Lost stories here

2020-xxx = ?? Probably ground guidance for everything Each plane
will be a remotely-piloted vehicle. The pilot can't get lost... he's
in a chair on the ground.

Good God! You mean....(wait for it)....Mxsmanic rules!?

;-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

On 8 Jan 2007 14:40:16 -0800, in rec.aviation.military "Jay Honeck"
wrote:

Post your lost story here, so we can all laugh at them.

Just think -- with the advent of GPS, this is one thread that no one
will understand in another 20 years.

Pilot in 2027: "Lost? How could you ever get *lost*?"

:-)

(Actually, it's already true now -- but we all still remember "BG" --
Before GPS...)

One of the reasons I joined the Air Force, rather than the Navy. We
like our airfields to stay where we left 'em...

--
William Hughes, San Antonio, Texas:
The Carrier Project: http://home.grandecom.net/~cvproj/carrier.htm
Support Project Valour-IT: http://soldiersangels.org/valour/index.html

"Danny Deger" wrote in message
...
Post your lost story here, so we can all laugh at them.

I was a student flying to Nashua, NH. My instructor asked me to drop him off
in Fitchburg so he could pick up another plane. As we were landing, I saw a
huge column of smoke right near the airport. One of the nearby factories was
burning.

I dropped off George, and departed on runway 34. My desired heading was 34
degrees, so I maintained runway heading. I even checked the compass a few
times and the DG, and sure enough, they read 34.

After 20 minutes or so, I didn't see anything familiar. That's when I
realized my mistake. (my course was 340, not 34). I figured I could fly
perpendicular to my intended course (124) and when the column of smoke from
Fitchburg was off my right wingtip, I could turn left to 34, and be back on
course. I did, and it worked out great.

When I returned and told my instructor about it, he congratulated me, but
said that he couldn't burn down a building every time I got lost.

Danny Deger wrote:
Post your lost story here, so we can all laugh at them.


First night cross country during my PPL training. Flew from KFIT to
KPSM, just over 50 nautical. No problem on the way up there. The return
was the issue.

Departed 34 out of KPSM for the trip back. I had all my wind correction
angle computed for the winds aloft, I had my way points and my timing
down for all that dead reckoning / pilotage stuff we all learn. I knew I
had to fly a course like 238 deg or something like that. I climbed to
altitude, picked up flight following to KFIT and saw the friendly
welcoming lights of the Mt. Wachusett ski area, it being winter and all.
The ski area is just to the west of KFIT. The mountain is always a
friendly beacon to steer towards. So I promptly forgot everything I had
preplanned and flew towards the lights.

I looked down at my DG several times, steering 270 due west. Hmmm. My
planning must have been off. Fly fly fly. Hmmm, I couldn't have been off
by that much, but those *must* be the lights. fly fly fly. Approach
comes on the radio ... Cessna November two zero four confirm
destination. Fitchburg two zero four.

Cessna two zero four, turn 50 deg left to 220, direct to Fitchburg.
Hmmm, ok. "two zero four 50 left", turn turn turn. Oh, those lights.
Sheepish grin.

My CFI sez, "I wondered when you were going to figure that out."

I guess they must have been the lights of a highway going over the hills
in NH towards VT, route 12 I guess.

Lesson learned.

KC

"Kevin Clarke" wrote in message
ink.net...

picked up flight following to KFIT and saw the friendly welcoming lights of
the Mt. Wachusett ski area, it being winter and all.

On my dual cross country, my instructor tried to get me to try to land on Mt
Wachusett's trail, telling me it was a runway.

"Kevin Clarke" wrote in message
ink.net...
Danny Deger wrote:
Post your lost story here, so we can all laugh at them.


First night cross country during my PPL training. Flew from KFIT to KPSM,
just over 50 nautical. No problem on the way up there. The return was the
issue.

The way I figgure it, as long as you end up at home in the end, you weren't
really lost.

I did get the "you don't have any idea where you are, do you?" from my CFI
on that first night Cross country...

