Get-there-itis or getthereitis or gettheritis, anyway...

One time in my small flying career did I make a flight that I knew was
unsafe before & during the flight and in hindsight was idiotic (maybe
not to some) and could have been tragic if my Arrow's engine had
failed.

I was in Commercial/instrument training when I flew from San Antonio,
TX. to Harlingen, TX. down in the valley many, many years ago for yet
another annual dose of the CAF's main Airsho. I took two friends from
school (one pilot, one not) with me in the very, very old Piper Arrow,
the kind with Hershey Bar wings & the glide ratio of an aerodynamic
rock. I loved that Arrow, anyway!

Checking the enroute weather on the ground before going to the airport
I discovered perfectly clear skies in San Antonio and Harlingen with
unrestricted visibility. The problem was one of the strangest weather
occurences I've ever seen. About 20 miles southwest of San Antonio to
about 40 miles northeast of Harlingen there was heavy, thick, pea-soup
FOG! Ceilings and visibility were, for the most part almost non-
existant with (better) extremely low ceilings and visibility scattered
along the 2 hour route. The even bigger problem was the tops were less
than 100 feet, which one may expect with fog I suppose. The reason
that was a bigger problem is that it meant I could depart VFR and fly
VFR the whole way. Conditions were expected to remain this way for the
duration of my planned flight. Gettheritis overwhelmed me and I
launched off into the blue to an Airsho I simply could not miss.

Just south of San Antonio I entered a surreal world of flying over
solid white. I was un-nerved most of the way down, knowing that an
engine failure would be almost certainly catastrophic. Being a fairly
new Private Pilot and having 2 friends with me made it even more nerve-
racking. I was closer to scared than I think I've ever been in my
flying career. Another thing I remember was the horizon took on a
different appearance than I'd seen up till then, making straight &
level flight somewhat of a challenge.
It was also quite beautiful, but the most georgeous thing this flight
was the break in the fog 20 minutes or so north of my destination,
wow! Just as forecast...clear blue and visibility unrestricted. Relief
beyond measure washed over me and we enjoyed an incredible Airsho but
I vowed never again would I allow myself to be drawn into such a
dangerous trip as I took that October morning.

Do you have a "gettheritis" story you'd be willing to share? Do you
think my flight was foolhearty? I've had some say they wouldn't have
thought twice about going in similar conditions.

Never again,

Ricky

Tell ya what. Doesn't sound much more dangerous that night
single-engine VFR on a crystal clear moonless night over anywhere in New
England. IT is so beautiful up there, but if that engine quit...

T


Ricky wrote:
One time in my small flying career did I make a flight that I knew was
unsafe before & during the flight and in hindsight was idiotic (maybe
not to some) and could have been tragic if my Arrow's engine had
failed.

I was in Commercial/instrument training when I flew from San Antonio,
TX. to Harlingen, TX. down in the valley many, many years ago for yet
another annual dose of the CAF's main Airsho. I took two friends from
school (one pilot, one not) with me in the very, very old Piper Arrow,
the kind with Hershey Bar wings & the glide ratio of an aerodynamic
rock. I loved that Arrow, anyway!

Checking the enroute weather on the ground before going to the airport
I discovered perfectly clear skies in San Antonio and Harlingen with
unrestricted visibility. The problem was one of the strangest weather
occurences I've ever seen. About 20 miles southwest of San Antonio to
about 40 miles northeast of Harlingen there was heavy, thick, pea-soup
FOG! Ceilings and visibility were, for the most part almost non-
existant with (better) extremely low ceilings and visibility scattered
along the 2 hour route. The even bigger problem was the tops were less
than 100 feet, which one may expect with fog I suppose. The reason
that was a bigger problem is that it meant I could depart VFR and fly
VFR the whole way. Conditions were expected to remain this way for the
duration of my planned flight. Gettheritis overwhelmed me and I
launched off into the blue to an Airsho I simply could not miss.

