REFLECTOR: DUMB MISTAKES

[Tom Martino]

Once again the Reflector has made my life easier.  I needed to adjust my
main gear cable.  I was dreading the task of un-swaging the cable at the
gear-leg end and re-doing it.  Someone on the reflect said to simply
tighten the threaded end a little more into the rod-end bearing.  That
is so obvious - I feel like an idiot.  Problem solved!
 
That brings me to my main point ... I have a lot of experience building
and restoring aircraft.  I have a fully outfitted shop (hangar) right on
my property.  Yet, when I get "deep" into a project ... my eyes and
brain sometimes "short-circuit".  
 
So I thought ... what a cool thread this would be:  "Dumb things we have
done and had to re-do".
 
*	I am sure I can't be the only one who has did a beautiful
soldering job or crimped on some terminals ... only to find out your
forgot to slip on some heat-shrink.
*	Or how about tie wrapping wires before your runs are completed
... then trying to "thread" some new wire into the bundle without
un-doing all of the wraps.
*	I was so proud when I installed my "throttle" micro-switch on
the throttle body of my Lycoming ... only to find out the gear horn
"sounded" with full throttle instead of low.
*	One of the best was when I struggled to route a push-pull cable
from nose to engine ... and forgot to thread it through the instrument
panel.  So I re-did it!  Then I realized I could've just remove the end
and fed it through the back side of the panel.
*	I also loved having my entire instrument panel completed and
when I went to install it, I realized some of the components did not fit
well due to the "curvature" of the place behind the panel.
 
Catch my drift?  I could go on ... but I fear no one would ever fly with
me again.
 
Just kidding ... I always check and double check ... then have an
inspector look at all my work.  I have won prizes for my planes
including a "first place" in its class at Oshkosh.
 
I hope others will add some dumb mistakes so I don't appear to be a
lone-idiot.