Most people don't lock them, to be honest. The door key is often also different than the ignition key. The real question is how do our students keep locking they keys inside the planes when the doors only lock from the outside!! XD
#3. Left one notch of flaps in until I noticed I wasn't picking up speed at 4500 ft. On my PPL checkride. He just sat there, let me work through it and chuckled when I tried to sneak the flaps down. He said "I was wondering when you were going to do that.... But good job working through it. That's your one and only mistake that I'm gonna allow for this ride, so you'd better be perfect from here on out." Evidently, I was because I was officially a Private Pilot 45 minutes later.
I wonder if making a mistake in flight, and recognizing that mistake helped you, since you were then probably even more focused on not making any further mistakes
Having the wrong frequency "Tower permission to land" Getting a reply from a trucker by the freeway "Tower is absent this is 10wheeler charlie Oscar charlie"
With the GUMPS check I always call the gear condiguration. 172s; "down and welded." Indian twins; "down and locked, one gear in the mirror." Also includes some C-210s. 737-800; "down, six green, cleared to land." "Verified." It never hurts to verbalize.
I always go with: "runway in front, gear down confirmed" no matter what type of airplane. Lately a passanger in a glider asked: "what else do you expect other a runway??"... I just said: "maybe water" cause I was in short final. Later, in order to calm down the pax, I had to explain that I fly amphibians as well, where you then have a second one: "water in front, gear up confirmed"...
yep.. one guy I trained with used to always use the landing gear check in his downwind checks.. in a fixed gear, he would say "gear; down. Locked and welded.."
Received clearance to taxi, had to cancel clearance, shut down and pull chocks. Refired, requested taxi clearance and had to endure "Are you sure?". KASH
The controller actually IS a friend, something I would still get every time I asked for something. Are you SURE you want a full stop? Great guy. He's no longer at Nashua.
On my second solo I landed after an hour flight, only to discover the tail tie down rope wrapped around the horizontal stabilizer! That still keeps me up at night, 13 years later...
It had broken away from the cleat on the ground, I did my walk around during preflight and it wasn't wrapped then. That being said I still forgot to untie it from the airplane! It's good knowing that other people have made these mistakes, and sharing them probably helps people from repeating them. Love your content, and the channel. keep up the good work! Fly safe.
TheDogsniper I was walking out to my plane and heard a guy clear prop I looked over just to see which spinny thing was about to spin and noticed something dangling from the tail. I waved my hands frantically and walked up asked him if he'd like me to undo his tie down from the tail. Unsurprisingly he said yes.
I'm flying gliders, was doing a control flight in L-13 Blanik, where the canopy opens sideways and you sit in like a fighter. Instructor trusted me and started gazing around, and opened the canopy in order to see better, without alerting me.. I instantly put my hand up to hold it and he said that everything's fine, he's holding it. It WAS windy.
Real bad mistakes: 1. Leaving the towbar attached and starting the AC. (never did this). Usually followed by a large repair bill. 2. Leave the oil cap/dipstick unsecured. Did this (hey I was 15 at the time). Turns out the airflow sucks oil out of the engine quite efficiently. I never figured out why my instructor wanted to ever fly with me again after that. 3. Seatbelt shut in the door. Controllers just LOVE this one, since they get to tell you on radio. Here is a hint. If you hear a loud banging sound near you when you run up, your seat belt is in the door. 4. Leaning out the engine to clear a fouled plug and killing the engine. Tends to scare that new date you finally got to go flying with you. 5. Leaving the door open. Both done this many times (ok, 3 times) and had this done while flying passenger. Its non-fatal, since the airflow will keep the door closed, but *VERY* exciting for the passengers. For pilots, not so much, especially on Cessnas. I open my door or windows all the time for the fun of it. My wife has made death threats if I ever do it with her onboard. It can be closed midair with a SHARP pull, but thats hard to do from the pilots seat. Many times the passenger is unable/unwilling to apply the required force. Cessnas doors are notorious for appearing closed if you shut them but don't close the bar, then they pop open in flight. 6. Gas cap off/unsecured. Never done it (knock on wood). If you see one of your tanks dropping fast, LAND AND CHECK. The airflow will suck gas out of that tank. Hint: The gas caps on a cessna have the handle aligned with the airflow when properly secured. Look at that (and see if you left the towbar on) as the last thing you do before getting in the pilot's seat. 7. Runup creep. You are running the engine up, and you are occupied. The airplane brakes are slipping while you are reading/doing the checklist. (Everyone has done it). Can be VERY expensive, and make you look silly explaining to that other airplane why you chewed part of his tail off. Hint: glance out the side window while doing checklist at the ground. If the ground is moving at all, you need to stop. STAND ON THEM BRAKES. Forget about the parking brake. Seriously forget about it. 8. Left fuel level check stick on cowling. Did this once in mexico. Got a very nice double bang on startup as the stick blew over the plane. When I landed on the next airport and found the stick missing, it was like "oh, that's what that sound was". 9. Take off with flaps down. (yea, once or twice) Easy to do if you are doing a lot of touch and goes. Its like "boy this airplane is not climbing".... doh! Seriously, this one will kill you. 10. takeoff/land on taxiway. No, never done it, but have lined up on one. The FAA will take your license and make you go back to training for this.
Did #9 + carb heat at the 10 solo hour mark. Kept me up at night for a long time. Never was able to tell my instructor. Now as I start each takeoff roll I always glance outside to confirm flaps.
Got into an argument over #7 with a CFI. He was a big proponent of the parking break whereas I am a stand on the brakes kind of person. At first as I put power in we didn't move but as we got up to 2000 RPM, we started to inch forward. I caught it (as I usually do, never make it far) within a foot or 2 of movement. CFI argued that's why we use the parking break. I was a CFI candidate so I remarked back that's why I dont use the parking break. At least when I hold it, I know to be aware of any movement at all whereas the tendency is to rely on the parking break when you set it so you stop dividing your attention to the outside and miss when the parking break doesn't hold the plane still. I've seen #3 done and boy can that seatbelt buckle do some damage! Had #5 happen with a passenger up front and one in the rear in a C172. Door looked closed from my position on the left. Latch was down and locked. Took off and kept thinking how it was more noisy but didn't see anything wrong until the passenger in the back asked how do they turn the air off as their legs were freezing (it was a January flight in the mid-atlantic region). Looked down and back for what I assumed would be a floor level airvent and noticed the "big" opening at the base of the door. Some how my passenger managed to close and latch the top part of the door but not the bottom. Had to have them open it in flight to get it closed. Did #6 too. Made a flight to a nearby airport without a fuel cap. Still not sure exactly what happened but I guess I didn't put the cap back on after fueling. It sat on top of my wing all the way through taxi and run-up and fell off during takeoff. Thankfully, there was someone helpful at the airport I was going to who flagged me down when they saw fuel coming out of my wing on taxi and lent me an extra fuel cap to use for the return flight. Found my fuel cap on the runway back at the home airport and then got to fly back to the other airport to return the borrowed cap. At least the airport was only 10 NM away #4 is interesting just from a leaning to kill the engine perspective. I've taken a plane up to its service ceiling where the moving the mixture minutely in either direction resulted in the engine coughing and sputtering. Also have had a PA-28-161 that would cut out before reaching peak rpm or EGT on the JPM engine monitor; the airport I flew that at was also at sealevel so the engine was prone to going from "running smoothly" to "cut-off" without much warning and well before mixture actually reached cutoff. At least it was usually easy to catch and push the mixture back in a bit before the engine died completely and it would spring back to life. Honestly, I dont think anything of the engine sputtering or dying as a result of playing with the mixture in terms of it being a "pilot mistake"... What would concern me or strike me as a mistake is the engine sputtering or dying because you didn't touch the mixture (too rich or too lean) and/or allowing the sputtering/dying engine to actually conk out to the point you need to engage the starter again as these are indications of improper mixture control. Getting a sputtering or dying engine while actively leaning though is just finding the threshold/boundary of your mixture control.
@@apromero911 I had a bad cylinder that was loading up the plugs. Before I fixed it I was constantly have to go wide open and lean it out. I have push pull mixture control that is seldom smooth. That darn thing would go too far and shut off, then I would pull it back out with a lean backfire. The whole airport would crack up. My mechanic friend would give me hell. It's fixed now.
Did #3 and, true to form, tower broke my balls on freq. Had #5 happen at 5,000 feet AGL during a slow flight exercise. Don't ask...I'm still fuzzy on how it happened in the first place, but I almost loaded up my shorts...
I wish I could emphasize how valuable your approach and premise is to these videos...I think you are 100% spot on with your desire to share mistakes. I recently damaged an aircraft and when I got through that event and started instructing again, I literally felt like I was speaking differently...from a whole new perspective and source of expertise...almost like I was a completely different instructor than who I was before I damaged the plane. Thank you for your efforts.
