Apollo
Well-Known Member
It's summer time and I thought this might be fun. What is your most embarrassing mistake as a pilot, builder, or designer? I'll start with a confession or two:
I was taking a series of aircraft design & stress analysis classes for a UCLA certificate. Dan Raymer taught the class on UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) design. After an enjoyable four days of training, we were each asked to sketch out a UAV for a small firefighting plane, one that could fly through smoke and dump a load of fire retardant on a brush fire.
So I started sketching and paid careful attention to tank placement, wing location, etc. Dan walked by, looked at my sketch, and laughed. "What are the windows for?" he asked. Sure enough, I had drawn a cabin and windows on my UAV firefighting plane. I wasn't fast enough to say that it was an "optionally piloted" UAV. "Start over", Dan smirked. Honestly, I was so used to sketching manned aircraft over my lifetime that I brain-farted on a UAV design. It was so embarrassing to make such a basic mistake with Dan watching (not to mention the rest of the class).
Confession #2: About 30 years ago, I flew into Hawthorne airport and was just hanging out. A Long-EZ landed and they were still relatively new back then. I started running along the ramp to get a closer look. I was right in front of the tower when I tripped over an unused tiedown fitting embedded in the concrete. I ended up flat on the ground with a couple bloody abrasions. I'm sure the tower folks got a good laugh. It was a good lesson and I've NEVER done that again!
I was taking a series of aircraft design & stress analysis classes for a UCLA certificate. Dan Raymer taught the class on UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) design. After an enjoyable four days of training, we were each asked to sketch out a UAV for a small firefighting plane, one that could fly through smoke and dump a load of fire retardant on a brush fire.
So I started sketching and paid careful attention to tank placement, wing location, etc. Dan walked by, looked at my sketch, and laughed. "What are the windows for?" he asked. Sure enough, I had drawn a cabin and windows on my UAV firefighting plane. I wasn't fast enough to say that it was an "optionally piloted" UAV. "Start over", Dan smirked. Honestly, I was so used to sketching manned aircraft over my lifetime that I brain-farted on a UAV design. It was so embarrassing to make such a basic mistake with Dan watching (not to mention the rest of the class).
Confession #2: About 30 years ago, I flew into Hawthorne airport and was just hanging out. A Long-EZ landed and they were still relatively new back then. I started running along the ramp to get a closer look. I was right in front of the tower when I tripped over an unused tiedown fitting embedded in the concrete. I ended up flat on the ground with a couple bloody abrasions. I'm sure the tower folks got a good laugh. It was a good lesson and I've NEVER done that again!
