Very Dangerous things I've seen . . .

[Sapphire]

FH said: but you would think natural selection would have taken care of that gene

 

How many times do you hear of some hoon car crash and everybody dies except the driver who is under police guard in hospital. Their genes survive to produce more hoons because loose chicks like well hung guys in fast cars.

 

 

[Guest ratchet]

You shouldn't have holes in the floor where foreign oblects can go. A friend of mine died because of a coin jamming the controls. Nev

seems they don't have a sock around the stick in a yak52 to cover the hole. Maybe other examples do so could

 

be wrong.

 

 

[Guest ratchet]

FH said: but you would think natural selection would have taken care of that geneHow many times do you hear of some hoon car crash and everybody dies except the driver who is under police guard in hospital. Their genes survive to produce more hoons because loose chicks like well hung guys in fast cars.

. Risk taking appears inherent in young males hence youtube is full of skateboards and roof tops.

 

Appears that most societies deny access to females by young males until they have sufficient assets/power

 

i.e. resources to support a mate. Hence young idiots fought wars for booty, seniority as warriors and hence

 

share of spoils etc. In such cases risk taking is rewarded since the ones that succeed reproduce. Many don't.

 

Don't know how this applies to hoons/cars unless it is basic primate displays of strength and assets.

 

 

[M61A1]

You shouldn't have holes in the floor where foreign oblects can go. A friend of mine died because of a coin jamming the controls. Nev

I just saw this in a different way......There will always be holes in aircraft floors, so making sure you don't have foreign objects to go in them is wise.....if you drop it, find it. I mentioned the graphic videos earlier, one of them depicted a Harrier (I think), unable to arrest it's rate of descent at a critical phase of flight, because of a tiny screw a tradey accidently dropped in the throttle quadrant.

 

 

[Guest ratchet]

I just saw this in a different way......There will always be holes in aircraft floors, so making sure you don't have foreign objects to go in them is wise.....if you drop it, find it. I mentioned the graphic videos earlier, one of them depicted a Harrier (I think), unable to arrest it's rate of descent at a critical phase of flight, because of a tiny screw a tradey accidently dropped in the throttle quadrant.

As many men learn to their great cost, some screws- even very small ones- can be very expensive...

 

 

[Guest ratchet]

I read that the early F4U Corsairs had no floor, only two channels for your feet to sit in, and that anything dropped disappeared somewhere into 3 feet of darkness..

I read that the seat had a big hole in it as well but there was no paper dispenser allowed.

 

 

[Phil Perry]

According to some fellers on the Discovery channel the other evening, . . . Spitfires in ww2 ( prob other types too. . .) didn't have any floor pan either, which, apart from FOD problems, if you got an engine fire, the flames belched up into the cockpit very quickly and if you didn't leave the building rapidly it turned into a very efficient self contained crematorium.

 

 

[Phil Perry]

I have seen piccys of Tiger moths with canopy. Canadian I think from memory.Also there is one at Evans Head with a canopy.Not flying, looks like it needs alot of refurbishment.

We have a Jackaroo just down the road at Baxterley airfield, this I'm told is a fat Aussie variant ( the airframe not the people. . . ) of the DH82A. . . . ( sort of. . . ) it has room for three occupants, if they are not too heavy, but the usualy refinements of. . . . . not a lot of X-wind capability, and the requirement for a wingman whilst taxying on anything other than perfectly level ground. . . . . It's got a canopy though, so a bit more comfort for the victims who might fly with the pilot. . . . . Got to work on the owner a bit more to let me have a go. . . . I failed last year, due to inclement weather at the fly-in. . . . .

 

 

[Phil Perry]

You shouldn't have holes in the floor where foreign oblects can go. A friend of mine died because of a coin jamming the controls. Nev

NEV. . . . . I never designed any of the aircraft in which I found unneccessary passengers. . . . ! These designers put all sorts of holes, nooks and crannies where FOD will deposit itsself. . . If I fly an aeroplane which has a "Stick". . . I'm always concerned about what the last guy left in there, especially if it doesn't have what we in the UK call a "Boot" shroud around the bit where it enters the floor. . . . . Geez, most, if not ALL car manufacturers do this. . . ( I actually prefer the OZ "Sock" description ) I have NOT had a "Stick Jam" as a result of FOD, so I must be extemely lucky. . . Had a rudder one, once but that isn't as bad in a Piper single . . . . as most people don't use it anyway on metal PA28s, unless doing something really decadent and unfair, . . . . like Side-slipping because you screwed up the base leg and approach. . . . !!

 

After flying for about half an hour whilst taking a renewal checkride in a Chipmunk, I found that the stick stopped dead just to the right of centre, in fact I only had about 1/4 of the normal right hand stick travel,. . . . The instructor in the front seat suddenly piped up with " Ooops,. . . . Sorry, . . . my clipboard jammed between the stick and the side wall. . . ." I'm pleased that this did not happen during aeros. . . .

 

( Incidentally, my flying was crap., but I think he let me off a bit because of that. . . . ! )

 

 

[facthunter]

If you belt the tailwheel of A DHC-1 hard, it can deform upwards and jam the elevator full up. Not a good idea to go round in that state.