I'm guilty of forgetting the tie-down! One of my first Solo XC's I was following my checklist and undid the tie downs but when I got the fuel check I had to call the fuel truck over who reattached the tiedown when he grounded the aircraft and in my anxiousness as a new student pilot failed to recheck the wing tie down. I was about to pull away when an instructor walked in front of the aircraft and pointed to the wing and luckily I didn't do anything other than embarrass myself. The worst I've ever seen was a Pilot rented a 172 and forgot to remove the control gust lock! MIA02LA132 is the NTSB report; I was interning at the FSDO that summer and when I walked up to the wreckage and peeked inside it was obvious why the plane never got off the ground. The gust lock was installed in the yoke shaft plane as day! Talk about an embarrassing moment. His first mistake was not doing a preflight and the 2nd was because he was renting he didn't want to waste time doing a run up where he could have had a 2nd chance to realize he missed something, the 3rd mistake was he did a mid field departure (again to save time by not taxiing to the end of the runway), by the time he realized the aircraft wasn't getting off the ground he had gotten the aircraft up to around 80 knots and was at the end of the runway, he locked up the brakes and pulled power but it was too late he went down the slope at the end of the runway and came to a sudden stop when hitting a dirt berm destroying the plane (he luckily walked away).
Thanks for the video mate, almost 20 hours student pilot here :D I've had my last lesson before my first solo today and i did poorly in my view. There was a strong crosswind and i botched almost every landing :(. My instructor noticed my worse than usual performance but still cleared me for soloing. I think he only cleared me because the 2nd time we flew together we had an engine failure and I did a good job of helping him land our C152 on a farm. But hearing about these mistakes, in particular the ones that were mentioned in the comments helped me feel better about myself^^ Keep up the good work!
Lately I've been reading this pretty morbid book called The Killing Zone. It's full of common simple mistakes pilots have actually made that ended up costing them their lives. I strongly recommend it for any aspiring pilots!
I was shocked when my dad (the most careful, beat pilot I've ever seen) admitted he once accidentally landed on a taxiway. No level of experience or intelligence will make you immune from making a mistake.
On a more absurd nearly-disastrous note, did you hear of the Air Canada Flight 759 incident? This is far from the full story, but here: On the date of July 7th, 2017, an Airbus A320-211 under registration C-FKCK was approaching SFO at 11:46 PM local time (i.e., night); Runway 28L was closed and its lights were off, so the pilots were left to aim for 28R instead. The weather was clear, and at the time this meant that an instrument approach was *not* required, so the pilots elected to rely on a visual approach to what they _thought_ was Runway 28R...except it was actually Taxiway C, which had four other airliners (3 United, 1 Philippine) awaiting takeoff clearance. AC759 managed to execute a go-around, but it was an _extremely_ close call; the incident aircraft's lowest height AGL was *59 feet/18 meters,* and it would have collided with the third plane if the pilots pulled up even ~5 seconds later!
On my first flight after passing my private pilot check flight, I flew with a friend who hadn't yet got his ticket (he was scheduled to take his check ride the next week). We flew from KTEB (Teterboro) to KAVP (Wilkesbarre/Scranton International) and back late at night. On my return, I chose to get clearance to fly through the NY TCA (as it was called then) so I could have a higher altitude and get a smoother ride. The controller vectored me all over the place and I lost track of where I was. Finally, he handed me off to Teterboro tower, and gave me the frequency of 118.3 which was not Teterboro, but was Newark International. I switched to the correct frequency for KTEB, and saw an airport at my 12 O'clock, and asked for the runway lights for runway 6. They replied that the lights WERE on for RWY 6 and that they did not have a visual on me. I thought that very strange because I saw lights for a runway that was more of an east-west heading. I then noticed a large sign at this airport that said "Eastern Air Lines" and realized that ATC vectored me to KEWR instead of KTEB. The RWY I saw was 11/29 at KEWR. I returned to the approach frequency and a VERY NERVOUS controller came back to me (realizing what he had done) and apologized to me and vectored me to KTEB. Lesson learned: ALWAYS know where you are at ALL times!
XD i bet i could outmaneuver him in a Cessna since im like practically almost stationary for him, he'd shoot by me and probaly never get his guns aligned with my XD
ARGH chatting on CTAF!!! People do that all the time out here. "Bob, did you hear they re-opened up the restaurant at Owosso airport?" "No, Jim, How's the food?" "Well Bob, It was pretty good, and you should see the pictures on the wall, they had this plane that was almost as old as me, I think it was called a wright flyer... It must have been one of those Burt Rutan designs because it was a biplane with canards and a pusher" This can go on for what seems like hours when I'm trying to take-off or land.
Snakey - 7500 to see a fighter jet ! LMFAO !! Never have talked on a VOR freq. but have announced a short final to ground freq. The response was "N7**AM, glad to hear son, just make sure it's OK with the tower first"...
i forgot the tail tie down rope on my second flight lesson. the nose of the 172 popped up into the air. super embarrassing. I still haven't forgotten it.
Friendly Skies Film it is a reoccurring tale. I think many people are only admitting to it now behind the safety of their computer screens. After my incident me and my instructor promised never to tell anyone
See this is I guess the one negative in my flight training that I don't have to worry about as the Cherokee I fly is hangared it's never tied down nor does it have pitot covers ect.
Yep, done my fair share of those. It pays to remember that every checklist was once a blank sheet of paper continuously populated by the mistakes of others.
Had my pilot license since the 70’s. One thing I always remember is “there are old pilots and bold pilot but NO “old bold” pilots. Forgetting the chocks is a classic which I have done and many others. Keep up the videos you’re doing a great job. Flying should be fun and your keeping it that way
I bought a plane half way through my student training. My first float with my CFI, I was so excited I went through the checklist, checking everything. Or so I thought, line up on the numbers... and the airspeed did not respond. Oops, the checklist said nothing about the pitot tube cover.
What checklist are you using? Checkig the Pitot tube is on every aircrafts preflight checklist. See if you can find it on this one? www.cpaviation.com/images/downloads/C150-Checklist-9.27.16.pdf
Oh sweet it's Friday!! The worst mistake I've made in flying was not flying frequently enough. I used to skip 6 months at a time, with less than 200 hours. Sometimes I'd skip a year, and be so paranoid I'd bring a CFI along.
That is one of the things preventing me from getting starting. I know I can't afford to fly as much as I should. A few times a year at most would be worse than not at all..
During runup: left magneto check........turn key from both to left magneto, check! Turn key back to both magnetos right magneto check......turn key (too fast) and fly by the right magneto position straight to the OFF position. Realizing what I had done I quickly switch the key back to the right magneto position. I'm immediately greeted with the loudest BANG of my life as the engine backfires. (Pucker factor a solid 10) Instructor (very pissed instructor): You could have blown the exhaust manifold right off my engine, don't ever do that again!!! Result: my landings still aren't the smoothest, but I can gracefully check my magnetos like nobody's business.
Wow I just discovered your channel and I'm in love! You are so inspirational. My dream is to become a pilot of any sort and travel the world. Thank you so much for making these videos.
Ok, I'll admit it with over 5,000 hrs flying we landed at the WRONG airport. How you say? Well the runways have the same number and were 5 miles apart on the same flight path, and my CoPilot convinced me it was the right airport (I learned a valuable captain lesson). This was with a passenger...OOPs., it all worked out as we were closer to his hotel in the end and he was happy. Company was not happy :-(.
This same thing happened near me with a Southwest jet full of people a few years ago. It was a flight from Chicago to Branson, Mo. Unfortunately the much smaller general aviation airport is on the same flight path when you're coming from Chicago, but you encounter it five miles sooner. The crew had clearance and just landed very naturally at the runway they saw up ahead, not realizing it was the wrong entire airport with a much shorter (and abruptly ending!) runway. I'm sure it was equally exciting for the tower when the airplane reported being on the ground but was nowhere in sight. They stopped safely before a drop off but it was a job to get back out again. The airline had to lighten the airplane as much as they could and perform a pretty dramatic short field takeoff to get back out, was exciting enough all the local news outlets sent cameras to watch.
I was a passenger on a commercial flight to Oklahoma City. One of the audio channels was the aircraft radio. I was listening in and as we were lining up on final, ATC came on and said we were lining up on Tinker Field. Oops. It was a beautiful clear day.
My buddy's favorite thing to say when new people show up at his shop after they land is "welcome to Madera!" His shop is at KFCH 20 miles away. The looks he gets are actually pretty funny.
Forgetting to set the altimeter during preflight. Of course my instructor let me get in the air and on course before asking me what altitude I should be flying! Easily corrected, but felt so dumb.
My dream is to become a pilot, after this year I will hopefuly get into a plane mechanic school and join the army to become a military pilot, but glad I will remember these mistakes to teach me not to forget. Awesome vid!
At my school they set a reoccurring message in the GPS to go off every 30/45 minutes to switch the fuel tanks. You could use that as well and set it to whatever you think works for you. Just an idea!
That's the best new trick I've learned in months!! Can't wait to implement. Funny, I've explored every page in that GPS and have the PC trainer. It just never occurred to me to use it as a fuel timer!
Mistakes. You will make them. Hopefully you'll live another day to learn from them. Some of the mistakes I've made raise the hair on the back of my neck. Like forgetting to replace the fuel cap. Or ignoring a loose flying wire that resulted in a bracket breaking holding the vertical stabilizer in place. Do this hobby for long enough, and you'll do something that will really question if you got any business being at the controls of a flying airplane. Learn from your own mistakes. But whenever you have the chance, learn from others mistakes. And don't judge the errors of another pilot. That could easily have been you skidding the airplane from base to final. If you do find yourself scoffing at the errors of another pilot, it is a good sign you've picked he wrong hobby.
How's this, first solo x-country, was supposed to go to an airport in the high desert. "Found the airport", making calls, land, and realize the "Welcome to...." on the side of the FBO was the wrong "Welcome to...." Took off (using the correct CTAF this time) and found the correct airport about 10 miles away. Oops.
