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Taxiway Blocked?

Because everyone knows that we are all jerks! He is probably counting his money in the hangar with a couple of hot stews.


So what does "airline pilot" have to do with parking a truck in the way of taxiing airplanes?
 
So what does "airline pilot" have to do with parking a truck in the way of taxiing airplanes?

If you are an airline pilot I am sure you know the answer to your own question. Even if you don't have the "attitude" I am sure you know some. ;)
Running joke among my airline pilot friends. 8)
 
There are penis heads in all walks of life. The airline cockpit has it's share. The joke when you make Captain is that you will always know who the a-hole in the left seat will be.


If you are an airline pilot I am sure you know the answer to your own question. Even if you don't have the "attitude" I am sure you know some. ;)
Running joke among my airline pilot friends. 8)
 
539D2922-6446-42B1-8A27-8BAF70CDC848.jpeg
Stolen from another thread.
He's in the hangar helping the mechanic on his annual.
 

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Showed those two interesting posts to the Lessor management - a really nice guy. He may be spring-loaded to favor the flight school, since he interpreted the regulation as only pertaining to unattended aircraft. That is, so long as you are wandering around in the vicinity of the blocking aircraft all is ok. More to come, I am sure.

As I interpret your response, if you and your buddy each placed a plane on the taxiway- one on each side of the flight school area in conversation- and set about doing walk arounds and inspecting the planes, it would not be a problem in the airport management view? So spend sunny Saturday parked blocking in the flight school staying close to the plane but dithering. Seems that one day will get the message across.

Can not say one group is ok, but others are not!!
 
I used to be down the taxi way from a goober who would pull out of the hanger then taking his time would get it perfectly aligned on the taxiway center stripe, then call the fuel truck...
 
We have them too. Fortunately they don't fly all that often, and only block a portion of one alley. This school blocks an alley that services 50 or more hangars, including jets and turboprops. Sooner or later a wealthy guy in a Citation will get blocked, and we will have an instant fix.

One of the local blockers ought to know better - he was the chief pilot for a fleet of jets. Now in his autumn years he teaches in a 172. Takes his students a full ten minutes from engine start to taxi.
 
Bob,
Besides the obvious irritation for your operations at the airport, these new students are being given improper instruction. They will learn that blocking taxiways is an approved normal procedure. Then over time your issue with just one operator will become the norm. Everyone will be blocking taxiways and not just at your airport.

Years ago a nearby airport had an instructor who was not the best quality from the perspective of being a professional. His students were not taught the meaning of a traffic pattern. They would come and go from any direction which they chose. As a result it became impossible for me to control the traffic pattern at my airport. After several years of banging my head against the wall I finally gave up as I was becoming a basket case. As a result traffic patterns at all of the airports in this area are now nonexistent. The sad part of this is that the DPE was also rather lackadaisical, so as a result the students had no trouble passing their flight tests. They all passed. This examiner would even issue certificates based on phone calls.

Don't give up. The issue at your airport needs to be nipped in the bud NOW!
 
The funny thing is we sort of had a work-around. The guy running the flight school complained about us going around - we were more or less happily ignoring the blockages.

i agree about teaching the wrong things - but folks are now assuming that the FAA wants the factory checklists completed, and most of those are interminable.

I think I already railed against overly long checklists - lots of good reasons for shortening them to things that can actually cause problems! Forgetting to turn the master on cannot hurt you! We need fewer pilots who need to be reminded to turn the master on! Opinion.
 
Bob,
Besides the obvious irritation for your operations at the airport, these new students are being given improper instruction. They will learn that blocking taxiways is an approved normal procedure. Then over time your issue with just one operator will become the norm. Everyone will be blocking taxiways and not just at your airport.

Years ago a nearby airport had an instructor who was not the best quality from the perspective of being a professional. His students were not taught the meaning of a traffic pattern. They would come and go from any direction which they chose. As a result it became impossible for me to control the traffic pattern at my airport. After several years of banging my head against the wall I finally gave up as I was becoming a basket case. As a result traffic patterns at all of the airports in this area are now nonexistent. The sad part of this is that the DPE was also rather lackadaisical, so as a result the students had no trouble passing their flight tests. They all passed. This examiner would even issue certificates based on phone calls.

Don't give up. The issue at your airport needs to be nipped in the bud NOW!

Again your wisdom brings home an important point. Teach a student a bad habit, and he will be a pain. Let a school teach bad habits and the industry all suffers.
 
