A warm evening, a grass strip, and thou....

Yesterday evening I realized with stunning clarity that summer was
over. The kids go back to school Monday, the days are definitely
getting shorter, and our window of opportunity for after-work dinner
flights is closing rapidly.

So, when we at last escaped the hotel Friday night, extremities still
buzzing from the stress of another sell-out crowd, it was with
certainty that I announced that we *were* flying somewhere for dinner,
damn the fatigue.

To my surprise, Mary instantly responded "Amana!" -- so it was off to
the hangar (located a good 400 yards away) for a quick preflight and
launch.

The air was thick, the cicadas were singing, and the winds were light
-- in short, a perfect night for a flight.
With a bit more than 2 hours of light remaining, Mary flew the
quickest departure and approach to Amana's beautifully tailored grass
strip -- a whopping 17 minute flight from Iowa City, under Cedar
Rapids (KCID) class C veil.

Unicom was abuzz with after-dinner pilots all over the Midwest --
apparently we all realized that time was short at the same moment.
With practiced skill Mary set Atlas down on the manicured grass,
watching with a bit of unease as an old pickup truck scurried off the
runway as we approached. He was clearly aware of our presence, but
it's still a bit unnerving to have ground vehicles so close to the
runway when you're in that vulnerable flare...

It turned out that the pickup truck was the airport manager, spending
the evening filling gopher holes. He's one of the best grill-
meisters in the world (he always cooks at QB meetings, and the food is
absolutely the best -- period), and a super nice guy -- and it was
great seeing him taking such wonderful care of the strip. Amana (C11)
truly is a gem of the Midwest, long and wide, with lush green grass so
close to so many fantastic restaurants and shops. We're
extraordinarily lucky to live so close to such a wonderful
destination...

A quick-step 3-block stroll to "The Brick Haus" -- our favorite
restaurant in Amana -- for chicken schnitzel served family style, with
a dozen succulent German side-dishes, including home-made desserts.
To say that we enjoyed a gastronomic panoply of cardiovascular booby
traps would be an understatement -- it was a coronary occlusion on a
platter! But what a way to go....

Waddling back to Atlas, with the sun hanging low on the horizon, we
enjoyed a picture-perfect summer eve. The temperature was perfect,
with lower humidity and light winds, and I preflighted Atlas with
practiced-yet-cautious hands. After a trundling, bouncy takeoff run,
we were soon climbing strongly into a clear sky, hanging on the prop
and marveling at our good fortune. What a way to spend an evening!

Seventeen minutes later, with the runway lights already aglow, I
practiced my favorite pattern -- the overhead break. When the wind is
light and the air is thick (and, best of all, the pattern is empty)
this is absolutely the most fun way to land a plane, and it always
seems to result in one of my best landings. With a gentle chirp we
returned to terra firma, and were soon cleaning off the bugs in the
hangar whilst sipping a cold one...

I'm afraid this will be our swan song for after-work flights till next
summer. We're losing daylight at an alarming rate, and will soon be
locked in the grips of winter's darkness. But in the meantime I will
have this flight to warm my thoughts, and will always cherish the
memories of Amana on a warm summer's night....

Get out there and fly, boys and girls. It's later than you think...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

On Aug 19, 3:51 pm, Jay Honeck wrote:
certainty that I announced that we *were* flying somewhere for dinner,
damn the fatigue.

*cough* fit to fly *cough*

certainty that I announced that we *were* flying somewhere for dinner,
damn the fatigue.

*cough* fit to fly *cough*

Eh?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

In article .com,
Jay Honeck wrote:

certainty that I announced that we *were* flying somewhere for dinner,
damn the fatigue.

*cough* fit to fly *cough*

Eh?

He was commenting on the advisability of flying while fatigued.
If one is fatigued, is one really fit to fly?
Fatigue leads to mental mistakes, errors in judgement, cognition,
perception, calculation, logic,...

He was commenting on the advisability of flying while fatigued.
If one is fatigued, is one really fit to fly?
Fatigue leads to mental mistakes, errors in judgement, cognition,
perception, calculation, logic,...

Ah, gotcha.

Luckily, flying (for me) serves as the ultimate rejuvenator. No
matter how bogged down at the hotel we might be, get me near the plane
and I perk right up.

Luckily, I'm *always* near the plane...

;-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

On Aug 20, 12:54 am, Jay Honeck wrote:
certainty that I announced that we *were* flying somewhere for dinner,
damn the fatigue.

*cough* fit to fly *cough*

Eh?

Far, far too many people die as a result of both unrecognised and
recognised fatigue related accidents.

An accident may not be directly fatigue induced, but as I'm sure you
are well aware Jay, 99% of accidents are a series of small issues
brought togethor and fatigue is a cmmon member of that series.

When you're fatigued you are not 100% on the ball and thats when you
make mistakes, poor decisions, react slower, and in general get that
little bit closer to making a statistic out of yourself.

I'd hste the group to lose such a vibrant member because he chose to
"damn the fatigue" one to many times is all I'm saying.

"James Sleeman" wrote

I'd hste the group to lose such a vibrant member because he chose to
"damn the fatigue" one to many times is all I'm saying.


I feel certain Jay know the difference between being too tired to fly
safely, and being ragged out after a long day. This was a 17 minute flight,
remember, with another full and current pilot in the front seat with him.
--
Jim in NC

On Aug 20, 2:20 pm, "Morgans" wrote:
I feel certain Jay know the difference between being too tired to fly
safely, and being ragged out after a long day. This was a 17 minute flight,
remember, with another full and current pilot in the front seat with him.

We lost a pilot and passenger locally a few years ago (not fatigue
related, but a similar silent killer, over-confidence), after that,
everybody who knew the pilot well said something like "gee, I wish I'd
said something earlier because there were some troubling aspects of
his flying lately, but I never liked to criticise".

As pilots, IT IS THE JOB OF US ALL to keep our eyes open with regards
to our fellow aviators and to freely, quickly and clearly point out
any possible flaws in thier practice to which they may have become
unaware, no matter how small or insignificant they may seem.

I'm sure Jay was perfectly safe, I'm sure he was well aware of his
level of competence, I'm sure Mary was equally alert and competent,
but Jay mentioned in his post that he was fatigued from work but
"damn[ed] the fatigue" and went flying.

It seemed to me, knowing that fatigue is an insidious killer to which
many have fallen prey, that this decision was something he perhaps
needed to reflect on, to ask himself, "was I really fit to fly."

They answer from Jay's inner conversation was probably, "yes I was
fine", but maybe, just maybe, he might have thought, "now I think
about it, I was pretty tired and I perhaps wasn't flying my best, next
time, I should think harder about it", and if that saves some damage
to an aircraft, or himself, or his lovely wife, or valued children,
then isn't it worth it to point out these little, tiny, things
whenever we see them.

Here endth the lecture.

Morgans wrote:
"James Sleeman" wrote

I'd hste the group to lose such a vibrant member because he chose to
"damn the fatigue" one to many times is all I'm saying.



I feel certain Jay know the difference between being too tired to fly
safely, and being ragged out after a long day. This was a 17 minute flight,
remember, with another full and current pilot in the front seat with him.

Yeah, the second pilot in the plane is a great help most of the time.
When we flew around Australia with a group there were a couple of days I
wasn't really feeling well (I hate getting sick on vacation) so Ron
flew. If I had been single pilot I could have flown, I wasn't THAT
sick, but it was great no feeling like I had to fly.

Margy

.... pass the thou, please ...

{;-)

Jim