I had the exact same experience on my first solo x-country. I called runway 26, landed on runway 27....hmm, thats weird, I thought, I must have written down the wrong runway number. Got back to the FBO and told my instructor the anomaly, he pointed to my map and smiled, I landed at an airport three miles from my intended target.
Nice to know I'm not the only one with map reading issues. When I did it I thought it was odd that my pilotage calcs were off by 10 min, I guess that should have been a clue.
Haha, i just posted about a very similar experience on my first solo xc. Luckily I had a controller looking after me cuz landing on a dirt runway without asphalt could have been interesting. I'm still gonna send it tho
Great video. Forgot the chocks once during an early lesson. CFI let me forget them. Last time it's happened (so far...). My most common mistake after getting my license seems to be forgetting to turn the master on before yelling, "Clear prop!" and turning the key to hear only silence. Even though I have the checklist IN MY HAND. Genius award, right here...
For us Cessna drivers, don't forget shutting the cabin door with the seat belt hanging out! You'll catch it on the checklist, but it's always a "D-oh!" moment. Great video!
My third flying lesson: when shutting down, I forget all about cutting the mixture and pull the keys straight out. After frantically slashing the mixture, the instructor gives me a VERY puzzled face. Kept me up at night for a month. Thanks as always for the videos!
Actually not that big of deal if you stop the engine by cutting the mags, but it can leave fuel in the cylinders and make an accidental start more likely. How do you stop your car engine? I try to do it intentionally about once a week as a mag check: low-idle, key to OFF, listen for the engine to slow, key back to BOTH, engine comes back to life, then idle to 1000 and mixture cut-off to actually stop the engine. Then keys to OFF and out. If you've never done that, then you have no way to know if your mags actually disengage when you turn the key to OFF.
You are awesome for putting out this video and I hope that you and everyone who watches this channel has these mistakes as their worst mistakes ever Fairwinds and blue sky’s
Haha. Back when training for my PPL, i forgot one tie down attached to one of the wings of my PA28 and got into pilot seat getting ready for engine start procedures. My CFI - retired US army Col. Said: “Unless you wanna start today’s lesson with Steep turns on the ground; I suggest you remove all tie-downs” That was both embarrassing and hilarious 😂
How about landing at an AFB a couple miles over from your civilian destination. I hear lots of annoyed men with guns show up and take you to see the base commander, where you get to talk to your flight school, and get a new lecture in navigation when you get home!
You made an excellent point that I try to explain to people that is often overlooked. Learning to fly is a VERY lonely endeavor. All you have is the word of your instructor. You have no peers with which to gauge how well you are doing and it makes it very difficult at times.
Great video, I must say I chuckled when you said forgot chocks, I've done that twice, and I remember a few flights when on base trying to turn on the landing and and finding it still on
Today, I started to preflight the wrong airplane (similar tail numbers). When I looked at the Hobbs and realized they were completely different from the binder I had, I started to secure the airplane and locked the keys to the airplane I was supposed to fly inside the wrong airplane. 🤦🏻♂️
When I got my first car I had a nasty habit of locking my keys in the car, so much so I started walking with a spare set. One day I illegally parked in a fire lane of a strip mall because I quickly needed to use an ATM. When I got back to my car… yep, you guessed it. I locked the keys in the car… with it running, spare set in the car also. I run back inside to use a payphone (this was a awhile ago) and call a locksmith (which I had the number memorized by this time). “Yeah, me again. At the strip mall this time” “Okay, I’ll be right there” So I go back to my car to wait for the locksmith to show up and it was at this moment 🤦♂️. Busy parking lot, bright sunny day right in the middle of the afternoon and my cars running with the keys in the ignition, spare set on the center console… sunroof open and all the windows down. 🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️
The first little clip is so true, I’ve passed Calculus 2 yet can’t do simple addition or subtraction as soon as I’m flying. It’s like your brain is already so overloaded you can’t do anything else.
My first flight after passing my check ride with a passenger. I request, and am granted flight following. There was a lot of chatter over the radios so i turned down the volume. After some time I realize that there is no chatter over the radio and that I should've been handed off to the next frequency. Sure enough, i turn up the volume and the first thing i hear is, "Cherokee N----D, if you can hear me, turn 30 degrees to the right". Even as a pilot, you never stop learning.
The "Intercom" "OFF" "Head Phones" selector switch got bumped to off - little bitty tiny thing. "Why doesn't this radio work where are the light gun instructions - - - - " My co-pilot/not current 3rd class pilot passenger figured it out. No, I didn't let him pay for the gas.
Flying into a remote airfield on my first solo nav, overflew the runway at 1500 feet, windsock showed no wind so I thought I would just take my pick of the runways. Chose runway 28 and was coming into land and struggling with sink. Once I landed I realised that I had just landed with a tiny bit of tail wind. Mind blanked as I flew the whole way with a westerly wind at 270 and didn't put 2 & 2 together that the wind would be straight down the runway I had chosen.
I landed at the Charles Lindbergh airfield at Lessay in France (LFOM) for some go around practice and whilst having a break, my instructor Bill Brooks and I chased after a taxiing Jodel which still had his T bar pull handle attached to the nose wheel! It bounced up perilously close to the prop every time he hit a bump.... I recommend a visit just for the history.
Loose end of the seatbelt hanging out the door of a c150...starts loudly slappin the fuselage shortly after tkf and you just KNOW a wing is coming off🤣
If it's not hanging out too far it makes a buzzing noise consistent with engine RPM... sounds like an oil starvation or engine bearing problem. Power on, it's there, power off, it's gone. Try noticing that half way through your first solo long cross country flight over decidedly mountainous terrain 45 minutes from the nearest airstrip.
I once reported "28Z left downwind for runway 23, left" (the second "left" was my nerves repeating I was downwind left). ATC replied "28Z, cleared to land 23, and it's just 23, we only have one." (poking fun at me)
probably after 40 hours of flying as a student pilot, i made the mistake of forgetting to pull the chocks. had the engine started and pushed the throttle in to get going but i wasn't moving. i looked down and saw that the brake was off then looked out the window and saw the chocks still on. i felt like a complete idiot and my flight instructor just put more throttle in till we jumped the chocks XD
I agree with you on how important it is that you make sure others are learning. I think that makes a new pilot show the FAA how much they love flying. How important flying is You're doing great man I wish you the best I'm working on my PPL great advice
*squawking 7500* *minutes later* "Ladies and Gentleman, this is your captain speaking. We got two f-18's on our sides, please take a picture before I tell them to return. It will help your Instagram to gain followers."
Done a couple of those but never the wrong runway. The DG is always in my eye on final. I too use the trim in the 140 in the flair. Also on the climb out. I like to unload the yoke when ever possible. cool videos guys!
Great video! Just got home from an overnight XC and can count at least 5 things I messed up - on the first leg. Flying doesn't have to be perfect to be safe, but we should always be striving for perfection. That's why I debrief every flight, including via track log data & CloudAhoy and I try hard to catch my mistakes in flight and either correct them quickly or make a strong mental note to avoid it in the future. Key there is not to let it distract and cause additional mistakes. Best one yesterday was keying the mic to talk to my passenger. Ironically I said something like "I think that's the approach path" as I pointed to an airliner passing off our right that ATC had alerted me to. Very nice approach controller came on and said, "I'm not sure if you were asking me, but yes, that 737 is on the XX arrival." :) I replied, sheepishly, "Oops, I keyed the mic didn't I - so sorry, and thank you very much." I knew someday I was going to do that. Thankful it was with my wife and not during a checkride!
Nicholas! Just wanted to let you know this video of yours is being shown at the Corpus Christi International Airport's Control Tower by their during tours of their facility. I recorded as much as was allowed of a tour they gave to South Texas Flying Club, and your video is included in this recording. They seem to love you there, and I thought you'd like to know. Keep up the good work! Here's the link... southtexasflyingclub.org/gallery-blog/
In the earliest part of my PPL training after a botched approach, my instructor told me to go around. I replied "go around?" to confirm and he replied "go around." I had thus far never done a go around in my training. I pushed the throttle forward, pitched up enough for straight and level and proceeded to clean up my flaps. The mistake I had made was that I didn't allow my airspeed to reach Vr prior to retracting and a 0 flaps configuration raises our Vso. We started to drop for about a second. I, being a flight sim enthusiast knew that you apply back pressure until your IAS is at or above Vr and then pitch for Vy. Everything happened so fast. As we started to climb my CFI asked me "you ok?" Slightly shocked and shaking my head in disbelief I replied "yeah I'm ok." He said "you never clean up your flaps until you are well above your stall speed. I started to slap your hand." That was a big lesson that I will never forget.
One time me and my instructor was trying to start the engine for like 2 min, but then realizing the key was not turned to both. It was a pull starter c150
Taking a friend on a flight in the plane: yelling clear prop pushing that starter button and the prop turns through 3 time never starting, only to look down and see you've left the mags off....(Those Cessna guys don't know how lucky they are with the mags key turn to start.
I did that once, starting the engine with my mechanic leaning in the open door. "I can't seem to get it started". He says "what say you turn it on", pointing at the mixture, which was closed.
I was landing my flight schools 172 the other day and made a perfect flair for a nice gentle touchdown with the right differential brake locked thankfully my instructor is amazing and saved it.
Been there - but after a few seconds it's rather obvious. Uh Oh it kicks off with the priming charge and dies. So really it's after a few times that it's obvious.
