Dropped a clanger (Literally)

[mr_rodge]

Lovely weather on Saturday, booked a Warrior for three hours to have a scenic over the coast from the north east to the east. All was well until 15 minutes into the flight when I looked out at the port wing and discovered the filler cap was missing. Luckily I was flying on the starboard tank and this was up to tabs and although the port tank was reading like it still had plenty on the gauge, I didn't fancy my chances!

Immediately returned to base, confessed to an instructor and the CFI, instructor confirmed and I agreed that there was no excuse for not seeing it and donned the high-vis and radio to start combing the field. After about an hour I found the cap, right after the numbers on the runway. I couldn't believe it. Left the cap on the wing whilst rushing to the other tank before the pump shut its self off.

I can't believe I didn't spot it on the ground during taxi or runups, or when I set flap. Really don't know how i managed it! Somehow I don't think I'll be making that mistake again...

Anyway, we put the cap back on and made a second, much more enjoyable trip to the coast.

For anyone interested, I was battered with questions from club members afterwords all asking whether the fuel was sucked out of the wing. Answer = no, not a drop. No splashes, no spray, nothing. Fuel remained at tabs.

I blame not flying enough. I need to get more free time and improve currency. All I keep thinking is if I managed to taxi, runup, backtrack and take off without noticing, it could have just as easily been 1.5 hours into the flight and I could have been desperate to switch to the tank with no cap. I was stupid and lucky.

[blue up]

I haven't flown one for a long time, but doesn't it have a chain on the cap to hold it on the airframe? Could have sworn they did when I last flew one.

Maybe I'm just thinking of a Morris Minor.

[Dave Gittins]

I imagine it's a case of the people who have done something silly and the ones that are going to. ... We all fall into one of the two categories.

In my case it was leaving the pitot cover on the Warrior, the eagle eyed buggers in the tower spotted it about the same time as I realised why I was climbing at 40 kts but everything looked felt and sounded OK.

Interesting to hear that the fuel stayed where it was meant to, like you I am sure folk law and legend have always suggested it would be sucked out.

Glad it all turned out OK and you have the benefit of a bit more experience and have gained a little wisdom.

[Pace]

Not sure its a currency thing more like rushing yourself or nerves or your mind being elsewhere.
Having said that we are only human and there are probably not many of us who have not done something stupid at one time or another.
Hence why checks are so important external as well so that the stupid mistake is not an item that could be dangerous.
Pilots have taken off with all manner of items unseen. Pitot covers still on, open fuel tanks, even doors or baggage doors open. One guy even took off with a concrete tie down still attached to the tail.

The list is endless

Pace

[mr_rodge]

blue_up,

We have two Warriors and a Cherokee at the club, neither of the Warriors have chains on them and I can't remember whether the Cherokee does or not. The 150 I used to fly had the chains but they just dangled in the tank, they weren't attached to anything!

Dave,

Sounds like the ATCO did well there!

Pace,

I remember reading something about the concrete tie down. Was it Newcastle?

Looking back I suspect you're right. I don't have experience of many fields but the pump at ours has a fob to activate it. If you mess around after scanning the fob the pump gets cut off and you have to fob again. Likewise, if you take too long to get to the other wing after filling the first the pump cuts off and you have to fill a second entry in on the log sheet as the pump resets when you scan the fob again. I was probably running as usual to get to the other wing and left the cap off. It's even worse when you fly a Cessna as you have to climb the thing as well!

But I still should have spotted it...

[Cusco]

I think the perceived wisdon is that, if a cap is missing, particularly if fuel is venting, switch to that same tank and use up as much of that tank's fuel before it all goes, while conserving all the fuel in the 'sound' tank.

Cusco

[Katamarino]

Don't feel bad; I even managed to depart missing TWO filler caps (on a four tank aircraft). Like you, I found that no fuel at all was sucked out, although after flying through a rainstorm I stopped using fuel from the capless tanks...

[Pilot DAR]

I have done this three times: (not trying to brag, just empathize!)

First time in a Cessna Cardinal RG. The cap was just not seated properly (and are hard to preflight) The fuel streamed out so fast that I literally emptied a full tank in less than 15 minutes! I saw the vapour trail 10 miles away from the airport, changed tanks, went right back, and landed with one empty tank.

Second time same poorly fit cap on a Cessna 206. Symptoms less apparent (as I suppose the cap was closer to fitting correctly). Emptied a tank in about an hour. Once I noticed the problem, I selected that tank, to use what I could, before it was gone anyway. That probably made the difference in me getting where I was going, as it was a long night cross country in Northern Ontario, and the departure airport weather closed in behind me, so forward was the only way to go - with few airports in between.

The third time was my C 150. I found the cap on my runway, on the turn around end I had not been to since that morning. I had flown several short flights in the mean time, and there was no evidence of loss of fuel.

It just depends upon the type of airfoil I suppose....

[Johnm]

I've had PA28 fuel filler cap depart in flight, the locking tabs wear out eventually and can simply fail.

[UL730]

Could I recommend a visit to this site?

CHIRP (http://www.chirp.co.uk/information-about.asp)

Pprune has a distinguished remit in aviation but this could be another channel to advise what you experienced and learnt.

