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Your biggest ever mistake

What happened @loco? It looks like you climbed back up to 13000ft and landed elsewhere. Most GA planes would have minus zero climb perf with any ice, but I guess a TBM is a lot better.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

There was no icing this time, just severe turbulence. Maybe it could have been avoided, as I am not yet proficient withe the onboard radar. I had the airport on my right, and also yellow/red area on the radar to the right. I did 10 deg left to avoid, then another 10, and then it felt like the plane is going to fall apart. I said that I need to go back and did a 180 to the left. Controller was asking me to go right, but I just said “unable”.

Last Edited by loco at 01 Mar 13:37
LPFR, Poland

The one you have yet to make.

@loco, why did you select Kassel? I can understand not choosing Dortmund because that was, according to the frame you posted, still in the area of the front but why not Paderborn?

EDL*, Germany

I selected Kassel because I’ve been there a year earlier for some training approaches. I was really panicked at the time.

LPFR, Poland

Did you check the airplane for damage? But the structure of the TBM can take a lot I guess …


Not one of mine but I filled up a C150 and it took 96 liters to fill it. It only holds 98.

Bathman wrote:

…but I filled up a C150 and it took 96 liters to fill it. It only holds 98.

So I guess there must be someone around your hangar who steals fuel from parked aircraft

EDDS - Stuttgart

who steals fuel from parked aircraft

That happened to me. I refuelled the day before a flight to full, put the plane back to the hangar. It was under half the next day, with no puddle under the wings.
A bit more than 50 litres.

United Kingdom

Very long time ago I took off with my then newly aquired Cessna 150 at Altenrhein into what looked like a slight mist. Climbing through 500 ft, we became total IMC over the lake. Managed to keep the plane controlled with the artificial horizon (and I would think a LOT of sim flying at the time helped with that) and while wondering what the hell to do now broke out of the top of the lake fog into VMC again. Turned towards the downwind leg only to find that it all was completely fogged in below me.

Told the tower we were in trouble and he advised that he could see all the way to Rorschach in the west but that the area to the east appeared worse, so I turned the plane towards there and slipped below the cloud over land and then made it back to Altenrhein at 300 ft over the lake. Last plane in for that day, several others on round trips e.t.c. got stranded elsewhere.

In retrospect I should have diverted to one of the numerous other small airfields in the area which were open. A couple of weeks later an Austrian Commander crashed into the lake trying to approach on a self-made NDB procedure. An IFR approach had been blocked by cross border banter for a long time but after one of their top politicians was killed in the said crash, they finally relented. It still took years more to implement the ILS that is there now.

Another one was when I had my IFR and also my airplane upgraded, coming back from the South of France and learning in the region of Valence that the Lyon airports as well as Geneva were fogged in. Grenoble had marginal IFR so set up for an ILS there again in the Cessna 150. The Caravelle before us did a go around but I decided to continue, seeing some lights at minimum but not really enough continued for a moment and managed see the runway and land in what was certainly below CAT I. After us, three airliners went around. Should have gone and landed in Valence of course.

One I thought was a major mistake but wasn’t mine: At Frankfurt Rhein Main at the old GAC I taxied for departure when I saw a huge Pan Am 747 coming opposite me. I stopped and was ready to turn and run when a voice started screaming to the PAN AM to stop immediately and where did he think he was going???. Looks like he had old charts and lost his way, sticking his front end into the way to the GAC. They needed a tractor to move him back. In the mean time a follow me guided me below his right wing tip and past his shut down engines. He was still there when I took off.

With the Mooney, approaching Bressaucourt I had to go around due to being high and fast, did a circuit and got a beep sound on short final I could not identify. In flare noticed the gear light had gone from green to red, too late as we just touched down. Held the Johnson bar by hand in place and managed to click the lock in during roll out. Turns out, the pin on top of the gear lever had been just in enough to initially give me the green light but had not clicked in place. Now, bevor every landing, I do a massive pull on the gear leaver to make sure it really is in.

One which did not happen to me but I withnessed: A Bravo approaching a big international airport was told to make a short landing and to vaccate on the first taxiway out. He touched down at the very beginning of asphalt and stood on the brakes like possessed, coming to a stop less than 100 m from the beginning. He then turned to what he thought was the first taxiway he was supposed to take to find himself opposite a grinning DC9 crew who wanted to line up. At that moment both main gear tyres failed. That controller now always tells you the designator of the taxiway he wants you to use…

LSZH(work) LSZF (GA base), Switzerland
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