I really needed this video! I just started flight training at the USAF Aero Club here in Okinawa, Japan. It seems really challenging to fly here, but I feel a little more relaxed about not having to be perfect at everything all the time. Great video as always!
Landing on wrong runway a common mistake?...I dont think so..I can honestly say i have NEVER landed on wrong runway. How can you mistake runway 14 for 32...Your compass and gyro was Inop?
Alan Jerousek Wrong runway, ha. In Florida, along the coast where there are tons of airports with very similar runways, pilots land at the wrong airport all the time. Their airport diagram says Runway 16, they see 15 on final and just rationalize to themself that their diagram is out of date. Meanwhile they're landing 10miles from the runway they think they're landing on. Happens all the time.
Awesome video! :) Almost all of these are not very high risk issues and very glad that when I do dumb stuff like forgetting something I am not alone. As technical as flying can be and as many opportunities as there are for things to go south on you, it can also be very forgiving. Just never count on it.
Yep I've done all of those and then some. When I was a student pilot, I used to visualize the compass rose and interpret the runway numbers as they are oriented on a DG, which is completely opposite, and that was a hard habit to break. Definitely have taken off with a full set of flaps in an Archer and didn't realize it until it after it began levitating off the runway in a very strange way. Definitely called up Nashville Tower when holding short of the non-movement area ready to taxi. I've yelled "Clear Prop" and realized the keys were still in the FBO's 3-ring binder sitting in the backseat. I've climbed into a Skylane and fired up and tried to taxi out before realizing the nose wheel was still chalked. Full aft elevator and lots of power solved that problem. Rod Machado has a great technique about aggressive leaning for taxi that stops you from applying full power without full mixture that I highly recommend (essentially the engine will sputter/quit when you advance the power beyond 1000 rpm). I resorted to taking a photo of the hobbs & tach before and after each flight on my phone. As my instructor would say "any of those mistakes are forgivable; just make absolutely sure you've got that gear lever down!"
last time I forgot to remove the pitot tube cover.. then after flying the traffic pattern without knowing the indicated airspeed we landed on the grass runway with my instructor where I had to remove it.. now THAT was a walk of shame :D
Instructor was great on a first dual cross country when I industriously cranked in a new altimeter setting. Let me fly it until he could say "look out the window, does anything seem wrong?" "Getting too low" was the reply, and the Instructor calmly said "Let's keep it out of the trees while I explain about altimeter settings". Sixty miles away and an extra 1,200 feet of elevation does NOT make for a large correction to the altimeter, recheck what you think you heard before making any large correction to the setting. That was great instruction never forgotten, letting me see the possible result of an error (no biggie in daytime VFR) before explaining.
I left my chart in a club owned PA28 after I spent ages putting the cover over it. I also once tried to start an engine on lean mixture. For the latter, in my defence, I didn't notice the red thing sticking out because Robin DR400s don't have a red control for mixture!
Distraction, inexperience, being under pressure are at the roots of all these mistakes. Discipline, practice, planning is the cure for all of them. I don't fly often enough, so I debrief all my flight and write up everything in my notebook, which didn't go well. The list is quite long :) but glancing through the last few flights helpedme to improve a lot, step by step, weeding out the mistakes, and leaving the for a good laugh from the past.
checking your DG every leg in the pattern is like looking at the side mirror before changing lanes. Landing at the opposite runway or flying the opposite traffic pattern leads to mid air collisions. Your runway is on the DG fly that heading on final.
I have been a truck driver for over 30 years I can't wait to fly and get my pilot's license which is very very close but when I will say experience can't be all good and it can't be all bad you have to have a mix that's why they call it experience
Done both chocks and tiedowns, especially when I first started learning, got to a point where my instructor would just look at me blankly until I realized I'd forgotten them (usually just the chocks tiedowns maybe 1 time)
for tie down ropes being forgotten look at S5-DAA in LJLJ, guy tried to take off with concrete blocks still attached... it's all written up in Slovenian but you can put it together
My very favourite trim ......in the roof........140 hp hershey bar wing Piper......so smooth so fine.......unlike the stiff clunky 160s and 180s on the floor
I yelled "clear prop" and set mixture rich and tried starting up my 150. After multiple trials in a span of at least 2 mins, I realized I left the starter key in the off position......that made me want to literally take my stuff and get it out of the plane and call it a day. Im not the only one, nice vid
I watched this video couple of month ago before I started PPL training, it didn't make a lot of sense. Now I'm back re-watching it and it is very funny.
...still trying to save and find money for flight lessons...friend already gave me a log book ...maybe I should I start my log book with “things not to beat myself up about when I do them”. Thanks for the vid...great content. Be well.
Pulled the mixture instead of the carb heat downwind to land my first time up by myself after returning to flying after a 10 year hiatus retraining, completing retraining and signed off on my flight review by my instructor. Quickly realized my mistake as the engine was coughing and got the mixture back in before the engine died.
I've made most of these mistakes during my private pilot training. One of my favorites was on a flight from Tracy to Livermore, I addressed the tower at Livermore as "Tracy Tower". "Cessna 12345 this is Livermore Tower". For those of you unfamiliar, this is even more embarrassing because Tracy is untowered.
Thank so much for giving some commentary with your videos, so many people just have the noise of the plane. They should just show photos. Love your videos.
Even worse when you're an owner, and yell "clear prop" only to realize your keys are still at home (15-20 minutes away).
Sometimes I yell clear prop only to realize that I'm still at home...
How do you do a preflight without the keys?
Because you don't need the keys to turn on the electrical system, just the magnetos and the ignition.
Most people don't lock them, to be honest. The door key is often also different than the ignition key. The real question is how do our students keep locking they keys inside the planes when the doors only lock from the outside!! XD
LOL!
#3. Left one notch of flaps in until I noticed I wasn't picking up speed at 4500 ft. On my PPL checkride. He just sat there, let me work through it and chuckled when I tried to sneak the flaps down. He said "I was wondering when you were going to do that.... But good job working through it. That's your one and only mistake that I'm gonna allow for this ride, so you'd better be perfect from here on out." Evidently, I was because I was officially a Private Pilot 45 minutes later.
Yay! Haha good story :)
that would mess me up for the rest of the flight aaha
way to put the pressure on lmao.
@Agent J No clue what you're talking about...
I wonder if making a mistake in flight, and recognizing that mistake helped you, since you were then probably even more focused on not making any further mistakes
Having the wrong frequency
"Tower permission to land"
Getting a reply from a trucker by the freeway
"Tower is absent this is 10wheeler charlie Oscar charlie"
Lol has that actually happened??
Haha
The trucker comment was probably from another pilot teasing them. Funny! 😂
I know this is late but I called gear down in a Cessna 172
Eh. Good practice ;)
With the GUMPS check I always call the gear condiguration. 172s; "down and welded." Indian twins; "down and locked, one gear in the mirror." Also includes some C-210s. 737-800; "down, six green, cleared to land." "Verified."
It never hurts to verbalize.
I'm not a pilot yet, but I remember many times that I was airborne with a Cessna 172 on FSX, and automatically said out loud "positive rate, gear UP"
I always go with: "runway in front, gear down confirmed" no matter what type of airplane. Lately a passanger in a glider asked: "what else do you expect other a runway??"... I just said: "maybe water" cause I was in short final. Later, in order to calm down the pax, I had to explain that I fly amphibians as well, where you then have a second one: "water in front, gear up confirmed"...
yep.. one guy I trained with used to always use the landing gear check in his downwind checks.. in a fixed gear, he would say "gear; down. Locked and welded.."
Received clearance to taxi, had to cancel clearance, shut down and pull chocks. Refired, requested taxi clearance and had to endure "Are you sure?". KASH
hahaha
That's great. I love those controllers up there. I'll be there for breakfast on Monday :)
AAAAHHHH, Midfield Cafe, haven't been there for quite some time, based at KLCI now.
That controller is your best friend. Making sure that all is OK is a top service!
The controller actually IS a friend, something I would still get every time I asked for something. Are you SURE you want a full stop? Great guy. He's no longer at Nashua.
On my second solo I landed after an hour flight, only to discover the tail tie down rope wrapped around the horizontal stabilizer! That still keeps me up at night, 13 years later...
Wow! That's a good one! I wonder if it was trailing or actually wrapped the whole time.
It had broken away from the cleat on the ground, I did my walk around during preflight and it wasn't wrapped then. That being said I still forgot to untie it from the airplane! It's good knowing that other people have made these mistakes, and sharing them probably helps people from repeating them. Love your content, and the channel. keep up the good work! Fly safe.
That's why I made it! Glad you enjoyed :)
TheDogsniper I was walking out to my plane and heard a guy clear prop I looked over just to see which spinny thing was about to spin and noticed something dangling from the tail. I waved my hands frantically and walked up asked him if he'd like me to undo his tie down from the tail. Unsurprisingly he said yes.
but but my dream job is being a pilot😦😦😦😯😣
Door not completely closed.. no wonder it's so windy
oh my god. haha
Little bit breezy in here, isn't it?
It happened to me on one of my first solo flights. I stayed calm and returned for landing.
I'm flying gliders, was doing a control flight in L-13 Blanik, where the canopy opens sideways and you sit in like a fighter. Instructor trusted me and started gazing around, and opened the canopy in order to see better, without alerting me.. I instantly put my hand up to hold it and he said that everything's fine, he's holding it. It WAS windy.
hahaha did that 3 times. fool me 3 times... and that probably makes me an idiot
Flying 300 miles and discovering after landing that you did not return the keys of the courtesy car ...
