In article , Peter R.
writes:

It was a good decision to cancel.
I just got a phone call, and the airplane I was going to use
had an alternator/electrical system failure, today, while someone else
was flying it in the pattern.

Hmmm... not so fast! Hindsight is 20-20. While certainly true
that you were lucky it wasn't you in IMC during this aircraft's
alternator failure, IMO you cannot use this incident to validate your
go/no go decision.

Rather, I believe that you made the right decision based on the facts at
the time of the decision; that is, that you concluded there was a good
chance of icing and you had no perceivable "out" to escape the ice.


Good thought, Peter. The wife and I call these "mid Lake decisions" and we are
not allowed to make them. Comes from sailing across large lakes (we have a
boat on Lake Erie). When you are on one shore and going to the other, you
decide about the weather, etc. but when you are in the middle of the lake you
don't second guess your decision.

A good decision was made not to go because of POSIBLE ice. When your are in
"the middle of the lake" you can't decide whether to go or not. Also, be sure
not to "beat up" on yourself if the decision turns out to be wrong. Just learn
from it. Experience is surviving your mistakes and learning.