Lessons learned: When a situation seems confusing, go slowly. When I spotted the helo, I was going really slowly and was able to quickly stop. Only when it was clear that the helo pilot was waiting for me to move did I finish my turn.
ASRS Reports
Interrupted preflight leads to cowling popping open during takeoff
I was in the process of closing the left cowl when one of my formation pilots asked for a piece of tape. I had released the upper latch so the cowl was flush to the aircraft but I had not secured the three lower latches as the other pilot was standing in the way.
Ag pilot vs drone
As soon as I pulled up out of the field from that pass, I saw the drone at my 2 o’clock, about 80-100 feet above me, at maybe 1,000 feet horizontally at the most. I abruptly pulled up to further ensure I wouldn’t hit it.
Student has close call during solo cross-country
Suddenly, the conflict aircraft came very close to my aircraft. I maneuvered my aircraft to avoid. Inadvertently we came within a couple of hundred feet of each other.
Cropduster vs. drone
I managed to regain flight with a large amount of corn on the leading edge of the wing and booms.
FBO fuels wrong plane
Knowing I started full less than two hours before, we added fuel and searched for the leak. NONE. I called the FBO and told them what happened — their investigation determined they fueled the wrong plane!
Formation disrupts training flight
As we started our left turn at 1,400 feet from 220 to 130°, I noted a low-wing airplane 100 feet to my left and 100 feet below me. I grabbed the controls from my student and started to level out and climb and then noted a second similar aircraft flying in formation, which flew directly 100 feet below me.
Training flight interrupted by problems with landing gear
Student put the gear down and instructor heard a popping sound, along with a flashing nose gear indicator.
Crosswind pushes plane to land on taxiway
Due to the wind constantly pushing the aircraft to the left, the aircraft underperformed during the climb. Hearing the stall sound, I noticed that the aircraft was unable to climb, so I rapidly lowered the nose and landed on the taxiway. The landing was successful, with no harm to either the aircraft or anyone else.