EB3 Posted April 12, 2020 Report Share Posted April 12, 2020 Both winglets reached out and smote my noggin today. While the right winglet gave me a good bump, the left gave me a bump AND an abrasion. The top of my bald head looks like my wife hit me with a frying pan. I was sweeping and using the blower in order to clean up my airplane's home, and this is the thanks it gives me. I have the winglet covers with the red dangly-thingies, but I never use them. Maybe I should start. At least I no longer have to fear the trailing edges of Cessna flaps. Those things about killed me a few times before I sold those planes. Deep down I know it's my fault, but I prefer to blame the plane. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AGLyme Posted April 13, 2020 Report Share Posted April 13, 2020 I put the covers on in the hangar for just that reason. The covers are padded... how do I know this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingMonkey Posted April 13, 2020 Report Share Posted April 13, 2020 The droop tips on my CTSW have drawn blood... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Baker Posted April 13, 2020 Report Share Posted April 13, 2020 Not a CT, but I took the corner of a droop tip on a Cessna 182 to the center of the forehead once. It staggered me a little bit. At airshosw I have seen many people bump thier heads oc CT's before, and the common theme is they are always wearing hats. A hat blinds you to what is above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WmInce Posted April 13, 2020 Report Share Posted April 13, 2020 I cannot count the times I have tried to bend the wingtips on my CTSW (Roger Lee was witness to it, at least twice). And . . . it is always on the same spot on my head. I have an almost permanent mark there. However . . . I think I have found a solution. I have stopped wearing my ball cap around the airplane. Has not happened since then . . . thankfully! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BravoFoxtrot Posted April 13, 2020 Report Share Posted April 13, 2020 I put one of those small orange traffic cones on the floor under the wingtip to remind me as I am walking with my head down that I am about to thunk my head - again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EB3 Posted April 13, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2020 20 hours ago, Tom Baker said: Not a CT, but I took the corner of a droop tip on a Cessna 182 to the center of the forehead once. It staggered me a little bit. At airshosw I have seen many people bump thier heads oc CT's before, and the common theme is they are always wearing hats. A hat blinds you to what is above. I walked full-speed into the diamond-edged flap of my old C-182A. Went to my knees in pain and my vision went gray. The blood was streaming down my head and nose as I came to my senses. I looked back, and there was a strip of skin 3-inches long dangling from the flap. I wore a big band-aid and a ball cap for about a month afterward. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Baker Posted April 13, 2020 Report Share Posted April 13, 2020 5 minutes ago, EB3 said: I walked full-speed into the diamond-edged flap of my old C-182A. Went to my knees in pain and my vision went gray. The blood was streaming down my head and nose as I came to my senses. I looked back, and there was a strip of skin 3-inches long dangling from the flap. I wore a big band-aid and a ball cap for about a month afterward. My dad had a diamond shaped scar on his forehead for years from an old Cessna. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warmi Posted April 13, 2020 Report Share Posted April 13, 2020 Uhh I know the pain. On my low-wing the only dangerous part when working around the plane is the prop and after painfully nailing myself a few times , a simple solution with brightly colored towels seem to be working fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandpiper Posted April 14, 2020 Report Share Posted April 14, 2020 Hat or not, I continue to bang my head. At least with the hat I bleed less! You'd think that after 46 years of owning high wings That I'd have it figured out by now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WmInce Posted April 14, 2020 Report Share Posted April 14, 2020 1 hour ago, sandpiper said: Hat or not, I continue to bang my head. At least with the hat I bleed less! You'd think that after 46 years of owning high wings That I'd have it figured out by now. John, I guess we should have kept our helments! . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandpiper Posted April 16, 2020 Report Share Posted April 16, 2020 On 4/13/2020 at 11:45 PM, WmInce said: John, I guess we should have kept our helments! . . . So, would we wear one for preflight and take it off to fly? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runtoeat Posted April 17, 2020 Report Share Posted April 17, 2020 I feel everyone's pain. I've gone down to my knees and seen stars a few times after running into the points of my winglets or scraping my head on the sharp flap edges. Finally, after a years of wacking my head, I now "walk slow with head down" whenever I'm even near my CT's wing area. Not much hair left so I'm in the "wear a hat" camp to protect me for the next time my Pavlovian training fails and I have a wing altercation. I constantly caution visitors to my hangar and those who might stop by to look at my CT during fly-ins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrassStripFlyBoy Posted April 17, 2020 Report Share Posted April 17, 2020 As my hanger is also my home pole barn, I'm in it nearly every day. I've conditioned myself to do the "cave man hunched over walk" when passing under the wing. I've found myself doing this within the hanger even when the airplane is not parked in it. Highly conditioned after a few good head smacks on the old Cessna. I think the designers realized the sharp edges of the ailerons were not dangerous enough, so corrugated them to be an even more unsafe cheese grater design. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Flapper Posted August 4, 2020 Report Share Posted August 4, 2020 I'm purchasing a 2008 CTLS and I'm wondering if anyone could measure the distance from the bottom of the winglets to the floor. Hope my golf cart top will fit under it. Thanks Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Baker Posted August 4, 2020 Report Share Posted August 4, 2020 Just under 5 feet for the winglet. With a normal T hangar you can easily shift the airplane to one side and park the cart on the other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Flapper Posted August 4, 2020 Report Share Posted August 4, 2020 Thanks, appreciate the info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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