Yesterday was an unusual day here in Ohio for December so I decided to
get my badly needed flying "fix". Clear skies, smooth air and a
planned trip to southern Ohio and back to home base (DLZ). Onboard was
myself PIC and wife. The usual pre-flight and run-up everything normal.
After reaching altitude of 3500 I noticed a very sight roughness in the
engine which was really just more of a "seat of the pants" feeling that
the engine wasn't running as smoothly as it should. I guess that comes
with flying my little Cessna 150 over 600 hours and developing a feeling
how things should feel. After about 15 minutes the engine seemed to
smooth out and everything was fine. I decided not to go over the hilly
terrain in southern Ohio and instead just fly for the sake of flying and
stay closer to home. The engine was running smoothly and we climbed to
5500 to site see and visit some local airports along the way.
Belfontaine Ohio (7I7) has a new airport so we decided we would stop and
visit the new lounge and FBO facilities before heading back to (DLZ)
about 40 miles away. Taxi for takeoff engine running smoothly, run-up
and one mag completely failed. Extreme leaning and usual procedures do
not help and after another run-up, still one mag with no fire. Taxi
airplane to tiedown and contemplate options. I consider myself to be a
very safe pilot with over 1000hrs experience but I must confess that I
did consider several options before picking the right one for me. Please
keep in mind that we were only 40 miles from home airport. I know my
airplane. I'm not perfect and I will always be learning, I try to fly
safe and make good decisions.

Option 1 - Leave the airplane for repairs and take taxi to home base to
pickup car. Very long wait for taxi and pain in the butt. Return trip by
car later for plane pick-up and unknown mechanic working on airplane.

Option 2 - Let my wife take taxi to home base and I fly airplane out on
one mag. I would never have considered her flying with me on one mag!
This gets the airplane to home base and my mechanic that knows the
airplane well.

I chose to leave the airplane there, get the mag replaced and take the
taxi. BUT I cannot overemphasize enough how TEMPTING it was to consider
flying the airplane out on my own and get it repaired at home base
(DLZ). A little voice kept saying "You can make it, You can do it!" go
for it. I can't state strongly enough how strong the urge was to avoid
all the hassle and just fly the airplane home! Yes, I knew if I lost
the other mag I was in for a forced landing. Yes I knew if I did have a
forced landing I might get hurt. A forced landing might have resulted
in bent metal and dismantling the airplane. But that little voice kept
saying "go for it". I know it might be hard to understand, but in a way,
it was harder to NOT to fly the airplane out of there!

I didn't "go for it".... Today is another day. The sun is shining and I
have an airplane sitting 50 miles from home. It will get repaired on
Tuesday. I will have my wife drive me to the airport to pick-up the
airplane. I will pay the repair bill. Then.... I'll just go flying for
awhile....with a big smile on my face!

QUESTION... What would you have done?