Just south of San Antonio I entered a surreal world of flying over
solid white. I was un-nerved most of the way down, knowing that an
engine failure would be almost certainly catastrophic. Being a fairly
new Private Pilot and having 2 friends with me made it even more nerve-
racking. I was closer to scared than I think I've ever been in my
flying career. Another thing I remember was the horizon took on a
different appearance than I'd seen up till then, making straight &
level flight somewhat of a challenge.
It was also quite beautiful, but the most georgeous thing this flight
was the break in the fog 20 minutes or so north of my destination,
wow! Just as forecast...clear blue and visibility unrestricted. Relief
beyond measure washed over me and we enjoyed an incredible Airsho but
I vowed never again would I allow myself to be drawn into such a
dangerous trip as I took that October morning.

Do you have a "gettheritis" story you'd be willing to share? Do you
think my flight was foolhearty? I've had some say they wouldn't have
thought twice about going in similar conditions.

Never again,

Ricky

Nice story, but don't learn too much from it. Your reaction is
understandable for a new PP with pax on board, but not for someone
with some more time and experience. Such a flight is safe and
only slightly more at risk than fog-free throughout the flight.
Engine failure on any flight can be "catastrophic". Now it would be
stupid and fool-hardy if you didn't have a plan B if your destination
forecast was wrong and also fogged-in: alternate destination with
surer VFR, ability (fuel) to turn around and go home, etc.
--
The major difference between a thing that might go wrong and a thing
that cannot possibly go wrong is that when a thing that cannot
possibly go wrong goes wrong it usually turns out to be impossible to
get at or repair.
Douglas Adams, Mostly Harmless

"Ricky" wrote in message
...

One time in my small flying career did I make a flight that I knew was
unsafe before & during the flight and in hindsight was idiotic (maybe
not to some) and could have been tragic if my Arrow's engine had
failed.

I was in Commercial/instrument training when I flew from San Antonio,
TX. to Harlingen, TX. down in the valley many, many years ago for yet
another annual dose of the CAF's main Airsho. I took two friends from
school (one pilot, one not) with me in the very, very old Piper Arrow,
the kind with Hershey Bar wings & the glide ratio of an aerodynamic
rock. I loved that Arrow, anyway!

Checking the enroute weather on the ground before going to the airport
I discovered perfectly clear skies in San Antonio and Harlingen with
unrestricted visibility. The problem was one of the strangest weather
occurences I've ever seen. About 20 miles southwest of San Antonio to
about 40 miles northeast of Harlingen there was heavy, thick, pea-soup
FOG! Ceilings and visibility were, for the most part almost non-
existant with (better) extremely low ceilings and visibility scattered
along the 2 hour route. The even bigger problem was the tops were less
than 100 feet, which one may expect with fog I suppose. The reason
that was a bigger problem is that it meant I could depart VFR and fly
VFR the whole way. Conditions were expected to remain this way for the
duration of my planned flight. Gettheritis overwhelmed me and I
launched off into the blue to an Airsho I simply could not miss.

Just south of San Antonio I entered a surreal world of flying over
solid white. I was un-nerved most of the way down, knowing that an
engine failure would be almost certainly catastrophic. Being a fairly
new Private Pilot and having 2 friends with me made it even more nerve-
racking. I was closer to scared than I think I've ever been in my
flying career. Another thing I remember was the horizon took on a
different appearance than I'd seen up till then, making straight &
level flight somewhat of a challenge.
It was also quite beautiful, but the most georgeous thing this flight
was the break in the fog 20 minutes or so north of my destination,
wow! Just as forecast...clear blue and visibility unrestricted. Relief
beyond measure washed over me and we enjoyed an incredible Airsho but
I vowed never again would I allow myself to be drawn into such a
dangerous trip as I took that October morning.

Do you have a "gettheritis" story you'd be willing to share? Do you
think my flight was foolhearty? I've had some say they wouldn't have
thought twice about going in similar conditions.

I'm not sure why you thought it was so strange. Gulf moisture often does
this and when it runs into the dry line or higher temps it disappears. I
have no idea exactly how conditions were that day, but most likely you could
have flown a bit west initially, got behind the dry line, and came back to
the east when you got closer to Harlingen.