stupid things i see at the airport

[105viking]

alright guys and gals, i've been seeing some stuff around the airport lately that has made me:

-scratch my head

-turn red

-duck for cover

maybe i'm just hypersensitive, but i've been noticing an increased level of retardation around my home airport.

example:

training aircraft(cfi w/student) is #1 for departure on rwy 36 (the active rwy, w/ traffic, all day). traffic is on extended final, downwind, and an additional a/c is waiting to depart. training a/c departs w/o special remarks, turns x-wind, and then announces that it is practicing an engine failure and will be landing rwy 18.
after coming to a stop on 18, training a/c turns 180 and departs rwy 36. i know that practicing an engine failure in the pattern is important, but shouldn't the cfi waited to do it on a day or at a time when there was less or no other traffic?

examlpe 2:

do any of you cfi's out there teach your students that it is okay to make +75 banks less than 50' agl at best glide speed in a cessna 150? training a/c practicing more engine outs in the pattern makes what i will just call unusual attitude maneuvers to a landing in the last 1/4 of the rwy. do all cfi's do that with their students? stall speed and best glide aren't that different in a STEEP bank. is it ever safe to intentionally make your student land in the last 1/4? just seemed excessive to the uninformed observer.

anyway, any of you cfi's out there, is this normal?

if this fits on the stupid stuff i saw at the airport list, let's add to it.

what is the dumbest/ least safe/ weirdest thing you guys have seen around lately?

 

[TEXAN AVIATOR]

examlpe 2:

do any of you cfi's out there teach your students that it is okay to make +75 banks less than 50' agl at best glide speed in a cessna 150? training a/c practicing more engine outs in the pattern makes what i will just call unusual attitude maneuvers to a landing in the last 1/4 of the rwy. do all cfi's do that with their students? stall speed and best glide aren't that different in a STEEP bank. is it ever safe to intentionally make your student land in the last 1/4? just seemed excessive to the uninformed observer.

No more than 30-degrees of bank in the pattern.

 

[dmspilot00]

- Saw a plane from another airport on a training flight repeatedly fly its "downwind" leg either directly over the runway or less than 300 feet away.

- The runway in use by a CFI and student based on the field was uphill almost 2%, with the CFI preferring to land uphill despite a 1 knot tailwind. Some guy comes in, asks for the runway in use, says he's landing in the opposite direction, CFI repeats runway in use, tailwheel pilot says he can't land with a tailwind, so he lands down hill opposite to the rest of the traffic. He parks, walks into the building, asks me who the other aircraft was, I told him it was a student and CFI, he laughs!

- Two middle aged men come in (transient), park their 182 or whatever, and walk away, their master still on, strobes flashing, beacon beaconing, and who knows what else was on.

- Line man at an airport turns my prop as I am still in the process of shutting down, and turns it forward at that

- I am at the hold line at an uncontrolled airport with an ILS, waiting for a plane making a practice approach, CFI on board. After they go missed, I taxi into position, and start to takeoff, when they enter left downwind and setup for a landing in the opposite direction as I'm taking off, fly above the runway at 300 AGL on crosswind for the correct runway (at which point my nose was pointed right at them, scaring my passenger, who was my mother). This is after I announced which runway I was taxiing to and planning to takeoff on 10 times, and watched me as I sat on the taxiway waiting for them.

- Flying near a busy Class C airport, a student with a foreign dialect is trying to communicate with ATC, ATC has no clue what he is trying to say (the student kept requesting to "change" his "instrument.") After about 5-10 minutes of mass confusion, the CFI who was onboard evidently decided to wake up from his nap and talk to ATC.

- While I was a student, my CFI and I were on left base when someone in a paraglider decides to enter the pattern on right base, right at us.

 

[LAXSaabdude]

1) Strobes on the taxiway.
2) Strobes on the taxiway.
3) Strobes on the taxiway.
4) Strobes on the taxiway.
5) Strobes on the taxiway.
6) Strobes on the taxiway.
7) Strobes on the taxiway.
8) Strobes on the taxiway.
9) Strobes on the taxiway.
10) Strobes on the taxiway.

LAXSaabdude.

P.S. Strobes on the taxiway.