The venturi effect over a missing fuel cap can empty a tank in short order with certain airfoil designs. My airfoil - USA 35-B created enough suction to evacuate over 100 litres in less than a minute after a fuel cap with a locking tab at full engagement and a cover flap with a slightly worn wing head stud dzus simultaneously failed on a short irregular runway.

Your airfoil - possibly the NACA 652-415 might be kinder with regard to this issue but a Chirp report could be helpful to the flying community at large.

[chubbychopper]

If you happen to do it in an Aztec, like I have, you will lose all the fuel from that tank....and very quickly!

Another gotcha which I have seen twice is leaving the keys in the cabin door, and then forgetting about them. Completely fcuked the day of a Lear 45 pilot when the keys came out soon after take off and went straight through the port engine. Same thing happened to a friend, but he was luckier - the keys bounced off the nacelle and just got lost somewhere over the Sussex countryside.

[foxmoth]

As Cusco says, use the fuel from the topless tank first - changing back before joining the landing - if it is losing fuel you will be using it whilst still available and if there is a level at which it stops (and it might not have started siphoning because you were at the tabs rather than full when you started) you will get to that level sooner.

[Fly26]

chubbychopper,

after my PPL skills test I drove off with the C152 keys still in my pocket.....I lived over 2hrs away at the time....CFI wasnt best pleased but I guess at least they were returnable!

[mary meagher]

In a Pegasus glider, beginning the airtow. Accelerating down the runway one is quite preoccupied keeping in position behind the tow plane; mustn't get too high and put the tuggie's life in danger! etc etc.

At about 300' or so cast a quick glance at the ASI. Which read zero. As I looked again the needle began to circle the dial, indicating ever increasing airspeed, until it reached the stop! 280 knots or so, well above VNE, anyhow, don't recall without going out to look what the top reading was, but thats where it stayed! while the tug kept on climbing at the same old rate.

ASI obviously lying. And I knew what I had forgotten to do; when parking the glider overnight, in case of rain, we tape up the various apertures. No harm done, carried on up to 3,000' or so, and did a couple of stalls just to see how it felt, listen to the wind noise, and spent the next half hour soaring.
Coming home again, my approach and landing were of an unusually high standard!

No harm done, then. Unlike the famous story of a glider that went wave flying over Scotland. Overnight he had taped everything he could think of, and forgot to remove the little stickies over the vent on the water ballast tanks.....did you know gliders carry water ballast to increase performance?
(We tell onlookers that we use the H2O for fuel....)

Anyhow, all went well, until after spending a couple of hours at 20,000 feet or so over the Cairngorns, the expensive fibreglass glider was on downwind at Deeside, when there was a hideous crunching noise. The wings had imploded. No longer the perfect airfoil, more like a couple of planks attached to the fuselage.

Of course, you know why. The ground level air pressure remaining in the water ballast tanks had seeped out from under the sticky tape while in the climb. And on descent, with the increased outside pressure, the tape firmly clamped back in place.

Rule one if even something is making a horrible noise, if its still flying, keep on aviating and sort it out later! The glider landed safely. The insurance paid for a new set of wings, decent chaps, those underwriters.

[flyinkiwi]

I haven't left caps unscrewed but I did something almost as bad, I fueled up prior to a flight and left the dipstick sitting on the pumps. I didn't realize something was wrong until I went to pre-flight for the return trip. As I was raised not to trust fuel gauges in an aircraft, I experienced a certain degree of trepidation, abated solely by the fact I recalled exactly how much fuel I had put into the aircraft so I knew I had put enough in to cover the entire flight regardless of what was left in the tanks.

Once I got back I surreptitiously wandered past the fuel pumps in order to return the dipstick without anyone noticing but someone had spotted it and handed it into the Clubrooms. After a sheepish walk back from the flightline, and a quiet word on airmanship by the duty instructor I had to buy a round later on in the bar. Lesson learned.

[thing]

I always consciously check to make sure I haven't got the bowser, aircraft or hangar keys in my pocket when I drive home.

I've arrived home more than once and found an unfamiliar bulge in my pocket.

The other one I'm trying to eradicate is not having the volume turned up enough on the radio and wondering why no one is talking to me.......done that more than once as well.

[Sir Niall Dementia]

Mr Rodge;

I bet you won't do it again! I admire your post there are plenty of pilots on this forum who believe they are steely eyed sky gods who couldn't make such a silly mistake, and some with thousands of hours who have logbooks and memories full of silly mistakes which they share in the cockpit or over a beer.

I've done the fuel cap thing, and in 14,000 hours lots of others as well, you might have dropped a clanger, the mistake would be not to learn from it.

Just make sure next time you fly you don't miss something else because you are focused on the fuel caps, I've done that one too..................

[cct]

I've arrived home more than once and found an unfamiliar bulge in my pocket.You need to get out more!

[thing]

No, I need to stay in with a leggy blonde.

