A warm evening, a grass strip, and thou....

On Aug 20, 12:54 am, Jay Honeck wrote:
certainty that I announced that we *were* flying somewhere for dinner,
damn the fatigue.

*cough* fit to fly *cough*

Eh?

Far, far too many people die as a result of both unrecognised and
recognised fatigue related accidents.

An accident may not be directly fatigue induced, but as I'm sure you
are well aware Jay, 99% of accidents are a series of small issues
brought togethor and fatigue is a cmmon member of that series.

When you're fatigued you are not 100% on the ball and thats when you
make mistakes, poor decisions, react slower, and in general get that
little bit closer to making a statistic out of yourself.

I'd hste the group to lose such a vibrant member because he chose to
"damn the fatigue" one to many times is all I'm saying.

"James Sleeman" wrote

I'd hste the group to lose such a vibrant member because he chose to
"damn the fatigue" one to many times is all I'm saying.


I feel certain Jay know the difference between being too tired to fly
safely, and being ragged out after a long day. This was a 17 minute flight,
remember, with another full and current pilot in the front seat with him.
--
Jim in NC

On Aug 18, 9:51 pm, Jay Honeck wrote:
Yesterday evening I realized with stunning clarity that summer was
over. The kids go back to school Monday, the days are definitely
getting shorter, and our window of opportunity for after-work dinner
flights is closing rapidly.

So, when we at last escaped the hotel Friday night, extremities still
buzzing from the stress of another sell-out crowd, it was with
certainty that I announced that we *were* flying somewhere for dinner,
damn the fatigue.

To my surprise, Mary instantly responded "Amana!" -- so it was off to
the hangar (located a good 400 yards away) for a quick preflight and
launch.

The air was thick, the cicadas were singing, and the winds were light
-- in short, a perfect night for a flight.
With a bit more than 2 hours of light remaining, Mary flew the
quickest departure and approach to Amana's beautifully tailored grass
strip -- a whopping 17 minute flight from Iowa City, under Cedar
Rapids (KCID) class C veil.

Unicom was abuzz with after-dinner pilots all over the Midwest --
apparently we all realized that time was short at the same moment.
With practiced skill Mary set Atlas down on the manicured grass,
watching with a bit of unease as an old pickup truck scurried off the
runway as we approached. He was clearly aware of our presence, but
it's still a bit unnerving to have ground vehicles so close to the
runway when you're in that vulnerable flare...

It turned out that the pickup truck was the airport manager, spending
the evening filling gopher holes. He's one of the best grill-
meisters in the world (he always cooks at QB meetings, and the food is
absolutely the best -- period), and a super nice guy -- and it was
great seeing him taking such wonderful care of the strip. Amana (C11)
truly is a gem of the Midwest, long and wide, with lush green grass so
close to so many fantastic restaurants and shops. We're
extraordinarily lucky to live so close to such a wonderful
destination...

A quick-step 3-block stroll to "The Brick Haus" -- our favorite
restaurant in Amana -- for chicken schnitzel served family style, with
a dozen succulent German side-dishes, including home-made desserts.
To say that we enjoyed a gastronomic panoply of cardiovascular booby
traps would be an understatement -- it was a coronary occlusion on a
platter! But what a way to go....

Waddling back to Atlas, with the sun hanging low on the horizon, we
enjoyed a picture-perfect summer eve. The temperature was perfect,
with lower humidity and light winds, and I preflighted Atlas with
practiced-yet-cautious hands. After a trundling, bouncy takeoff run,
we were soon climbing strongly into a clear sky, hanging on the prop
and marveling at our good fortune. What a way to spend an evening!

Seventeen minutes later, with the runway lights already aglow, I
practiced my favorite pattern -- the overhead break. When the wind is
light and the air is thick (and, best of all, the pattern is empty)
this is absolutely the most fun way to land a plane, and it always
seems to result in one of my best landings. With a gentle chirp we
returned to terra firma, and were soon cleaning off the bugs in the
hangar whilst sipping a cold one...

