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This is what Greg Angers wrote in the last Cascade Warbirds newsletter.
I wanted to relay a personal story where I almost allowed
the “Get-there-itis” bug to bite me.
I finished flying our P-51 “Val-Halla” for the SeaFair
air show and left it down at Boeing Field while I went on a
business trip to Orlando. I had to fly the Fairchild air show
the next weekend so this was a very convenient plan.
A 0500 departure from the hotel in Orlando, and a 1300
arrival at SeaTac, sounded like perfect scheduling but I was
pretty tired and decided that in the future, I would attempt
to avoid such tight scheduling. One hop to Fairchild in
perfect weather wouldn’t be too much of a demand though
so I chose to press on.
On top of my tight scheduling, the Colonel from Air
Combat Command (ACC) that owns the whole Heritage
Flight program was meeting me at SeaTac to catch a ride
to Fairchild so he could watch the Heritage Flight and the
Raptor demo. ACC tries to get someone to watch all of
the demos out on the road at some point during the season.
While it isn’t really a check ride, it is a time that I want to
put on my most professional show.
The rejoin with the Colonel at SeaTac went perfect and
as an added bonus, I bumped into my neighbor who was
picking someone else up and he gave us a ride to Boeing
Field. We checked the weather, preflighted the aircraft,
loaded our bags on the plane, got in the aircraft, and
cranked her up. All the while I’m thinking that if I were
any more tired than I was, I’d cancel the flight and head to
Fairchild in the morning.
A little mechanical lesson on Val-Halla: We recently put
a Hinz filter on the oil system of our Mustang. The Hinz
filter has a chip detector, a fine screen to catch particles
in the oil and a by-pass valve if the particles overload the
screen. The clear indication of the fact that your engine is
coming apart is having the chip light come on, followed
closely by the by-pass light as the metal fills the screen.
My plan if I see this sequence of events is simply “LAND
NOW” and kiss the ground when you do. And oh by
the way, if you can, get to a high key while on the way
to landing and glide speed is a good speed to be at. Any
individual light (chip or bypass) while in flight is a “Land
Now” and check it out scenario. I’ve had to clean that
screen twice while on the road because of the by-pass valve
but each time it was just regular old dirt and completely
normal metal bits in the screen. No cause for concern. I’ve
also had the chip light come on because of a tiny hair of
metal getting in just the right spot and completing the chip
detector circuit. So I have had a certain de-sensitization to
these lights on our new system.
So, back to the plane. I taxi her down to 13R at BFI and
am waiting for the oil to warm up and the bypass light to
go out (bypass valve opens when the oil is cold) and about
the time the bypass light goes out and the oil tops 40ºC, I
push the throttle up for the run up and notice the chip light
is on. Rats!! I’m sure it’s just another metal hair in just the
right spot. And I know I’m too tired to shut down, check it
out, and still safely fly to Fairchild. And the Colonel is in
the back seat ready to go. And I’m at the hold line ready
to go. And what a shame to waste all of this effort for a
stinking tiny metal flake in just the right spot. And it really
is a lovely afternoon for flying. And the rest of CWB is
headed to Fairchild and it would be silly to be the one that
didn’t show up for tonight’s beer call because of that stupid
little light that’s just a little metal hair in just the right spot.
And Fairchild is such a great show, I don’t want to let them
down. And…. “Boeing ground, the Mustang would like to
taxi back to Galvin.” Boy did I hate saying that.
We taxied in, shut down and pulled the chip light plug
and the oil that came out looked like gold metal flaked
black car paint. It was silver metal but being in the oil
made it look gold. I quote the Colonel: “Oh boy, that doesn’t look good.”
I fully believe that had I launched,
the engine would not have lasted long.
Maybe just long enough to get me out of
the Seattle basin and over the Cascade
Mountains. Maybe just long enough to get
me to 200 feet at the departure end of the
runway. Now what?
I was amazed and disappointed that
at my experience level, and my personal
commitment to safety, it wasn’t a much
cleaner decision. It was probably less than
a minute worth of temptation but it was
powerful. I take it as a humbling personal
debrief note that the momentum of the
current plan can be significant. I forgot my primary
underlying plan is to fly safe, or not
fly at all. And that is always my primary plan.
So, what’s your primary plan? Is it going
to Fairchild?... Getting in a quick proficiency
sortie after a long day at work?...Getting to
your weekend destination because you have a
hotel reservation and a hot date?... Flying the
air show?... Flying home?... Or is that really
a secondary plan? Let me repeat: My primary
plan is Flying Safe, or don’t fly at all. I was
tempted by circumstance and momentum to
forget that more than I like to admit.
Work the task at hand, but always
remember your primary plan.
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