Narrative:

I filed an IFR flight plan [and] preflighted the airplane and everything checked normal. I decided to go ahead and add a quart of oil after the preflight which is out of sequence of how I usually preflight the aircraft. When adding oil I spilled a small amount of oil. I laid the dipstick across the wing step of the airplane and went to the back of the airplane to retrieve some paper towels to clean the spill up.with the distraction of the spill I inadvertently forgot to reinstall the dipstick. I took off and contacted departure. A few minutes after contacting departure they said a lineman found the dipstick on the ramp. I asked to return and the controller cleared me to the airport. I landed normally and taxied to the ramp. I checked the oil level and the level was still normal. I filed another flight plan and proceeded with the trip.I did not really think this could be a violation until I was contacted by the FSDO and was asked about the issue.corrective measures to prevent in the future:while doing the preflight; add oil during the preflight in the same sequence every time to establish a familiar routine.I studied preflight information on cessna high wing airplanes to make myself better familiar with these procedures and also reviewed the poh.finally; keep a rag handy to be able to put the dipstick on top of the cowling across the top of the door to access the dipstick and add an item to my checklist to lay the dipstick down on the rag so if it was ever left out again it would be seen from the cockpit before engine start instead of out of sight on the passenger side wing step.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: The pilot of a Cessna 206 reported that while accomplishing the preflight he neglected to reinstall the engine oil dip stick.

Narrative: I filed an IFR flight plan [and] preflighted the airplane and everything checked normal. I decided to go ahead and add a quart of oil after the preflight which is out of sequence of how I usually preflight the aircraft. When adding oil I spilled a small amount of oil. I laid the dipstick across the wing step of the airplane and went to the back of the airplane to retrieve some paper towels to clean the spill up.With the distraction of the spill I inadvertently forgot to reinstall the dipstick. I took off and contacted Departure. A few minutes after contacting departure they said a lineman found the dipstick on the ramp. I asked to return and the controller cleared me to the airport. I landed normally and taxied to the ramp. I checked the oil level and the level was still normal. I filed another flight plan and proceeded with the trip.I did not really think this could be a violation until I was contacted by the FSDO and was asked about the issue.Corrective measures to prevent in the future:While doing the preflight; add oil during the preflight in the same sequence every time to establish a familiar routine.I studied preflight information on Cessna high wing airplanes to make myself better familiar with these procedures and also reviewed the POH.Finally; keep a rag handy to be able to put the dipstick on top of the cowling across the top of the door to access the dipstick and add an item to my checklist to lay the dipstick down on the rag so if it was ever left out again it would be seen from the cockpit before engine start instead of out of sight on the passenger side wing step.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.