Stupid things pilots do...

[Chairboy]

Question about that, in the PA-28 Cherokee I fly, I switch the fuel pump off after takeoff until I begin my descent checklist, and the mechanical fuel pump provides fuel.  Should I expect that the mechanical pump isn't enough for starting a primed aircraft?  I'd like to know the answer (because I'm curious) without doing something embarassing in front of my instructor, this seems like a good time.

[LePaul]

I was pre-flighting the C-172 I had rented and a student pilot was just starting to taxi.  I heard this terrible grinding as he taxi-d along.  Quick glance...doh!  Got on the radio and told him to stop and shut down.  He hadnt taken the tow bar off the nose gear of the Cessena 152.  Luckily it never flipped up and made contact with the prop.

Funniest thing I've ever seen:  Instructor leans into cockpit (standing outside aircraft) to fumble for some documentation.  Student pilot and friend are horsing around, student wants to show off how light the airplane is and shoves the tail down into the ground, pops the instructor right in the head with the yoke.  Opps!

[muerto]

Question about that, in the PA-28 Cherokee I fly, I switch the fuel pump off after takeoff until I begin my descent checklist, and the mechanical fuel pump provides fuel. Should I expect that the mechanical pump isn't enough for starting a primed aircraft? I'd like to know the answer (because I'm curious) without doing something embarassing in front of my instructor, this seems like a good time.

The mechanical pump on a PA-28 should provide enough fuel pressure for the engine to run/start as long as its in good working order.  The electric pump is there to keep the engine running in case the mechanical pump breaks.
Even so, you should follow the POH checklist; and it has you turn the electric pump on prior to starting.

[Terror]

Originally posted by spitfiremkv

Stupid thing I didn't do:
I aborted another solo flight because the ammeter light was on(shows a discharge which means you are draining the battery). Came back to the ramp, they sent the plane to maintenance-next day however, another student had total electrical failure on the same plane.
Glad it wasn't me.

I had electrical failure on one of my solo flight.  Wasn't much of a big deal though.  Just put it down at my alternate field and had the school fly me out a replacment airplane.    They sent a pilot/mechanic in another C172.  He landed, we refueled the plane and I took off.  Left him there to figure the problem out...

Terror

[muerto]

I fly a 170 fairly frequently (a 1948 170A ragwing) and one of the things that bothers me about it is that I have to use a different proceedure with it.
In most aircraft I put the keys on the instrument panel so I can see them from outside while preflighting (and I know the mags can't be on; except because of a short)
The 170 has that hand hold that the keys usually wind up in and that combined with the higher nose (taildragger) means I can't see them from outside.  So I'm always making sure they're in my pocket or doubling back to the cokcpit to be sure they're not in the in the mag switch.
A minor annoyance yes, but I'm paranoid about certain safety issues, and I feel like I spend extra time looking for the keys.

[Otto]

I never set the Parking Brake because it required a mechanic to release it.

[Golfer]

Wasn't my foul up, but I reacted quite well if I do say so myself.

My friend and I were tooling around in a PA-23 Apache, I had just passed my  multi private and he was working on his in the same airplane.  Since I met the insurance requirements, we would rent the airplane and go over a few things since he didn't get to fly as frequently as I.

We were someplace over illinois (returning from Peoria) and I called for a tank switch from aux to main.  Boost pumps on, asked him to switch one at a time on my call.

Left side, switched fuel pressure/flow ok boost pump off.  pressure/flow ok. Fuel quantity ok.

Right side, switch.  Pressure/flow ok.  Boost pump off/Pressure/flow ZERO!

Boost pump on, nada.  In the 3 seconds it took to figure this out the right engine quit.  Did a little troubleshooting and found that the tank selector for the right engine (a goofy little slider) had not been switched all the way to main.  I pushed the selector forward and because our prop was still windmilling (I didn't feather immediately because I figured the engine failure was fuel related) it came back to life and I throttled up the engine.

Continued on our merry way.

[Maverick]

All,

If you are depending on the mag selector to keep the mags "cold" I'd suggest you stop doing that. Always assume the mags are "hot". There is a recurring AD that calls for inspection of the mag switch to determine if it actually DOES short the mags out. They frequently fail the test meaning it doesn't make the mag "cold".

Hand propping by yourself is a bad practice. You should never be in such a hurry that you put yourself at the business end of a freaking industrial blender with no QUALIFIED person at the controls.

[Golfer]

That's not always the case Mav.

I'm a bit of a different case, but I'm an experienced line service worker with training in hand propping procedures and safety.  The Aeronca Cheif I fly doesnt have an electric starter and the only way to start it is to hand prop.  Same for the Taylorcrafts, Luscombes and Cubs I've flown.

In face not long ago I made the oops of leaving the master switch on in a C-172.  Overnight.  Next morning, setting up for a startup, reach for the master switch and damned if it isn't already on.  I had already remembered the previous days events which required me to restart and reposition the airplane.  I was sure I had turned off the master switch once I got the engine on.  Went around the building, parked in the back.  Oops.

Pushed the airplane in the grass, set the break and primed the engine.  Throttle to idle, and just the littlest ittyist bittyst bit off of idle and 2 pulls later I was running.  Granted its a stupid thing to do with no experience or training.

I told a bonanza owner to shove it when he got angry with me when I said no when asked me to hand prop his airplane.  He'd been trying to start and start and start on the cold winter morning and ran the battery dead.  He was not in a heated T-hangar, didn't ask for a preheat and to my knowledge didn't have an oil sump heater that you just plug in.  He went out and failed a few times to hand prop, I think I may have saved his life by offering to preheat and use the Jetporter's start cart.  Less than an hour later he was on his merry way.  This could have easily been one of more than a handful of deaths that result in prop strikes every year.

[CyranoAH]

On a related note, Cessna recently published a bulletin stating that it is prudent to switch mags to OFF state for a split second before actually cutting the mixture in order to be certain that the mags are properly grounded.

By cutting the engine via mixture (as usual) without grounding the mags, you could leave a potentially hot engine in the hangar...

Also, you may want to hand prop your airplane for two cycles if it has a dry carter system. At least it's normal procedure in the IO-540 that the Z-50 I fly carries.

Always have your plane with chocks on and stay clear of the trajectory of the prop, pulling the blade away from the plane, so that if it coughs, you can quickly gain some distance.

Just my .02 €

Daniel

[Habu]

Just don't leave the mags off for more than a split second or you might blow your exhaust off when your switch them back on and you get that almight backfire.

[Chairboy]

It's not a backfire, it's 'afterburners'.