Aircraft are not toys, well some aircraft are toys or made for pleasure and sport, but they are not anything to take lightly. You must respect aircraft at all times, never take your mind off of their operations and you must stay heads up even when you are on the ground. This goes for those working around or handling their private aircraft on the ramp as much as naval military personnel working with flight operations on an aircraft carrier. Let me tell you a little story that happened long ago.
You see, I was at the airport, a little general aviation airport, and a guy in a Beechcraft Musketeer with a problem with his battery starts his aircraft by hand propping it. No big deal right? He also set the nose gear chock then goes back into the aircraft to run it up to 1500 RPM to charge the battery.
After doing this and sitting in the aircraft for a while, he decides to get something out of his car, so he gets out and when he steps on the step the CG of the aircraft changed slightly and the nose gear hopped over the wheel chock. As his feet hit the ground the aircraft started forward at 1500 RPM and ran into a bunch of aircraft in front of him.
Indeed, I was with a small crew cleaning aircraft nearby, didn't think anything of it until I saw him chasing the aircraft across the ramp towards other aircraft. Moral of the story, never take your mind off what you are doing, always think safety first at the airport, and aircraft can be dangerous even when they are on the ground. Please consider all this.
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