 

Also had the joystick and throttle jammed in a DH-82A when the instrument panel broke out of the mounts on me once. I've mentioned this before in more detail. Think they fit a leather strap to prevent this now.

 

Another Chipmunk chucked a prop blade and tore the motor out and spun down into Lake Macquarie Pilot survived.

 

A Canadian Chipmunk did a sharp pull up after building up a bit of speed on take-off and flicked, going in upside down. Pilot did not survive.

 

Pilot of a Chipmunk at Williamstown distracted by complex radio call, stalled at about 300' and hit the ground flat and broke the fuselage off just behind the rear cockpit. Pilot OK (surprisingly) I had propswung him for an aerobatic display about 15 minutes prior.

 

Older student at Broadmeadow ( small aerodrome) ends up with A tiger upside down on the verge of the aerodrome. Uninjured until he undid his seat belt and fell to the ground.

 

Essendon airport Maintenance person walks through the prop arc of an idling DC-6 unscathed. Realising what he had done, Faints. ( I would too) Nev

 

 

[AeroGirl]

Myself and Ultralights were at the hanger over the weekend doing some maintenance to UL's aircraft (it was pouring down rain), when in walked the owner of an aircraft which will remain nameless (the said aircraft model has a reputation for having the ballistic chute pulled regardless of the situation, for example spin recovery, and recently an engine failure over pristine outback farmland), lets call him Mr C with some guests, one carrying an unlit cancer stick in his hand. Upon noticing this, I regularly popped up my head to keep an eye one Cancer Man (who is obviously not a pilot), just incase that unlit cancer stick become a carcinogenic spewing variety.

 

Mr C and Cancer Man decided to go on a photo shoot, draping themselves on the Extra and Pitts located in the hanger, Cancer Man looking quite proud of himself being photographed with these aircraft but never having actually been in one for a joy flight, all the time with an unlit cancer stick in hand.

 

After a while, Mr C and Cancer Man have finished moving around the hanger, pretending to be proud owners of the array of aircraft in the hanger, and begin preparing his aircraft for a high altitude IFR flight for the next day. Out comes the oxygen bottle to top up the on board oxygen bottle on Mr C's aircraft, and filling begins. Meanwhile, despite all the AVGAS stored in fuel tanks on Mr C's aircraft, as well as other aircraft, not to mention the extremely flammable gas, oxygen currently spewing forth from the oxygen tank to the internal tank, Cancer Man in all his wisdom, light up his cancer stick, WTF!!!!

 

I hurried over to where they were, yelling at Cancer Man to put the thing out, he looks at me dumb, and then Mr C tells him to go out the door, which goes airside. He is sending his guest, air side at a secure aerodrome with a lit cancer stick. I tell him to not to go air side, to put out the cancer stick, and if he is going to smoke he must go out the front. I also gave Mr C a serving about his responsibilities with his guests. I was not impressed.

 

 

[facthunter]

It appears that crossing Aerogirl is very dangerous indeed. made all my examples look wimpy. He deserved it too. Nev

 

 

[motzartmerv]

Ive seen a few people crash aeroplanes...I dont reckon it gets any more dangerous than that...(flying isnt dangerous, crashing is dangerous)

 

 

[motzartmerv]

But seriously, recently I saw a bloke climb up on the cowling/ wing strut to dip the fuel tanks on a 172... No problem i hear you say, theres a step on the strut and the cowling designed as footholds. Problem was the engine was idling, and no body was behind the wheel..;) Join the dots on that one!!!

 

 

[dazza 38]

But seriously, recently I saw a bloke climb up on the cowling/ wing strut to dip the fuel tanks on a 172... No problem i hear you say, theres a step on the strut and the cowling designed as footholds. Problem was the engine was idling, and no body was behind the wheel..;) Join the dots on that one!!!

What a nob.

 

 

[dutchroll]

28 years in aviation and I occasionally get despondent. It doesn't even matter how old or experienced you are, ultimately. It's an attitude thing. I like to leave it to others to compare their manhood......

 

 

[facthunter]

That would be close to the most stupid thing I have ever heard, Motz. Nev

 

 

[motzartmerv]

Yep. I was stunned .. It had me lost for words to be honest. I tried to get his attention without being too dramatic, I was concerned I could cause him to fall to his almost certain death.

 

someone was sitting in the back seat of the plane Aswel ;).

 

He said he often warms the engine while he does a walk around, to save time.

 

Lol.. I suggested when he's at our airfield he they out of bed 10 minutes earlier and NOT do it that way... Pretty please... Lol

 

 

[dutchroll]

Yeah it's very hard to point out to some people that there is a massive chasm of difference between "being relaxed and comfortable about your flying" and "having a very casual attitude towards your flying" They're not the same thing.