 

[FSB99]

not seen, but heard over ground frequency..
one pilot beotching about another airplane having his taxi light on.. 'would ya mind asking him to turn his taxi light off.. it's blinding.' of course, this comment required multiple anonymous responses, such as, 'stop whining..' 'achscabchoo'... 'grow up'... etc.
the professionalism truly baffles me at times...
by the way, it was the middle of the afternoon, bright sunny day in houston. not sure how a taxi light could blind anybody when the sun's in your face.

 

[Rook]

Stupid things I've seen at the airport??

Cool airline pilots

Fly safe

Rook
600' AGL Autopilot on.
'WHEW!'

(it's a joke guys)

 

[FSB99]

Stupid things I've seen at the airport??
Cool airline pilots
(it's a joke guys)

my sentiments exactly!

 

[105viking]

900 year old guy in a radial powered bi-plane (pretty cool), who landed the wrong way and narrowly missed having a head on with me (not too cool). there were 4 airplanes in the pattern for 18, 2 landed ahead of me, one was behind me. communications were going well. on SHORT final (100kts), my buddy sitting next to me says, "what's that in the trees out there?" we strain to look for a second, and realize that this bi-wing who has not made a single call, did not over fly the field, or even look at the traffic in the pattern was about to touch down on 36! he had been dragging the tree tops so low that his relative movement did not stand out that well. with my FIVE landing lights on he never saw me. i ended up going around. by the time i landed i had built up a good head of steam and was going to kick somebodies teeth in. when i caught up to him though and saw how old he was, i couldn't even bring myself to say anything to him. he could hardly walk and probably shouldn't drive a car, let alone fly an aircraft! that one could have been ugly if we hadn't spotted him at the exact second we did.

the wrongway/reverse landing cfi again, against oncoming traffic, again, nonstandard traffic pattern w/out radio calls, again.

wrongway cfi trying to teach pre solo students to steer with the door, while on approach to landing. note: wrongway cfi probably shouldn't try this on his own, let alone teach pre-solo students this fun one, all the way to the ground.

cool guy cfi who likes to taxi a 150/172 fast enough to ride a wheelie the full length of a taxiway on a breezy day.

cfi flies 172 around pattern w/ tow bar attached.

flying circus that appears from nowhere at dusk on calm nights, consisting of a ragtag collection of singles and twins, recently seen flying a "low pass" in a flight of four. who is going which way when what breaks?

this begs the question: at the plethora of small uncontrolled fields around, what % of "pilots" do you guys think actually have REAL licenses, and or keep up with their bi-annual flight reviews. one saturday, a different cfi was trying to give away free flight reviews, but had no takers

 

[Brother Francis]

I saw a dog trot alongside a 172 all the way from the ramp to the runway, then chase it during takeoff, biting at the tires. He kept up pretty good, fell a little behind right before it lifted off, then chased it the rest of the way down the runway and out of sight, barking into the sky.

 

[WrightAvia]

there is a guy at an airport in either Michigan or Indiana that works as janitorial staff or some other capacity at a county managed field and he gets on unicom and clears you to land at the non towered airport.

 

[BankAccount=0$]

At the airport I teach at I've had somebody land on the runway that my student and I were obviously back taxiing on, the SOB watched us for at least a half mile while he was on final, and still landed with us on the runway. Unfortunatly the guy was a friend of the airport manager ie. my boss so I had to let it slide and take the M.L.K. approach to dealing with him as opposed to the Mike Tyson style beating he deserved.

I fly a Aero-Commander 520 out of the same airport twice a week on a cargo run at 6:00 AM. We had a woman leave a message in the FBO office that said she was going to shoot that "God Dammed Green Menace" down the next time it woke her up in the morning. Needless to say the Fed's paid her a visit and found a very angry drunk woman in a house full of guns, and this was at 8 AM. Kinda scary since the plane has patches in the nose where it got shot up being a drug runner back in the day.......

 

[105viking]

dog chases airplane! that's great. we have a dog or some thing that likes to sh#t on the rwy.

 

[Typhoon1244]

Cool airline pilots.

There are no cool airline pilots...not even me!