For some reason, My dad and I had flown up to visit my brother at Ann Arbor
Mi (ARB) and my brother and I decided to go for a ride. (Dad stayed behind)
we flew off westish for a while just dinking around. My brother says
something about heading back so I turn east and off on the horizon, I see an
airport. Ok, that's easy. I head thataway. 5 miles out, call the tower, "Ann
Arbor Tower, Cessna xxx 5 west..." They reply to report 1 mile west (or
something like that) - Ok, I report, they don't have me in sight, but tell
me to report down wind. I go to turn downwind, but something doesn't seem
right. I report downwind, and they still don't have mei n sight they keep
asking where I'm at. And I'm sitting there - like - how can they not see me,
I'm on downwind for crying out loud. Then I look down at the airport - wait,
this isn't right. ****! I'm in the pattern at Willow Run (YIP). yank out the
chart, change frequency, "Willow tower, Cessna xxx I'm downwind at the wrong
airport - I'm outta here. Sorry"...

The funny thing is that my brother never said a thing. One of these days I
should ask him why - he's a lot better pilot than I am, it doesn't seem that
both of us would have made the same mistake. He was probably just waiting
for me to figgure out my mistake.

When we got back to ARB, met up with dad, we find out that, having nothing
to do, he had talked his way into the tower and was listening to the whole
thing. Apparently the controllers thought it was funny.

--
Geoff
The Sea Hawk at Wow Way d0t Com
remove spaces and make the obvious substitutions to reply by mail
When immigration is outlawed, only outlaws will immigrate.

Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe wrote:

When we got back to ARB, met up with dad, we find out that, having nothing
to do, he had talked his way into the tower and was listening to the whole
thing. Apparently the controllers thought it was funny.

A good Dad always finds out!!!

On Mon, 8 Jan 2007 10:00:26 -0600, in rec.aviation.military "Danny
Deger" wrote:

What is your favorite "lost" story?

EC-130 Airborne Command Post, Nellis Ranges, about thirty years ago. I
was an enlisted swine (Life Support) who went along for the ride.
Boring, actually... flying around and around in a racetrack pattern
hour after hour after hour... zzzzzz.... Suddenly the all-hands
intercom clicks on and an aggrieved voice exclaims "I'm the navigator,
goddammit; I have a right to know where we are!"

This got everyone's attention. Are we not where we belong? Have we
strayed into a live-fire area? Finally the pilot comes up on the
intercom and reassures the crew that we are where we need to be.

Back then, the flight deck intercom had two switches: flight deck
only, which linked pilot (Capt.), copilot (1Lt.), navigator (Maj.) and
flight engineer (TSgt.), and "all-hands", which transmitted to
everybody in the aircraft (some enlisted, some junior officers, a
light colonel, two birds and a two-star, and your reporter, he of the
paired stripes).

Seems our navigator, having nothing to do, decides to kick back and
take a nap. Not usually a problem, since all we are doing is going
round and round and round... Anyway, he wakes up and asks the pilot
where we are, to which the pilot - being the sarcastic sod that he was
- replies "You don't need to know." Of course, our navigator is highly
offended at this, grabs the intercom to reply... and presses the wrong
switch.

Needless to say, the stars and birds were not amused. Heads did not
roll, but our intrepid flight crew was markedly subdued after the
postflight debrief.

The unit identification, and the names of those involved, will not be
revealed to protect the guilty.

--
William Hughes, San Antonio, Texas:
The Carrier Project: http://home.grandecom.net/~cvproj/carrier.htm
Support Project Valour-IT: http://soldiersangels.org/valour/index.html

"Danny Deger" wrote in message
...
Post your lost story here, so we can all laugh at them.


Here is my second lost story:

I was cross country in the heart land of America in my trusty Taylorcraft.
I was using pilotage and dead reckoning. I got site of an east/west road
that ran about 3 miles south of my refueling stop. My destination was just
on the other side of the next sectional map, so I put down the one I was
currently using. I didn't need it anymore, I could just follow the road.

I spotted my airport, so I landed and refueled. I got back in the plane and
took off heading east.

In about 10 miles I spotted an airport that was about 3 miles north of the
east west road. Unfortunally there was no airport in the map. I became
concerned and started to rectify the situation. For some reason, I looked
at the sectional I had just left and noticed an airport about 3 miles north
of the east west road. This airport was about 5 miles from the east edge of
the map and had a single north/south runway, just like the airport I had
just "left".

It suddenly occurred to me that I had landed at the wrong airport, bought
gas, filed a flight plan, checked weather, etc. and didn't know I was
"lost". It was only after I was airborne that I realized I had landed at
the wrong airport. Man did I feel stupid.

Danny Deger

"Danny Deger" wrote in message
...

"Danny Deger" wrote in message
...
Post your lost story here, so we can all laugh at them.


Here is my second lost story:

.. Man did I feel stupid.

Danny Deger

"Feel"?