I posted in civ av about Harrison Ford's latest debacle and it got me to thinking about something that happened to me long ago. It would have derailed that thread but it's an interesting story (to me anyway) and I thought it would be interesting to hear about rookie mistakes you have made that turned out ok but were teachable moments you never have forgotten.
When I was 17 I was in the process of attempting to get my PPL. Ultimately I didn't because the winter of 76-77 was so brutal nobody was flying and I entered the military before the weather broke and just moved on. In the fall on my first solo cross country, after spending all my training hours at small uncontrolled fields, my instructor sent me to a "big" airport. We practiced communications on the ground and in the air as if he were the controllers so I was pretty confident.
Got to the controlled airport with no problems. Got my gas and receipt. Called for taxi out to the active and identified myself as a student pilot and unfamiliar with the airport layout. At the end of the runway a Beech model 35 was in front of me and radioed "Beech blah blah ready for take off". The ground controller replied "Beech blah blah go ahead" and with that the power came up the Beech was on the active and on his way. I mean in less than a second that power had come up. So I move forward to the line and radio "Cessna blah blah, student pilot, ready for take off". The controller responded "Cessna blah blah", 2-3 second pause, "go ahead". So runway environment check, nothing on final, here we go power up onto the runway and just as my wheels left the ground I heard the controller say, "Cessna blah blah, did you contact the tower before you took the active?". "Cessna blah blah, student pilot, no sir, you said go ahead". Controller replies, "I meant go ahead and contact the tower". I replied "Cessna blah blah
student pilot you told the Beech in front of me to go ahead and he was gone in less than a second.". Controller replied, "I meant contact the tower and he did". To which I replied "Cessna blah blah, student pilot, then that was a quick clearance!". To which the controller replied, "Cessna blah blah, contact the tower on frequency blah blah". Well the tower controller was smoking hot, "Cessna blah blah.....
student pilot....when you arrived you talked to the tower...why did you think it would be any different upon leaving?". I replied, "the plane in front of me reported ready for take off and that controller told him to go ahead, in less than a second he was gone, I reported ready for take off he told me the same thing, how am I supposed to know you're not in the bathroom or on a break and he was filling both roles?". Absolute dead silence for at least 10 seconds then "Cessna blah blah, I assume you want to do the standard 3 touch and goes?" to which I replied, "Negative, Cessna blah blah will be departing to the southeast.". I figured I had done enough damage for one day and if I made even one small error during those touch and goes they would hang me for it.
When I got back to my field my instructor was waiting for me. I don't think I was out of the departure controllers sector before he got a phone call. I told him what happened word for word and he actually patted me on the back and said I handled that really well. Anyone listening to the tapes will realize that the ground controller screwed up big time. You identified yourself as a student pilot and unfamiliar with the airport and that should have clued the controller to keep an extra special eye on you. He used completely inappropriate language. You never should have made it on to the active without a call asking where you were going. Don't worry about anything, it was a learning experience, nobody got hurt, I will handle the FAA. He defended me and I never heard another word about it. I always appreciated his actions in my defense. Since then, if I have ever had a fleeting thought that I might have misunderstood a controller I ask for a repeat. I may sound dumb, but I've never screwed up an instruction since then.
What's the point of an open door policy if inside the open door sits a closed mind?