Things that go wrong

[metalman]

Was just thinking about little things that go wrong ,I took a mate up for a flight in a CT2K a while back, as we were climbing through about 500ft a red light the size of a 50 cent piece starts flashing right in front of him, he turns and asks ,with a concerned look"is that meant to be flashing", I try to use my most professional voice ( the one I'd use if I ever get to say HOUSTON,WE HAVE A PROBLEM) and call up the flying school, turns out it is a warning lamp for the electronic engine instruments , and it resets automaticly but alas the flight was never the relaxing jaunt that I'd hoped for,coupled with not one of the best landings I've ever done it didn't surprise me that he was never very enthusiastic about flying again with me !

 

Turns out it was a faulty water temp sender ,there was nothing wrong with the plane.

 

got me thinking about what others might have had go wrong with friends or rellies on board,:eek:

 

 

[Guest DWB]

Couple of months ago, I took a local hay customer for a flight, he was as nervous as they come, but he felt he needed to do it. 32y.o. 110kg. We actually did 2 hours around the Upper Hunter looking at all the sites. Came back to home & as I pulled the nose up & throttled back to do a circuit into my strip, there was this almighty high frequency vibration & noise which I felt through the seat. Before I got a chance to say anything, he says "what the **** is that" To me it sounded like a bearing seizing, but I reassured him & myself that all was good as the temps & pressures indicated no problem & the engine revved freely still. I said "however, we are going to land really quickly for good measure" & did.

 

Turned out to be a piece of 100mph tape I put over a wing mount bolt hole to keep rain out came unstuck & with the attitude change decided to flap at a great rate of knots.

 

These unusual things certainly get your attention don't they. He enjoyed the flight though..........

 

 

[Scotty 1]

That tape makes some funny noises for sure. I must have picked up a stone just at liftoff in the trike once. Didn't take me long to put it back on the ground. Sounded like a bad vibration that you couldn't feel. Took me a while to find a slight rip in the prop tape on one blade. It sounded a lot worse than that. Made the heart tick for a while too.

 

Cheers Scotty

 

 

[Guest Darren Masters]

Flying along in my Mirage one beautiful afternoon, you know that kind where it is almost hands-off flying? Then this nasty vibration through the airframe. I'm thinking "What the hell is that"? I look back toward where we all don't want something to go wrong (in the tail), pull the revs back (just as a precaution) and then check the controls. Everything seems fine but I land anyway. Walk around the aircraft, check the prop...no damage. Nothing that is obvious. Then I see it. My digital altimeter has broken free of its velco restraints and went straight through my prop behind me. Ah, the joys of open-cockpit flying!!! Lesson learnt though. I have a few more but I would love to read about some others first. I had a real good one a few weeks ago...

 

 

[dazza 38]

The seat belt tails, make a good noise if they are hanging out of the door, of the aircraft.It has happened to me twice. On different occasions with pax, after I have told them to make sure the seat belt end is inside before closing the door. These days i shut there door.Then hop in myself.Also had a Eaglett door pop open, pax side.The plane was nearly brand new.The door had popped open a couple of times apparently it had to be slammed shut.THe door mechanism was out of rig .

 

While im on a roll- when i was a student GA pilot, I was flying our Piper Archer in the southern training area from Archerfield. The Door was locked and latched at the top (Roof).Well the door came ajar at the door latch.It was still held by the top latch on the roof.Anyway me being a wanker.Unlatched the top latch in flight, it popped open 2 or 3 inches.I knew this wasnt a problem, because I was taught the crack the door open if having a emergency landing.I also had read the POH.

 

Air blowing everywhere inside.lol. I got the top latched relatched and just flew around with it like that.But Noisy though. I flew drifters before that so i was used to air blowing around me.LOL

 

Lastly the scarest thing happened.- I was going on a Nav with a instructor- Took off from Archerfield. In my Archer.On climb out my seat, unlatched from its position and travelled all the way rearwards. I let go of the yoke as soon as the seat let go.I didnt

 

want to pull on it a possibly stall. I said to Paul , Your aircraft. LOL He said I can see that.lol. Anyway I did go through my cockpit checks locking the seat and then rocking back and forwards to make sure it was locked. After the incident we got the locking mechanism changed.

