Training and Safety Tip: Notice the signs

Halfway through my preflight check, I remembered that I had left my handheld radio at home. Harumph. Early in my piloting career I’d had a NORDO (no radio) situation in very busy airspace. That scared me, so I bought a handheld for those “just-in-case” scenarios and took it with me on every flight. But I decided leaving the backup radio behind would be no biggie, and certainly not a reason to cancel my flight on this phenomenally gorgeous day.

The aircraft looked good, so I got in and started up, eager to get in the air.

But the glass avionics panel remained dark. Hmmm.

I then did what I do when my laptop is being temperamental: Shut it off, wait 10 seconds, and try again. The screens powered to life the second time (yay), but I was confronted with a big red X and the warning “ADAHRS hardware fault.” Ugh. I’d seen this before (you can read all about that air data attitude and heading reference system problem here), and I knew the solution: Shut the aircraft off again, wait a few ticks, and then start up a third time.

That solved the ADAHRS problem. But I was starting to wonder about my own judgment. A few small hiccups do not a cancellation warrant, but they did get me thinking.

When I passed my instrument checkride five years ago, I rewarded myself with a new active noise canceling (ANC) headset. It’s been my loyal companion ever since. While taxiing to the runway, suddenly the ANC failed. I pressed the power button and saw a little red light. Oh no… the battery, and no spare in my flight bag.

Still, I forged on. I had flown for two decades without ANC; I would surely survive this ANC-free flight, too.

There were by then five tiny issues which, if taken individually, would have been mildly irritating. Together, though, maybe these were signs from the heavens to quit while I was ahead? The passenger in me countered, “But it’s such a beautiful day.”

During my taxi and runup check, a yellow indicator on my screen warned “check canopy” even though I had verified (several times) that the airplane's canopy was indeed closed and tightly latched. I did some troubleshooting, then ignored it thinking it would eventually go away. On my takeoff roll, as the airplane gained speed, the indicator turned red and an automated voice started screaming at me to check the canopy.

I aborted the takeoff by pulling power and applying the brakes. Air traffic control immediately asked me if I needed assistance, and I said no, I just had a red light that I wasn’t comfortable flying with. I’d take the aircraft back to the hangar and try again with a different one. The controller responded, “OK, it’s always good to be safe.”

Fatigue hit me hard during the taxi back to parking. I drew the line. Despite the spectacular weather, there were too many not-so-subtle hints that told me to take a pass.

I opted to take a long bike ride instead. No need to waste a beautiful day.