VINTAGE INSTRUCTOR
THE
BY DOUG STEWART
Kick the tires: Part I A few winters back I remember hearing a client of mine call over the UNICOM, shortly after he had taken off, that the airspeed indicator in his airplane wasn’t working. My first thought was that he probably had not checked to see that his airspeed indicator was “alive” prior to liftoff, for if he had, he most likely wouldn’t be in his current predicament. But to give him the benefit of the doubt, I supposed it was possible (although not probable) that some condensation might have formed in his static lines while the airplane was in a heated hangar overnight, and now that it was exposed to sub-freezing temperatures in the winter air, the condensate had turned to ice. Since the airplane did not have a static line drain, I couldn’t fault the pilot for not checking that item during his preflight inspection. But I had a strong suspicion that perhaps this pilot’s preflight inspection had been less than thorough. I told the pilot, over the UNICOM, to re-enter the pattern and land, and we would then check it out. I wasn’t too concerned about his landing without an airspeed indicator (ASI) because we had practiced a couple of landings with the ASI covered up (Hint, hint…something we all should periodically do!) during his last Wings program training. My suspicions were confirmed as the airplane turned off the runway and entered the taxiway leading to the ramp. From my window in the fixed base operator I could see the streamer boldly emblazoned with the words “Remove
32 FEBRUARY 2008
Before Flight” hanging from the pitot vane on the bottom of the wing. But remembering the admonition that folks who live in grass houses shouldn’t play with matches, I wasn’t about to set a large fire under that pilot’s ego. For I, too, had made a similar mistake (that’s when I learned to be sure to check that the ASI is working prior to rotation), and I know that if there were to be a gathering of pilots who had all made the same mistake, it would require a very, very large hangar to hold all the attendees. But this does lead us to a discussion of preflight inspections. What constituted a proper and thorough preflight? What types of conditions might ground the airplane, even if it were in a flyable condition? How should we proceed if we find a squawk? Is there any time when a “kick the tires, light the fires” mentality might suffice? And last, but far from least, what ramifications might we expect if we miss something on a preflight inspection? Let’s take a look at the last item first. The ramifications might run from something not even noticeable during the flight to something that ends in the loss of airplane and/or life. As an example, I remember a friend of mine who missed the fact that one of the fuel caps on his beautiful Cessna 195 was not secure. As a result, the fuel in that tank was siphoning out, into the slipstream, all the while he was on his flight from Maine back to Massachusetts. Now I am sure that he probably noticed that the fuel gauge was showing a much faster drop than normal, but it is quite possible that the pilot succumbed
to the same type of denial that I experienced when the fuel line broke in my Cardinal (described in a recent article) and continued on with his flight, all the while rationalizing away the problem. But unfortunately his C-195 turned into a glider just 5 miles short of his destination when it ran completely out of fuel, and in the ensuing forced landing, when faced with the choice of trying to fly above the power lines that were between the airplane and the chosen landing spot or below them, the airplane hit some trees and ended up rolling into a ball. Literally! Miraculously no one was killed, and the pilot and passenger suffered only minor injuries. (The way it was discovered that the fuel cap had been ajar was by the red stains [remember 80 octane?] that covered what remained of the wing and empennage.) The question arises: how did the pilot miss the fact that his fuel cap was loose? The answer could be one of many. In my experience I have seen quite a variety of reasons why pilots miss items on a preflight inspection of their airplane. Probably heading the list is distractions! Other things I find included on the list are being in a hurry and complacency, to mention a couple of them. Just as it is so important to maintain a “sterile cockpit” whenever we are operating on or in the vicinity of an airport, it is equally as important that we ensure we are not distracted by our passengers while inspecting our airplanes. All it takes is one moment of inattention, due to the distraction