Checklist Hijinks and funny stories

Bristol · April 16, 2007

Anyone have any funny stories relating to use of the (of not using) the start up checklist? Nothing tragic, save that for other threads, but funny stories.

I forgot to turn the mags on once during training and I had the checklist in my hand ! My instructor gives me this silly look and says " Think you might want to turn the mags on?" LOL

Bristol

klmmarine · April 17, 2007

I skipped the mixture lever on startup the other day and neither my instructor or I caught it until I had to return to the hangar, (in the pouring rain of course) to get the battery charger for a jump start.

Then there was my first pre-flight when I was paying such close attention to the tail surface inspection I walked right into the horizontal stabilizer at head level.

Edited April 17, 2007 by klmmarine

kodoz · April 17, 2007

Parking brake when I was doing fixed wing. My instructor let me keep adding throttle until the plane was rattling and shaking pretty good, then suggested I review the checklist when things don't work as they're supposed to.

April 17, 2007

I walked right into the horizontal stabilizer at head level.

I bet that made for some interesting conversation with the instructor!!! Hopefully there wasn't anybody around :lol:

vertrefadmin · April 17, 2007

I know a close friend who tried starting the helicopter without the master batt on.

I have a funny thing that happened to me not related to the checklist. I was a young flight instructor and trying to be cool, I tried jumping the fence to the heli-pad where the student was getting ready to start the R-22. As I tried to jump the fence my pants got caught on the top of the fence and I tumbled face first into the asphault in front of all the other students. Really smooth. Hard to yell at your student for screwing up an auto when I couldn't even hop a 3 foot fence.

Eric Hunt · April 17, 2007

Wow, where to begin... Actually, I preface this by saying that these incidents happened because of some attention-grabbing thing going on which interrupted the checklist flow. Checklist was in the head, by the way, all single-pilot-hands-full-busy-stuff.

Starting a B206 with the fuel valve off - it gets to about 40% and then dies, as does your ego.

Starting a B206 with rotor tied to the tailboom - fortunately, the checklist item "at 25%N1, confirm rotor turning" caught this one.

Making a running landing in an S76 with the park brake on - fortunately, it was one of my usual super-smooth landings, so only a small flat spot on the tires.

klmmarine · April 17, 2007

I bet that made for some interesting conversation with the instructor!!! Hopefully there wasn't anybody around :lol:

Actually I tried to play it totally non-chalant. When he said something about it "Did you just hit your head on the stabilizer?!" I said yeah but not hard... Dispite the rising welt on the side of my forehead.

Bristol · April 17, 2007

I know a close friend who tried starting the helicopter without the master batt on.

I have a funny thing that happened to me not related to the checklist. I was a young flight instructor and trying to be cool, I tried jumping the fence to the heli-pad where the student was getting ready to start the R-22. As I tried to jump the fence my pants got caught on the top of the fence and I tumbled face first into the asphault in front of all the other students. Really smooth. Hard to yell at your student for screwing up an auto when I couldn't even hop a 3 foot fence.

I can picture that, hahah. Now that's funny.

April 17, 2007

My friend (Bob) has a vintage 269A that he dumped tons of $$ into and i donated ALOT of hours to bring it up to date w/ all the latest & greatest parts & A1 flying status. During this, we were having problems getting the thing started, so one day as we were checking to make sure the starting vibrators were working properly: i disconnected the starter lead to the starter, pulled out #1 spark plug, set up the #1 cyl so it would fire but not rotate the engine. Then while i'm under the helicopter & Bob is in the pilot seat, i instruct him to turn on the master, & hold down the starter button while i check everything out underneath. I hear him click down the button, but? nothing happens, the vibrators don't "buzz" the starter contactor doesn't "click" ( so i am thinking to myself---'this thing shouldn't even rotate the engine') I then tell him to click the button a few times,,, again i hear him clicking it but? nothing. I tell him to keep clicking while i get out from under helicopter & observe him clicking the radio button on the cyclic, instead of the starter button on the collective. I ask him "Bob ! WHO ya tryin' to talk to?!" & w/ out missing a click, he answers "you"

icqa · April 17, 2007

Yesterday for whatever reason I forgot to lower the mixture control. The engine fired at first probably do to some fuel already present. I tried to start a few more times before thinking something was wrong. I was about to get out when I saw the owner standing in front of the hanger making a downward motion. I did have the checklist and don't know why I skip that. Usually I forget to the take the frictions off to the Low RPM horn and light.

klas · April 17, 2007

Once, I forgot to put on my seat belt. While turning, with doors off, I suddenly started to feel light in the seat.....

FauxZ · April 17, 2007

on the "check rotor brake off" part of the checklist, I would normally reach behind my head and tap the brake handle to make sure it wasn't locked on (R22). Well one day I tapped it enough that it got caught ever so slightly, just enough for it to engage the starter kill. My CFII and I couldn't figure it out, the Chief FI was towing out the R44 at the time and heard our strife. She stuck her head in the door and nudged the handle. Fired right up. Good times.