Distraction in flight
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Distraction in flight
Yesterday, invited a friend to climb in the back seat of my Supercub for a jolly. It was a hot windless day in mid September, so as a treat I decided to make the flight with the side door open; this is OK in a Supercub, and you get an unsurpassed view of the landscape when making steep right turns.
Change of plan after climbing to 500 feet and realising how very poor was the visibility, so just flew along our ridge to the corner and back, turned over the local windmill, and increased power to climb high enough to see the airfield...
Evidently the brown legal size paper envelope containing the Flight Manual chose that moment to blow apart. A blizzard of white pages rose up from the rear and tried to escape out the open door. My passenger, with splendid sang froid, managed to gather all except two of the 120 pages.... we found one later folded around one of the wires on the horizontal stabiliser...the other alas must have found its way to the windmill.
I concentrated on flying. Of course, it was pretty funny.
A more serious distraction a few years back took place in a gliding championship in the Alps; the pilot concerned called on the radio to report a snake in the glider.
What interesting distractions have you experienced, I wonder? And how did you cope?
Change of plan after climbing to 500 feet and realising how very poor was the visibility, so just flew along our ridge to the corner and back, turned over the local windmill, and increased power to climb high enough to see the airfield...
Evidently the brown legal size paper envelope containing the Flight Manual chose that moment to blow apart. A blizzard of white pages rose up from the rear and tried to escape out the open door. My passenger, with splendid sang froid, managed to gather all except two of the 120 pages.... we found one later folded around one of the wires on the horizontal stabiliser...the other alas must have found its way to the windmill.
I concentrated on flying. Of course, it was pretty funny.
A more serious distraction a few years back took place in a gliding championship in the Alps; the pilot concerned called on the radio to report a snake in the glider.
What interesting distractions have you experienced, I wonder? And how did you cope?
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Just had a partial engine failure on take off on in a Dornier today if that counts? RH engine spooled up as normal, LH engine stopped at 25% torque. Not enough runway left to retard and beta so had to take the problem into the air. Made for an interesting moment!!
A good one is if you have part of the seatbelt out the door. On takeoff it starts beating the side of the airplane silly and sounds a lot worse than it is. First time my buddy had done it, he figured it out and pulled it in. Second time it was my fault, taking my kid for a ride and got the same thing. Fortunately I figured out what it was and just gave a good tug on the loose end.
-- IFMU
-- IFMU
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I once did repeated trips with very hot models on board all SEP so very distracting. In the same year I also flew a young lady who was wearing a very tight white mini dress, extremely low cut and very very short she sat in the middle row of the 206 and put one of her feet up on the seat. I hat to keep checking the weather/traffic in my six o/c through out the hour long flight, fantastic.
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bose-x, interested in your incident.
One or two questions...
At what point did you notice the #1 engine wasn't up to full power?
Which Dornier is this? What engines?
Is normal procedure on your aircraft not to advance power levers to a mid-position, pause to allow to stabilise and then advance fully?
Is this single or two-crew?
Any autofeather facility on the aircraft?
Any hint from a hangar as to the reason for the lack of spool-up?
One or two questions...
At what point did you notice the #1 engine wasn't up to full power?
Which Dornier is this? What engines?
Is normal procedure on your aircraft not to advance power levers to a mid-position, pause to allow to stabilise and then advance fully?
Is this single or two-crew?
Any autofeather facility on the aircraft?
Any hint from a hangar as to the reason for the lack of spool-up?
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One or two questions...
At what point did you notice the #1 engine wasn't up to full power?
Which Dornier is this? What engines?
At what point did you notice the #1 engine wasn't up to full power?
Which Dornier is this? What engines?
Is normal procedure on your aircraft not to advance power levers to a mid-position, pause to allow to stabilise and then advance fully?
Is this single or two-crew?
Any autofeather facility on the aircraft?
Any hint from a hangar as to the reason for the lack of spool-up?
Last edited by S-Works; 21st Sep 2009 at 22:16.