I'm afraid this will be our swan song for after-work flights till next
summer. We're losing daylight at an alarming rate, and will soon be
locked in the grips of winter's darkness. But in the meantime I will
have this flight to warm my thoughts, and will always cherish the
memories of Amana on a warm summer's night....

Get out there and fly, boys and girls. It's later than you think...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Hi Jay,

I landed at Marion IA just outside of Cedar Rapids on the way to Osh.
That was a nice little airport in its own right. I assume you have
been there as well?

Dean

("RST Engineering" wrote)
Ooooh, menage a trois???


http://www.answers.com/topic/m-nage-troi
"Ménage à Troi"

http://www.tvacres.com/images/star_trek_nude.jpg
Well, it sure beats "A Fistful of Datas"...!


Paul-Mont :-)

I landed at Marion IA just outside of Cedar Rapids on the way to Osh.
That was a nice little airport in its own right. I assume you have
been there as well?

Yep, many times. It's a great little strip.

Did you see the mountain lion they keep as a pet?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

On Aug 20, 2:20 pm, "Morgans" wrote:
I feel certain Jay know the difference between being too tired to fly
safely, and being ragged out after a long day. This was a 17 minute flight,
remember, with another full and current pilot in the front seat with him.

We lost a pilot and passenger locally a few years ago (not fatigue
related, but a similar silent killer, over-confidence), after that,
everybody who knew the pilot well said something like "gee, I wish I'd
said something earlier because there were some troubling aspects of
his flying lately, but I never liked to criticise".

As pilots, IT IS THE JOB OF US ALL to keep our eyes open with regards
to our fellow aviators and to freely, quickly and clearly point out
any possible flaws in thier practice to which they may have become
unaware, no matter how small or insignificant they may seem.

I'm sure Jay was perfectly safe, I'm sure he was well aware of his
level of competence, I'm sure Mary was equally alert and competent,
but Jay mentioned in his post that he was fatigued from work but
"damn[ed] the fatigue" and went flying.

It seemed to me, knowing that fatigue is an insidious killer to which
many have fallen prey, that this decision was something he perhaps
needed to reflect on, to ask himself, "was I really fit to fly."

They answer from Jay's inner conversation was probably, "yes I was
fine", but maybe, just maybe, he might have thought, "now I think
about it, I was pretty tired and I perhaps wasn't flying my best, next
time, I should think harder about it", and if that saves some damage
to an aircraft, or himself, or his lovely wife, or valued children,
then isn't it worth it to point out these little, tiny, things
whenever we see them.

Here endth the lecture.

Here endth the lecture.

I understand precisely what you're saying -- no need to apologize for
lecturing.

There *have* been times when I was simply too beat to fly. Mary has
often deferred flying "duties" (darn!) to me when she was too tired to
fly.

I learned earlier this year (after mountain biking all day on
Washington Island) that now (at age 48) I have physical limitations
that I never faced before, which precludes me from safe flying.
Although I made the flight safely, I found that flying a challenging
approach to a short grass strip was unwise after working out all day
long -- and I won't make that mistake again.

In this case, however, it was that mental "buzzing" that comes from
trying to keep a hundred balls in the air at once. I wasn't
"physically" tired, and the flight served as a pleasant and complete
mental rejuvenator.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

On Aug 20, 5:47 am, Jay Honeck wrote:
I landed at Marion IA just outside of Cedar Rapids on the way to Osh.
That was a nice little airport in its own right. I assume you have
been there as well?

Yep, many times. It's a great little strip.

Did you see the mountain lion they keep as a pet?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Hi Jay,

No, didn't see a mountain lion... that's a funny pet for Iowa.
Mountains? Iowa?

Dean

James Sleeman wrote:
On Aug 20, 2:20 pm, "Morgans" wrote:
I feel certain Jay know the difference between being too tired to fly
safely, and being ragged out after a long day. This was a 17 minute flight,
remember, with another full and current pilot in the front seat with him.

We lost a pilot and passenger locally a few years ago (not fatigue
related, but a similar silent killer, over-confidence), after that,
everybody who knew the pilot well said something like "gee, I wish I'd
said something earlier because there were some troubling aspects of
his flying lately, but I never liked to criticise".

