F15
 

I'm not sure all RAF/USAF fighters have radar?
Not much use here when I'm flying at 500 feet and they are at 200.;)

Trying to get back to my home airport in the wet season in in Africa in a 206, fighting my way around lines of huge thunder storms amongst lightening, heavy rain and turbulannce. Then getting struck by lightening behind the rear window which made a entry hole and blew all the recently replaced static wicks off.

Very grateful to be on the ground and hour later.

Avoiding action whilst towing up a glider....
 

Three times, over my career.

During a gliding competition, flown at Weston on the Green (the parachutists had gone away for the 9 days), towing up a ASW19 flown by a young naval pilot, - and the comp had been notammed - observed heading directly toward us, a twin out of Oxford Kidlington. So I turned right.

And the twin turned left. Thanks a bunch! All I could do now was dive, with the glider on tow. YOU DO NOT LET GO, because then there would be three separate aircraft dodging each other. The Navy pilot hung on boldly, he said later while making his witness statement, that he wanted full value of his 2,000 tow! In this case, the separation may have been 200 feet vertical, and if anybody had been watching on radar, we would definitely have blended on the screen. My main reaction was anger.

Another time, I saw the other aircraft at our altitude, heading directly for us, he saw us when I turned right, and did the correct action....nevertheless the following week I was able to locate and talk to the PIC, who had been occupied supervising a learner under the hood.

And can you beat it, on the third occasion, the opposition once again was supervising a learner under the hood, never saw us at all, and after we discovered who it was, lied about it. Of course, my witness was again the glider on tow, in fact this time the glider saved our bacon, because he saw the other guy and told me about it on the radio. I still couldn't see the other aircraft, so the glider pilot said, very very firmly, Turn RIGHT, NOW!!!!
Which I did. That time my knees did turn to jelly afterward. The glider pilot told me later that he had been planning what to do after the collision.

Many years ago I was flying as a student in an RAF Whirlwind helicopter. Towards the end of the sortie we were unexpectedly asked by ATC to go to search a particular area for an fixed wing aircraft whose pilot had called a Mayday (didn't find it, turned out they were actually many miles away in Snowdonia and had already crashed).

The SAR Wessex was on its way from RAF Valley to take over from us; we were almost out of fuel. To assist the crew to find us quickly, so they could resume from where we left off, I switched on our searchlight. Immediately I did so, a Jaguar appeared right in front of us, head on but entering a hard right turn, same level. Not only did we see it but we immediately heard it over our own aircraft noise and we smelt his exhaust fumes as there was no time to avoid his jet wake; we were bounced around by it as it passed just off to our left. It was a very close shave and it was investigated by the RAF. The Jaguar was not allowed to fly in our helicopter LFA; he shouldn't actually have been there. The pilot said he didn't see us, only the searchlight. He immediately pulled hard to avoid us and thought he had probably hit us anyway. We were both hidden from each other by a thin layer of haze on the inversion.

Another time I was invited to fly some aerobatics with a new aquaintance in a Steen Skybolt. I sat in the front seat. Our flight consisted almost entirely of aeros and went without incident. The next time that aircraft flew it never came back. It crashed and burned in the same spot we had flown over, killing my new aquaintance, who had been in the front seat where I had previously been. The AAIB report put the accident down to a loose article (torch battery) jamming the rudder during a botched stall turn / spin recovery. The loose article must already have been in the aircraft during my flight. Too close for comfort.

Close calls. :oh:

My normal "fly to work" route, which is 20 minutes of flying, I fly about three times a week. It is across a quiet piece of Ontario, where one might not see or hear another plane in a week's flying. So, one can get complacent about traffic.

Months back, while flying home, I was trying to ward off complacency by looking around effectively. Suddenly from behind the doorpost blind spot passed a 185 floatplane. Not really close, but attention getting... It reminded me of the need for vigilence, even in this very quiet airspace. Not 5 minutes later, a 182 emerged from behind the doorpost! Again, no real risk, but a firm reminder!

Pilot DAR, I wonder if you had been flying at an altitude that was NOT eccentric? I prefer to fly at peculiar altitudes when in open airspace, eg. 1,700' instead of 2,000'.

And the opposition does tend to hide behind the doorpost, especially in a Warrior.....

Scariest part of flying?

waiting for the next EASA directive coming out which might, at the scratch of a pencil do one or more of the following:

• Wipe out your medical
• Define new minimum requirements for your airplane class/rating which are impossible to finance/meet
• Wipe out N-reg in Europe confirmed
• All of the above.

Going anywhere near EGTB at 'going home time' after a nice sunny day can be rather interesting sometimes. I don't really feel comfortable flying in close proximity to other aircraft!

For me its when there is microlights and GA all mixing at an uncontrolled field.

Perth is a prime example.

All fixed wing no probs, all microlight no probs.

Mix them together with loads of students about and my arse starts twitching.

Add in a red Pitts and pull up a chair and watch the show.