As it happens, I was just reading the test standards for the FAA IR. It mentions that during the test, the examiner will cause a 'distraction' to assess your ability to concentrate on flying, and multi-task. I'm very curious as to what kind of things they might get up to - anyone have any examples?
There was also a case in the US some time ago about a snake that crawled out of a guy's instrument panel. A classic story; the pilot grabbed the snake and flew to destination with "one hand full of snake, and the other full of airplane". Upon landing "The pilot posed for photos with the snake before releasing it". Now that's one cool character!
There was also a case in the US some time ago about a snake that crawled out of a guy's instrument panel. A classic story; the pilot grabbed the snake and flew to destination with "one hand full of snake, and the other full of airplane". Upon landing "The pilot posed for photos with the snake before releasing it". Now that's one cool character!
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Thanks for that, bose. Those engines sound weird. Don't have any personal experience of them myself. From what you say, it sounds as if you also had a short TORA as well.... 
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My 1st a/c (a 13,000hr pa28 140) caused me one or two interesting moments.
Once, on climb-out from Caen, the door sprang open and my passport, flightplan, plog and chart were sucked straight out of the aircraft into the English channel. Since then, I have become neurotic about checking that the door is positively latched.
The second incident was a regular, loud, drumming sound that developed halfway down the VFR recommended route between SAM and MP, and persisted until touchdown at Cherbourg. Upon exiting the aircraft, after the longest 20 minutes of my life, I discovered that the noise had been caused by a narrow ribbon of mastic - that had been used some years previously to seal one of the side windows - which had come loose, and was slapping on the side of the fuselage. A happily prosaic cause, to a sweaty moment.
The 3rd incident was not the fault of the aircraft at all, as what I had initially thought of as an in-flight radio failure (the display of my KX155 suddenly went blank) proved to have been caused by my donning a pair of smart looking polarising sunglasses....
Once, on climb-out from Caen, the door sprang open and my passport, flightplan, plog and chart were sucked straight out of the aircraft into the English channel. Since then, I have become neurotic about checking that the door is positively latched.
The second incident was a regular, loud, drumming sound that developed halfway down the VFR recommended route between SAM and MP, and persisted until touchdown at Cherbourg. Upon exiting the aircraft, after the longest 20 minutes of my life, I discovered that the noise had been caused by a narrow ribbon of mastic - that had been used some years previously to seal one of the side windows - which had come loose, and was slapping on the side of the fuselage. A happily prosaic cause, to a sweaty moment.
The 3rd incident was not the fault of the aircraft at all, as what I had initially thought of as an in-flight radio failure (the display of my KX155 suddenly went blank) proved to have been caused by my donning a pair of smart looking polarising sunglasses....
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the examiner will cause a 'distraction' to assess your ability to concentrate on flying, and multi-task.
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Seem to have had a few(!)
As a neophyte glider pilot, nobody really discussed the practicalities of long cross country flights, other than to explain that plastic bags were the answer.... (trying not to be graphic here!) Suffice to say my first attempt was conducted at a goodly height. Just as well - mid stream I realised it was all getting quiet - nose high, asi dropping, heaps of yaw; not a good moment for an impromptu spin.. (yes, I avoided one)
As a ppl student taking of for my first ever navex, the door on the 150 popped open as the nosewheel left the ground. Handled calmly, told the instructor I would be ignoring the door until a safe height. Unfortunately the entire plan/plog/chart etc. had been between my left knee and the door.
On another occasion a passenger started screaming at the point the aircraft left the ground - and continued to about 500ft! She did calm down and thoroughly enjoyed the flight, but I've paid a bit more attention to where the intercom off switch is since then
As a neophyte glider pilot, nobody really discussed the practicalities of long cross country flights, other than to explain that plastic bags were the answer.... (trying not to be graphic here!) Suffice to say my first attempt was conducted at a goodly height. Just as well - mid stream I realised it was all getting quiet - nose high, asi dropping, heaps of yaw; not a good moment for an impromptu spin.. (yes, I avoided one)
As a ppl student taking of for my first ever navex, the door on the 150 popped open as the nosewheel left the ground. Handled calmly, told the instructor I would be ignoring the door until a safe height. Unfortunately the entire plan/plog/chart etc. had been between my left knee and the door.
