If things aren't right, don't go
And if bad things can happen to good pilots, you can just imagine how many bad things can happen to student pilots.
During that first year of flying I never canceled a scheduled training flight unless it was because of weather. I could count on one hand the number of times a flight didn't happen because of problems beyond my control. They included:
Water in fuel. This was discovered by the flight just before mine, and resulted in an aborted takeoff with another student and my instructor 10 feet or so off the ground.
Dead battery. This was found out by the flight just before mine. The seasoned pilot didn't notice the popped fuse and apparently used up the battery when lowering the flaps.
Bad magneto. This was discovered during a runup at an airport in Class C airspace. It wouldn't come clean when we leaned the mixture, so we taxied back to the flight school.
Failed airspeed indicator. This was discovered during a climbout and resulted in a very short trip.
Many pilots have horror stories, but I was glad that mine happened before I was in the air. A good student pilot knows that it's OK to say no to a flight. This is assuming that they were taught by good instructors. What makes a good instructor? Well, I have had three so far, and all of them paid attention to details. They all love flying and understand its inherent risks. They would tell you when you didn't remove keys, or left switches on, and all the little details that never seemed like so much on the surface. They taught me well--so well, in fact, that a day did in fact come when I said no to flying on a perfectly cool, clear evening in July.
I had called a day or two in advance to schedule an airplane for 6 p.m. on a Thursday. Since I work during the day I made sure that I left some time in order to travel to the field and just relax. This day I arrived early, around 5:20 p.m. As I entered the FBO I saw my regular airplane taxi and fly away into the blue. This was unexpected, but it was OK since I did say between 6 and 6:30 p.m. I figured that it would work out, and I would wait.
Around 6:30 p.m. my airplane came back and I watched as the student pilot and his seasoned instructor parked 20 feet out into the middle of the small ramp area. It was obviously a very new student flying because when he got out of the airplane a number of his things fell out onto the pavement. I can relate!
What I couldn't relate to was that both the student and instructor left the airplane, doors wide open and seatbelts hanging out, in the middle of the ramp. They walked inside, and I quickly followed to get the log sheet from the student. I looked to see that no ending tach time was entered, and they of course had completed the last line of the log sheet. Oh, bother, time for a new sheet!
Eventually I got back to the airplane, and it was still there, key still in the ignition. I was a bit miffed. I started to clean up the cockpit and noticed the transponder on ALT and a few switches left on, including a portion of the radios. When I checked the fuel it was low, of course, and I would have to refuel it before leaving. I was more miffed because now I was looking at a good half-hour of prep work before I was going to go anywhere.
As I started to put the airplane back together again, I began to feel very bothered by it all. I was thinking, A good instructor pays attention to the details, and this "instructor" before me wasn't a good one. My next question was, What could this instructor have missed if the airplane was left in such poor shape for the next guy? I was, after all, going to get some solo time in this evening and had only 63 hours of total flight time experience. Then again, I would be the pilot in command during my solo flight, not the instructor.
The bad feelings started to grow stronger. The attraction to the sky began to wane, and I no longer wanted to go flying. I couldn't believe it! Nothing felt right.
I started to reset the switches and lowered the flaps for the preflight. Then I stood still, thought for a moment, and decided to put the flaps back up.
I cleaned up the seat belts and closed the doors, ignored the lousy instructor as he walked by without offering a hand, and moved the airplane to its parking space on the ramp. I threw the chocks under the wheels and went inside and told the owner of the school that I was going to pass on flying this evening.
The FBO personnel asked what was wrong, but since the student before me was still in the FBO, I simply said, "Nothing...don't worry about it. I'll see you later." I hated not flying on such a nice evening, but I wasn't going to ignore the feeling I had. It was also hard for me to explain to anyone. It just didn't feel safe.
Why? I'm not sure. Perhaps it was my training and past experiences. I can accept the risk that flying exposes me to, but I don't want to assume any more risk than that. I hope that the student I saw this night found an instructor who pays a lot more attention to the simple details and our always-important checklists.
For me this night's checklist included the all-familiar IM SAFE, and boy, was I glad I used it. I was Stressed because of the Environment, and Fatigue was starting to increase as the evening dragged on after a long day at work.
I said no that night, and as much as it hurt, it was OK to walk away--so that I could fly again another day.
"Learning Experiences" is presented to enhance safety by providing a forum for students and pilots to learn from the experiences of others. It is intended to provoke thought and discussion, acknowledging that actions taken by the authors were not necessarily the best choices under the circumstances. We encourage you to discuss any questions you have about a particular scenario with your flight instructor.
By Barry Orlando
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