You forgot something
Poor Chuck. He actually tried to do everything right and still didn’t win. Attention to detail is quite important in aviation, and Chuck only missed one this time. Sometimes, missing that one detail might be the one that “gets you”.
I recently learned that it was the B-17 that prompted the invention of the checklist after airplanes were getting more and more complex and the “details” to pay attention to were piling up. On the first flight of the B-17, the detail of having left the elevator lock on was missed, which led to the aircraft stalling on take-off and crashing, nearly cancelling the entire project. After the implementation of the checklist, Boeing was able to prove the aircraft was safe after all and eventually 13,000 of these were built.
A Cessna 172 might not be as complex as a B-17, but attention to detail is important in all areas of aviation. Another example about detail is a story about one of my friends. He always puts “attention to detail” on his resume, but wonders why he seldom gets a call back. The one time I looked at it, it was full of spelling errors and half sentences. I couldn’t help but wonder if this might have something to do with it. He still hasn’t seen the irony in it yet. But maybe that’s because he is not a cartoon guy looking for the irony…
Mike
To Chuck, flying needs no purpose!
There’s a $30 CD on eBay reprinting a 1944 Corsair parts catalog. While I’d love nothing more than to see Chuck finish and fly his, it’ll be 150 years old before he gets the parts together!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/294276861369
At least he’s still taxiing around the same airport…I think.
…
Wait – checked the fuel, ran the preflight, did the checklists, etc etc? Is Chuck having an off day?
A related-to-the-comic-of-the-week story: I was once asked to fly someone from Macon, GA to another airport. Relatively short hop, in a relatively small aircraft. Wasn’t familiar with the state, much less the airport, so I headed to the city’s primary airport (KMCN – made sense, any local would probably call it ‘Macon’ instead of the mouthful ‘Middle Georgia Regional’), and taxied to where I figured the main FBO was. Fellow wasn’t there, but fortunately I had his phone number. Turns out that there’s a small reliever airport a few miles north literally called Macon (KMAC), and that’s where he had been waiting. Felt the same way Chuck does. Though I’m sure there are worse examples, and I’d like to hear some…
Chuck even forgot to mention the weight&balance sheet that he did, for this once.
If he did the w&b, did he took the passengers in account ?
“I see one propeller, two wings, three wheels, checklist complete!”