Senior moments
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Senior moments
Anyone had any while flying? Had two major ones, lining up on 20 instead of 02 and calling downwind to land when I should have (and meant to) say deadside descending.
Join Date: Aug 2005
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1. Keep leaving the fuel caps off, then spent hours after landing walking up and down the strip looking for it.
2 Taking off from 21 at Perth the other day wind is 210 at 18k, push power in then get a sudden gust from the right as I start to roll, what do I do? What I always do on take off, Right Rudder ! The plane shoots right at 45 degrees onto the grass, I get airborne and square it up as best I can and thank The Lord that 21 has a dip at the start and can't be seen from the clubhouse or tower.
3. Complete brain freeze when approaching airfields trying to work out how to join the overhead.
4. Always forget after TO to move the fuel selector from both to left or right, then wonder why after 30 minutes the left tank is empty and right is 3/4
Too many more to list !!!!
Oh one more, always, always leave the sectional chart behind the backseat so I can't reach it when I need it.
2 Taking off from 21 at Perth the other day wind is 210 at 18k, push power in then get a sudden gust from the right as I start to roll, what do I do? What I always do on take off, Right Rudder ! The plane shoots right at 45 degrees onto the grass, I get airborne and square it up as best I can and thank The Lord that 21 has a dip at the start and can't be seen from the clubhouse or tower.
3. Complete brain freeze when approaching airfields trying to work out how to join the overhead.
4. Always forget after TO to move the fuel selector from both to left or right, then wonder why after 30 minutes the left tank is empty and right is 3/4
Too many more to list !!!!
Oh one more, always, always leave the sectional chart behind the backseat so I can't reach it when I need it.
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Complete brain freeze when approaching airfields trying to work out how to join the overhead.
I do the fuel selector thing all the time then wonder why after a longish flight the thing wants to bank to the left...
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At our club we have quite a few elder pilots (80 plus) so we get our fair share of senior moments. My instructor was all of 75 when he started teaching me, for the first few lessons all I could think about was ""if he has a heart attack now, would I be able to land this plane safely?" - one day he overheard me saying this to another student so in that flight he pretended to have one just to see how I'd react.....
However the most memorable senior moments one of them had was taking off in a PA28 whilst leaving the tank filler cap just perched on top of the opening - fortunately the cap wasn't chained down so didn't batter hell out of the wing, just dropped off of the wing on the take off run with the tank rapidly emptying as the slip stream drew the fuel out....
What made this all the more worse was the fact that sitting beside him was an Instructor who was carrying out a ratings renewal check flight.....
I just remember my entry point is over the threshold of the runway given as active - so if I need to join overhead for 24 right hand, I make sure I cross the threshold of Runway 24 with it on my right hand side and keep it on my right hand side at all times...... What can become confusing is when you've been told join overhead for 24 Right Hand and are approaching from the south. I was taught that you should cross the 06 threshold first and proceed at the required altitude over the airfield on the dead side until you are over the threshold of 24 and join here, but I've seen many a pilot head directly to the threshold of 06 and either wonder "where do I go know?", or start descending and try to make it in from there without circuiting or, more scary, head for the threshold of 24 direct from the south and spin a quick 180 over that threshold......
However the most memorable senior moments one of them had was taking off in a PA28 whilst leaving the tank filler cap just perched on top of the opening - fortunately the cap wasn't chained down so didn't batter hell out of the wing, just dropped off of the wing on the take off run with the tank rapidly emptying as the slip stream drew the fuel out....
What made this all the more worse was the fact that sitting beside him was an Instructor who was carrying out a ratings renewal check flight.....
3. Complete brain freeze when approaching airfields trying to work out how to join the overhead.
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Not senior moments as such, but quite a few junior ones:-
1. Landing at Providence, RI in indifferent visibility during the wee small hours on the old runway 5L (now TWY Victor), I realised at about 500' AGL that I was actually lined up for an approach to Post Road, which runs parallel about 200m to the west. When what I thought were RELs suddenly changed from red to green the penny dropped, and a bootful of right rudder saved my blushes without the tower even noticing. I've often wondered how long it would have taken me to figure it out if the traffic lights hadn't changed. Unfortunately I was only in my mid-twenties at the time, so can't even plead early-onset Alzheimer's.
2. When I was still younger (much younger in fact) and flying in eastern Ireland, I managed to confuse the Royal Canal -- which I was not supposed to be following -- with the Grand Canal, which I was. Fortunately I was monitoring the Baldonnel military frequency, and heard APP warn an incoming aircraft of an unidentified primary trace, believed to be low-level, down by the Royal. I responded in a small voice, "Ah, I think that's me." It was. When I landed at EIWT, I made the interesting discovery that there was a difference of twenty-five degrees between my compass reading and the runway orientation. Of course, being wet behind the ears, it hadn't occurred to me to perform that check when it would have done some good, forty-five minutes earlier.
