Big scare story

I was reading some of the older posts of this group and was highly
entertained by NW_Pilot's carburetor icing thread.

My guess is that all of the high time pilots have at least one "big scare
story" they might share... How about it, what was your scariest moment?



Dallas

Dallas wrote:

My guess is that all of the high time pilots have at least one "big scare
story" they might share... How about it, what was your scariest moment?

Cleaning the toilet... Especially a clogged one...

"Darrel Toepfer" wrote

Cleaning the toilet... Especially a clogged one...

Not cleaning the toilet...watching the water rise on a clogged toilet, and
wondering if it is going to overflow, from the flush!!!
--
Jim in NC

Cleaning the toilet... Especially a clogged one...

Not cleaning the toilet...watching the water rise on a clogged toilet, and
wondering if it is going to overflow, from the flush!!!

Pikers.

We've got 38 toilets. When one of the third-floor ones erupts, look out
below!

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

Dallas wrote:

I was reading some of the older posts of this group and was highly
entertained by NW_Pilot's carburetor icing thread.

My guess is that all of the high time pilots have at least one "big scare
story" they might share... How about it, what was your scariest moment?

Signing the purchase agreement for my Warrior (which doesn't have a
toilet, fortunately).


All the best,


David

Scariest moment? In my opinion & experience, anytime the pilot-in-command
feels like a passenger can be a scary time. For me, even including flying
combat assaults during the Vietnam war, the scariest experience since I
earned my Private ASEL ticket in 1967 was on a VOR approach into Tupelo,
Mississippi in our old B model Cessna 172 during a mid-1970s winter.

We were flying from Memphis International to the Army Aviation facility at
Tupelo for an Army National Guard drill weekend (I was then a part-time
medevac pilot flying Hueys). The weather that day was chilly and we
overflew a layer of stratus clouds which began about 10 miles to the
Northwest of Tupelo and extended well to the East of Tupelo. We were
cleared for the approach by Memphis ARTCC and descended into the clouds on
the outbound leg of the procedure turn. Everything was smooth and
uneventful through the turn, the descent to the station crossing altitude,
and the descent to the runway until we reached the minimum descent altitude
when something caused the elevator to bind as I gave input to level the
airplane. That was SCARY! I pulled harder on the yoke and the elevator
"popped free" at about the same moment that my fellow Huey driver who sat in
the co-pilot's seat reported the runway in sight. I maintained attitude,
dropped full flaps to get as much drag into the airstream as possible, and
carried the approach to the runway with power. I did not want to push the
yoke forward for fear it would bind again.

After we landed and parked the airplane, I inspected the elevator to see
what had caused it to bind. I found a bit of ice on the leading edge of the
elevator (anti-servo?) where the fixed stabilizer and the movable elevator
intersect, on both sides of the airplane. On that day I certainly gained
more respect for the potential impact of even seemingly trivial unforecast
and unreported icing potential.

Dallas wrote:
I was reading some of the older posts of this group and was highly
entertained by NW_Pilot's carburetor icing thread.

My guess is that all of the high time pilots have at least one "big scare
story" they might share... How about it, what was your scariest moment?



Dallas

I'm not high time, but my biggest scare was the time the axle broke on
my quicksilver. The scare actually occurred on the ground after I'd
landed. I noticed the plane was "low riding" during the trip back to the
hangar - when I got out I saw the axle had split right at the middle and
was close to dragging the ground....
On the quicks, the axle is a stress-bearing component of the airframe so
if it collapses the airplane would become uncontrollable...

I didn't even come back to the airport for about a month after that,
much less replace the axle. I eventually did both though and flew the
plane another 150 hours or so before I finally sold it. It's still
flying for the new owner....

But even my engine-out was cake compared to that......

LS
N646F

Fueling a rented 172 and putting 40 gallons into the two 21-gallon tanks.

Seth

"ls" wrote in message
...
Dallas wrote:
I was reading some of the older posts of this group and was highly
entertained by NW_Pilot's carburetor icing thread.

My guess is that all of the high time pilots have at least one "big scare
story" they might share... How about it, what was your scariest moment?



Dallas

I'm not high time, but my biggest scare was the time the axle broke on my
quicksilver. The scare actually occurred on the ground after I'd landed. I
noticed the plane was "low riding" during the trip back to the hangar -
when I got out I saw the axle had split right at the middle and was close
to dragging the ground....
On the quicks, the axle is a stress-bearing component of the airframe so
if it collapses the airplane would become uncontrollable...

I didn't even come back to the airport for about a month after that, much
less replace the axle. I eventually did both though and flew the plane
another 150 hours or so before I finally sold it. It's still flying for
the new owner....

But even my engine-out was cake compared to that......

LS
N646F

David Megginson wrote:

Dallas wrote:

I was reading some of the older posts of this group and was highly
entertained by NW_Pilot's carburetor icing thread.

My guess is that all of the high time pilots have at least one "big scare
story" they might share... How about it, what was your scariest moment?

Signing the purchase agreement for my Warrior (which doesn't have a
toilet, fortunately).

That's why planes with toilets require two pilots.


-m
--
## Mark T. Dame
## VP, Product Development
## MFM Software, Inc. (http://www.mfm.com/)
"This message represents the official view of the voices in my head"
-- Bill Cole (wkc at mail-abuse.org)

Short on fuel, long way between airports in my Tripacer back in the
1970s. Never forgot, always carry too much now.