[Pace]

Another gotcha which I have seen twice is leaving the keys in the cabin door, and then forgetting about them. Completely fcuked the day of a Lear 45 pilot when the keys came out soon after take off and went straight through the port engine. Same thing happened to a friend, but he was luckier - the keys bounced off the nacelle and just got lost somewhere over the Sussex countryside.

ChubbyChopper

I have to admit to doing that in a Citation. Very Easy when there are two crew handling the Keys but the main Gotcha is that the door fixes back to the fuselage so if the key is in the lock you cannot see it.
I was lucky as after takeoff heard a funny noise, slowed right up and did a precautionary landing to check what the noise was.
Still could not see a problem until the door was reclosed and the handling agent noticed it from the outside.
The thing was spinning round like a prop in the airflow and yes it could head for the engine.
Now its added to the Checklist :\

Pace

[Sir Niall Dementia]

Pace/Chubbychopper;

If I remember rightly the keys down the intake was Arnold Palmer the golfer.

All our aircraft keys have red remove before flight flags on them and stow on a hook in the cockpit just to help avoid that one.

Whilst parked for any length of time they go in the external power socket so that all crew know where they are. We started that after a member of PPRUNE left an aircraft (locked) in Las Vegas and jumped on a flight back to the UK with the aircraft keys in his pocket, and the new crew and all the passengers in Vegas!

SND

P.S He's reading this as I type, reckon my next sim trip may be a bit interesting..................

[Cusco]

Our aircraft door key is the same as the ignition key so if the keys are left in the door we ain't goin' nowhere.............

[gaxan]

Nearly got knocked out by the fuel cap after having left it on top of the tank of my tiger moth. As I started the take off run and the tail came up, the cap flew off just missing my head!!! Then spent half an hour looking for it having aborted the take off. Won't do that again !!!!!

[Pace]

Do not have an ignition key :{ but is now on hook just behind pilots and on checklist.
We also place keys when away in external power socket as I am a bugger with keys at best of times :E

Pace

[tmmorris]

I've done exactly that on a PA28 fuel cap and (can't be bothered to search but...) posted on here, too. There's no chain (you're probably thinking of Cessnas though in my experience they are often broken).

My then five or six year old son prodded me just after rotation and said 'Daddy! Daddy!' I told him to shut up but luckily he ignored me.

I'd left the fuel cap on the wing; ATC recovered it from the threshold a little less well painted but otherwise in good nick.

Tim

[A and C]

At least you fessed up to it Tim, I still don't know the rightful owners of the four fuel dipsticks that I recovered from the Cessna tanks on one of the annual checks.

[Halfbaked_Boy]

I used to work for an operation that used diesel (Thielert) engined 172s, and as such the wing tanks had to be absolutely airtight, so they were installed with the 'flip up' and twist type fuel caps which, if you've ever used them, you will know how tight they can be to, well, flip up! Especially in the cold morning!

So it became routine for me to climb up, pull out my car keys, use them to lever the catch up, lay them next to the hole (too lazy to put back in my pocket immediately), etc etc.

Heh... It was about 7 hours later one day, after 3 separate flights around the country, and after landing and going to my car that I realised they weren't in me pocket!

It was a grass strip... With about 1.5 miles of grass (some of it long) taxiway in total...

:\

[mary meagher]

Yes, but did you find your keys?

I lost the bolt that fastens the tailplane on my pegasus glider at RAF Benson in the tall grass. Didn't realise it was missing until attempting to rerig the glider next morning.

Fortunately my son in law had a metal detector.

We rolled up to the gate at Benson, were escorted to the scene of my arrival the day before, and fortunately the tracks were still visible in the grass...
The Military Policeman said "that looks like a neat gadget, can I have a go?"
and on his first sweep over the grass it got all excited. There, hiding, was the bolt, still firmly clutched in the grip of the derigging tool!

[thing]

I had the a/c keys in my hand the other day, God knows why, mind in neutral as normal. I was refuelling a Cessna, fuel hose over shoulder, nozzle in same hand as keys, nozzle in tank delivering fuel when keys slipped from hand.

You know when you make a putt and the ball doesn't quite make it into the cup but has a good look on it's way round? I just managed to grab the key fob as it entered the tank, fuel happily gushing all over the wing.

We live and learn.

[India Four Two]

Whilst parked for any length of time they go in the external power socket so that all crew know where they are.

A bit like putting the keys in the exhaust pipe of a rental car, when you return it after hours!

Hmm, that's a nice G-V. I wonder if they left the keys? ;)

[FREDAcheck]

I think leaving the fuel cap off is one of the few basic errors I've not yet made, but there's still time...

PS - my favourite example of, shall we say, over-enthusiastic "literally":

"With that report he literally shot himself in the foot."
Pity he didn't notice the report was loaded.

[silverknapper]

Good on you for coming clean. And I'm sure everyone who reads this will be a touch more aware.
Happened to us once at an RAF base. The fuellers (plural, there always seems to be three of them) had left one of the caps off. Luckily the last item on the start Cx was "props, fuel caps all clear" which picked it up.

[Pace]

Hope your aircraft doesn't get pinched now everyone knows!

I keep trying to get it nicked :ok: so the owner can be persuaded to buy a nice modern CJ2 plus.

Pace