Even the most experienced and cool pilots sometimes experience unexpected
surprises.
Look at the surprising discovery Elisabeth and Niklaus Wächter
made when opening their Taifun's cowling...
Elisabeth:
I took the picture last year (2006) in September or October with a
mobile phone I happened to have at hand.
On
that particular day, Nick thought it might be a good idea to check
the engine compartment to make sure that everything was ok - no loose
hoses or screws, etc. It was very sunny and warm at that time and
he had been "on the move" with his Taifun almost every day.
I was standing nearby when he was removing the upper part of the cowling
and was somewhat surprised that he just stood there for a while and
didn't say a word - which is absolutely not characteristic to him
;- )).
But what surprised me even more was what I saw when I looked into
cowling myself. There was this perfect little birds nest with 3(4)
intact eggs in it!! We have no idea for how long the nest had been
within the cowling already.
The bird must have found an opening next to the front wheel on the
bottom of the cowling and enter it from there. Even though it looked
very cute and funny - we removed the nest immediately. And we were
very happy that no harm had been caused by the intruder.
How easily it could have caught fire and I don't want to imagine what
could have happened then ....