On one Mag? Temptation and decision

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?

"Terry" wrote in message
...

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 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?

It would be a tough decision but I think you made the right one. I suppose
another (COSTLY) option would be to get your mechanic down there to do the
repairs.

If something isn't right (mechanically, weather or whatever), wait until it
is and fly another day...

"Terry" wrote in message ...
Yesterday was an unusual day here in Ohio for December so I decided to
get my badly needed flying "fix".

Right decision. I have had numerous aircraft ignition problems that all started
with two WORKING mags. I would not consider starting out with only one
firing. And to have a mag completely dead is a really bad sign. It could be
a real serious problem (then again it could be the ignition switch which is
admittedly a piece of cheap-assed crap in most light aircraft).

QUESTION... What would you have done?

Never know whether its brother is ready to go belly up too.
Good decision.

On Sun, 28 Dec 2003 18:49:47 GMT, Terry wrote:

QUESTION... What would you have done?

Leave the airplane. Find another way home.

BTDT.


Ron (EPM) (N5843Q, Mooney M20E) (CP, ASEL, ASES, IA)

In article , Terry
writes:

QUESTION... What would you have done?

I'm not that quick to say leave it. I can feel the urge to fly the 40 well
known miles to get it home. I think I would have reached the same conclusion
as you and via the same agionizing thought process. Maybe this is kinda like
wanting a glass of wine with dinner when you are going to fly home in a couple
of hours. You just know the correct decision but the temptation is there.
Congrats for leaving it.

By the way, my experience at having my plane repaired away from home is two out
of two good. I wish you luck.

Chuck

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 would have called a friend with a sparkplug wrench and maybe new plugs.
Checked the lower plugs and replaced them if they are fouled.
If the plugs were good I would have hitched a ride home with my friend.
OR I would have done just what you had done.
Hank

QUESTION... What would you have done?

I would have also left the plane. No reason to kill yourself over a minor
inconvenience.

"JerryK" wrote in message ...
QUESTION... What would you have done?

I would have also left the plane. No reason to kill yourself over a minor
inconvenience.


More than inconvenience. A dead mag means the airplane is not legally
airworthy, and flying it that way presents a whole range of threats,
from a second mag failure through to insurance invalidation and to the
loss of your license.

Dan

I would have also left the plane.
No reason to kill yourself over a minor inconvenience.

More than inconvenience. A dead mag means the airplane is not legally
airworthy, and flying it that way presents a whole range of threats,
from a second mag failure through to insurance invalidation and to the
loss of your license.

Ok, I'm setting myself to get totally jumped on, but hey this
thread is far too one sided to make a legitimate newsgroup thread.
So I feel compelled to offer another perspective.

First with regard to the "loss of your license" comment above,
If you crashed as a result of your second magneto failing, I doubt
you would admit to the FAA inspector or your insurance agent that
the first mag failed before takeoff. (After all, if the first mag
just failed on the previous flight, it would be just about as likely
that it failed after takeoff of the flight in question.)

Second, I think the "kill yourself" comment above is overly dramatic.
You were trained what to do when an engine fails weren't you? And
you do practice this I assume when you enter a traffic pattern that
is totally devoid of other traffic or other complications prohibiting
a power off landing? I've actually had to land without power once
thru no fault of my own. It was even in Colorado, not exactly the
most hospitable terrain in the country for forced landings, yet my
plane and its occupants were just fine. If I was unlucky enough my
plane would have been damaged, even totaled perhaps, yet I believe
I could walk away from such an incident no matter when the engine
decided to give up the ghost. (At night, my confidence is that would
be dramatically reduced.)

This little bit of flying bravado doesn't mean I seek out the situations
demanding such skill. (The old expression about the superior pilot
comes to mind. In fact the failed mag thing happened to me once.
I had the whole family loaded up ready to fly to Tahoe. During the
run-up, one mag was completely dead. For one, I was planning on flying
over some pretty rugged mountains. And then their would have been the
same problem on the return. Also I had a perfectly functional car parked
right there at the airport (although it did take us about 5 times
longer to drive). However in other circumstances I might do it.
For instance if I had to make it only 40 miles back to home base, and
the terrain in between was hospitable, and the wx was good vfr, and
of course it was daytime. I would take extra precautions - such as
circling the field while climbing to give me an early out. I would
try to choose a route and fly high enough to remain within gliding
distance of an airport for as much of the flight as possible. (Actually
after my return from Tahoe, I had no hesitation about flying it to
my mechanics airport. It was only 15 miles away with two large
airports directly enroute.)

One has to be careful about the "no reason to take unnecessary risks"
idea espoused by posters in this thread. The rub is in defining
unnecessary. Some of my non-flying friends question my sanity for
taking unnecessary risks for going out airport hopping on a perfectly
fine windless CAVU day just after my most experienced and nitpicky
mechanic has gone over everything with a fine tooth comb and pronounced
the plane airworthy. Some of my heavy metal flying friends question
my sanity for packing my family across the Sierras and the Rockies
in an airplane with only one engine. And then when I mention that I
also fly at night and in IFR wx, they say "with only one pilot, only
one alternator, only one vacuum source, no anti-ice equipment, what
are you nuts?" No I'm not nuts. Thousands of other pilots do it also.
Its all what you are used to and how you balance the risks and the
rewards. I always say that a pilot has to have the right mix of
desire and fear. Not enough desire and too much fear and the pilot
will not get experience because he will never go anywhere. Not enough
fear and too much desire and he will not get experienced either since
he will kill himself first.

So to all those "certainly leave it on the ground" responders,
don't you occasionally go biking even if those brakes are a
little bit worn. And surely an errant truck driver could wipe you
off the road with barely a 1 second mistake. And what about those
pilots of the 1920's. Are you saying if you were born say a
century ago, you wouldn't have been among that fun loving
pilot crowd. If I remember right, they only had one magneto
even when everything was working. Heck I don't think they even
had the luxury of a throttle. (Of course their engines failed
so often, for so many different reasons, that the extra safety
from having two magnetos would have been insignificant
My point is we all take risks. We just have to evaluate each
one as objectively as possible taking in all the statistics we
know and the relative rewards for taking the risk.

And saying "and it's against the FARs" is a cop out too.
I feel that the FARs are pretty much irrelevant in the decision
making process. Certainly one should ponder why the FAA made this
decision, yet as I tried to point out, everyone's risk/reward system
is different. There are many things the FARs allow me to do that I
will not. (One of many examples is that I'm allowed to take off in
zero-zero conditions, which I feel is not worth the risk. Some fellow
pilots will do this, but I do not denigrate their decision, since
their piloting skills are different as well as their risk perceptions.)
There are other things prohibited by the FARs that I feel perfectly
comfortable with. I've taken off many times with equipment not working
that was required by the type certificate (even the airspeed indicator
once). Before I get the flood of irate responses from those of you
who claim that you always fly legally, let me point out that FAA
inspectors claim they can find something illegal with every aircraft
if they look closely enough, and usually they don't have to look very
close. I just hope too many FAA inspectors are not reading this
newsgroup

~Paul