Lol.... we humans are easily distracted
Don't worry it happens a lot and they always have spares ! It's if you damaged the car without declaring it you would worry !
Real bad mistakes:
1. Leaving the towbar attached and starting the AC. (never did this). Usually followed by a large repair bill.
2. Leave the oil cap/dipstick unsecured. Did this (hey I was 15 at the time). Turns out the airflow sucks oil out of the engine quite efficiently. I never figured out why my instructor wanted to ever fly with me again after that.
3. Seatbelt shut in the door. Controllers just LOVE this one, since they get to tell you on radio. Here is a hint. If you hear a loud banging sound near you when you run up, your seat belt is in the door.
4. Leaning out the engine to clear a fouled plug and killing the engine. Tends to scare that new date you finally got to go flying with you.
5. Leaving the door open. Both done this many times (ok, 3 times) and had this done while flying passenger. Its non-fatal, since the airflow will keep the door closed, but *VERY* exciting for the passengers. For pilots, not so much, especially on Cessnas. I open my door or windows all the time for the fun of it. My wife has made death threats if I ever do it with her onboard. It can be closed midair with a SHARP pull, but thats hard to do from the pilots seat. Many times the passenger is unable/unwilling to apply the required force. Cessnas doors are notorious for appearing closed if you shut them but don't close the bar, then they pop open in flight.
6. Gas cap off/unsecured. Never done it (knock on wood). If you see one of your tanks dropping fast, LAND AND CHECK. The airflow will suck gas out of that tank. Hint: The gas caps on a cessna have the handle aligned with the airflow when properly secured. Look at that (and see if you left the towbar on) as the last thing you do before getting in the pilot's seat.
7. Runup creep. You are running the engine up, and you are occupied. The airplane brakes are slipping while you are reading/doing the checklist. (Everyone has done it). Can be VERY expensive, and make you look silly explaining to that other airplane why you chewed part of his tail off. Hint: glance out the side window while doing checklist at the ground. If the ground is moving at all, you need to stop. STAND ON THEM BRAKES. Forget about the parking brake. Seriously forget about it.
8. Left fuel level check stick on cowling. Did this once in mexico. Got a very nice double bang on startup as the stick blew over the plane. When I landed on the next airport and found the stick missing, it was like "oh, that's what that sound was".
9. Take off with flaps down. (yea, once or twice) Easy to do if you are doing a lot of touch and goes. Its like "boy this airplane is not climbing".... doh! Seriously, this one will kill you.
10. takeoff/land on taxiway. No, never done it, but have lined up on one. The FAA will take your license and make you go back to training for this.
Thanks, very helpful. I only did #7 (so far), but caught it right away.
Did #9 + carb heat at the 10 solo hour mark. Kept me up at night for a long time. Never was able to tell my instructor. Now as I start each takeoff roll I always glance outside to confirm flaps.
Got into an argument over #7 with a CFI. He was a big proponent of the parking break whereas I am a stand on the brakes kind of person. At first as I put power in we didn't move but as we got up to 2000 RPM, we started to inch forward. I caught it (as I usually do, never make it far) within a foot or 2 of movement. CFI argued that's why we use the parking break. I was a CFI candidate so I remarked back that's why I dont use the parking break. At least when I hold it, I know to be aware of any movement at all whereas the tendency is to rely on the parking break when you set it so you stop dividing your attention to the outside and miss when the parking break doesn't hold the plane still.
I've seen #3 done and boy can that seatbelt buckle do some damage!
Had #5 happen with a passenger up front and one in the rear in a C172. Door looked closed from my position on the left. Latch was down and locked. Took off and kept thinking how it was more noisy but didn't see anything wrong until the passenger in the back asked how do they turn the air off as their legs were freezing (it was a January flight in the mid-atlantic region). Looked down and back for what I assumed would be a floor level airvent and noticed the "big" opening at the base of the door. Some how my passenger managed to close and latch the top part of the door but not the bottom. Had to have them open it in flight to get it closed.
Did #6 too. Made a flight to a nearby airport without a fuel cap. Still not sure exactly what happened but I guess I didn't put the cap back on after fueling. It sat on top of my wing all the way through taxi and run-up and fell off during takeoff. Thankfully, there was someone helpful at the airport I was going to who flagged me down when they saw fuel coming out of my wing on taxi and lent me an extra fuel cap to use for the return flight. Found my fuel cap on the runway back at the home airport and then got to fly back to the other airport to return the borrowed cap. At least the airport was only 10 NM away
#4 is interesting just from a leaning to kill the engine perspective. I've taken a plane up to its service ceiling where the moving the mixture minutely in either direction resulted in the engine coughing and sputtering. Also have had a PA-28-161 that would cut out before reaching peak rpm or EGT on the JPM engine monitor; the airport I flew that at was also at sealevel so the engine was prone to going from "running smoothly" to "cut-off" without much warning and well before mixture actually reached cutoff. At least it was usually easy to catch and push the mixture back in a bit before the engine died completely and it would spring back to life. Honestly, I dont think anything of the engine sputtering or dying as a result of playing with the mixture in terms of it being a "pilot mistake"... What would concern me or strike me as a mistake is the engine sputtering or dying because you didn't touch the mixture (too rich or too lean) and/or allowing the sputtering/dying engine to actually conk out to the point you need to engage the starter again as these are indications of improper mixture control. Getting a sputtering or dying engine while actively leaning though is just finding the threshold/boundary of your mixture control.
@@apromero911 I had a bad cylinder that was loading up the plugs. Before I fixed it I was constantly have to go wide open and lean it out. I have push pull mixture control that is seldom smooth. That darn thing would go too far and shut off, then I would pull it back out with a lean backfire. The whole airport would crack up. My mechanic friend would give me hell. It's fixed now.
Did #3 and, true to form, tower broke my balls on freq. Had #5 happen at 5,000 feet AGL during a slow flight exercise. Don't ask...I'm still fuzzy on how it happened in the first place, but I almost loaded up my shorts...
I wish I could emphasize how valuable your approach and premise is to these videos...I think you are 100% spot on with your desire to share mistakes. I recently damaged an aircraft and when I got through that event and started instructing again, I literally felt like I was speaking differently...from a whole new perspective and source of expertise...almost like I was a completely different instructor than who I was before I damaged the plane. Thank you for your efforts.
I'm guilty of forgetting the tie-down! One of my first Solo XC's I was following my checklist and undid the tie downs but when I got the fuel check I had to call the fuel truck over who reattached the tiedown when he grounded the aircraft and in my anxiousness as a new student pilot failed to recheck the wing tie down. I was about to pull away when an instructor walked in front of the aircraft and pointed to the wing and luckily I didn't do anything other than embarrass myself.
The worst I've ever seen was a Pilot rented a 172 and forgot to remove the control gust lock! MIA02LA132 is the NTSB report; I was interning at the FSDO that summer and when I walked up to the wreckage and peeked inside it was obvious why the plane never got off the ground. The gust lock was installed in the yoke shaft plane as day! Talk about an embarrassing moment. His first mistake was not doing a preflight and the 2nd was because he was renting he didn't want to waste time doing a run up where he could have had a 2nd chance to realize he missed something, the 3rd mistake was he did a mid field departure (again to save time by not taxiing to the end of the runway), by the time he realized the aircraft wasn't getting off the ground he had gotten the aircraft up to around 80 knots and was at the end of the runway, he locked up the brakes and pulled power but it was too late he went down the slope at the end of the runway and came to a sudden stop when hitting a dirt berm destroying the plane (he luckily walked away).
Thanks for the video mate, almost 20 hours student pilot here :D I've had my last lesson before my first solo today and i did poorly in my view. There was a strong crosswind and i botched almost every landing :(. My instructor noticed my worse than usual performance but still cleared me for soloing. I think he only cleared me because the 2nd time we flew together we had an engine failure and I did a good job of helping him land our C152 on a farm. But hearing about these mistakes, in particular the ones that were mentioned in the comments helped me feel better about myself^^ Keep up the good work!
Wow! That's quite the adventure you had for a student! Glad you're still with us.
Lately I've been reading this pretty morbid book called The Killing Zone. It's full of common simple mistakes pilots have actually made that ended up costing them their lives. I strongly recommend it for any aspiring pilots!
Yeah, I've heard a lot of people recommend that one. Probably should. I read sooo many NTSB reports.
Completely unrelated but what's that silver handle above your head at 1:10?
Trim!
MrRibbotron I'm reading that book right now!
Take it from the top: the most important thing about flying is that the number of landings must be the same as the number of takeoffs!
I was shocked when my dad (the most careful, beat pilot I've ever seen) admitted he once accidentally landed on a taxiway.
No level of experience or intelligence will make you immune from making a mistake.
So did Harrison Ford, and there's video and audio proof of that one
On a more absurd nearly-disastrous note, did you hear of the Air Canada Flight 759 incident?
This is far from the full story, but here:
On the date of July 7th, 2017, an Airbus A320-211 under registration C-FKCK was approaching SFO at 11:46 PM local time (i.e., night); Runway 28L was closed and its lights were off, so the pilots were left to aim for 28R instead. The weather was clear, and at the time this meant that an instrument approach was *not* required, so the pilots elected to rely on a visual approach to what they _thought_ was Runway 28R...except it was actually Taxiway C, which had four other airliners (3 United, 1 Philippine) awaiting takeoff clearance. AC759 managed to execute a go-around, but it was an _extremely_ close call; the incident aircraft's lowest height AGL was *59 feet/18 meters,* and it would have collided with the third plane if the pilots pulled up even ~5 seconds later!
