Ever Forget a Cover?

[PMcClure]

I read an article once (can't find the link again) where the red carpet got caught in the door of a biz jet. They managed to taxi and take off before finding "unusual control difficulties" only on landing did they find the problem! 

[bnicolette]

Never forgot a cover, but I tried to taxi with one tie down rope still attached. I had to shut down, untie and get back in and start up again. Fortunately, no one was around.

 

Mommy Mommy I can't quit running in circles.................."shut up or I'll nail your other foot to the floor"

Mommy Mommy the house is on fire................................"shhhhhhhh  you'll wake your father"

[rbridges]

Mommy Mommy I can't quit running in circles.................."shut up or I'll nail your other foot to the floor"

 

that joke actually went through my mind.  

[yvesg]

We had such an event at my field last fall. I was going to the airport to check something in the logbook and perhaps do a short flight. When I got closer I noticed a Mooney in the fence with fire trucks around. Through the grapevines, I learned that the pilot forgot to remove the cowl plugs and aborted the takeoff but too late. I am looking for some links or report on this and will post them when I find them.

Yves

[fantom]

Forget a cover.....

 

Does leaving my hat on the FBO's desk count?

[Bennett]

Not as many points as leaving your wallet there.

[jlunseth]

Does it count if I have forgotten to remove the chocks, like, 15 times?

[AmigOne]

I forgot the pitot cover once but noticed it on the t/o run when the airspeed remained motionless and I aborted. I forgot the cowl plugs covers years ago when I was parked outside. I had started up and was ready to taxi when another pilot, parked on the opposite row a few planes down noticed the cowl plugs and called me on the frequency. How much of a coincidence, being a weekday, that another pilot, at the same time, was there looking in the right direction. It happened about 35 years ago but I remember it as if it had happened yesterday. I might have noticed the oil or cylinder head high temp or maybe not (I think most likely) with probably very bad consequences. But it was my day to be lucky. I have forgotten to untie the rear tiedown or remove the wheel chalks a few times but I haven't done it in a long time, kind of interesting since I'm not getting any younger.

Although I'm hangared I always use a pitot cover to avoid bugs nesting inside and also use the cowl plugs.

[Lionudakis]

Last month I flew a younger friend of mine who has 40-50 hrs TT (all in a Cirrus) to south TX, I have a tennis ball on my pitot  (cheap, bright yellow/green, and serves the purpose. I never used to use anything till I saw my 2 year old at eyeball level with the pitot tube) As were loading up, I do the walkaround/preflight, as does he on the opposite side of the aircraft of me, He pulls the ball off and hold it up admiring my cute face i drew on it for my kid as we rotate about the plane opposite each other, I told him just toss it in the bag door, I had passed the pitot tube at this point and it was removed. On take off roll the airspeed was working! Until I rotated and pulled the gear up which I did not understand, I saw the needle climbing as usual. For some reason this pilot with training had stuck the ball back on the pitot after my brief comment and his experience and next pass by the pitot. 

 

 Im replacing it with something that sticks out that can be seen from inside the cockpit

[N201MKTurbo]

Twice in my Mooney flying career I have taken off then looked down at the airspeed to set climb speed and noticed the airspeed is Zero. At which time I use the immortal words of Homer Simpson "D'OH". While landing with no airspeed is a little unnerving, it has never been a problem. Both times it happened away from home and I had to remove the pitot tube out on the ramp. And cleaned it out in the FBO restroom using whatever wires and sticks I could find to clear the plug. Those bugs can do an amazing job of building a plug in a few hours time.

[laytonl]

I have forgotten a pitot cover, forgotten to close and latch the baggage compartment hatch, and even forgotten to remove a tie down rope, all on different flights. With the tie down rope - for whatever reason - I untied it from the ground anchor, leaving it attached to the airplane and made a 200 mile cross country with the rope in trail. I really need to do a better job of Pre-flighting! Lee

Ps. Also have forgotten to tighten the oil dipstick.

[BigTex]

Recently I forgot a chock on the nose wheel. Pretty embarrassing to have to shut down, get out remove the chock and climb back in. Ever since I did this I adopted a final walk around looking over the plane for items like covers, tie downs and chocks before climbing in into my new SOP.

