the secret to being a good pilot is to let all the other schmucks make the mistakes and learn from their expensive experiences.
it also pays to have a very good understanding of basic principles, standard operating methods and the reasons why they have become standard methods of operation.
when our airfield was experiencing some acceleration in the numbers of hangars being built I used to drive home via a different taxiway each night to have a look at the new developments.
one night I came across a hangar with a very neat circular hole in the hangar door. (I have a photo of it). obviously to a pilot it was the exact diameter and height of a typical aircraft propeller, but what had caused the hole?
a few nights later I drove down the same taxiway and the hole was gone. repaired as though it had never occurred. ...hmmm interesting.
it took just over a year to find out what had happened. for over six months there not a sign of the hangar owner on the airfield.
the story goes like this...
the guy built a Vans RV, a six I think it was.
since he had built it he decided how he operated it.
this idle cutoff nonsense was a crock. he found turning the magnetos off, just as he did with his car, just as easy. so that is how he decided to operate his RV. all went well for months. he had forgotten his magneto key on one occasion so he left a key in the switch most times. the hangar was securely locked so it wasnt a problem.
on the day in question he had been out flying and enjoying the RV. taxyied back and switched off in front of the hangar.
he rolled open the hangar and pushed the aeroplane back into the hangar.
closed the doors and was getting ready to leave.
without much thought about, as he walked past the aeroplane to the side door he pulled the prop straight to make it look neat.
unknown to our hero, as he hopped out of the aircraft, his trouser leg had snagged the magneto key and rotated it from "off" to "left".
as luck would have it his tweaking of the prop clicked the impulse coupling on the left maggie and the engine started and roared back into life.
in the moment before the thrust overcame the machine's inertia and moved it forward he managed to leap clear of the prop.
the aircraft moved forward smartly across the hangar floor and came to bear on the inside of the door. the spinner gave way almost immediately and then the prop started grinding through the sheet metal of the door.
by about this time the hero had picked himself up off the floor and managed to get to the cockpit from aft the wing and shut off the magnetos.
you can work out for yourself all the things he did wrong.
I've got to go and wipe this grin off my face.