On another occasion a passenger started screaming at the point the aircraft left the ground - and continued to about 500ft! She did calm down and thoroughly enjoyed the flight, but I've paid a bit more attention to where the intercom off switch is since then
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3 recently finished thier exams female Law students on a road trip taking a trial flight in a C172
Tain range @3000ft doing bunts with the 2 girls in the back with thier tops hauled up with the one in the front taking photos of thier boobs/hair floating.
Does this count?
Tain range @3000ft doing bunts with the 2 girls in the back with thier tops hauled up with the one in the front taking photos of thier boobs/hair floating.
Does this count?
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Originally Posted by mad_jock
Tain range @3000ft doing bunts with the 2 girls in the back with thier tops hauled up with the one in the front taking photos of thier boobs/hair floating.
Does this count?
Does this count?
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reply to socal approach
I think it was quite nasty of your examiner to set up all those unnecessary hurdles for you to jump over! None of them were real, and all could be sensibly disabled, with a few choice phrases I have found invaluable when talking to controllers: to wit,
Stand by! (that shuts them up for a while)
Say again slowly!
Unable! (to enter cloud, for example, or if in a glider, when asked to maintain your altitude!)
Could you vector me to Alfred Whittle, please! (after having been sent hither and yon by Tampa, and becoming seriously unsure of my location)
Stand by! (that shuts them up for a while)
Say again slowly!
Unable! (to enter cloud, for example, or if in a glider, when asked to maintain your altitude!)
Could you vector me to Alfred Whittle, please! (after having been sent hither and yon by Tampa, and becoming seriously unsure of my location)
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A good one is if you have part of the seatbelt out the door. On takeoff it starts beating the side of the airplane silly and sounds a lot worse than it is.
To be fair, this is documented in the Cessna training manual somewhere.
I have had a couple good instructor generated distractions along the way. I was getting a checkout in a Taylorcraft BC12D in Indiantown, FL. I was doing some nice landings. On short final, instructor pulls out a sectional, unfolds it, reaches across the cockpit for something, a bunch of crazy stuff and I blew the landing. Then I recovered. Distraction stopped, he says "That's what I wanted to see, a recovery." Signed me off good to go. He was an Englishman, I always wondered if that was standard fare on the other side of the pond. Bit of an oddball, very good pilot.
Back when I was towing, but had not earned my private pilot glider license yet, I was doing my pre-season checkout with Rudi Opitz. Most club instructors treated me like I already knew what I was doing, since they knew me as a tow pilot, even though I knew this wasn't the case. Not Rudi. We get off tow, he has me doing a bunch of stall series. Seems reasonable for a spring checkout activity. After the third or fourth he asks me where the field is. I turn toward it, knowing right were it was. Uh-oh. We look a bit low. As we flew back and did a nonstandard pattern due to altitude, he explained the importance of always knowing where you were with respect to the field and glide distance, even if an instructor was asking you to do things like stalls. That lesson hit home for me.
-- IFMU
Back when I was towing, but had not earned my private pilot glider license yet, I was doing my pre-season checkout with Rudi Opitz. Most club instructors treated me like I already knew what I was doing, since they knew me as a tow pilot, even though I knew this wasn't the case. Not Rudi. We get off tow, he has me doing a bunch of stall series. Seems reasonable for a spring checkout activity. After the third or fourth he asks me where the field is. I turn toward it, knowing right were it was. Uh-oh. We look a bit low. As we flew back and did a nonstandard pattern due to altitude, he explained the importance of always knowing where you were with respect to the field and glide distance, even if an instructor was asking you to do things like stalls. That lesson hit home for me.
-- IFMU