Have u ever scrapped a flight because of a “feeling”?

Knowing aircraft limitations is also pretty important. I am not sitting in the aircraft so the seat of the pants feel isn't there. The drone can handle 30mph+ with GPS hold but if you suddenly lose it, can you react fast enough to keep it under control? If winds are that high and you are right on the roof there are turbulent air pockets everywhere that pull you different ways which is hard to react to unless you are in the thing. Definitely a new kind of challenge.

No self destruct button..??:lol::lol:
 
Actually yes, hold both sticks inwards and down. Kills all 4 motors and drops it out of the sky. Last resort only of course.
 
1.6 on the Hobbs baby... with landing with a tailwind


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I do the rule of 3's thing as well. I entertain my gut feelings and try to figure out what it is. Some days the universe decides to kick my butt. I sometimes dare it to kick harder out of frustration and it obliges me, to which I respond "I was being sarcastic!"

The drone job adds a new level of CRM for me. When your butt is on the ground safe and sound, it is harder to maintain that same mindset. I am 2.5 hours from home right now waiting on an appointment when winds are forecast to gust in the high 20s. If I don't do this job today, I will have to fly it later. The homeowner and contractor who will be there want it done now. My company wants to show that we can handle the influx of appointments and be flexible. I feel like I have to justify my paycheck with results to my employer as well as make the 5 hour round trip worth it to the company.

My life isn't in danger but I still have to have good ADM. I will probably end up cancelling this one based on winds in front of the contractor and homeowner which also puts pressure on me (come on man I need this done my home is leaking/i want to get this guys roof fixed so I can get paid/we don't want to wait for a reschedule/etc).

Knowing aircraft limitations is also pretty important. I am not sitting in the aircraft so the seat of the pants feel isn't there. The drone can handle 30mph+ with GPS hold but if you suddenly lose it, can you react fast enough to keep it under control? If winds are that high and you are right on the roof there are turbulent air pockets everywhere that pull you different ways which is hard to react to unless you are in the thing. Definitely a new kind of challenge.

Winds at 30MPH on a roof by way of a ladder would be a No-Go for me.... and I am a former skydiver and fly an open cockpit biplane. :)
 
My hangar neighbor wanted me to fly with him last Wednesday just as a companion while he shakes off rust. He's had a pilot's license for a long time but only has 115 hours. (this I didn't know until after) I agreed to meet him after work and I wait for him to do the pre-flight. To him 7 gallons in one tank and 9 in the other is okay. I looked at the wind sock and it was straight out but the ATIS was only reporting 10 knots and straight down runway 21. We got in the plane and my Bose headset will only work on my left ear. He has a mono audio panel I have a stereo so I go back to my hangar and grab my David Clarks. We taxi out after listening to the ATIS about 7 times. (he speaks English as a second language but is an engineer for Ratheon) We do the run up and leaning isn't even in his checklist so I show him how to do that. I keep looking at the windsock and now it has shifted to a left quartering headwind and when tower cleared us is was gusting to 16.

I watched him push the power in but it didn't feel like we had full power and his hand was blocking my view of the black knob in relation to the firewall. Something didn't feel right so within three seconds of us rotating, I told him to pull it back and abort. I took over the radio transmissions because he is extremely slow and told the tower that we were aborting. They asked if we needed any assistance and I replied "no." We got off the runway and taxied back to the hangar. I told him that something just didn't feel right and that we should call it a day.

I found out later that he feels confident if he has someone else with him with more hours. I'm not an instructor and my spidey senses were on overload with too many things that were "iffy" about the flight that I just didn't want to be a part of it.
 
My hangar neighbor wanted me to fly with him last Wednesday just as a companion while he shakes off rust. He's had a pilot's license for a long time but only has 115 hours. (this I didn't know until after) I agreed to meet him after work and I wait for him to do the pre-flight. To him 7 gallons in one tank and 9 in the other is okay. I looked at the wind sock and it was straight out but the ATIS was only reporting 10 knots and straight down runway 21. We got in the plane and my Bose headset will only work on my left ear. He has a mono audio panel I have a stereo so I go back to my hangar and grab my David Clarks. We taxi out after listening to the ATIS about 7 times. (he speaks English as a second language but is an engineer for Ratheon) We do the run up and leaning isn't even in his checklist so I show him how to do that. I keep looking at the windsock and now it has shifted to a left quartering headwind and when tower cleared us is was gusting to 16.

I watched him push the power in but it didn't feel like we had full power and his hand was blocking my view of the black knob in relation to the firewall. Something didn't feel right so within three seconds of us rotating, I told him to pull it back and abort. I took over the radio transmissions because he is extremely slow and told the tower that we were aborting. They asked if we needed any assistance and I replied "no." We got off the runway and taxied back to the hangar. I told him that something just didn't feel right and that we should call it a day.

I found out later that he feels confident if he has someone else with him with more hours. I'm not an instructor and my spidey senses were on overload with too many things that were "iffy" about the flight that I just didn't want to be a part of it.
Not a fan of that maneuver. But, I wasn’t there. Aborting after rotation can be a rough situation.
Plus, even though he was rusty, but obviously current, was he not the PIC?? You are not a CFI in this situation I don’t think.

All that said, obviously you didn’t have a gut feeling not to go. You realized that after you went.

Sorry, not trying to be harsh...
 
No offense taken Kritchlow. I've kicked myself for even letting it get to that point but to be clear, we had NOT rotated but were about to. He was PIC for sure and was making decisions that as a passenger, I didn't feel comfortable with. He wanted me to go with him because he wanted to brush up on his radio work but in my opinion, he needs to have a CFI with him and brush up on much more than just radio work.
 
I expect my fellow crew members to draw attention to anything that they are uncomfortable with. I even include pilot jumps seaters in this as part of the crew briefing.

It is also made clear that the final decision is for the Captain only.

In this case I see that the reject and call it a day was more of a "suggestion" than an override of PIC authority.
 
I'm flying 77 + year old planes these days.
Every time I get in one I have a "feeling".
The engines won't idle when it's cold, the brakes never work, the doors won't stay shut, the only way I can do a mag check is while doing a high speed taxi.
Unless the wings fall off while I'm taxiing, I fly.
After that, it's too late to worry about it. Much.

I have an invitation to fly a 1 year old Czech Sport next week. Everything works, so I'm told.
I don't know if I will be able to cope with that.
 
I wrote the story below after ending a short flight. Although this was more than a "feeling", this occurrence, and one other one, have me checking my feelings before a flight as a regular part of pre flight preparations.

If anything doesn't feel right, I just don't go. It's probably the only thing in my life that i would consider superstitious.

.http://garysflyingadventures.blogspot.com/2010/03/dark-fat-ugly-toad.html?m=1
 
Cut out early from work today to go fly. Weather is awesome with clear and a million and calm winds, well, 7 kts, but that’s calm here.
While doing preflight a voice inside the head kept telling me not to take off today. Closed the hangar door and came home. Had a good night sleep, not tired or stressed. Looking at the sky and thinking why I didn’t fly. Can’t think of a logical reason.

This ever happened to ya’ll?


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Listen to that still, small voice. Doing so may save you some grief.

Bob
 
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