On 19 Dec 2006 15:22:33 -0800, "Jay Honeck"
wrote:

What I am trying to understand is, how a husband and wife, both pilots,
would not challenge their spouse's decision to press a situation which
might lead to an uncertain outcome?

I have no idea. Mary and I operate like yin and yang, left brain/right
brain, leaving little room (we hope) for error. How two pilots,
spouses, no less, could press a bad situation is beyond me.

(Of course, has anyone determined for sure that there was a situation
badly pressed in this recent accident?)

Maybe there is a new thread, do spouses that fly together use a
challenge and response type of CRM when they fly together?

Not exactly. We each have our own methods of pre-flight and
pre-landing check-lists, and we both keep a watchful eye on the other,
making sure that no items are overlooked. I don't speak up unless
something is obviously out of place, however.

The only time we use a call-out system is on the takeoff roll, when the
stakes are highest. The copilot's call-outs a

My wife doesn't pilot and our's is rather simple inside.
However I'd think the husband and wife pilots would operate, or should
operate like any two rate pilots in front. One is PIC the other is
helper, but safety from any quarter takes precedence and input from
either seat should be evaluated.

1. "Six good bars" (meaning that our JPI EDM-700 engine analyzer is
showing all six cylinders functioning properly)

Bars? Analyzer?

Engine is running!

2. "Manifold pressure good"

Runway lights are moving by.

3. "RPMs good"
Revolutions per minutes?

Engine got louder


4. "Airspeed's alive"

Runway lights are moving faster.


If any one of these four parameters aren't met to our satisfaction, we
will abort the takeoff. By doing it this way, the pilot can keep his
eyes on the runway, instead of down inside the plane.

Looking down on take off?

IRL I check MP, oil pressure, and RPM after applying full power.
I don't look back in except to check speed just before rotation which
should happen about 800 feet down the runway. If it don't I don't.
The next look at the gages is when I do the power reduction. All the
rest is by sound and feel.

It wouldn't matter if God were in the right seat, but if I hear "Dear,
I need to use the bathroom", or "I forgot to take the Dramamine" we're
landing" as long as there's at least a couple hundred feet of runway
left.


If either one or the other expresses a concern, do they land and sort it
out?

As a VFR pilot with IFR training (but no IR), my minimums are somewhat
lower than Mary's. (She has had no IFR training since her Private.)
Thus, occasionally she will express concern that the ceiling is coming
down, or visibility is getting lower than her comfort level.

We will have a brief discussion (if I'm flying), or we will land
immediately (if she's flying). There has only been one occasion (in 12
years) where I pressed on when she really wanted to land, and I have
regretted it ever since...if you know what I mean... ;-)

Does one or the other have overriding veto?

Nope. We both have an equal say in the cockpit -- but we also know
that the copilot NEVER takes control of the plane unless they feel

I once had a close encounter. Very close encounter on the VOR to MOP.
I was under the hood and of course the instructor was not. Instead of
grabbing the yoke, he hollered pull up and I instinctively shoved the
throttle in as I stood it on end or nearly so. He had not even
finished the "up" and we were pulling "Gs". We might have bent the 30
degrees in pitch rule more than a little. As the airspeed came down I
eased the nose down. We missed the other plane by inches according to
what I heard from others later. He'd never tell me how close it was.

With two people of the same capabilities flying the same plane it'd
be a different situation. OTOH I'd holler first and react only if the
pilot didn't.

One day we (instructor and I - not the same CFII as above) were out
doing some instrument work. He was checking the instruments out and
started to ask me a question just as ATC came on with some
instructions. I raised my hand to signal quite! Unfortunately I raised
it rather quickly and he was leaning forward. He commented later that
he would never, ever touch anything in the Deb without first saying he
was going to do so. I had hit him right in the snot box and it was not
a gentle tap. Fortunately he knew it was not on purpose and we still
fly together.

_Boy_an_I_glad_ that_wasn't_Joyce!

their lives are directly threatened. This has also only happened once
(when I saw a plane on a collision course coming in from our 8 o'clock
position, and pushed the yoke down without warning) in 12 years.
Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com