[Bob_Belville]

My very first flight in this Mooney was pretty short. I took off with the pitot cover on. I had a check pilot, an old Navy pilot who owned a Mooney. I took off still trying to figure out why ASI was inop, Made a circuit, probably leaving the gear down, don't remember, landed, taxied back to run up area, pulled the throttle back to idle, my friend climbed out and got the cover and we started over. A quiet day at a quiet airport. No one noticed. ASIs are overrated.   

[takair]

Years ago taxied out with the pitot cover. Realized before I was airborne. Happy ending. I was tired, after a long day at work and wanted to go for a relaxing flight. While flying can be relaxing, flying tired can be a hazard. I notice an obvious reduction in performance under fatigue. For some reason my cowl flaps seem to suffer the most when I'm not on top of the flying game. Lesson learned: Stay on your toes, don't be too relaxed and don't fly tired.

[Hector]

Forgot the chock on the nose wheel once. Thought my darn parking brake was stuck. Also had the oil door on the cowling pop open shortly after liftoff. Obviously forgot to close it. Now I do one final walk around looking for stuff like that Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[Oscar Avalle]

I once started the engine with the cowl plugs still installed. I put the straps over the prop which makes them fly away. There is no way you would not notice them "being removed"...

[rbridges]

well, I've got something to add now.  I found water in the pilot's side tank, so I discarded the gas instead of putting it back.  Eventually got the water out, but I forgot to latch the gas cap completely; it was just laying in the opening.  Anyway, I landed at my destination airport with one less gas cap than I started.  $200 for a new O&N cap--ouch.  Won't do that again. 

[Hank]

I've missed a nose wheel chock twice. First time as a student; second time a few months ago, making a quick stop at an unfamiliar airport. Spent maybe 10 minutes in the FBO, and didn't notice when I came out that my nose wheel had been chocked. Guess I need a better 'last look around. '

[pinerunner]

I've forgotten to put the pitot cover back on at the end of flight once, but never to take it off before flight so I've never had to try to land without the AIS. I think its a more interesting problem in a Mooney than in the slower Cessna's I was initially trained in because some of my recent training experience has convinced me that you get behind the power curve at a higher airspeed than with the slower planes.  I think that to do a safe job of flying a landing without AIS you need to stay on the positive control side of the power curve until flare and then bleed off the speed close to the ground; of course then you'll use up a lot of runway bleeding off the speed. Maybe if your ability to judge your glide slope from visual cues is finely tuned you could manage at lower speeds safely by setting  just the right AOA and then jockeying the throttle to maintain the right approach angle. Speed control is a big deal in Mooney's and I hate to think of finding myself with no AIS. I thinking of specifically practicing for that now though and maybe maybe getting some specific instruction.

 

The worse thing I've forgotten was to latch the baggage door one time when I was in a hurry. I heard a bit of a funny sound over my active noise-cancelling head set and checked my engine monitor for anything amiss and then went on. There were low clouds but 50+ miles visibility so I had to change course a bit and when I looked back to the left to clear for a turn I noticed I could see more than ever before. I appreciated my new window for about half a second and then it dawned on me that I shouldn't have one. I immediately slowed down to 90 just in case, landed at the nearest airport, opened the door and got out to discover that I did still in fact have a baggage door but the interior covering on it had been damaged. I was able to pop that back into place, latch the baggage door, and continue. When I landed at my destination for avionics work (Craig's in Concord, NH) I also discovered my latch was loose and a pin in it had broken and was broken. Luckily I was able to get a simple field repair from the A and P there and make it home.

 

I wouldn't have thought I would forget a thing like that, but now I wonder what else I might forget down the road. SOP's and check lists save your bacon however you want to set them up. If someone distracts you while you're preflighting a yellow warning light should go off in your head. Has your routine been messed up? And if something makes you feel in a hurry? Even worse. At least thats how it seems to work for me.

 

Dave

[Earl]

When I start my takeoff roll and pick up enough speed I do a pre-rotate check: I've got oil pressure, oil temperature, airspeed indicator, fuel flow, manifold pressure and RPM.  Takes a few seconds and if I forget the pitot cover I'll notice it before I rotate.  Never have forgotten so far.....knock on wood.  As for cowl plugs I drive a Mooney, there's no room for anything to get into the engine compartment so I don't use them.