On one Mag? Temptation and decision

Well, in fairness, I've got to tell you all this little story.

I took my old CFI, who did most of my primary training for a flight the
other day after not flying with him since before I got my license. Of
course, I really wanted to look good and also show off the airplane I
manage.

I proudly showed him our digital tach and how the red LED's that come on
when either mag is off help keep you from taking off on just one mag. One
mag was a bit rough so I cleared it.

We took off and about 4000 agl, Joe looked over and said, "What's that red
LED on the tach mean?"

No apparent harm done except to my pride. I did notice that RPM was a
little low on roll out but figured it was just the weather.

There's a lot to be said for a sterile cockpit and not yacking away during
run up and take off.

--
Roger Long

Roger Long wrote:

No apparent harm done except to my pride. I did notice that RPM was a
little low on roll out but figured it was just the weather.

We flew into Asheville a few years ago, and the radio died during the approach.
They gave me a green light, but I was faced with handling the departure NORDO the
next day.

I called the tower and got instructions, taxied down, did my runup, got the green,
and took off. She didn't feel right climbing out, but I figured it was just the
mountains. She still didn't feel right in cruise either, though. I was into my
second panel check and considering landing at a nearby airport when I noticed I
was running on one mag. The distraction of dealing with the light gun and traffic
that I couldn't hear was enough to cause me to fail to cut the switch back all
the way to both during the runup.

George Patterson
Great discoveries are not announced with "Eureka!". What's usually said is
"Hummmmm... That's interesting...."