As pilots, IT IS THE JOB OF US ALL to keep our eyes open with regards
to our fellow aviators and to freely, quickly and clearly point out
any possible flaws in thier practice to which they may have become
unaware, no matter how small or insignificant they may seem.

I'm sure Jay was perfectly safe, I'm sure he was well aware of his
level of competence, I'm sure Mary was equally alert and competent,
but Jay mentioned in his post that he was fatigued from work but
"damn[ed] the fatigue" and went flying.

It seemed to me, knowing that fatigue is an insidious killer to which
many have fallen prey, that this decision was something he perhaps
needed to reflect on, to ask himself, "was I really fit to fly."

They answer from Jay's inner conversation was probably, "yes I was
fine", but maybe, just maybe, he might have thought, "now I think
about it, I was pretty tired and I perhaps wasn't flying my best, next
time, I should think harder about it", and if that saves some damage
to an aircraft, or himself, or his lovely wife, or valued children,
then isn't it worth it to point out these little, tiny, things
whenever we see them.

Here endth the lecture.

Please allow me to expand on your point just a bit here if I may please.


It goes without saying that a pilot under stress is in no condition to
fly, but tagging this condition to a pilot making a local flight to
"unwind" after a long day dealing with hotel guests might be a bit of a
stretch.
Almost every pilot getting into an airplane will be under some kind of
stress level. It could be nothing more than the guy who gave you the
finger as he passed you on the road on the way to the field, or it could
even be the "personal stress" that most pilot feel when getting ready to
fly.
The point here is that pilots should naturally avoid flying under
excessive stress, but that flying under some degree of stress is
perfectly normal and indeed necessary.
No pilot should get into an airplane totally relaxed. There should
always be an element of stress involved in flying an airplane. It's
working within this normal stress framework that allows a pilot to
function correctly and professionally.
Getting into your private plane to unwind after working all day is not
necessarily an undue stress situation. Getting into the airplane after
experiencing an event that is outside the norm stress wise for a days
work can easily fall into the danger area.
Bottom line here is that Jay, as the pilot, has to know and recognize
where he is on his PERSONAL stress ladder at any given time and fly or
not fly based on that personal assessment.
Where Jay Honeck is safe or not safe to fly based on stress does not
equate with any other pilot other than offering a general "reminder" as
you have done here.
--
Dudley Henriques

No pilot should get into an airplane totally relaxed. There should
always be an element of stress involved in flying an airplane. It's
working within this normal stress framework that allows a pilot to
function correctly and professionally.

Agree 100%. I've seen friends get so "relaxed" about flying that they
start to forgo little details like "pre-flight" and "checking the
gas". Luckily (so far) without dire results. (I've surprised fellow
pilots by pre-flighting before EVERY flight, even if I just landed
five minutes ago.)

After 13 years in the air, though, I've found myself more relaxed
about flying than I *ever* would have believed possible. Part of this
is due to improved equipment -- GPS wasn't around back then -- but a
lot of it is simply due to experience.

Back when I first got my ticket, each flight was a real adventure,
with butterflies and some trepidation -- Would this plane *really*
hold together long enough for me to make it home? -- and flying (for
me) took an amazing amount of mental planning and effort.

Of course, we were renting some pretty rough equipment back then, so
perhaps my fears weren't entirely unfounded -- but most of my stress
was due to inexperience on my part.

Now, after making a few thousand successful flights, you tend to stop
stressing about the wings falling off. Nowadays, I will fly across
several states with less preparation and stress than I used to put
into a hamburger flight -- so one truly *does* have to guard against
taking this aviation thing too casually.

Every now and then I'll be droning along, fat, dumb and happy at 8500
feet, watching the world unfold beneath my wings, utterly relaxed --
when I will suddenly realize PRECISELY what I am doing. I mean, my
God, I'm a mile and a half STRAIGHT UP, in a vehicle made out of
recycled beer cans, behind a single 1940s-era engine! This is
LUNACY!!

Just like *that* my senses are heightened, my stress level goes back
up (appropriately), and I'm once again operating at peak
efficiency...constantly looking for landing fields, scanning the
engine instruments...

;-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"