I've never made a piloting mistake!
True!
Well, I've never flown anything yet, that's why. xD
Haha I laughed ;P
Not flying is a mistake!!
Haha
That joke is a mistake.
I did a lot of mistake, yet all i did was playing flight sim
On my first flight after passing my private pilot check flight, I flew with a friend who hadn't yet got his ticket (he was scheduled to take his check ride the next week). We flew from KTEB (Teterboro) to KAVP (Wilkesbarre/Scranton International) and back late at night. On my return, I chose to get clearance to fly through the NY TCA (as it was called then) so I could have a higher altitude and get a smoother ride. The controller vectored me all over the place and I lost track of where I was.
Finally, he handed me off to Teterboro tower, and gave me the frequency of 118.3 which was not Teterboro, but was Newark International. I switched to the correct frequency for KTEB, and saw an airport at my 12 O'clock, and asked for the runway lights for runway 6. They replied that the lights WERE on for RWY 6 and that they did not have a visual on me. I thought that very strange because I saw lights for a runway that was more of an east-west heading. I then noticed a large sign at this airport that said "Eastern Air Lines" and realized that ATC vectored me to KEWR instead of KTEB. The RWY I saw was 11/29 at KEWR. I returned to the approach frequency and a VERY NERVOUS controller came back to me (realizing what he had done) and apologized to me and vectored me to KTEB.
Lesson learned: ALWAYS know where you are at ALL times!
I better keep playing FSX Steam Edition. Where hot air baloons cruise at 300kts and 737s go inverted...a mistake mostly stays undiscovered. lol
Thank you for this video. Information overload will make you forget the simple things... it’s nice to hear that other pilots make similar mistakes...
Some mistakes that are not okay:
-flying out of trim
-squawking 7500 to see a fighter jet
-chatting over aerodrome freq
yo, thats such a great way to get some great air-to-air pic with an f-16!!! totally trying that!
Call 911 For Cookies just call over freq "pretend I'm a spitfire and let's do some bfm!
XD i bet i could outmaneuver him in a Cessna since im like practically almost stationary for him, he'd shoot by me and probaly never get his guns aligned with my XD
ARGH chatting on CTAF!!! People do that all the time out here. "Bob, did you hear they re-opened up the restaurant at Owosso airport?" "No, Jim, How's the food?" "Well Bob, It was pretty good, and you should see the pictures on the wall, they had this plane that was almost as old as me, I think it was called a wright flyer... It must have been one of those Burt Rutan designs because it was a biplane with canards and a pusher"
This can go on for what seems like hours when I'm trying to take-off or land.
Snakey - 7500 to see a fighter jet ! LMFAO !!
Never have talked on a VOR freq. but have announced a short final to ground freq. The response was "N7**AM, glad to hear son, just make sure it's OK with the tower first"...
i forgot the tail tie down rope on my second flight lesson. the nose of the 172 popped up into the air. super embarrassing. I still haven't forgotten it.
Friendly Skies Film it is a reoccurring tale. I think many people are only admitting to it now behind the safety of their computer screens. After my incident me and my instructor promised never to tell anyone
See this is I guess the one negative in my flight training that I don't have to worry about as the Cherokee I fly is hangared it's never tied down nor does it have pitot covers ect.
That's why I bought a plane too ;)
I did the same thing in a DA-20! Luckily no one saw me though, but I felt really dumb.
@@MrJaiimez can still get bugs makign nests in your pitot in a hangar. i'd cover it.
Yep, done my fair share of those. It pays to remember that every checklist was once a blank sheet of paper continuously populated by the mistakes of others.
Had my pilot license since the 70’s. One thing I always remember is “there are old pilots and bold pilot but NO “old bold” pilots. Forgetting the chocks is a classic which I have done and many others. Keep up the videos you’re doing a great job. Flying should be fun and your keeping it that way
I bought a plane half way through my student training. My first float with my CFI, I was so excited I went through the checklist, checking everything. Or so I thought, line up on the numbers... and the airspeed did not respond. Oops, the checklist said nothing about the pitot tube cover.
Haha. I did the same thing (buying my plane halfway through training), not the pitot thing, sorry! Haha.
Turn to full throttle, "airspeed is... dead?"
To be fair, that is something you should really add to that checklist.
What checklist are you using? Checkig the Pitot tube is on every aircrafts preflight checklist. See if you can find it on this one? www.cpaviation.com/images/downloads/C150-Checklist-9.27.16.pdf
Been years since I've flown, but your videos always keep those fantastic memories fresh
Oh sweet it's Friday!! The worst mistake I've made in flying was not flying frequently enough. I used to skip 6 months at a time, with less than 200 hours. Sometimes I'd skip a year, and be so paranoid I'd bring a CFI along.
Yeah, that's what always plagued my father.
that's not paranoid that's smart.
That is one of the things preventing me from getting starting. I know I can't afford to fly as much as I should. A few times a year at most would be worse than not at all..
Flying Schools and Examiners prefer that Jonn !
During runup:
left magneto check........turn key from both to left magneto, check!
Turn key back to both magnetos
right magneto check......turn key (too fast) and fly by the right magneto position straight to the OFF position. Realizing what I had done I quickly switch the key back to the right magneto position.
I'm immediately greeted with the loudest BANG of my life as the engine backfires. (Pucker factor a solid 10)
Instructor (very pissed instructor): You could have blown the exhaust manifold right off my engine, don't ever do that again!!!
Result: my landings still aren't the smoothest, but I can gracefully check my magnetos like nobody's business.
Been there, done that 😂
yup me too
Wow I just discovered your channel and I'm in love! You are so inspirational. My dream is to become a pilot of any sort and travel the world. Thank you so much for making these videos.
Aw, just what I needed to read before going to bed. I'm so glad I could be that for you :)
Before spending ANY money on flying training make sure you are medically fit to fly Solo otherwise you will waste your money !
Made pretty much all of those mistakes and some others. Well done, you're absolutely right here.
Ok, I'll admit it with over 5,000 hrs flying we landed at the WRONG airport. How you say? Well the runways have the same number and were 5 miles apart on the same flight path, and my CoPilot convinced me it was the right airport (I learned a valuable captain lesson). This was with a passenger...OOPs., it all worked out as we were closer to his hotel in the end and he was happy. Company was not happy :-(.
Wow, sounds like a particularly easy place for that to happen!
The Montay were you the guys who landed the c17 at the wrong airport?
This same thing happened near me with a Southwest jet full of people a few years ago. It was a flight from Chicago to Branson, Mo. Unfortunately the much smaller general aviation airport is on the same flight path when you're coming from Chicago, but you encounter it five miles sooner. The crew had clearance and just landed very naturally at the runway they saw up ahead, not realizing it was the wrong entire airport with a much shorter (and abruptly ending!) runway. I'm sure it was equally exciting for the tower when the airplane reported being on the ground but was nowhere in sight. They stopped safely before a drop off but it was a job to get back out again. The airline had to lighten the airplane as much as they could and perform a pretty dramatic short field takeoff to get back out, was exciting enough all the local news outlets sent cameras to watch.
I was a passenger on a commercial flight to Oklahoma City. One of the audio channels was the aircraft radio. I was listening in and as we were lining up on final, ATC came on and said we were lining up on Tinker Field. Oops. It was a beautiful clear day.
My buddy's favorite thing to say when new people show up at his shop after they land is "welcome to Madera!" His shop is at KFCH 20 miles away. The looks he gets are actually pretty funny.
Forgetting to set the altimeter during preflight. Of course my instructor let me get in the air and on course before asking me what altitude I should be flying! Easily corrected, but felt so dumb.
My dream is to become a pilot, after this year I will hopefuly get into a plane mechanic school and join the army to become a military pilot, but glad I will remember these mistakes to teach me not to forget. Awesome vid!
Thanks, mate, and best of luck :)
Thank you so much, it mens a lot!
At my school they set a reoccurring message in the GPS to go off every 30/45 minutes to switch the fuel tanks. You could use that as well and set it to whatever you think works for you. Just an idea!
Is that on a Garmin 430/530? Because that would be fantastic!!!
Friendly Skies Film jappp. There are timers in the 430s... AUX pages...
That's the best new trick I've learned in months!! Can't wait to implement. Funny, I've explored every page in that GPS and have the PC trainer. It just never occurred to me to use it as a fuel timer!
Friendly Skies Film me flying Archers... 20m counters... Any counters in Foreflight ?
Not that I know of (which doesn't say much today!) but I'm also using a WAY old build of foreflight.
Or the key is still in your pocket and you have to try and contort yourself to dig it out without taking off the safety belt / harness, LOL
Haha, or when your phone is in your right pocket, but you try to get it with your left hand. The "Cross-Pocket" maneuver.
OMG all the freaking time.
Yuuuup!
Every. Freaking. Time
Of the mistakes in the video, this is the one I make most often. Second is forgetting to note the tacho.
On a piper with a 2 latch/lock door. Forgetting to lock the top latch door.
