SpiceWeasel
Tre Kronor
Ah ok, well if that's the case, all good. :beer:
1st in-flight failure
- Thread starter jetjock07
- Start date
Ah ok, well if that's the case, all good. :beer:
bunk22
Well-Known Member
I third this. To an inexperienced GA pilot, this was a big deal IMO. Poor guy posts his experience and gets a little drama. I say Bravo Zulu to the OP.
TXaviator
Well-Known Member
lol since when did I say the aircraft was not airworthy? youve never flown a plane that had something break or go inop in flight? youve never flown a plane with non-essential equipment inop/placarded? dang dude, get me a job where you're working!! i wanna fly brand new planes that never break!
and when did you sneak a peek in my logbook for hours? sorry thats off base too.... nice try at the counter-troll tho!
Joe Gremlin
Well-Known Member
Not sure whether I'm included in your focus or not. But I tried to make it clear that I had a similar event when I similar amount of time. And while I was definitely concerned, I was concerned about different things, but I'll admit the cause for concern isn't really important. So what I don't think I made clear is that I think the OP was perfectly justified in having the concerns and heart rate that he did. But as I said in my previous post, I would recommend that the OP take this learning experience as a sign that he could stand to do some NORDO and pilotage work with a CFI. That kind of thing just isn't emphasized enough in the private pilot syllabus IMO so its something that I think most private pilots could stand to work on. Its not a reflection on him so much as its a reflection on the current PTS.
No, was just a general observation on my part, with the exception of one of the comments that I highlighted. And I agree that sometimes, it takes a situation like this in order to identify areas one could improve on or learn/re-learn something.
TXaviator
Well-Known Member
point granted. i think most of the thread spawned out of some people's affinity for attacking *me* though and it has long since strayed from the OP ;-)
and to stray from the OP even more, at the "harvard of the skies, northern campus" there was a private pilot on a cross country (without instructor) who had the alternator fail light come on, and then proceeded to dump the aircraft into a farmer's field IMMEDIATELY. *shakes head*
i guess my only point is, theres no need to lose your cool when minor stuff starts going south. :-D
No need for anyone to be attacked, neither the OP or you. Just a general observation. We were all where the OP is now, at one point in our careers.
And we live and learn.
TXaviator
Well-Known Member
Right right. Well hopefully the OP now has the confidence that he can easily manage a problem in flight.
ta-da!
*group hug*
Bumblebee
Commodore
yaaay:beer:
TXaviator
Well-Known Member
txaviator does not *cheers* other pilots beers. other pilots beers come crashing into txaviator's due to the huge gravitational pull exerted by his ego.
:rotfl:
ok i tried. LOL
Bumblebee
Commodore
it was MY EGO that caused us to crash beers...
Joe Gremlin
Well-Known Member
One of the best non-PTS lessons I learned during my private training came from conversation I had with the school owner. He was telling me about how way back when, he had done a lot of time building flying pipeline patrol in the very same C150 that I was then doing all my training in. And he told me about how one day he had accidently left one of the oil door latches open and during the flight, watched as the door flapped in the breeze until it eventually let loose and departed the plane.
I excitedly asked how the plane flew without the oil door and whether or not he had to put it down in a field as a result. He kind of laughed and in his thick Texas drawl said 'Son, if yur ever in an airplane and something happens that makes you think you gotta do something about it right now, the first thing you should do is sit down and smoke a cigarette and think about it a while'. Those words have gotten me home safely more than once.
Works well for most fixed wing emergencies, the idea that if you don't have the time to take a second and think before you react, then you were dead anyway that day. Of course, there are some EPs where that won't work, and in helicopters, many EPs require very quick correct motor reaction, or you end up dead. But the general idea of those words of wisdom are correct.
Joe Gremlin
Well-Known Member
I think you're absolutely right. I always looked at it this way. There are certain things in a fixed wing aircraft that can go wrong and would require immediate action. But with almost all of those things, inadvertent stalls for instance or visible flames, you're going to be taking corrective action before you even have time to think about what you're doing. It's automatic and you do it without even thinking about it. Therefore if you ain't doing something about it already, chances are you've got time sit down and calmly assess the situation and come up with a prudent and rational plan of action.