I think I already railed against overly long checklists - lots of good reasons for shortening them to things that can actually cause problems! Forgetting to turn the master on cannot hurt you! We need fewer pilots who need to be reminded to turn the master on! Opinion.

While we're at it maybe we should start a drive to change the name "master switch" to its correct name "battery disconnect." Ever watched a guy trying to hand prop a Cherokee with the "switch off" and the fool in the cockpit leaving the mags on and "Master" - battery off? Wake up in a cold sweat..
 
Cure for that: teach hand starting.

My opinion only - use two words - "contact" and "switch off." Before you start, make sure your student knows which switch you are talking about.

And if some clown wants to give your beautiful wood prop a mighty shove, release the brakes to soften the blow!
 
Hand propping doesn't need to be dangerous, though it is too often fatal. I started as the line boy at 13 propping J-3's and propped everything up through a 600HP Stearman that had no electrical system. I guess we're off subject, but there's a right and wrong way for everything, and with the internet any fool can propose swinging their leg under the prop, pushing the prop to test the brakes and so on. Still beats blocking the taxiway. Shall we talk about helicopter pilots hovering where they damage things on the ground, injures people, and create chaos. How about hovering over aerial banner set ups, so they blow the banner away while you're on final to launch it? The list goes on and on... Pray for peace.:LeahHarp2:
 
I got a complaint for overflying a helicopter at 400 feet. When I pointed out that they routinely overfly me at 100 feet I was told "that's different". Apparently the difference was the helicopter was on an inactive runway, but I was only on a taxiway.

I have had two incidents with rotor wash - once at the fuel pump, where the Super Cub I was fueling was turned 90 degrees, and once in a SC on a taxiway where one main was lifted off the ground. When a chopper overflies me, I get a clearance to stop and set my brakes.

Our helicopter crossing is 600' above the runway. That is exactly where a Cub is on climb out, or where a 172 is on a simulated missed approach. Fortunately, about three years ago we stressed separating fixed wing and choppers, and now the tower does so, even though apparently they are not required to do so. Lots safer now!

Every single time I have a helicopter incident I file a NASA report.
 
Bob— back to the original problem. Maybe I missed it, but is there an explanation for towing the school airplanes out of their parking spots instead of taxiing out? Are they parked on a hill and worried about prop blast? If they’re not, then last time I checked, the breakaway thrust requirement of a C-172 parked on level pavement is about... oh... idle thrust. Why can’t they do all their prestart work in the tiedown and just taxi out when ready as is common everywhere else?
 
Good question. Their Seneca starts in the tiedown. Almost blew me over when I passed behind it a couple weeks ago. I have witnesses.

School owner says his insurance demands that they start with nosewheel on the taxiway centerline. I would need to see that in writing.

Things are quiet - but today they tell me Gary was blocked both on the taxiway and the ramp. Maybe he will chime in.
 
How interesting. So the “insurance demands it” seemingly doesn’t apply if the airplane is too heavy to move by hand. Hard to guess why it’s so important an issue with the 172s but not with the Seneca..
 
That's what I was taught from my first lesson. But my current CFI suggests not to buckle-up until after engine start as fire is most likely after start and egress would be easier. I do what he wants for my BFR but confess I buckle-up first otherwise.......

That said, I was safety officer in a military flying club with a large fleet of C150's and we did have several losses from induction fires probably because of pumping throttle instead of using primer. I chalked it up to poor training. Two total losses over about 10 years/students were buckled-up and still managed egress. Several other fires with less damage. Majority were students of one CFI.

Oh well,

Jack

PS. I buckle-up

I remember reading an article a long time ago about a guy who started before strapping in, and was surprised when the throttle was stuck wide-open. Hit a hanger because he couldn't get his feet on the STOP pedals. Something like that. Same idea in a dozer; you can't operate it if you aren't in the seat; you're just along for the ride.
 
After 50 years of flying I'm still trying to get em to understand where your prop blast is going, whether you pull out of the hangar or pull up to the hangar!!! A little prop wash can make a mess of things.
 
At X58, we have the misfortune of sharing a frequency with a nearby training airfield. When I am in the pattern at home field, I have to listen to "upwind", "downwind", "crosswind", "base", "final", "traffic advisories", "what is the active" (at an uncontrolled field). I sometimes turn the radio down and clear alot. And oh yes. I visited this field recently and had to follow one of these folks in his B-52 pattern. Plus, every student's voice tells me that "he ain't from around here!"

You shouldn't underestimate the power of epaulettes

https://youtu.be/f6q2VKsvQEQ
 
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