#8 forgetting to put the fuel tank cap on... another great video!!!thanks for all your hard work! very entertaining and love your variety
That ALMOST made it in! Look at the thumbnail ;)
Plane won’t start , continue cranking it , realize after battery is dead that the mixture was all the way out
Mistakes. You will make them. Hopefully you'll live another day to learn from them. Some of the mistakes I've made raise the hair on the back of my neck. Like forgetting to replace the fuel cap. Or ignoring a loose flying wire that resulted in a bracket breaking holding the vertical stabilizer in place. Do this hobby for long enough, and you'll do something that will really question if you got any business being at the controls of a flying airplane. Learn from your own mistakes. But whenever you have the chance, learn from others mistakes. And don't judge the errors of another pilot. That could easily have been you skidding the airplane from base to final. If you do find yourself scoffing at the errors of another pilot, it is a good sign you've picked he wrong hobby.
Bravo! Simply the best statement on the subject I've read yet.
That beginning scene when the flaps were raised and the carriage settled was so cool!
How's this, first solo x-country, was supposed to go to an airport in the high desert. "Found the airport", making calls, land, and realize the "Welcome to...." on the side of the FBO was the wrong "Welcome to...." Took off (using the correct CTAF this time) and found the correct airport about 10 miles away. Oops.
Harder to do here in MA, but probably not that uncommon elsewhere. Glad you're still here with us :P
I had the exact same experience on my first solo x-country. I called runway 26, landed on runway 27....hmm, thats weird, I thought, I must have written down the wrong runway number. Got back to the FBO and told my instructor the anomaly, he pointed to my map and smiled, I landed at an airport three miles from my intended target.
Nice to know I'm not the only one with map reading issues.
When I did it I thought it was odd that my pilotage calcs were off by 10 min, I guess that should have been a clue.
Haha, i just posted about a very similar experience on my first solo xc. Luckily I had a controller looking after me cuz landing on a dirt runway without asphalt could have been interesting. I'm still gonna send it tho
Great video. Forgot the chocks once during an early lesson. CFI let me forget them. Last time it's happened (so far...). My most common mistake after getting my license seems to be forgetting to turn the master on before yelling, "Clear prop!" and turning the key to hear only silence. Even though I have the checklist IN MY HAND. Genius award, right here...
How about taking off with carb heat on after a full stop on a grass field with obstruction at the end?
For us Cessna drivers, don't forget shutting the cabin door with the seat belt hanging out! You'll catch it on the checklist, but it's always a "D-oh!" moment. Great video!
Haha seen that a bunch of times.
My third flying lesson: when shutting down, I forget all about cutting the mixture and pull the keys straight out. After frantically slashing the mixture, the instructor gives me a VERY puzzled face. Kept me up at night for a month. Thanks as always for the videos!
Haha that happened at the end of one of my videos with someone recently, but I won't tell you whom ;P
Actually not that big of deal if you stop the engine by cutting the mags, but it can leave fuel in the cylinders and make an accidental start more likely. How do you stop your car engine?
I try to do it intentionally about once a week as a mag check: low-idle, key to OFF, listen for the engine to slow, key back to BOTH, engine comes back to life, then idle to 1000 and mixture cut-off to actually stop the engine. Then keys to OFF and out. If you've never done that, then you have no way to know if your mags actually disengage when you turn the key to OFF.
Ditto, but I did not get a puzzled face, I got a never to do that again face.
Well, it's comforting to see I'm not the only one who has done this :')
if you usually drive a car you can get used to that to think keys will stop the engine :)
I ride a bike :)
You are awesome for putting out this video and I hope that you and everyone who watches this channel has these mistakes as their worst mistakes ever
Fairwinds and blue sky’s
I have done almost all mistakes listed in this video. Except wrong RWY.
Can't remember one single flight where I have done evrything 100% flawlessly.
It's a tall order! Thanks for sharing.
Haha. Back when training for my PPL, i forgot one tie down attached to one of the wings of my PA28 and got into pilot seat getting ready for engine start procedures.
My CFI - retired US army Col. Said:
“Unless you wanna start today’s lesson with Steep turns on the ground; I suggest you remove all tie-downs”
That was both embarrassing and hilarious 😂
How about landing at an AFB a couple miles over from your civilian destination. I hear lots of annoyed men with guns show up and take you to see the base commander, where you get to talk to your flight school, and get a new lecture in navigation when you get home!
Neil Harbott .. Rapid City and Ellsworth AfB?
Barry Kiesz air force base
Stay WELL CLEAR of KXTA aka Homey Airport! You'll get a naaaaasty suprise... and probably never be heard of again.
You made an excellent point that I try to explain to people that is often overlooked. Learning to fly is a VERY lonely endeavor. All you have is the word of your instructor. You have no peers with which to gauge how well you are doing and it makes it very difficult at times.
Kind of like skydiving... as soon as you let go of the plane, you have never been so alone!
The worst is when it’s Opposite Day and you raise the gear on approach
Great video, I must say I chuckled when you said forgot chocks, I've done that twice, and I remember a few flights when on base trying to turn on the landing and and finding it still on
What’s the crank on the ceiling of that Piper for?
Stabilator trim! Trim wheels on the floor only became an option after about ten years of Cherokee production. Good question :)
Excellent comments. Many apply to those of us who fly rotary-wing as well. Nobody's perfect. Thanks for the reminder!
Today, I started to preflight the wrong airplane (similar tail numbers). When I looked at the Hobbs and realized they were completely different from the binder I had, I started to secure the airplane and locked the keys to the airplane I was supposed to fly inside the wrong airplane. 🤦🏻♂️
When I got my first car I had a nasty habit of locking my keys in the car, so much so I started walking with a spare set. One day I illegally parked in a fire lane of a strip mall because I quickly needed to use an ATM. When I got back to my car… yep, you guessed it. I locked the keys in the car… with it running, spare set in the car also.
I run back inside to use a payphone (this was a awhile ago) and call a locksmith (which I had the number memorized by this time). “Yeah, me again. At the strip mall this time”
“Okay, I’ll be right there”
So I go back to my car to wait for the locksmith to show up and it was at this moment 🤦♂️. Busy parking lot, bright sunny day right in the middle of the afternoon and my cars running with the keys in the ignition, spare set on the center console… sunroof open and all the windows down. 🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️
The first little clip is so true, I’ve passed Calculus 2 yet can’t do simple addition or subtraction as soon as I’m flying. It’s like your brain is already so overloaded you can’t do anything else.
Turning the volume down to talk to a passenger, then forgetting to turn it back up. Oops!
Been there, let me tell ya!
My first flight after passing my check ride with a passenger. I request, and am granted flight following. There was a lot of chatter over the radios so i turned down the volume. After some time I realize that there is no chatter over the radio and that I should've been handed off to the next frequency. Sure enough, i turn up the volume and the first thing i hear is, "Cherokee N----D, if you can hear me, turn 30 degrees to the right". Even as a pilot, you never stop learning.
i'd let ATC tell you but you probably wouldn't hear it...
The "Intercom" "OFF" "Head Phones" selector switch got bumped to off - little bitty tiny thing. "Why doesn't this radio work where are the light gun instructions - - - - " My co-pilot/not current 3rd class pilot passenger figured it out. No, I didn't let him pay for the gas.
Flying into a remote airfield on my first solo nav, overflew the runway at 1500 feet, windsock showed no wind so I thought I would just take my pick of the runways. Chose runway 28 and was coming into land and struggling with sink. Once I landed I realised that I had just landed with a tiny bit of tail wind. Mind blanked as I flew the whole way with a westerly wind at 270 and didn't put 2 & 2 together that the wind would be straight down the runway I had chosen.
I want this guy as my instructor
I landed at the Charles Lindbergh airfield at Lessay in France (LFOM) for some go around practice and whilst having a break, my instructor Bill Brooks and I chased after a taxiing Jodel which still had his T bar pull handle attached to the nose wheel! It bounced up perilously close to the prop every time he hit a bump.... I recommend a visit just for the history.
Loose end of the seatbelt hanging out the door of a c150...starts loudly slappin the fuselage shortly after tkf and you just KNOW a wing is coming off🤣
If it's not hanging out too far it makes a buzzing noise consistent with engine RPM... sounds like an oil starvation or engine bearing problem. Power on, it's there, power off, it's gone. Try noticing that half way through your first solo long cross country flight over decidedly mountainous terrain 45 minutes from the nearest airstrip.
I once reported "28Z left downwind for runway 23, left" (the second "left" was my nerves repeating I was downwind left). ATC replied "28Z, cleared to land 23, and it's just 23, we only have one." (poking fun at me)
23 center
probably after 40 hours of flying as a student pilot, i made the mistake of forgetting to pull the chocks. had the engine started and pushed the throttle in to get going but i wasn't moving. i looked down and saw that the brake was off then looked out the window and saw the chocks still on. i felt like a complete idiot and my flight instructor just put more throttle in till we jumped the chocks XD
This was exactly how it happened to me. You feel literally like the dumbest man in the world!
I agree with you on how important it is that you make sure others are learning. I think that makes a new pilot show the FAA how much they love flying. How important flying is
You're doing great man I wish you the best I'm working on my PPL great advice
Too kind. Thanks, friend :)
*squawking 7500*
*minutes later*
"Ladies and Gentleman, this is your captain speaking. We got two f-18's on our sides, please take a picture before I tell them to return. It will help your Instagram to gain followers."
Done a couple of those but never the wrong runway. The DG is always in my eye on final. I too use the trim in the 140 in the flair. Also on the climb out. I like to unload the yoke when ever possible. cool videos guys!
