one time when i was in El Paso dropping off a fare, i was distracted by a ramp rat (a line service representative for the airport) while i was preflighting. well, damn this is stupid, i forgot to replace the oil dipstick and close the hatch on the cowl. i did the rest of my walk-around and never caught what i'd done until after take-off and noticed the hatch flapping in the wind. "uh-El Paso tower, N12345 has an open hatch - negative emergency - just need to return to the airport." i taxied back to where i parked, picked up the dipstick and put it back. heh, yeah, i sure felt like a dipstick for that one!
