I really ****** up today

[UnAnswerd]

The plane was in the hanger and my instructor told me to pre-flight it. So I did. I walked around the plane checking for all the things I knew I was supposed to. Airport personnel then opened the door, conected a towbar to the little Cherokee, and pulled her out. Then, one of these guys said to my instructor, "looks the prop spinner has a crack in it".

I cannot believe I missed this! Here I am the one who is supposed to carefully inspect the plane and determine if it is safe to fly, but instead, just some airport employee happens to notice a problem... I can only hope that I would have noticed a missing prop!!!!

 

[rumpletumbler]

The spinner has nothing to do with safety. It is purely for looks. Relax.........

 

[mnixon]

Take it easy on yourself. You can't catch all the things all the time. Make this a learning experience and take it as that. Your learning...never forget that. Your not suppose to be perfect at this game yet. Keep your head up duke. You didnt really "fubar" it. Good luck in your training!

 

[qmaster3]

TonyC- Daveman????

 

[mmmdonut]

I think it's a sign: You are not meant to be a pilot. I think you should quit now and spend your money on something else.

 

[mnixon]

I think it's a sign: You are not meant to be a pilot. I think you should quit now and spend your money on something else.

HAHA Thats Funny! Mean as hell but funny!

 

[rumpletumbler]

Not to mention that the lineman probably cracked the spinner with the towbar and then "made a discovery"

 

[CatYaaak]

Just tell your instructor that you were too drunk to notice it.

 

[rumpletumbler]

That isn't the plane in your avatar is it?

 

[Goose Egg]

I cannot believe I missed this! Here I am the one who is supposed to carefully inspect the plane and determine if it is safe to fly, but instead, just some airport employee happens to notice a problem... I can only hope that I would have noticed a missing prop!!!!

Yeah, you made a mistake today, but it ain't what you think.

First of all, that lowly "airport employee" has probably forgotten more about airplanes than you'll ever know, especially if he's an A&P. Underestimating people in this industry is a grave error that can bite you. Even if the guy wasn't an old salt, he's still been at the game longer than you have, so remember your place. There are plenty of line guys who hold CFI certificates. True, missing a cracked spinner is a significant error, but only for folks that have been preflighting long enough to know the difference (read certificated, unsupervised pilots--you ain't there yet.)



-Goose

 

[JohnDoe]

quote from goose egg:
"Now, all this embarassment may be a result of your attitude that you think you know more than your instructor, and definitely more than some dirtbag lineman. And this incident bothers you because it proves that you don't."





Get over yourself.............

 

[Gulfstream 200]

dont sweat it, I know someone who took off with a towbar still attatched to a Lear 35.


It stayed on and they returned and landed with a little skin damage and a hellava lot of explaining to do.

.

 

[mnixon]

dont sweat it, I know someone who took off with a towbar still attatched to a Lear 35.


It stayed on and they returned and landed with a little skin damage and a hellava lot of explaining to do.

.

Cycle that gear and hope to god it falls off in the process.

 

[Goose Egg]

Get over myself? Is that all ya got?

Anyway, I've got nothing to prove. I fly with all kinds of people. Some make the learning process easy for themselves, some don't.

-Goose

 

[Diesel]

Who gives a crap. Now you know to look for that the next time. It's called the learning curve.

Ironic though in the future when your flying for some scumbag charter/freight outfit you'll be avoiding seeing anything broken on a plane.

Hey goose- get overyourself. Accept the fact your a line guy not the pic.

 

[Goose Egg]

Accept the fact your a line guy not the pic.

Actually, I do occasionally help out on the line for some extra $$. Sorry if I don't think that it's beneath me.

-Goose

 

[UnAnswerd]

Now, all this embarassment may be a result of your attitude that you think you know more than your instructor, and definitely more than some dirtbag lineman. And this incident bothers you because it proves that you don't.

Goose Egg, you've always given honest and informative responces, but after reading this, I honestly might be less likely to take them as credible.

First, when in the HELL did I say I knew more than my instructor???? When in the hell did I say lineman are dirtbags and that I know more than everyone else??? Either way, this isn't about embarassment. I was concerned that I had overlooked a problem that was easily noticed by someone not even looking for one. I cannot beleive that you have determined my attitude to be as you say!

 

[Guitar Guy]

Cycle that gear and hope to god it falls off in the process.

You were joking with that suggestion, right?

 

[bobs98tlr]

Guitar Guy- Im very sure he is joking, it would be hard to break off the tow bar head without breaking the landing gear.

UnAnswerd- Dont worry about the screw up, it happens all the time, we are human. Thats why we do preflights and such, at least it wasnt an item that would have had a fatal ending.

Im a line guy at RFD airport, i see alot of different types of airplanes/pilots. Several times i get disrespected out their because im just a "line guy." I make GOOD money for a line guy and i have NO disrespect for myself doing so. Im almost done with my commercial and about to leave for the ANG and i get punks that are my age comming in from local and state 141 schools thinking they are flying a GV or a 747 while they are on their solo cross country that dont even do a preflight after i have fueled there airplane and left it on the ramp for 20minutes out of their view. They are the most disrespectful of all the customers i see. I understand that more then 50% of the line guys dont know crap about aviation, but NEVER (as said above) underestimate the knowledge of anyone hanging out/working at the airport.....venting, sorry.

