August 31, 2021
Today my plan for a $300 burger was aimed at CJ Cannon’s on Vero Beach Airport, pictured to the left here. It has a great reputation, and is supposed to be very reasonable in price.
No flying buddy today, just me.
Weather was great though, partly cloudy with light winds.
But it was not to be.
Lessons in Aviation
Learned a few lessons today. Let’s discuss
Lesson 1: No place like aviation for getting what you pay for
I had scheduled one of the club planes, which while slightly expensive, are very well equipped and receive excellent maintenance.
A friend of mine said “Take my 172, it’s a lot cheaper.” At $130/hr wet it would be a bit cheaper. I should have remembered one of my favorite mottoes: “No place like aviation for getting what you pay for.”
I got in the plane and noticed right away it was equipped with a lot of dated avionics. Not a king radio in sight, let alone anything like a GPS.
Well I had my iPad with Foreflight …
Lesson 2: Heed the early warnings
During the walkaround I noticed some age on the plane. Paint was flaking, there were bare spots, and some corrosion in some non-critical areas. The tread was low on the left tire. Weirdly, the fuel was purple, not blue. I called the owner and he said, “Oh that’s normal. I put an additive in the fuel to help clean the valves.”
It may be normal for him, but it wasn’t normal for me.
I should have walked away then.
The takeoff roll was even more exciting. First of all, even though the trim was set to takeoff, as soon as I applied power the nose flew up in to the air. That was not critical but a little startling.
What was even more startling is that the passenger window flew open on the takeoff roll. I slowed down and closed it. Resumed the takeoff and whaddya know, it opened again. I decided to continue the takeoff.
When I got up above 500′ I closed it again. It was three or four more times before I figured out how to make it stay shut. It was still very noisy and made radio communication difficult.
I thought about coming back to land. Not for the last time.
Lesson 3: Pre-flight the iPad connection.
My iPad wasn’t connecting to the ADS-B. I didn’t really have a good idea of where the class B was. I was asking approach to help me out but they were really busy. I just stayed low until I knew I was well clear.
Lesson 4: Strange Noises and Surges are Rarely Good News
About 30 miles from VRB (by DME, didn’t have a working GPS) the engine coughed a little. About a 300 drop in RPM, a slight vibration, and then surged back to 2500.
Several thoughts went through my head in rapid succession: “Oh no, I don’t know this guy that well, I don’t know the mechanic that works on this plane, I don’t want to put it down out here in the middle of nowhere, how will I get home” etc.
I immediately reversed course and started heading back to Orlando.
Lesson 5: There is nothing wrong with declaring an emergency
I told approach I was reversing course, engine was running rough.
“Are you declaring an emergency?”
“No not at this time, but I would like to get back to Orlando as quickly as possible.”
he next 20 minutes were very long. Very, very long. I wanted to stay up high so I would have more options if the engine finally quit. They wanted me lower. “Sir you have oncoming commercial traffic going in to Orlando International. Please descend to 1,600 ft.”
“Can I stay up here a bit? I want the altitude. Let me know if I am in a problem spot and I will descend.”
“OK we can do that.”
10 seconds later “You are in a problem spot, please descend now or turn away from the airport.”
In retrospect, there would have been nothing wrong in declaring an emergency and keeping my altitude. As it was, I was vectored to follow traffic that was further away but faster than me.
Spoiler alert: I made it to the airport without incident, but I think I inhaled that seat cushion in the last 10 minutes of the flight. If you have to ask, you haven’t had a problem in flight before.
I parked the plane on the ramp and got out. I was quite relieved. I have learned my lesson: stick to the club planes where I know the maintenance squad and the diligence to detail.
Epilogue
On a high note, while walking in to the FBO I ran in to two pilot friends of mine from my Mesa Airlines days.
Summary
I didn’t get my burger but I did get to fly. Not the most enjoyable flight, but definitely an educational, or reminder experience. Safety of flight begins on the ground, with good judgment.
I will not fly that plane again. If I start to see trouble signs in a walkaround, I will exercise better judgment.
I will not quit flying, but I will continue to make safety of flight my priority.