Realising - a split second before it happened - that the helicopter I was student (not flying) in was about to undertake topiary on an oak tree.

And yes, that was expensive.

Sitting in my machine at the hover awaiting take-off clearance, watching an EC120 student / instructer combo fluff then save an auto from about 50m distance only for that other machine then to "dig-in" and nose-over. I couldn't figure out where to hide from the shrapnell that would result from the blade impact. It didn't happen - blades came within a foot of the ground, though.

MID AIR COLLISION! I will say no more! Or having negative visual with someone who is close to you in the circuit :uhoh:

Perth Shambles
 

Well put MJ - I reckon Perth is one of the most dangerous airfields - anywhere, to enter the circuit. Everyone who has experienced it agrees. You forgot the bloke that flies with the wee dug as co-pilot. He is a beautiful law unto himself. Add him:\Then the procedural twins - add them:\You mentioned the Pitts - he's in:\Then the rotary boys - add them:\the the aerobatic f****** gyro copter - add him, then the ultralights, microlights, and oh, the balloon, dont forget that:rolleyes:

All on positional calls - those that actually care - when Gerry is off for a cuppa.

Yep, watch the show. A bummer when your in it:ouch:

Sounds like Lelystad. And yes, Lelystad scares me too.

They've been talking about giving Lelystad full ATC (it's the Dutch equivalent of A/G now) for years now but the locals recon that it'll cut down capacity by half.:eek:

How many runways at Lelystad? Perth has three, and yes I have witnessed all three in action at the same time:ouch:

Mate when I saw a cunning plan for me to take a jetstream in there on a Sat for painting my arse dropped.

135 knts on approach with double figures of useless fuds in the sky. 130 knts and the DV window open with a shotgun out both sides was a consideration.

That may be the one that never made it back out. The one in Mr Fry's hanger per chance:hmm:

One normal, one 400m for microlights (parallel to the main one, with opposite circuits, fortunately) and helicopters practicing autorotations in between the main runway and parallel taxiway.

So I guess Perth wins.

There is a jetstream stuck in Perth?

Go and find out the airframe number ( it should be on a plate just inside the door) if its been sitting around for a couple of years i can use the parts.

No I didnt take it in. It would have been private flight only. I think one got painted there 7 year ago though (G-UIST).

Perth is a f:mad:ing nightmare and the boys on Ag are utter stars dealing with the utter arseholes on freq

I find check rides scary.... tomorrows fun.

My scariest moments so far:
EFATO PA-28 with restart in the glide, no nice field to land in
Seneca engine fire on landing
Large Vne bust whilst sat on back seat PA-28, I was sure the wings would come off in the recovery.
Cessna172 control column mounting come loose in flight
Full avionics / radio failure PA-28 way out over the bay of Biscaye
Tailpipe fire A321, APU turned off (fuel saving) with 210 pax still onboard.
Proper windshear A320
Flying into a non-radar painting CB A321 at night
Severe turbulence A321
Captain loosing the plot on a go around A320

I am always amazed how quickly things can go from fine to life threatening in such a short period of time.

question, for Tom775257
 

Tom, did you actually have all those episodes for real? or were they thrown at you during the check ride in the sim?

Mary your comment re sim,I often wonder that on this site,no not you!:)

Bloody hell - remind me never to go to Perth !!

Perth is fine! To all those who state that an overhead join is 'dangerous', try spotting all three aircraft who are calling 'finals' on three different runways and the non-radio traffic, adding in the rotary approachs onto the various thresolds - then add in the locals who announce a 'low approach and go around'!

There are times when when a wee trip along the Tay, for "traffic spacing" makes a lot of sense!!!

My scariest was landing at an airfield on the edge of LA, in a light single, only to discover that an oil seal had failed and most of the engine oil had drained out of the bottom of the engine compartment.

At the rate it was leaking, seizure was only minutes away.

And I had no idea there was a problem.

I got away with that one.

Lister Noble, not me! All my frights have been real ones!

The two most serious were my fault, due to impatience and showing off.

Number 1. Impatient, waiting for the 2 pilots in the K13 to pull their finger out, and for the wingtip holder and retrieve vehicles to get on with it, took off with a jerk, and then wondered why the rate of climb was much worse than usual.....glanced at the instruments,no problem there, engine sounded fine. Looked in the rear view mirror of the Tug and realised that the K13 had the airbrakes full open on tow!...and my airplane only a Supercub 150! Only just managed to scrape over the hill with speed down to 45 knots, didn't dare to signal to the glider with the recommended rudder wag, for obvious reasons. Climbed, barely, to 300' and then, because I was so scared, I dumped the glider. Landed back. The glider did NOT land back....they ended up in the valley, complete with towrope and brakes still unnoticed and open! No damage, nobody hurt.

