"captainsj" wrote:
It
just doen't feel right.......... I am just a little uneasy

I frequently experience the same feeling of apprehension, even though I just
bought my first plane. I think it comes from all the reading of safety
articles in magazines and on the web. I want to know what to do if an
emergency happens, and for some reason, thinking about what I would do to
handle a situation makes me get apprehensive.

It extends to the most ridiculous levels at times. When cold starting the
engine, I'm thinking "OK, you're going to have a failed start and that raw
fuel is going to ignite in the intake. The battery will probably die and
then I'll have to jump out of the plane and put the fire out." I now take
the approach of not buckling up until after the engine is started, and I
keep the fire extinguisher next to me until ready to taxi. Pretty extreme,
right?

Anyway, even though I am thinking things like this all the time while
flying, I continue to do it anyway because I really enjoy it. Eventually I
have backtaxied to the end of the runway, and there is nothing left to do
but put the throttle to the wall and launch!

When I was doing my PPL training there was a quote that was given to all the
students: "Aviation in itself is not inherently dangerous. But to an even
greater degree than the sea, it is terribly unforgiving of any carelessness,
incapacity, or neglect."

Basically, I think that feeling of uneasiness is just a healthy respect for
the nature of aviation.

Matt