Stupidest thing I've seen: an American 757 landing in a gusty 40-knot tail-wind. Must've been 5-degrees nose-down over the approach lights.

As for LAXSaabdude's pet peeve (strobes on the taxiway), all I can say is I'm glad I've never, ever done that! Not ever! Really!

 

[tarp]

1) Strobes on the taxiway.
2) Strobes on the taxiway.
3) Strobes on the taxiway.

I must admit that I was guilty of this and teaching this in certain model Piper products where they have a single switch which operates both the rotating beacon and the strobes.

I was always taught that a running engine must have a rotating beacon accompanying.

THEN I read the regs specifically 91.209(b). Now I teach that in those planes with single switches it is MANDATORY to have all three position lights working properly and the beacon goes off if it will cause night blindness.

 

[stingray]

1) Strobes on the taxiway.
2) Strobes on the taxiway.
3) Strobes on the taxiway.
4) Strobes on the taxiway.
5) Strobes on the taxiway.
6) Strobes on the taxiway.
7) Strobes on the taxiway.
8) Strobes on the taxiway.
9) Strobes on the taxiway.
10) Strobes on the taxiway.

LAXSaabdude.

P.S. Strobes on the taxiway.

I totaly agree with that.

Add this how many idiots out there are holding short at night with their F##k##g taxi or landing lights on blinding people landing or others coming from the other side of the runway for takeoff.

 

[tarp]

As for my list:

#1 - "Clear the Active" on a single runway, uncontrolled with no obstructions to view the runway from the air or ground. Waste of frequency and it happens every day.

#2 - SE aircraft that put themselves anywhere in the pattern where they can't make an E.O. glide back to the runway. I just don't understand it - pilots willingly put themselves 800-1000 feet above the ground and then cross their fingers in hopes that today the engine won't fail in the pattern. A C-172 doing 747 patterns is just plain........

#3 - The "I'm an FAA Certificated Pilot and my s___ don't stink" attitude. Take it some where else, a good pilot is learning something new everyday of his life. I don't have time to deal with beligerent, self-centered, I'll do what I want in the pattern types.

#4 - Conversely, Sheep. Arriving at an airport with a 14-32 configuration and winds are blowing 180 at 11 and everyone is using runway 32. Ah, hello? If everyone is going to jump off a cliff, will you?

#5 - Pilots, passengers and props - Is it just me or or there just an overwhelming number of pilots that do strange things with the prop running. One guy was shuttling friends in a plane, having them fire drill in and out of the right front seat for their "ride" - never shut down. I don't like seeing pilots and mechanics near running props, but passengers - come on. Another guy forgot the chocks - did he shut down - NO, the pilot jumps out and removes a nose wheel chocks behind a running prop??? What is this macabre fascination with death?

#6 - Things on the ground - Your prop, your tires and your prop wash. Obviously, we are training pilots to be careful in the air but the ground ops are self-taught. I've watched traffic cones get shredded, saw a piece of metal picked up and flung into a C-172 rudder (it penetrated and stuck), been blasted by overzealous tight turns in the parking area. But the winner has to be the Mooney driver with no patience. He was a hangar owner and the end of his hangar line the hangar was being repaired. There were two 10ft 2x4's stretched across the taxiway aligned to go into place in the hangar - there were 12 when work began and the workers were diligently moving the timber. You guessed it - the Mooney couldn't wait and taxiied right across the 2x4's. Definitely my taxi moron of the year award.

#7 - Some aircraft fly without radios. Some people don't care too much for talking on the radios when they have a more important job like flying the plane. Ergo, don't get your nose out of joint when the "other" plane won't talk to you. Big deal - "see and avoid". The radio has never replaced the basic requirements for you to see and avoid, to fly standard patterns and to follow the regs.

#8 - Big sign at the end of the runway - Noise abatement procedures - something about a turn to such-n-such a heading. It's 8:00am on a quiet Sunday. What do you think? Read the sign and comply or just fly the way you normally do? Yeah, that's what I thought - heck, it's not your airport and people should know better than living next to an airport.

#9 - The AFD says it, the sectional says it, the AOPA Airports Directory says it, Airnav.com says it. RIGHT HAND PATTERN. So why are you flying left hand turns? Puh-lease.