 

 

[Mark11]

Like that late for his flight golfer who tried to get the attention of the pilot taxiing and ran into the prop. My scariest was hand proping my Varieze first time. It had been shipped over from the States, fuel from the main tank drained, and I had it pushed nose first against the hanger. I put the fuel selector to off, throttle to idle, mixture off, no throttle priming, but mags on and thought I would practice hand propping and maybe if I was lucky, get a pop out of it. Very very slowly turned the prop and the impulse magnito clicked. The engine roared into life for 3 or 4 seconds infront of my face-unbelievable. Didn't need a shave that day. It sat for more than a month in a shipping container and longer before and after. Even if your engine is completely disassembled, never trust the prop when turning it over.

love the bit - no shave that day .... Made me laugh!

 

 

[River]

Further talking about 'Most Dangerous Flying' events, some years back I was working as range control at the Tin Can Bay Military Training Area north of Brisbane Australia and close to the small coastal village of Tin Can Bay with Frazer Island just off the coast.

 

An Armoured Cavalry Squadron with M113 Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC's) armed with a 30 calibre machine guns plus a 50 calibre heavy machine gun on each vehicle. They also had a number the M113 Fire Support Vehicle (FSV's). These FSV'S had a 76mm main gun plus a 30 calibre machine gun each.

 

The day was somewhat bleak with occasional light rain and total coverage of low cloud down to around 500 feet. The squadron had lined up as many APC's and FSV's on the main firing point for a mass firepower shoot. The target area ground was a mix of sandy soils and the odd solid metal sheets of thick steel for targets, etc and some light scrub land.

 

So you can imagine the volume and fire power of this squadron.

 

Oh I should mention that a NOTAM was in place for the restricted airspace that it was active meaning its a no-go area!

 

Just as we gave the all-clear to the squadron to open fire at their will - I heard the familiar sound of a GA aircraft engine somewhere nearby... However as I heard the aircraft sound the squadron commenced a full-on open fire with all guns firing down range, a quite impressive amount of the target area started kicking and shaking with bits and pieces of everything flying all over the place. Remember all weapons use tracer rounds usually at a ratio of 1 tracer round to 4 standard rounds.

 

What was surprising was the amount of tracer rounds that were ricocheting off the sand and zooming up disappearing through the low level cloud and rain mist, and that's only the rounds one can see curtsey of tracers.

 

Then to my total amazement and horror a Cessna 172 comes flying directly straight at us and right in the centre of the impact zone of all the machine guns and the 76mm canons all blasting off as many rounds as they can!

 

The Cessna was flying just below the cloud at I'd say 300 feet. You could actually see many ricochets zooming bloody close the aircraft and yet it continued flying straight down the range and directly overhead the firing point and my position. I hope you can appreciate that with the noise, smoke, radio talk over the net with the individual vehicles and command trying to keep everything rolling in a smooth nice piece of organized military err precession and the speed that the aircraft arrived unannounced - it was no easy to get a cease-fire before the aircraft was on us.

 

To this day I don't know how the aircraft was not inadvertently 'shot down' either by direct fire (there were some targets well down range which would have meant the trajectory of some guns may have gone close to the aircrafts flight path or hit by a the ricochet).

 

Yes, I did get his number and we immediately called 'someone' down in Brisbane to pass on the incident to the appropriate authorities. The pilot must are seen the tracer rounds as their were hundreds of them and very bright due to the bleak, low cloud and overall low light.

 

The worrying wash-up of this incident was that just about no one who were in the various armoured vehicles firing saw the aircraft!

 

You can be lucky.

 

 

[Phil Perry]

Hi Rog,. . . .

 

I was once a rear seat passenger in an Antonov AN-2 biplane, who's pilot didn't seem particulary bothered where he flew, I didn't know him personally, and was just along for the ride. He appeared to have ( as I found out later ) drawn a line on his map and tracked it,. . . irrespective of what was underneath.

 

We flew across the Salisbury Plain ( where Stonehenge is. . .) miitary firing area, which is advertised on all the charts,. . . we were blissfully unaware of what the commander was doing.. . .

 

The really DAFT thing about this story was that on the way BACK from our trip,. . . he flew almost the SAME track across the same firing range. . . ! ! ! Unbelieveable. . . we had a Chinook helicopter flying alongside us for quite a while, whether our illustrious captain was in comms with it, I never found out,. . . . the military here use UHF frequencies which are usually not accessible on the average G.A aircraft wireless. . . . I never found out what happened afterwards, as the pilot concerned apparently had emigrated to Italy, following crashing his AN-2 on a microlight field in Staffordshire. . . . . . .

 

Following this I had a passenger flight on a Dak, which was routing around all of the old wartime fields in our county,. . . . THIS TIME. . . .I asked the pilots if they had noticed any Notams. . . . . . !

 

BEWARE. . . . . . they are out there,. . . . . and SOME of them are still flying Aircraft. . . . . . .! ! ! !

 

****** Edited to add. . . . ******

 

Back in them thar days,. . .there WERE hand-held GPS devices on the market, Garmin GPS12, and stuff like that. . . . but a lot of pilots ( I am not joking here. . . regarded those who resorted to GPS nav, as a bunch of Poofs. ( Apologies to any Gay people who may be reading this,. . . . But this was the language of the period. . . NO OFFENCE INTENDED. . . )

 

 

[Sapphire]

The guy flying into the firing range probably thought it was a military salute for him.