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This last week I spent several days in Denver getting the annual done on our aircraft. It just so happens to be the closest base for warranty work, and so I make the journey once a year.
Apart from missing my wife and pets, the time went by pretty quickly with some hard work on AOA with this video and because my sister lives here. Not a bad gig!
To make a long story short, and get to something relevant, I was thinking on the way back home about how this experience was like flight simulation.
Although in Flight Sim we don’t have mechanics charging us when our stuff breaks, there is something I can relate.
Whenever work is done on your aircraft, especially after intense maintenance like an annual, it’s the most ESSENTIAL time to be thorough about preflight. This is not the time to cut corners or get in a hurry to get home.
My experience with A&Ps (airframe and powerplant certified mechanics) is that they are very professional, almost always thorough, and do a great job. They are usually finding a lot more things wrong than a pilot would see on the surface. That’s not to say they are unethical of sticking you with a larger bill, but it is saying that they are there to do their best. Their signature and therefore their butt is on the line.
BUT
You shouldn’t bet your life on that.
In flight simulator we often install something new into the operating system, or maybe we even go through a whole new reformat. This can change something dramatically in your sim without you knowing about it.
I don’t know how many times I have made major changes to my sim, and then gone in flight simulator, slammed forward the throttle and after it’s too late I find out one of the major flight controls doesn’t work. Now the plane is a grass eating machine. One REALLY expensive and wrecked lawn mower. Oops!
Think this can’t happen in real life?
I recall an accident, I believe a Falcon, that had all the controls (or maybe just the elevator) inverse during a major maintenance stay. In other words, all of the controls were opposite of what they were supposed to be. How bad would that mess you up? I know for me that I wouldn’t have a chance unless I caught it on the ground!
This poor pilot was not lucky. He didn’t make it out alive.
The moral of the story is that when you do major changes to your sim, or maybe you even have a new complex addon aircraft, be thorough and run it through the ringer of intense checks. No one likes to waste valuable sim time only to see the flashing ‘crash’ text show up. Bummer!
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I always find myself testing the flight surfaces before I fly (and even test the reverse thrust when appropriate) any more.
That said, I have had a similar experience: one time, my dog walked by and yanked the USB cables out after I had already spooled up. I didn’t realize it, and when I tried to rotate, nothing happened. I also ended up in the trees, although I didn’t crash (I have the realism turned up but crash detection turned off due to its tendency to overreact sometimes).
The good news is that I already had the panel state saved, so there wasn’t much loss.
I would remind the real world pilots that if you see a red tag on the yoke or on any control to leave that control alone. In fact walk away from the aircraft as cafefully as you can. This mean do not touch and you can kill a mechanic or yourself. I know of one mechinic that was cut in half in the LE Flaps of a 747 becasue a FE started throwing switches.
As far as Flight Simulator it is good to know what can happen if you change something and forget to check. That why it has a reset button.
Good point, Kevin. I’ve been through this myself in real life as well. Thought all the maintenance was done but there was still a little paper in the window that said, ‘Do not fly’. Had to wait a half hour just for somebody to tell me we were all good to go and nothing more needed to be done.
Better safe than sorry!
I recall a case when I was trying to fly my RC Cessna, somehow the radio receiver screwed up the things, and I did not test the controls before take-off, it was a hand-start, and did not last long. After the crash I was investigating what happened, then I realized that my elevator control was reversed.
In FSX, when I fly the MD-11 (my favourite until the 737NGX arrives), I ALWAYS do the controls check before TAXI.
Good! There’s actually been instances where this has happened in real life, too. Very scary…
Imagine taking off and having the controls reversed. YIKES!