#10 - You sound so cool - "Cessna 123, MINNI inbound on the practice ILS 15", "Cessna 123, MICKI inbound on the ILS, low approach", "Cessna 123 over the Middle Marker ILS 15, low approach". I've got 14 student pilots and 7 pre-instrument private pilots and they have no clue where you are and what you are doing except that you are doing it to Rwy 15. When you are practice in VFR conditions, give distance from the runway in miles. My poor student doesn't know if it's safe to turn base and has been flying for 6 miles at 800ft agl (see #2) looking for you to pass inbound.

Mild irritants - I can guarantee you that if I went to the airport today, someone will do something in the top ten list. Every day for twenty something years - now I just laugh and look for all traffic.

PS. This is, of course, preaching to the choir. It's the people who don't read boards, don't go to Safety Seminars, don't get new copies of the FAR/AIM every year and don't even get new sectionals until the folds are completely ripped on the old one! They're the ones who should be reading this stuff.

 

[Clownpilot]

Really???

>>

There are no cool airline pilots...not even me! >>

Boy you aint kidding here.

>>Stupidest thing I've seen: an American 757 landing in a gusty 40-knot tail-wind. Must've been 5-degrees nose-down over the approach lights. >>

So, the tower had the active runway going that way despite a 40 knot tailwind????

The pilots, in complete violation of operating limits for the 757, callously violated the max 10 knot steady tailwind limit, endangered themselves, the aircraft, and the passengers, and just cowboy'd it in with a GUSTY 40 knot tailwind???? And you just happened to be standing at the end of the runway to see it all?

Well thanks for the info. To say you aren't cool is a pathetic understatement. For you to make up completely fictitious events to try to make your life cooler is really sad.

Grow up and get a life. If you are really prior military you are an embarrassment. Why do I get the feeling that is as big a lie as your other fantasies?

If you aren't even a pilot why waste our time and yours on this board?? Go pretend to be a doctor (or whatever) somewhere else please.

 

[Typhoon1244]

Re: Really???

The pilots, in complete violation of operating limits for the 757, callously violated the max 10 knot steady tailwind limit, endangered themselves, the aircraft, and the passengers, and just cowboy'd it in with a GUSTY 40 knot tailwind???? And you just happened to be standing at the end of the runway to see it all?

Well thanks for the info. To say you aren't cool is a pathetic understatement. For you to make up completely fictitious events to try to make your life cooler is really sad.

Grow up and get a life. If you are really prior military you are an embarrassment. Why do I get the feeling that is as big a lie as your other fantasies?

It was last summer. We were on our way to a layover in SHV when DFW got shut down for about an hour by weather. A squal line passed through and the wind shifted about 200 degrees. ATC turned the airport around while this guy was on a six mile final to 17-C. The tower reported the winds and offered him a chance to take it around to 35-L, but he didn't want it. As he came down the final, you could hear anonymous voices on local saying things like "stupid," "bad idea," etc. After he was down and clear, we all started the long taxi down Mike and Lima to depart off 35-L and -C.

My military career: avionics technician; 73rd ORD BN, Fort Gordon, GA; then 54th MED CO (AA), Fort Lewis, WA. My CO in Washington was Major Charles Keller, and my supervisor was SSgt. Lonnie Wilbanks. When I arrived, they were just transitioning from UH-1H's to UH-60A's.

Now do you have anything else for me, a$$hole?

 

[Hawker rider]

Strobes on on a taxiway.... yeah, fortnately, my jet doesn't even have strobe lights..

What i the deal with "the active runway" on a noncontrolled airport anyway?? i really don't get it, especially when the wind is light and variable!

When there is control tower they assign you a runway, ou can always request another one, but on an uncontrolled airport, you can pick ANY runway you want and deem safest to take. I always get into an argument from some smarta$$ "amateur pilot" that i didn't land on the "active" it jut pi$$es me off to the biggest extent lately.

Get over it!!

 

[KickSave]

So if 3 of those amateur pilots are in the pattern for 27, and you feel like landing on 9, they are the a$$holes? Or are you only referring to when you are the only plane in the area?