 

 

[metalman]

The seat belt tails, make a good noise if they are hanging out of the door, of the aircraft.It has happened to me twice. On different occasions with pax, after I have told them to make sure the seat belt end is inside before closing the door. These days i shut there door.Then hop in myself.Also had a Eaglett door pop open, pax side.The plane was nearly brand new.The door had popped open a couple of times apparently it had to be slammed shut.THe door mechanism was out of rig . While im on a roll- when i was a student GA pilot, I was flying our Piper Archer in the southern training area from Archerfield. The Door was locked and latched at the top (Roof).Well the door came ajar at the door latch.It was still held by the top latch on the roof.Anyway me being a wanker.Unlatched the top latch in flight, it popped open 2 or 3 inches.I knew this wasnt a problem, because I was taught the crack the door open if having a emergency landing.I also had read the POH.

Air blowing everywhere inside.lol. I got the top lkatched relatched and just flew around with it like that.But Noisy though. I flew drifters before that so i was used to air blowing around me.LOL

 

Lastly the scarest thing happened.- I was going on a Nav with a instructor- Took off from Archerfield. In my Archer.On climb out my seat, unlatched from its position and travelled all the way rearwards. I let go of the yoke as soon as the seat let go.I didnt

 

want to pull on it a possibly stall. I said to Paul , Your aircraft. LOL He said I can see that.lol. Anyway I did go through my cockpit checks locking the seat and then rocking back and forwards to make sure it was locked. After the incident we got the locking mechanism changed.

I've been in enough crappy old cessnas to do the cessna seat wriggle as a pre flight, got me thinking , had the left door on a C185 come open at about 50 feet on landing ,scared the shite outa me , quick thought it's a jump plane so it's not a real problem, no pax though which was good. Had a Tecnam do the seat belt tails thing as well, we were in no place to land so I pulled it through the gap as far as I could and the flapping stopped, was expecting a bit of paint damage when we landed but it was fine!

 

 

[red750]

I was flying touch and goes in a V-tail Bonanza at Moorabbin (no pax) when the door popped open. As others have said, cold and noisy. Made that circuit a full stop, taxied to the holding point, relatched the door and continued circuits.

 

Shortly after getting my licence, I was flying my uncle and brother-in-law at Moorabbin in a Musketeer. At about 300 ft on short final, I got caught in wind shear and dropped suddenly, not sure how far. I hit full throttle, held it level to gain speed, then climbed out. Called "Going around" and settled my nerves to make a fresh approach and safe landing. I had remebered my instructor slamming the back of my hand on the throttle and saying "Don't try and save it, get the hell out of there and set up again". My pax were a bit white faced.

 

Peter.

 

 

[TAA Student Pilot]

I got a paper cut once doing all the CASA amendments, aviation can be dangerous :rolleyes:

 

 

[Guest Darren Masters]

I got a paper cut once doing all the CASA amendments, aviation can be dangerous :rolleyes:

Ha ha love that :D How's this one, I was flying down at my airfield a few weeks ago. Advanced to full-throttle, no worries. Took off, climbing up through about 200' then rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr massive over-rev. Damn drive-belts slipped. Pulled the power down to about 4000rpm. Belts slowly gripped again. At this stage, low and slow. Looking at a paddock ahead. Not even thinking of turning back anywhere (you are talking 30kts and now probably 150'). Gently gentley lowered the nose and slowly brought the power back up. Very slowly turned to the left to join the circuit, very slowly nursed my machine to a 300' circuit. Well, needless to say the pants probably had a mark on them but I feel personally it was well flown. Did everything by the book. Was impressed I never attempted the dreaded 'turn back'. Also, needless to say, I changed all 4 drive belts the next day! Now she's flying wonderfully. Also wonderful was that this was all witnessed from the ground by several people. Hey, atleast someone saw all the action. One of the guys said he thought my 'engine blew' and the other one "I saw you going down in between the trees, I thought you were going to go down". Ah, the joys of flying....