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I swear that everything you are about to read is true.
I was out at my local airport today visiting a friend who was just completing the annual on his T-6. His hangar neighbor across the way drives up and pulls out a very nice Cirrus and begins to load a couple of small bags in the back. With not so much as an oil check let alone a full pre-flight, he and his wife jump in and he tries to fire it up. Low battery. He tries for perhaps two or three more minutes to start it but can never get more than one blade. He gets out and walks around the corner of the hangar row to see if the local maint shop is open (they were not) while his wife sat in the airplane reading a book. He comes back to his hangar and goes inside. Coming out a few minutes later he wanders over to chat with us where we get more of the story. He is going to a small airport up on the coast that has zero facilities and he can't wait for tomorrow or Monday. He HAS to go this afternoon. He said his battery/plane are about four or five years old and when he flew the plane last week the battery was low so he had to have the local maint shop come over with their ground power unit to get him going. He said he doesn't understand why the battery is low because when he shuts down after a flight the voltage is "right up there at 28". He further explains that he has his own home made ground power cart that he has plugged in and it is currently charging. In the subsequent 20 or 30 minutes while his battery cart is charging he tries to start the aircraft several more times. We offer any assistance he might need but he says he requires none. After about half an hour he emerges from his hangar with a cable set which he lays on the ground lengthwise under the aircraft. He goes back in the hangar and comes out pushing a small wooden platform on casters that has two 12v car batteries and a charger secured to it. He then proceeds to lift the "battery cart" into the baggage compartment of the aircraft. He attaches the cables to the cart then goes forward and plugs the other end of the cable into the aircraft. Our hero then jumps in the airplane, starts it up, gets out of a running aircraft (I do not know if the wife was a pilot or not but given that she was reading a book the entire time and not showing any interest in the goings on, I doubt it) walks back to the baggage compartment and disconnects the cables from the power cart. He then walks forward and pulls the cable from the connection at the engine compartment and tries to close the cover but apparently it requires a screwdriver to secure it. He has already closed and locked his hangar so he walks away from the still running airplane (with the wife still reading and not paying any attention) and comes over to borrow a screwdriver. We give him one which he returns after he has secured the cover plate on the side of the engine cowl which is just aft of the spinning propeller. He stowed the cable in the baggage compartment then he jumped in and taxied away. In enough time for him to taxi to the active runway but not enough time to stop and do any sort of run up we see him lift off the runway and depart.
As I sit here I am trying to think of all the mistakes that have been made.
1. Minimal or no pre-flight. At least he put fuel in it but I did not see a sump check.
2. Continually trying to get a start from a battery which is clearly not up to the task.
3. Get-there-itis. He had to go today.
4. Loading/carrying two live lead acid batteries in the baggage compartment.
5. Leaving a running aircraft unattended (again, I don't know if his wife was a pilot or not but I suspect not).
6. Departing with no or a minimal run up.
7. Somehow being ok with the idea that I have to carry my battery cart with me because the ship's battery is not up to scratch.
8. If it takes a screwdriver to open or close the access panel to plug in the battery cart and he had to borrow one to close it prior to departing, how does he plan on opening it at the remote airport on the coast?
It was like the whole thing was an aviation training film on what not to do.
If I had not seen it myself I would not have believed it.
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