Step one: How's it flying now?
Step two: What do I think has gone wrong (if I don't know) and how likely is it to escalate into a dire situation?
Step three: Considering step two, what will be the warning signs for that theoretical dire situation should it come to pass?
Step four: Go to step one.
Step one: How's it flying now?
Step two: What do I think has gone wrong (if I don't know) and how likely is it to escalate into a dire situation?
Step three: Considering step two, what will be the warning signs for that theoretical dire situation should it come to pass?
Step four: Go to step one.
CaptBill
Well-Known Member
Being prepared as you were certainly made it easier for you to keep things in perspective and land the airplane safely. Now that you have experienced that first in-flight failure, you have the luxury of knowing that any future issues can be manageable if you keep your cool, slow down and work through the problem. You did a great job and should be proud.
SteamyNicks
Well-Known Member
my first real abnormality was thursday, april 8, after departing ISP, I had a rough engine climbing through 4.5 (it was wierd, it was an engine stutter followed by a loss of 150 RPM, i checked both mags, L mag was a loss of 100 rpm in air, R mag was a loss of 400, and a shaking engine in air)
I didn't declare an emergency, but I did return to ISP to runup and retry the engine ( the initial runup was fine, so was the second runup I did on the ground.
I checked the ATC recordings, I think I sounded like a pro, I might attach them later, when I'm less intoxicated..
But I flew the plane back to TTN from ISP after the incident, with no problems.
I've flown the plane since on training flights, and its been a bit weird. I'm definitely more aware because of it!
I didn't declare an emergency, but I did return to ISP to runup and retry the engine ( the initial runup was fine, so was the second runup I did on the ground.
I checked the ATC recordings, I think I sounded like a pro, I might attach them later, when I'm less intoxicated..
But I flew the plane back to TTN from ISP after the incident, with no problems.
I've flown the plane since on training flights, and its been a bit weird. I'm definitely more aware because of it!
Zero1Niner
Well-Known Member
Jerking your chain? Meh. Just responding to your condescending 'pencil lead' comment devaluing the OP's experience, thats all.
ghoster
Onward Thru the Fog
Congrats on doing a great job. We all can get complacent including me. Flying a 172 from AMA to BAZ. Stopped in Lubbock to see friend. Got back into the 172 heavy
and departed LBB enroute to BAZ. Climbing out and noticed that radios were getting fuzzy and GPS was beginning to dim down. Still with departure and told them I needed to come back but no emergency. It was VFR and no problem.
The point of my story begins here. If I had just checked the circuit breaker when I first noticed the problem, I would have tried to a reset and proceeded on. Instead, I landed, pulled the cowl on the ramp and tried to identify the problem without looking at the most obvious issue first. After messing around for about 30 minutes under the cowl, I checked it and there it was. Button everything up, push the circuit breaker back in, power everything back up, circuit breaker stays in , no smoke, on to BAZ without a problem.
Point is, we all make and WILL make mistakes, our hope is that we learn and don't hurt ourselves or someone else doing it.
But, boy it's still fun:hiya:
and departed LBB enroute to BAZ. Climbing out and noticed that radios were getting fuzzy and GPS was beginning to dim down. Still with departure and told them I needed to come back but no emergency. It was VFR and no problem.The point of my story begins here. If I had just checked the circuit breaker when I first noticed the problem, I would have tried to a reset and proceeded on. Instead, I landed, pulled the cowl on the ramp and tried to identify the problem without looking at the most obvious issue first. After messing around for about 30 minutes under the cowl, I checked it and there it was. Button everything up, push the circuit breaker back in, power everything back up, circuit breaker stays in , no smoke, on to BAZ without a problem.
Point is, we all make and WILL make mistakes, our hope is that we learn and don't hurt ourselves or someone else doing it.
But, boy it's still fun:hiya:
