captain moron, checking in...

killbilly

Vocals, Lyrics, Triangle, Washboard, Kittens
Ever have such a dumbass moment that you wonder how you ever earned your pilot's license to begin with?

I'm flying back from AQO to AUS the other night, Houston Center hands me off to AUS approach about 35nm out.

"Austin approach, Skyhawk 1234, five thousand five hundred."
"Skyhawk 1234, expect a right base for one-seven right."
"Skyhawk 1234."

So I drone along for a few minutes and I'm thinking about it. 17R? Why the hell do they want me to come in on 17R? That's totally bizarre. That means I have to swing around SE of the airport and then reverse course to make the turn.

"Approach, Skyhawk 1234 with question."
"Go ahead, Skyhawk 1234."
"I'm 35nm northwest of AUS. Do you want me to swing southeast of the airport for a right base?"
"Skyhawk 1234, I don't understand. You're cleared for a right base to 17R. Did you want something else?"
"Negative, approach. I'll fly wherever you need me to, just curious about the routing."

At this point, something in the back of my head is telling me I've got this way wrong, but it hasn't clicked yet. Approach comes back to me in a somewhat firmer tone.

"Skyhawk 1234, I don't understand what you want. You're northwest of the airport. If you fly straight on your present heading you'll be lined up perfectly for a right base. I don't get your drift."

And then it hits me. And oh my God, how stupid do I feel? I can imagine everyone else on frequency snickering to themselves, and rightly so.

Because he cleared me for 17R. And what I was thinking of was 35R. Which would have required a long swing around the airport.

Oh God, I am such a moron. I am a tool. I am navel lint.

"Approach, Skyhawk 1234. I...uh...had the airport diagram reversed. Sorry about that. Right base for 17R."

"Ah, that explains it. Just wanted to make sure we were clear."

Controller was very friendly and professional about it. But God, did I feel dumb. I swear I will never make that mistake again. If any of you heard that one, sorry. Hope you had a good laugh. :)


:banghead::banghead::banghead:

(NOTE: I write a lot about the dumb things I do in the air. I do a lot of things right, too. But I figure if I share the learning stuff - the stuff that's somewhat amusing in retrospect, it not only cements the lesson in my own mind, but may help someone else.)
 
Dude, don't worry about it.

Brush it off and move on. No one was killed, hurt, violated, fired, or paperwork had to be filled out.

We've all had very similar brain farts. What makes you excel in this fart is you had an excuse on the tip of your tongue to cover yourself.
 
I know. It's funny to me now. At the time though, I was swearing. A lot.
 
In all my flying experiences, I have never done anything remotely close.

Ever.


:sarcasm: (was it really necessary?)
 
Oh, that's nothing.

I'm flying back home late at night. I'm going to do a straight in on runway 14. We generally use runway 32 because that's just how the winds go. But it's a calm, quiet night, and the whole way in, I'm talking about a straight in on 32.

I land, and only after I taxi back to the tiedown do I realize, oh, crap, I was calling 32 all the way!

Fortunately, there was no traffic in the pattern other than me. But if there way, that would not have been good.
 
Ever have such a dumbass moment that you wonder how you ever earned your pilot's license to begin with?

I'm flying back from AQO to AUS the other night, Houston Center hands me off to AUS approach about 35nm out.

"Austin approach, Skyhawk 1234, five thousand five hundred."
"Skyhawk 1234, expect a right base for one-seven right."
"Skyhawk 1234."

So I drone along for a few minutes and I'm thinking about it. 17R? Why the hell do they want me to come in on 17R? That's totally bizarre. That means I have to swing around SE of the airport and then reverse course to make the turn.

"Approach, Skyhawk 1234 with question."
"Go ahead, Skyhawk 1234."
"I'm 35nm northwest of AUS. Do you want me to swing southeast of the airport for a right base?"
"Skyhawk 1234, I don't understand. You're cleared for a right base to 17R. Did you want something else?"
"Negative, approach. I'll fly wherever you need me to, just curious about the routing."

At this point, something in the back of my head is telling me I've got this way wrong, but it hasn't clicked yet. Approach comes back to me in a somewhat firmer tone.

"Skyhawk 1234, I don't understand what you want. You're northwest of the airport. If you fly straight on your present heading you'll be lined up perfectly for a right base. I don't get your drift."

And then it hits me. And oh my God, how stupid do I feel? I can imagine everyone else on frequency snickering to themselves, and rightly so.

Because he cleared me for 17R. And what I was thinking of was 35R. Which would have required a long swing around the airport.

Oh God, I am such a moron. I am a tool. I am navel lint.

"Approach, Skyhawk 1234. I...uh...had the airport diagram reversed. Sorry about that. Right base for 17R."

"Ah, that explains it. Just wanted to make sure we were clear."

Controller was very friendly and professional about it. But God, did I feel dumb. I swear I will never make that mistake again. If any of you heard that one, sorry. Hope you had a good laugh. :)


:banghead::banghead::banghead:

(NOTE: I write a lot about the dumb things I do in the air. I do a lot of things right, too. But I figure if I share the learning stuff - the stuff that's somewhat amusing in retrospect, it not only cements the lesson in my own mind, but may help someone else.)

Is it wrong if I feel that this -- and other minor mistakes like this -- isn't really that big of a deal? I mean, it's not like you landed a 757 on a taxiway in EWR. :)
 
Tap yourself on the shoulder by asking atc again.

If you wouldn't have, you probably been kicking yourself even harder, by proceeding to the 35R base leg.:banghead:(They probably would have caught that, but you never know).
Think about it (it has happened to all of us), you are drawing a picture in your head (trying to plan ahead), and usually that picture is hard to change unless something ,or in this case somebody, makes you think again.
As I have always told my students...If you are not sure, ASK AGAIN...
Better than having to call atc after you land,right?
Don't feel bad about it.
 
Do not give it a second thought. Learn and go on. Shortly after I earned my PPL I was on my way home with my wife to BJC from the south. I was cleared to enter a left base for rwy 11. I repeated the clearance and promptly entered a left base, but for rwy 29. I did not figure it out until final when I noticed my ground speed was too fast. Luckily, the tower was about to close and nobody else was in the pattern. I fessed up and went around to the correct end of the runway for the landing.

Brian
 
Don't worry man, those things happen. I've done that error myself at least twice. Now I always set my HSI to the runway heading (assuming I'm not shooting an approach).

We're all dumbasses, it just hurts extra when we broadcast it to ATC.
 
Oh, that's nothing.

I'm flying back home late at night. I'm going to do a straight in on runway 14. We generally use runway 32 because that's just how the winds go. But it's a calm, quiet night, and the whole way in, I'm talking about a straight in on 32.



Been there done that at 3am! Only now as a CFI do I look back and say wow, I really should have been taught to know better...
 
"".

Oh God, I am such a moron. I am a tool. I am navel lint.

"
:banghead::banghead::banghead:

.)[/SIZE]

:laff::laff: Very funny. Of course nobody else ever does stuff like that. . . .EVER! Just you. :D

Most stuff like that is a result of a distraction, or a work overload, somthing unexpected that throws you out of your normal flying groove. I wouldn't sweat it. Everyone has been there, and that is one of the big reasons airlines work in a crew environment.
 
yeah - coming into Palm Springs for a splash after a day in Joshua Tree I had to comply with a "Nxxxx, right 180˚ to join the downwind you were just referring to...."

Talk about feeling like a complete tool !!!!
 
Ever have such a dumbass moment that you wonder how you ever earned your pilot's license to begin with?

I'm flying back from AQO to AUS the other night, Houston Center hands me off to AUS approach about 35nm out.

"Austin approach, Skyhawk 1234, five thousand five hundred."
"Skyhawk 1234, expect a right base for one-seven right."
"Skyhawk 1234."

So I drone along for a few minutes and I'm thinking about it. 17R? Why the hell do they want me to come in on 17R? That's totally bizarre. That means I have to swing around SE of the airport and then reverse course to make the turn.

"Approach, Skyhawk 1234 with question."
"Go ahead, Skyhawk 1234."
"I'm 35nm northwest of AUS. Do you want me to swing southeast of the airport for a right base?"
"Skyhawk 1234, I don't understand. You're cleared for a right base to 17R. Did you want something else?"
"Negative, approach. I'll fly wherever you need me to, just curious about the routing."

At this point, something in the back of my head is telling me I've got this way wrong, but it hasn't clicked yet. Approach comes back to me in a somewhat firmer tone.

"Skyhawk 1234, I don't understand what you want. You're northwest of the airport. If you fly straight on your present heading you'll be lined up perfectly for a right base. I don't get your drift."

And then it hits me. And oh my God, how stupid do I feel? I can imagine everyone else on frequency snickering to themselves, and rightly so.

Because he cleared me for 17R. And what I was thinking of was 35R. Which would have required a long swing around the airport.

Oh God, I am such a moron. I am a tool. I am navel lint.

"Approach, Skyhawk 1234. I...uh...had the airport diagram reversed. Sorry about that. Right base for 17R."

"Ah, that explains it. Just wanted to make sure we were clear."

Controller was very friendly and professional about it. But God, did I feel dumb. I swear I will never make that mistake again. If any of you heard that one, sorry. Hope you had a good laugh. :)


:banghead::banghead::banghead:

(NOTE: I write a lot about the dumb things I do in the air. I do a lot of things right, too. But I figure if I share the learning stuff - the stuff that's somewhat amusing in retrospect, it not only cements the lesson in my own mind, but may help someone else.)
LOL!!!!!!! The SAME thing happened to me a while back. I was told to join the downwind for 35L. I was coming from the southwest and thought it would be extremely convenient to enter a right downwind 17R.

Luckily, I caught it before I came into the airport environment. I didn't need to ask for clarification from ATC because I caught it in time. The whole time, however, I was planning for the wrong entry. At a distance I saw airplanes on the downwind for 35L and thought, "hmm, this is weird." That's when it clicked...hehehe.....
 
At least you got it right in the end. We all have our "brain farts" or "Senior moments" from time to time (me too!).

At least you asked and there was some discussion about it. Unlike the real "captain moron", who took off without a clearance and killed 538 people!
 
I don't know about you guys, but when flying west late in the evening, I find the sun can be a BIG problem for visual flying. No visors or glasses will stop the relentless glare off what is usually a somewhat scratched, dirty windscreen on the rental airplane.

Coming in for what was supposed to be a straight in....by the time I even saw the field, I was about a mile abeam of the runway threshold.

Needless to say, ATC spoke up just then and informed me that the runway was "to your left" in a very "what the hell are you doing" tone of voice.
 
You think that's stupid?

Ask me sometime about gear warning systems, why they exist, and why you shouldn't fly fatigued.

You ain't got nothin' bossman, as Szluka once told me, "Don't let it turn you into a mental midget, learn from it and move on."
 
You think that's stupid?

Ask me sometime about gear warning systems, why they exist, and why you shouldn't fly fatigued.

You ain't got nothin' bossman, as Szluka once told me, "Don't let it turn you into a mental midget, learn from it and move on."
. . . funny, I thought this WAS Szluka telling us he was home . . . moron!
 
I don't know about you guys, but when flying west late in the evening, I find the sun can be a BIG problem for visual flying. No visors or glasses will stop the relentless glare off what is usually a somewhat scratched, dirty windscreen on the rental airplane.
I completely agree with the sun. It does not help that syracuse uses 10 or 28 and the sun is almost completely lined up with the runway at sunset and sunrise.
 
Ever have such a dumbass moment that you wonder how you ever earned your pilot's license to begin with?

I'm flying back from AQO to AUS the other night, Houston Center hands me off to AUS approach about 35nm out.

"Austin approach, Skyhawk 1234, five thousand five hundred."
"Skyhawk 1234, expect a right base for one-seven right."
"Skyhawk 1234."

So I drone along for a few minutes and I'm thinking about it. 17R? Why the hell do they want me to come in on 17R? That's totally bizarre. That means I have to swing around SE of the airport and then reverse course to make the turn.

"Approach, Skyhawk 1234 with question."
"Go ahead, Skyhawk 1234."
"I'm 35nm northwest of AUS. Do you want me to swing southeast of the airport for a right base?"
"Skyhawk 1234, I don't understand. You're cleared for a right base to 17R. Did you want something else?"
"Negative, approach. I'll fly wherever you need me to, just curious about the routing."

At this point, something in the back of my head is telling me I've got this way wrong, but it hasn't clicked yet. Approach comes back to me in a somewhat firmer tone.

"Skyhawk 1234, I don't understand what you want. You're northwest of the airport. If you fly straight on your present heading you'll be lined up perfectly for a right base. I don't get your drift."

And then it hits me. And oh my God, how stupid do I feel? I can imagine everyone else on frequency snickering to themselves, and rightly so.

Because he cleared me for 17R. And what I was thinking of was 35R. Which would have required a long swing around the airport.

Oh God, I am such a moron. I am a tool. I am navel lint.

"Approach, Skyhawk 1234. I...uh...had the airport diagram reversed. Sorry about that. Right base for 17R."

"Ah, that explains it. Just wanted to make sure we were clear."

Controller was very friendly and professional about it. But God, did I feel dumb. I swear I will never make that mistake again. If any of you heard that one, sorry. Hope you had a good laugh. :)


:banghead::banghead::banghead:

(NOTE: I write a lot about the dumb things I do in the air. I do a lot of things right, too. But I figure if I share the learning stuff - the stuff that's somewhat amusing in retrospect, it not only cements the lesson in my own mind, but may help someone else.)

man, I wish I had made a mistake as small as that. Haha ever call tower on ground? Yeah. I've don't that haha
 
Ever DEPART on ground, or even the clearance frequency when it's an early morning and one guy is working all the frequency's at once? BTDN a bunch of times.
 
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