found a used replacement on the internet by looking for the part number.  Luckily a couple of different aircraft use the same part.  I have one spare now.

DrQ,

Trying to get a feel for how this happens... what to avoid to keep it from happening...

Any idea of the details of what you did/why it happened. Steps you take to keep it from happening?

 

I am thinking it has a basis in distraction...   similar to:

• Oil dip stick not being secured.
• Oil door not being closed and secured.
• Baggage door not being secured.
• Cabin door not being secured.
• Tie down ropes not being unsecured.
• Flaps left down.
• Fuel pump left on.
• Step left extended.
• Landing gear not being secured.
• Wheel chocks left in place.
• Tow bar left in place. 
• Fuel caps not being secured.

I think I have experienced all but the gear down challenge....

Best regards,

-a-

[MARZ]

29 minutes ago, carusoam said:

DrQ,

Trying to get a feel for how this happens... what to avoid to keep it from happening...

Any idea of the details of what you did/why it happened. Steps you take to keep it from happening?

 

I am thinking it has a basis in distraction...   similar to:

• Oil dip stick not being secured.
• Baggage door not being secured.
• Cabin door not being secured.
• Tie down ropes not being unsecured.
• Flaps left down.
• Fuel pump left on.
• Landing gear not being secured.
• Fuel caps not being secured.

I think I have experienced all but the gear down challenge....

Best regards,

-a-

Forgot the wheel chocks.... 

[Andy95W]

8 hours ago, carusoam said:

Andy,

Now that you mention it...

It all depends... on the brain...

 

Believe me, Anthony, I know. I've forgotten the pilot side fuel cap... twice!  I was lucky enough, both times, to find it.

The copilot side is easy to remember because on the smaller fuel tanks it's right next to your foot as you get in.  For the pilot's side, I now put the cap on the cowling where I'll see it as I sit down and visually clear the area around the prop before engine start.

I hope I'm still on MooneySpace when the younger guys like Mike and Alex get old enough to start forgetting shit too.

[1964-M20E]

53 minutes ago, carusoam said:

DrQ,

Trying to get a feel for how this happens... what to avoid to keep it from happening...

Any idea of the details of what you did/why it happened. Steps you take to keep it from happening?

 

I am thinking it has a basis in distraction...   similar to:

• Oil dip stick not being secured.
• Baggage door not being secured.
• Cabin door not being secured.
• Tie down ropes not being unsecured.
• Flaps left down.
• Fuel pump left on.
• Landing gear not being secured.
• Wheel chocks left in place.
• Tow bar left in place. 
• Fuel caps not being secured.

I think I have experienced all but the gear down challenge....

Best regards,

-a-

You forgot not retracting the step for the '64 and earlier birds and leaving the oil door open or unsecured. 

I think most of us have done most of these.

 

[LANCECASPER]

5 hours ago, Andy95W said:

Believe me, Anthony, I know. I've forgotten the pilot side fuel cap... twice!  I was lucky enough, both times, to find it.

The copilot side is easy to remember because on the smaller fuel tanks it's right next to your foot as you get in.  For the pilot's side, I now put the cap on the cowling where I'll see it as I sit down and visually clear the area around the prop before engine start.

I hope I'm still on MooneySpace when the younger guys like Mike and Alex get old enough to start forgetting shit too.

When I first started flying 30+ years ago the thing I would often forget was the oil filler door. Invariably I would be in the airplane, buckled in and look out to see the oil door open. 

[Yooper Rocketman]

On 5/16/2018 at 2:27 AM, Andy95W said:

So, here's the question- if you forget your gas cap, would you rather lose the cap or beat the crap out of the top of your wing?  I guarantee replacing the gas cap is the cheaper option.

Andy.......if there was a "double Like", you would have gotten that from me.

That's the very first change I made to my Rocket was removing those stupid chains.  The K model has the dumb sh*t valves, you know, those paddles that close off the fuel cap opening if you FORGET to install your cap!  That's probably why the AD doesn't apply to the K models.  BUT, I'm not dealing with a re-skin of my wing in the fuel cap area because a forgotten cap has hammered the hell out of the top of the wing while tethered to the fuel tank opening.  A new cap would be much much cheaper and you would likely need a new cap anyway after it was banged on the wing.

Tom