Fly-in Pet Peeves

[Bill Greenwood]

Dennis, this must be a bad time of year for you. There are men with white beards in red suits at many malls, stores, schools, ski areas, and other places all over the country.
And lots of Moms and even Dads or grandparents, bring toddlers and put them in the laps of these old guys. I have never heard one of these old guys complain; but it is a good thing that these toddlers are not inflicted on you or your plane.
As for me, I like people, most of them, and kids in particular.
I think the world and all of us would be better if things were more like kids and golden retreivers. They have wag in their tale and a smile on their face until someone treats them the wrong way.
Little kids and goldens don't wake up in the morning and say, who can I cheat today or who can I start a war with? Evil is not their normal nature, it has to be learned.

[flyingriki]

Dennis, this must be a bad time of year for you. There are men with white beards in red suits at many malls, stores, schools, ski areas, and other places all over the country.
And lots of Moms and even Dads or grandparents, bring toddlers and put them in the laps of these old guys. I have never heard one of these old guys complain; but it is a good thing that these toddlers are not inflicted on you or your plane.
As for me, I like people, most of them, and kids in particular.
I think the world and all of us would be better if things were more like kids and golden retreivers. They have wag in their tale and a smile on their face until someone treats them the wrong way.
Little kids and goldens don't wake up in the morning and say, who can I cheat today or who can I start a war with? Evil is not their normal nature, it has to be learned.

What in the world does this have to do with anything ........? Most of us like dogs and kids. Most of us don't like them tearing up our stuff. We don't blame them, we blame the idiots that raised them.
My plane isn't nice enough to worry about it's cosmetics but that still hasn't stopped some dolts from damaging it and there is absolutely no excuse for that. When I finally get it finished and painted I'll be just as concerned as the originator of this thread. Those that poo poo him don't seem to have anything worth proper care. And that's fine too - just don't insult his concerns when he tries to share his work and his good deed doesn't go unpunished.......!

[stinsoner]

Thanks for going to bat for me, flyingriki. And Bill, I don't even know where to start replying to your comment, although I'm sure it was composed with tongue-in-cheek. I like kids, got 3 boys of my own although they're college/post college age now. They were once toddlers, though. They were supervised and disciplined. I see many kids today who receive neither. Usually they are referred to as spoiled brats. I would never have put my boys in someone else's plane when they were toddlers without first asking permission; but frankly, it would not even occur to me that they should even sit in someone's airplane. I'd just tell them they can't do that. I like dogs, too. We've had 2 of them, although now we have a cat. But like kids, I don't like dogs that are not trained, not restrained, and unsupervised. My brother has a dog(a retriever, by the way) which he loves like a kid. But whenever I visit my brother, this hyperactive dog runs up to me, puts his front paws in my belly, and then sticks his snout...well, where dogs stick their muzzle to check things out. Yeah, I can do without that.

At any rate, I got this pet-peeve about fly-ins off my chest, and I see there are others who have horror stories much worse than mine. It came to mind yesterday when I was polishing the the windows on my airplane when I noticed another scratch on the "D" window. I won't lose any sleep over it, but I think pilots should be aware of their hats(no pins, please!) and jackets(zippers) when they are getting up close and personal with someone else's airplane.

Hope everyone is having a nice Christmas!

Dennis C.

[rosiejerryrosie]

I'm with you Rick. I love to have kids hop into the seat of my Aeronca and find out what the knobs, switches and dials all do. Like it even better when I can take tham for a ride....

[DanChief]

I guess that's the advantage of a beat-up old airplane -- I don't care if people look and touch.

[Mychael]

There are limits though and it should be (but sadly often isn't) common curtesy to respect property not your own. I've had newly fitted wheel spats cracked cos' some lard arse at an airshow thought they'd make a nice shady seat under the wing.
I've been sleeping on my sailboat when it was moored at a jetty only to be awoken by morons thinking it was ok for them to use my boat as place to stand and cast their lines from and finally I've had people from one of the more "camera happy" nations open the wooden framed door of my sportscar car and sit on it (the lip of the door) to take photos of each other, an irrate owner running over & yelling b-gg-r off seems to cross all language barriers.

[avee8r]

Several years back I was invited to bring our AirVenture Reserve Grand Champion airplane to a local Concourse de Elegance Auto Show for display. Guests were dressed to the 9's, enjoying cavier and champagne. While I usually stay by the plane to share its history with onlookers, I took several breaks this evening to admire the other planes and cars assembled. It was on one of these excursions that I happened to glance back to my parking spot, only to see to two young ladies taking pictures of each other while placing themselves on and in my plane. I casually walked back and struck up a conversation with them to check their level of alcahol consuption and intent. While one was more than happy to let me take a photo of her sitting on the lift strut and steping on the wheel pant, as I'd seen her do from afar, the other was more shy and didn't want to repeat her act of lying on my seat for a re-take. Nor was I able to get their names or numbers for later contact should I discover any hidden damage. In the end, everything turned out fine as it always has, and I continue to freely share my love of aviation with all that respectfully ask. By the way, here's a picture of that fateful evening. She doesn't look too distructive does she?

[steveinindy]

By the way, here's a picture of that fateful evening. She doesn't look too distructive does she?

No, not at all (except maybe those heels on your wheelpants). However, she can touch anything of mine that she wants.


BTW, my girlfriend's name is Kat and she approves this message.

[Treetop_Flyer]

I like the old adage... "An airplane is like another man's wife...you can look, but don't touch."

More seriously, i'm just looking for a little common sense from those attending fly-ins. These aircraft are expensive to fix/maintain and the average person doesn't know what they can/cannot touch without breaking it. I had to chase a kid off one of my wheelpants this summer at a fly-in at KAUM before he broke it off. His brother was at the next aircraft over pulling the prop through for fun. Good thing the owner of that aircraft had shut the fuel off and had properly grounded mags.

I love showing anyone who will listen my aircraft and I love letting people sit inside. But the key is that they have to be briefed on what they can and cannot safely touch.

At the end of the day, it's simply a matter of having respect for other people's possessions. Is that REALLY too much to ask? I think not.

[Frank Giger]

She doesn't look too distructive does she?

Not at all - that Grand Champion looks positively gorgeous.