I lost my cap

[aviatoreb]

6 minutes ago, kmyfm20s said:

My Ex-wife drove off with the fuel nozzle still attached to the car at the gas station not once, not twice but three times.  Don’t be the 3 time person:)

Oh brother!

I am planning on not being the 2 time person.  I'm still kicking myself for being that 1 time person.

[Hank]

3 hours ago, aviatoreb said:

I am planning on not being the 2 time person.  I'm still kicking myself for being that 1 time person.

Don't kick yourself too hard. Back in college, I left my painted-to-march gas cap for my truck at the gas station. 

More recently, at a Mooneyspace flying, one poor soul (who will remain nameless, because I forgot) had to fly his J home with his laminated checklist duct taped over his missing fuel cap . . . .

Stuff happens. Learn from it and move on

 Don't kick yourself too hard or for too long.

[aviatoreb]

41 minutes ago, Hank said:

Don't kick yourself too hard. Back in college, I left my painted-to-march gas cap for my truck at the gas station. 

More recently, at a Mooneyspace flying, one poor soul (who will remain nameless, because I forgot) had to fly his J home with his laminated checklist duct taped over his missing fuel cap . . . .

Stuff happens. Learn from it and move on

 Don't kick yourself too hard or for too long.

Thanks for that!

Now - that is funny - having to use the checklist itself as the gas cover.

[M20F-1968]

I just sent you a PM.  I have two of the fuel caps you are looking for along with the mounting rings.

Give me a call.

John Breda

[aviatoreb]

15 hours ago, M20F-1968 said:

I just sent you a PM.  I have two of the fuel caps you are looking for along with the mounting rings.

Give me a call.

John Breda

Hi John,

(I just posted this to the nice pm you sent but I figure it might interest the group since you posted here too).

WOW - thank you for reaching out.

I am not sure at the moment, I may not need it after all - 1st I right away ended up purchasing from spruce a replacement which arrived Thursday and it does fit - an aero 300 cap from newton for $112.  Nonetheless I was thinking of getting a spare just in case so I would not be stranded somewhere someday if I am ever stupid again - Then like clockwork, later that same day, I got word that a grounds keeper has found a fuel cap.  I have not yet gotten it into my hands, to be sure it is mine, but in all likelihood it is, since how many caps can be lost at my sleepy little airport in a week?

So can I defer a few days to see if indeed my old cap is found or not?

Again - thanks for thinking of me!!!!

Sincerely,

Erik

[whiskytango]

As others have said, don't kick yourself over this - it falls into the No Harm - No Foul side of life.  I did the same thing back when I had a TR182.  I was standing on a ladder refueling when a lady came over with her young son, to let him look at airplanes and talk to pilots.  (Side rant: This was at W29, where anyone could walk up to the ramp, look around and talk to pilots.  Where I am based now no one can get near a GA airplane without a security badge.  Even then you may get a security challenge from someone to make sure your badge hasn't been stolen!  Welcome to aviation ) Anyway, doing the aviation ambassador thing I talked about my plane with the lady and her son, and forgot to put the cap on one of the inboard tanks.  On takeoff the strong odor of 100LL told me that something was wrong, and I landed right away.  Fortunately the cap was on a lanyard. There was no damage to the wing.

[aviatoreb]

1 hour ago, whiskytango said:

As others have said, don't kick yourself over this - it falls into the No Harm - No Foul side of life.  I did the same thing back when I had a TR182.  

Definitely a good philosophy.  Thanks!

my dad was friends with a fellow near w29 who owned a farm right on Kent island when I was a kid / interesting airplane story I will tell when I get to a keyboard.

e

[aviatoreb]

