when i was a little tucker, about 13 and getting ready to earn to fly with the cadets, i went out to the airfield for an air experience day. i was one of the first ones to fly the aircraft, a piper tomahawk had a bit of fuel left in it from the days flying before hand. so the instructor decided to just burn the rest of that fuel and then fill it up for the rest of the days flying after my flight.

He conducted his very precise pre flight, showing me around the plane knowing I was a soon to be student. after the preflight he took me into the office, we looked over some paper work, returned to the plane for our joy flight. unknown to us however, one of the other cadets, 14 and had had 2 whole flight lessons making him clearly an expert on all things aviation, had been asked by the other kids if avgas smells the same as petrol. he had told them to come with him and find out, took both fuel caps off the plane and let them all have a wiff. now while this is not a great thing to do in any instance, the real problem began when he thought he knew how to put them back on again. but cleary the same brain capacity that thought taking the fuel caps off a preflighted aircraft was a good idea, couldnt master the art of screwing a fuel cap back on.

end result ment that not to long into our joy fight, i thought to ask what that liquid coming out of the wings was. and before long my very white faced instructor became my very first ever gliding instructor, a sport of which i have perused to this day

About 30 years ago my buddy and I were flying around in his dad's Champ. We were both wannabe ag pilots at that time. We decided to change seats in the air. Well we got about half way thur and got stuck. The plane was flying pretty straight and level, so no big deal. We were trying to get back to our seats when one of us moved the throttle back to idle.. Crap, we moved around and found the throttle and got it back to flying. We caught our breaths and made back to our seats. We have never talked about it again.

Mike

RoughAir wrote:About 30 years ago my buddy and I were flying around in his dad's Champ. We were both wannabe ag pilots at that time. We decided to change seats in the air. Well we got about half way thur and got stuck. The plane was flying pretty straight and level, so no big deal. We were trying to get back to our seats when one of us moved the throttle back to idle.. Crap, we moved around and found the throttle and got it back to flying. We caught our breaths and made back to our seats. We have never talked about it again.

Mike

What a great story! I'm laughing out loud at the pictures in my mind--mainly because I could see myself trying something like that when I was younger and still invincible.

What a great story! I'm laughing out loud at the pictures in my mind--mainly because I could see myself trying something like that when I was younger and still invincible.

I'm thinking cross out invincible, substitute flexible!

Cary

A friend of mine did this

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=b7547fxKVo ... 7547fxKVos

He says it was safe with another pilot in the back seat holding a quick release for the rope if anything went wrong or he heard the stall horn but I don't know

RoughAir Mike's Champ story reminded me of a similar stunt I tried in a Champ. Flying back from my National Guard unit in Santa Fe to Tohatchi north of Gallup, I encountered rough air north of Mt. Taylor. I remembered that I had not strapped my big square approach plates bag down. I unstrapped and tried to lean over the front seat back to secure it. The nose pitched up and almost dumped me over the seat back. I used my foot to push the front stick forward, strapped back in the front, and ignored the bag bouncing around.

After watching that video (http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=b7547fxKVo ... 7547fxKVos), I was reminded of how much it hurts to crash off water skis at really high speeds--the water feels awfully hard--sort of like hitting wet concrete.

Cary

(Vid) I wonder why he pitched up & made the tow rope angle un-skiable. Maybe the skier pulled the tail down & he couldn't "keep it up"?

Stuff happens to everyone.

I was walking down the side of Ray Arnold's 206T at Cascade, UT and noticed oil streaked down the cowl.

Pointed it out to Ray and evidently someone left the filler cap off. Ray was less than pleased. These guys fly way more hours than I ever will and still do things like us regular guys.

TD

I was driving a Beaver for an operator with several other planes and pilots. One pilot had no sense ,fear or brains. He would fill a Beaver till the floats sank then punch through absolutely terrible weather. IFR with only a compass and gas gauge. He finally got a shot at twins and his first flight was at night in a C310 along with a Navajo for a 200 mile trip. They got to destination , the Navajo went through 2000 feet of cloud to a 2500 foot ceiling and excellent vis. Stunned pilot would not descend; said he didn't trust instruments and returned to base. He got a huge chewing out next day and almost seemed to realize how stupid he was. Continued being stupid and had a short carer.

dogone wrote:I was driving a Beaver for an operator with several other planes and pilots. One pilot had no sense ,fear or brains. He would fill a Beaver till the floats sank then punch through absolutely terrible weather. IFR with only a compass and gas gauge.

So, how did you enjoy your time in Alaska?

Had a great time in northern Canada. 99% floats / 1% skis and no wheels unless twin.