THE VINTAGE INSTRUCTOR
Hazardous attitudes DOUG STEWART The night before I was to ferry an Aeronca Champ from Massachusetts to Florida the following day’s surface winds were forecast to be from the northwest at 30 knots, gusting to 40, with the moderate turbulence that always accompanies those high winds. Snow was also in the forecast for later in the day, and would remain in the forecast for the next several days. It was clear that if I didn’t get going early the next morning I would be grounded for the rest of the week. Why is it that whenever you want the briefer to be wrong, he or she isn’t . . . but when you are counting on the forecast to hold true, it doesn’t? Has anyone else ever noticed that? Well, the following morning showed that the former was to be the case. The wind was howling as I backtaxied to the departure end of the runway. It was blowing hard enough that the rudder wasn’t sufficient to keep the air-knocker going straight down the runway. I needed to help out my directional control with a bit of brake as well. In doing so I noticed that the right brake seemed to have even less effectiveness than the meager amount I expected from the original expander-type brake on the Champ. The thought ran through my head that perhaps I should abort the flight. Two-and-a-half hours after takeoff I would be in New Jersey and in need of fuel. (With only 13 gallons of total fuel, the fuel range matched my bladder range per10
MAY 2004
fectly!) Every possible runway that I could use would have a 70- to 90-degree crosswind. “Would I be able to control the old Champ with a weak brake?” I deliberated with myself. However, I was determined to make the flight, and that was affecting my thought process.
The thought ran through my head that perhaps I should abort the flight. It made me think of one time when I had ferried this same airplane in the opposite direction. In similar winds I had landed at Stewart International Airport (SWF), diagonally across the runway. Because of the high, gusty winds I had opted to do a wheel landing. As I slowed down, once on the runway, I slowly came forward with the stick to keep the tail up in the air. I still had some stick left, when, with the tail still up in the air, the airplane came to a stop. “Yikes! What am I going to do now? If I bring the tail down, I’m going flying again.” I said to myself. It then took close to 15 minutes to taxi the short distance from the runway to the FBO. I considered all this information as I performed the simple run-up
and before-takeoff checks. “Yeah, I can handle it!” was my answer to my self-questioning mind. “I’ve flown in this stuff before…in fact, in this very same plane. No problem…I can handle it!” I responded with determination, as I came in with the power and departed on the flight. Here I was, exhibiting the classic hazardous attitude, “macho,” along with some typical operational errors. I sometimes wonder why my middle name isn’t Votan. (The ancient Mayan god of warfare and death.) How often have I started forging that accident chain, before I ever leave the ground? I know I am not alone in this. The accident reports bear witness to the fact that the chain of events leading to an accident quite typically begins prior to takeoff. Well, two-and-a-half hours later found me at Tom’s River, New Jersey. The winds were reported to be from 350, variable 330 at 31 knots, with gusts to 38 knots. I would be landing on Runway 6. If luck were with me, my arrival would coincide with the winds from their most northerly vector, and least velocity. You’d think by now that I would know that Murphy never rests. Sure enough, he wasn’t. As I had done in this airplane before, I opted to land diagonally
across the runway to gain as much of a head wind component as I could. Only this runway was nowhere near as wide as the one at SWF. I landed on the left main, and as I slowed down I finally ran out of stick. As the tail wheel touched the runway I immediately brought the stick all the way to the left, and back into my gut. And that’s when the proverbial yogurt hit the fan. The rudder and tail wheel were not going to provide enough force to counter the strong crosswinds. I was going to need the right brake to keep things going straight. As the nose of the Champ started to yaw to the left, I pushed on the right heel brake with all my strength. But that weak brake wasn’t going to be any match for the strong wind. Here I was at the start of a ground loop, and there was nothing left for me to do. No, I was not exhibiting another hazardous attitude, that of resignation, I was doing all that I could…all that I knew…to keep from ground looping, but the winds were too strong. The right wing started to drop as we spun around, and was soon dragging on the pavement at the edge of the runway. As the tail came facing into the wind, the left main gear dropped back down to the runway, and we came to a stop. I sat there, stunned, for several moments before starting the arduous task of taxiing in to the FBO. Luckily, the damage to the old Aeronca was minimal. I had scraped some fabric off of the metal bow at the wingtip. A bit of 100 mph tape would patch things up enough to continue the flight to Florida, without the need for a ferry permit. But I learned an important lesson that morning. Hazardous attitudes are going to get you! Had I applied the antidote to the macho hazardous attitude, that being “taking chances is foolish,” had I not been so determined to deliver the airplane on a predetermined schedule, I would not be having to explain to the owner of the Champ why his airplane had duct tape on its wingtip. It could have been much
worse. It might have ended with me standing on the carpet, trying to explain why I had wrecked a wonderful old airplane. It was this incident that finally smacked me upside the head. I have some hazardous attitudes, and it is time to start dealing with them. First, I have to recognize them. But recognizing them is not enough. Then I not only have to come up with the antidote for the attitude, but apply that antidote as well! There are five hazardous attitudes that have been recognized by those who study human factors. They are macho, anti-authority, resignation, invulnerability, and impulsivity. For each of these attitudes there is an appropriate antidote. I personally think that there is not one pilot out there who does not have at least one, if not several, of these attitudes. The first step is learning to recognize that we harbor these attitudes within ourselves. The second step is to learn the proper antidotes for these hazardous attitudes. The third, and I feel hardest, step is to apply the antidote. In the situation I described, on this ferry flight I allowed a variety of operational errors to lead me into thinking that I could handle the situation. I knew it was risky. Isn’t all flying risky? In this situation I was definitely taking a chance. Had I applied the antidote that “taking chances is foolish,” I would not have attempted the flight. I would have probably delivered the airplane to its owner a week later than promised, but it would have been delivered in its pristine condition, not with one wing scarred. In the next several articles I would like to take a look at all five of the hazardous attitudes and their appropriate antidotes. Learning to recognize and correct these attitudes will go a long way in taking us from being good pilots…to being great pilots. It’s an ongoing process for all of us. Doug flies a 1947 PA-12. He is the 2004 National Certificated Flight Instructor of the Year. Visit his web site: www.dsflight.com.
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