Number 2. Impatient again, this time with a gallery of spectators, took up slack when the wingtip holder, who was an Instructor, signaled to proceed.
So I trusted him and didn't look at the Winch Launchpoint. As it was a light glider on tow, I climbed straight out, instead of the usual right turn toward an open track. And then saw the parachute on the descending winch cable not 20 feet away from my right wingtip. I didn't want to return. I just wanted to leave altogether and never come back. But towed the Libelle to 2,000' and came back to face the music. The CFI nearly had a heart attack watching the close call. As did everybody else who knew enough to realise what was nearly happening...

We've made some changes; radio is used. Though it might not be reached in time. And Tug Pilots are warned sternly never never never takeoff without a Good Look at the Winch Launchpoint. Trust NOBODY. LOOKOUT, LOOKOUT, LOOKOUT!

First flight in a glider.. Hearing the almighty BANG from the cable release.. Which I was not breifed about. Soon got used to in the end.

and

Leaning out the left side of a puma that turns left without warning.

From my experiences anyway.

I'd like to experience an auto-rotate.

I HAVE to laugh at this I was in the same situation late last year (I wonder if its the same flying school) I was in the air and listening out when two 'foreign' students in two separate A/C both reported their positions as over XYZ VRP and at 1500ft, They then both started vigorously confirming their positions back and fourth! I looked over at said VRP and could not see either A/C.

Now bear in mind this is a coastal VRP and very prominent, it found it a little odd, after proceeding on track I sited one of the A/C at least 10NM from the VRP I did a 180 and promptly went and played in another valley.

Now I'm not saying anything about the ability of foreign students but I gotta say they have some issues with RT and VFR Nav ... and sometimes runway orientation (orientate the plate to north, RWY 12 is actually RWY30 !!!)

Single engine at night. I didn't do it - except with a parachute.

I was once told of the best forced landing technique to be used off-airfied at night. You just glide straight ahead until the altimeter reads 200'. Then you put the landing light on. If you don't like what you see, turn it off again!

I was doing some night flying a few months ago, and i was wondering were i would go if the whirring thing stopped, i saw a flood lit sports feild about 5NM north of the airfeild and thought that would be best, the issue is i know tress ring the field so you have to land ACROSS the field and not down it. Driving past same feild during the day i saw the LARGE WHITE junction boxes in between each of the lighting stands, exactly where i would have postiong the A/C had i needed to,... made me a little queasy.

I've flown with jerks like this, too.

Mary:

All for real. Seneca engine fire (after landing) we followed the drills it went out. A321 tailpipe fire again once APU fired up we followed the drill it soon went out.

My biggest fear is losing a wing or the tail feathers during a normal flight because someone before me badly mishandled the aeroplane and not being able to have control.:(

Not scared of the bank account anymore: the bank manager has got used to it :p

Not exactly true. I don't. Have to agree with gasax, Perth is fine. Was based there for a while in the aforementioned single seater P47 replica, did my R22 type rating there a few years back and nowadays occasionally stop in for fuel with the yellow EC135.

Perth is great. Although it was near there that the F15 incident happened, also I had a deer run across 21 from the central triangle towards the woods as I was landing...the tail was down so I all I could do was sit and wait for the crunch, which never happened.

that's possibly every aviator's worst fear, of all time

I agree with the added fear factor of mixing with microlights; my biggest scare to date was arriving at a small airfield's circuit on my first post qual flight to find that 20-odd french microlights had also chosen it as their destination :ooh:

I allowed myself to put too much of my attention into looking out (they all seemed to be aiming for the runway at various heights and from half a dozen different directions) and let my speed get horribly low. Had to leave the circuit for 10 mins to regain my composure, and by the time I returned, most of them were on the ground and sanity was restored.

Not necessarily scary but i have to mention when i was coming in 29 one time at Breighton, This autogyro decides to be a **** and lines up and starts spinning his rotors up from 0. Not recognizing the shape i'm beginning to get worried going under 400ft and a go around was made. Bottom line is, Be a gent and make sure no traffic is approaching if you're going to spin up on the active :ok:.

scariest part of flying...PAYING FOR IT.

On a winch site check ride in the north of england, glider ASK-13.

Very windy on the ground and a substantial wind gradient to climb through. Instructor in the back says to not worry about the launch speed being high, but when it goes through 65 knots at a rate of increase about 3 knot/sec, I pull the cable release, about 300 ft. Note that max winch speed on a 13 is 58 knots

Idiot instructor then grabs control and turns back to land instead of putting it down straight ahead. I thought we'd had it then.

I had that a few years ago going to Caernarfon, flying in the lee of the Snowdonia hills. I didn'y actually get inverted, but I was quite unable to control the aeeroplane; we were tossed around in all 3 axis and the controls were pretty much ineffective in trying to keep the Chippy straight and level. So severe was the disturbed air that wisps of cloud were forming and dissipating around us in the rapidly changing air pressure of the rotor.

Eventually it spat us out. We landed at Caernarfon shortly afterwards and the surface wind was a few knots; the windsock was hanging down the pole. That's why I hadn't expected rotor - no wind!

There must have been some odd metreological conditition funneling air over the hills in a venturi because there sure was wind causing that rotor!