3. Several even more embarrassing things that I'm not going to mention here.
1. Landing at Providence, RI in indifferent visibility during the wee small hours on the old runway 5L (now TWY Victor), I realised at about 500' AGL that I was actually lined up for an approach to Post Road, which runs parallel about 200m to the west. When what I thought were RELs suddenly changed from red to green the penny dropped, and a bootful of right rudder saved my blushes without the tower even noticing. I've often wondered how long it would have taken me to figure it out if the traffic lights hadn't changed. Unfortunately I was only in my mid-twenties at the time, so can't even plead early-onset Alzheimer's.
2. When I was still younger (much younger in fact) and flying in eastern Ireland, I managed to confuse the Royal Canal -- which I was not supposed to be following -- with the Grand Canal, which I was. Fortunately I was monitoring the Baldonnel military frequency, and heard APP warn an incoming aircraft of an unidentified primary trace, believed to be low-level, down by the Royal. I responded in a small voice, "Ah, I think that's me." It was. When I landed at EIWT, I made the interesting discovery that there was a difference of twenty-five degrees between my compass reading and the runway orientation. Of course, being wet behind the ears, it hadn't occurred to me to perform that check when it would have done some good, forty-five minutes earlier.
3. Several even more embarrassing things that I'm not going to mention here.
Always forget after TO to move the fuel selector from both to left or right, then wonder why after 30 minutes the left tank is empty and right is 3/4
MJ
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What can become confusing is when you've been told join overhead for 24 Right Hand and are approaching from the south.
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Having started the engine on a cold winters day and waited for it to warm up a radioed my intentions. no reply, so tried again. no reply, and again. Looked at the frequency, thought that's not right, then had total brain freeze and couldn't remember it so had to shut down, unstrap and go back to the club house to ask for it.
once got to about 50ft on approach and realised the gear was still up...
sure there are others, if I could remember them!
once got to about 50ft on approach and realised the gear was still up...
sure there are others, if I could remember them!
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My solution to confusion approaching a strange airfield was to install a vertical card compass which tells you immediately which way the landing runway is sited and gives you time to plan your arrival in an orderly fashion. Must have been my gliding experience at Lasham and people like Anne Welsh and the Polish boys who drummed some airmanship into me.....
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What type of aircraft are you flying?
supersani's post reminds me of the best "senior moment" I have ever witnessed, or at least heard about first hand.
A colleague was taking a friend of mine for an evening flight in his Gypsy Moth. On the way to the field they stopped at the pilot's home to pick something up. After waiting outside in the car for about 20 minutes Ron went and knocked on the door. There was our pilot in his carpet slippers having forgotten all about it.
A colleague was taking a friend of mine for an evening flight in his Gypsy Moth. On the way to the field they stopped at the pilot's home to pick something up. After waiting outside in the car for about 20 minutes Ron went and knocked on the door. There was our pilot in his carpet slippers having forgotten all about it.
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As a student on my solo cross country land away, doing my power checks at 180 degrees to the wind direction I should have been.
Still have to think about 'reading' the windsock now!
Still have to think about 'reading' the windsock now!
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Just remembered another. Doing a PAR I was getting the usual 'Turn left two degrees on glideslope' etc. I turned and then a few seconds later 'Turn left five degrees' which I did. Wind must be stronger than I thought. Then 'Turn left 10 degrees'. Ahhh...he means turn left and not right then...
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Where do I start...
- Driving to the airfield and finding I've left the aeroplane keys at home
- Leaving the oil filler door unlatched and having to shutdown to secure it
- Getting taxi clearance and wondering why I'm not moving...forgotten to take the chocks out
- Wondering why the take off run seemed to be a little longer the usual and realising I hadn't set take off flap
- Not latching the canopy and having it try to open in flight
- Calling the next on route frequency without pushing the flip-flop
Not all on the same flight obviously.
- Driving to the airfield and finding I've left the aeroplane keys at home
- Leaving the oil filler door unlatched and having to shutdown to secure it
- Getting taxi clearance and wondering why I'm not moving...forgotten to take the chocks out
- Wondering why the take off run seemed to be a little longer the usual and realising I hadn't set take off flap
- Not latching the canopy and having it try to open in flight
- Calling the next on route frequency without pushing the flip-flop
Not all on the same flight obviously.