6 happened to me last week
Great video! Just got home from an overnight XC and can count at least 5 things I messed up - on the first leg.
Flying doesn't have to be perfect to be safe, but we should always be striving for perfection. That's why I debrief every flight, including via track log data & CloudAhoy and I try hard to catch my mistakes in flight and either correct them quickly or make a strong mental note to avoid it in the future. Key there is not to let it distract and cause additional mistakes.
Best one yesterday was keying the mic to talk to my passenger. Ironically I said something like "I think that's the approach path" as I pointed to an airliner passing off our right that ATC had alerted me to. Very nice approach controller came on and said, "I'm not sure if you were asking me, but yes, that 737 is on the XX arrival." :) I replied, sheepishly, "Oops, I keyed the mic didn't I - so sorry, and thank you very much."
I knew someday I was going to do that. Thankful it was with my wife and not during a checkride!
I'm kind of waiting to do that too, or hear a student do it. Great philosophies, as always, btw sir.
Nicholas! Just wanted to let you know this video of yours is being shown at the Corpus Christi International Airport's Control Tower by their during tours of their facility. I recorded as much as was allowed of a tour they gave to South Texas Flying Club, and your video is included in this recording. They seem to love you there, and I thought you'd like to know. Keep up the good work! Here's the link... southtexasflyingclub.org/gallery-blog/
In the earliest part of my PPL training after a botched approach, my instructor told me to go around. I replied "go around?" to confirm and he replied "go around." I had thus far never done a go around in my training. I pushed the throttle forward, pitched up enough for straight and level and proceeded to clean up my flaps. The mistake I had made was that I didn't allow my airspeed to reach Vr prior to retracting and a 0 flaps configuration raises our Vso. We started to drop for about a second. I, being a flight sim enthusiast knew that you apply back pressure until your IAS is at or above Vr and then pitch for Vy. Everything happened so fast. As we started to climb my CFI asked me "you ok?" Slightly shocked and shaking my head in disbelief I replied "yeah I'm ok." He said "you never clean up your flaps until you are well above your stall speed. I started to slap your hand."
That was a big lesson that I will never forget.
I saw a plane land once with a chalk swinging from his tail wheel.
One time me and my instructor was trying to start the engine for like 2 min, but then realizing the key was not turned to both. It was a pull starter c150
Taking a friend on a flight in the plane: yelling clear prop pushing that starter button and the prop turns through 3 time never starting, only to look down and see you've left the mags off....(Those Cessna guys don't know how lucky they are with the mags key turn to start.
Ahh, yes! I see how you could make that mistake.
I did that once, starting the engine with my mechanic leaning in the open door. "I can't seem to get it started". He says "what say you turn it on", pointing at the mixture, which was closed.
I was landing my flight schools 172 the other day and made a perfect flair for a nice gentle touchdown with the right differential brake locked thankfully my instructor is amazing and saved it.
How bout forgetting to make the mixture full rich when starting up and not knowing why it won't start
Been there - but after a few seconds it's rather obvious. Uh Oh it kicks off with the priming charge and dies. So really it's after a few times that it's obvious.
I really needed this video! I just started flight training at the USAF Aero Club here in Okinawa, Japan. It seems really challenging to fly here, but I feel a little more relaxed about not having to be perfect at everything all the time. Great video as always!
Glad I could be of service! That's why I made it :)
Landing on wrong runway a common mistake?...I dont think so..I can honestly say i have NEVER landed on wrong runway. How can you mistake runway 14 for 32...Your compass and gyro was Inop?
Happens everyday.
Alan Jerousek Wrong runway, ha. In Florida, along the coast where there are tons of airports with very similar runways, pilots land at the wrong airport all the time. Their airport diagram says Runway 16, they see 15 on final and just rationalize to themself that their diagram is out of date. Meanwhile they're landing 10miles from the runway they think they're landing on. Happens all the time.
I'm quoting paint it black here: like a new born baby, it just happens everyday
I would think landing at the wrong airport is more common although with foreflight and new tech it shouldnt happen!
Judging by the first couple hundred comments, both happen with some frequency.
Awesome video! :) Almost all of these are not very high risk issues and very glad that when I do dumb stuff like forgetting something I am not alone. As technical as flying can be and as many opportunities as there are for things to go south on you, it can also be very forgiving. Just never count on it.
Notification Squad :p
You guys are slow today ;)
We we're stuck behind the skywest
Haha
Thank you. I just started my flying lessons. Will remember your video.
Very open, honest and generous of you!
Yep I've done all of those and then some. When I was a student pilot, I used to visualize the compass rose and interpret the runway numbers as they are oriented on a DG, which is completely opposite, and that was a hard habit to break. Definitely have taken off with a full set of flaps in an Archer and didn't realize it until it after it began levitating off the runway in a very strange way. Definitely called up Nashville Tower when holding short of the non-movement area ready to taxi. I've yelled "Clear Prop" and realized the keys were still in the FBO's 3-ring binder sitting in the backseat. I've climbed into a Skylane and fired up and tried to taxi out before realizing the nose wheel was still chalked. Full aft elevator and lots of power solved that problem. Rod Machado has a great technique about aggressive leaning for taxi that stops you from applying full power without full mixture that I highly recommend (essentially the engine will sputter/quit when you advance the power beyond 1000 rpm). I resorted to taking a photo of the hobbs & tach before and after each flight on my phone.
As my instructor would say "any of those mistakes are forgivable; just make absolutely sure you've got that gear lever down!"
last time I forgot to remove the pitot tube cover.. then after flying the traffic pattern without knowing the indicated airspeed we landed on the grass runway with my instructor where I had to remove it.. now THAT was a walk of shame :D
Instructor was great on a first dual cross country when I industriously cranked in a new altimeter setting. Let me fly it until he could say "look out the window, does anything seem wrong?"
"Getting too low" was the reply, and the Instructor calmly said "Let's keep it out of the trees while I explain about altimeter settings". Sixty miles away and an extra 1,200 feet of elevation does NOT make for a large correction to the altimeter, recheck what you think you heard before making any large correction to the setting.
That was great instruction never forgotten, letting me see the possible result of an error (no biggie in daytime VFR) before explaining.
As a student, this might be the most helpful aviation video I've seen yet!! Seriously. Thank you.
I'm glad you thought so :)
I left my chart in a club owned PA28 after I spent ages putting the cover over it. I also once tried to start an engine on lean mixture. For the latter, in my defence, I didn't notice the red thing sticking out because Robin DR400s don't have a red control for mixture!
I started training in October last year and love this channel!
I've experienced almost all of these points 😕
So glad you enjoy it :)
Distraction, inexperience, being under pressure are at the roots of all these mistakes. Discipline, practice, planning is the cure for all of them.
I don't fly often enough, so I debrief all my flight and write up everything in my notebook, which didn't go well. The list is quite long :) but glancing through the last few flights helpedme to improve a lot, step by step, weeding out the mistakes, and leaving the for a good laugh from the past.
I got to see a Cherokee 235 taxiing with the hand tow bar hanging off the front!
19 years at a really cool FBO!
checking your DG every leg in the pattern is like looking at the side mirror before changing lanes. Landing at the opposite runway or flying the opposite traffic pattern leads to mid air collisions. Your runway is on the DG fly that heading on final.
I have been a truck driver for over 30 years I can't wait to fly and get my pilot's license which is very very close but when I will say experience can't be all good and it can't be all bad you have to have a mix that's why they call it experience
John Yates I was a driver for 15 years and decided I wanted to change my office view to FL350 so I got my pilot license best decision I’ve ever made.
Done both chocks and tiedowns, especially when I first started learning, got to a point where my instructor would just look at me blankly until I realized I'd forgotten them (usually just the chocks tiedowns maybe 1 time)
for tie down ropes being forgotten look at S5-DAA in LJLJ, guy tried to take off with concrete blocks still attached... it's all written up in Slovenian but you can put it together
My very favourite trim ......in the roof........140 hp hershey bar wing Piper......so smooth so fine.......unlike the stiff clunky 160s and 180s on the floor
I yelled "clear prop" and set mixture rich and tried starting up my 150. After multiple trials in a span of at least 2 mins, I realized I left the starter key in the off position......that made me want to literally take my stuff and get it out of the plane and call it a day. Im not the only one, nice vid
I watched this video couple of month ago before I started PPL training, it didn't make a lot of sense. Now I'm back re-watching it and it is very funny.
Sounds about right. I’ve never seen a tie down still attached but I have seen a tow bar still installed and watched a guy jump his chock block.
...still trying to save and find money for flight lessons...friend already gave me a log book ...maybe I should I start my log book with “things not to beat myself up about when I do them”. Thanks for the vid...great content. Be well.
A serious subject delivered with excellent humour! Thanks for sharing!
Glad you enjoyed :)
Pulled the mixture instead of the carb heat downwind to land my first time up by myself after returning to flying after a 10 year hiatus retraining, completing retraining and signed off on my flight review by my instructor. Quickly realized my mistake as the engine was coughing and got the mixture back in before the engine died.
I've made most of these mistakes during my private pilot training. One of my favorites was on a flight from Tracy to Livermore, I addressed the tower at Livermore as "Tracy Tower". "Cessna 12345 this is Livermore Tower". For those of you unfamiliar, this is even more embarrassing because Tracy is untowered.
Thank so much for giving some commentary with your videos, so many people just have the noise of the plane. They should just show photos. Love your videos.