SO here is the W29- Kent Island story.  My dad went to school at MIT with a fellow who grew up on Kent Island on a big farm.  They were both getting math degrees and that fellow eventually was teaching at USNA Annapolis.  My dad also grew up in Maryland, as did I.  So it was convenient to stay in touch.  I remember visiting that farm as a small child - it was a huge piece of property on the water.  They had their own landing strip and flew around.  Just a few miles north of W29.  Later after I went to grad school for a PhD in mathematics I also was teaching in the math department at USNA and so in the same department as that fellow!  If you can find my work webpage, and scroll all the way to the bottom, you will see me at about 3 years old getting a pony ride from that fellow at his farm.  Same fellow who eventually was a full professor in the department where I was starting as a tenure track asst prof and eventually assoc prof before I ended up moving here.  Names hidden to protect the innocent.  Story I heard was, his dad was a well to do business man who in the 1940s went to a department store and saw an airplane hanging from the rafters - a piper cub I believe.  He thought it was neat and bought the airplane and got lessons.  Later he was flying over the Chesapeake, and he saw an island, Kent Island, and he liked it, so he landed and noticed a big piece of property for sale.  So he bought it!  And began a farm where he lived for a large fraction of his life, and the fellow who was my dad's friend (and mine!) lived essentially his whole life other than schooling.  And he commutes to work.  Come to think of it, I should contact that guy and see how he is!  I lost touch.

E

[whiskytango]

Great story!  There used to be 3 public airports on Kent Island.  Today there are 2 - W29 and Kentmorr, a grass field where you can land and walk to a restaurant with the best steamed crabs in the Known Universe.

[aviatoreb]

32 minutes ago, whiskytango said:

Great story!  There used to be 3 public airports on Kent Island.  Today there are 2 - W29 and Kentmorr, a grass field where you can land and walk to a restaurant with the best steamed crabs in the Known Universe.

Thanks for the tip - sounds like I need to visit Kentmorr one of these days.  That restaurant has a beach and a tiki bar that looks fantastic too.

I have been meaning to get to Tangier island one of these days for a crab run.  I grew up eating grabs, and I love them.  But I know and have seen people who don't struggle to eat them or even more so they look gross to people who aren't used to them.

[Hank]

7 hours ago, aviatoreb said:

Thanks for the tip - sounds like I need to visit Kentmorr one of these days.  That restaurant has a beach and a tiki bar that looks fantastic too.

I have been meaning to get to Tangier island one of these days for a crab run.  I grew up eating grabs, and I love them.  But I know and have seen people who don't struggle to eat them or even more so they look gross to people who aren't used to them.

Sounds like a great trip! I spent much of my early life on the Carolina coasts (both Carolinas). Crabs are great,but Chesapeake softshells are special!

[aviatoreb]

AND NOW!  The moment we have all been waiting for!  My fuel cap was FOUND!  By the grounds keeper while grass mowing.  It seems it was found at the side of the runway and by the looks of the big ding on the side, I would guess it fell off perhaps from a couple hundred feet on take off.  My guess is stupid me I put it on but didn't cinch it down since that was my practice while going from one side to the other while fueling lr tanks - even when not necessarily filling them to the extreme.  So I will change that too.  Cinch down all the way.

This one will be my spare for now on (cosmetic ding) and I bought a new one already from spruce that fits fine.

Plus in course of looking for a salvage spare - I did find a salvage wing (one side munched) with tks and good tks stall strips.  Since I have lost one of those in the past and not only are they absurdly expensive but sometime not possible to buy at any price (when I lost it 5 years ago or so it took many months to get a new one), I asked if he would sell me one, which he did at an amazing price maybe 10 cents on the dollar vs new.  So I couldn't turn that down.

Thank you for tuning in all your suggestions and encouragement.  Seems this is a classic Mooneyspace resource question.  So ends the fuel cap saga.

[aviatoreb]

On 6/26/2021 at 5:49 PM, M20F-1968 said:

I just sent you a PM.  I have two of the fuel caps you are looking for along with the mounting rings.

Give me a call.

John Breda

Thanks John!  See above.  I found my original and I already bought a spare from spruce.  So I don't need any more caps.  I am really thankful you looked for me.

Erik

[PeteMc]

Congratz!!!

[carusoam]

Crowd sourced Mooney solutions…

Go MS!

Best regards,

-a-

[PeteMc]

Waiting for the edited Topic line....   I vote for:

I lost my cap... I found my cap

[aviatoreb]

Just now, PeteMc said:

Waiting for the edited Topic line....   I vote for:

I lost my cap... I found my cap

Done!