 

[Stifler's Mom]

That's not that bad. Try this...

You're running late for a lesson, tell the student to go preflight, you'll be right out. Go running out to the plane, hop in and ask if the student did a preflight? He says yes, you go bouncing down the runway and notice no airspeed. You abort, pull of the runway, hop out and notice a pitot cover on the tube.

You then kick yourself for trusting your student, then ask him if he actually ever reads the checklist where it says pitot cover removed????

Learn from your mistakes and move on.

 

[GravityHater]

Try to do your preflights in the outdoors unless the hangar has mucho good lighting. That you are concerned this much is a sign you care and will be a good pilot.
It seems to me the older the pilot, the longer the list of stories that they can relate having goofed up.... what does that tell you?
Two weeks ago a pal who is now in his 60s (but sharp as a tack) and a propilot since his twenties left a gas cap loose on an Aztec.... So this sort of thing can be expected even with experience. Your job is, all of us must endeavor; to be fanatically, scrupulously detailed about all things aviation -- and attempt to minimize the human screwups that cause accidents.

Happy (safe) flying!

 

[Goose Egg]

First, when in the HELL did I say I knew more than my instructor???? When in the hell did I say lineman are dirtbags and that I know more than everyone else???

Well, actually, I edited that out of my original response because I realized that it was a bit harsh. But the damage was already done, apparently. I should have phrased it more constructively. For that, I apologize.

Anyway, to answer the question, I have noticed a pattern in your posting: You ask a question, get a good answer, and then you argue with it, as if it wasn't the answer that you wanted to hear. I feel that whatever attitude is driving that type of behavior is a detriment to your training and is best left behind.

This is what I do. An integral part of my job as a CFI is analyzing the student's behavior and doing what I can help them gain the proper mindset for strong flying skills and decision making abilities. And I find it supremely frustrating when students are on the verge of a breakthrough, yet cling to single notion or thought process that prevents it. You are a bright guy, and you have a lot of potential--I can tell that just by your posting. I'd hate to see something get in the way that need not.

In other words, I actually give a d amn. I apologize for losing patience.

-Goose

 

[GravityHater]

i get disrespected out their because im just a "line guy." ............................ dont even do a preflight after i have fueled there airplane and left it on the ramp for 20minutes out of their view. They are the most disrespectful

You can teach the mechanics of how to do something and be fairly successful (kind of like teaching a monkey to perform some task) but there is no way to teach Attitude.

Bad attitude such as 'not a team player' like your experience (I am very grateful when people point out stuff I can improve upon, many lineman have been extremely helpful to me so I try to return it) makes life miserable, and can eventually bite you.

 

[paulsalem]

The spinner has nothing to do with safety. It is purely for looks. Relax.........

I think it is actually there to aid in cooling. Helps air enter the cowling.

 

[FlyinTim]

Don't sweat it man... just learn from it, i see much to often quick preflights... people miss things all the time on my schools airplanes, just relax, and learn from it.

 

[Vik]

I know of someone that took off with the tow bar still attached. He retracted the gear after take off and his gear up light was flashing. So he did a low pass and asked the tower to take a look and they told him his nose gear hadn't retracted all the way and it looked like the tow bar was still attached.

Just a few months ago I *almost* took off with the tow bar attached, but fortunately, my battery died that morning, so when I went to start her up, no dice. So my pax deplaned, I deplaned, and holy sh*t, the tow bar was still on!

 

[Kingairrick]

I know some guys thay took off in a Hawker 700 with the pitot and aoa covers still on. They procedded to return to the same runway and land with no Airspeed or aoa indications. Here's the punchline: the runway is 3677' long, with a displaced threshold leaving 3119' feet available.

Think they learned anything?

Yes, I know it's off topic. But the point is that you're never to old or experienced to miss something. It's the whole point of 2 pilot crews...

 

[mmmdonut]

Vik I didn't know MS Flight Sim had a tow bar feature. Is that some kind of add-on?

Just a few months ago I *almost* took off with the tow bar attached, but fortunately, my battery died that morning, so when I went to start her up, no dice. So my pax deplaned, I deplaned, and holy sh*t, the tow bar was still on!

 

[TDTURBO]

I can't beleive what I am reading on this thread.

"A spinner is only there for looks"

"It's not like a fatal thing could happen"

WHAT!?????????

Were do you think that spinner goes if it departs the aircraft? That's right, through the prop, then it can get launched through the bottom of a wing or shot through the elevator.


WTF?

 

[JRSLim]

Last year, during a preflight , I found a nut about to come off the oleo scissors on a Seneca. Half a dozen pilots had flown it before me (after it had been in for landing gear maintenance) and not caught it. Just be meticulous, learn from what happened.