Any Advice?

[AlexN6390R]

Hi everyone, I'm a 17 year old solo-endorsed student pilot in California with a PA-28-140 I fly. In April, 2014 I had a little incident with the Cherokee, in which climbing through 300ft AGL off of a short runway, it experienced significant, periodic, power loss. I did manage to limp her back around the Patten and get on the ground safely.
It took my grandfather (who is an A&P) and I a great deal of time and money to figure out what the issue was. Since then, we have replaced the mags, wiring harnesses, and spark plugs. Along with changing the oil and oil filter (nothing bad Was found in the oil).

Now... my grandfather has flown it since all of this Maitinence has been done and says that it runs well and he wouldn't have a problem flying it. I, on the other hand, do not feel comfortable in it at all. I feel kind of stupid because I've run it up, and I'll admit, it runs nice and smooth now, but I just feel like it could loose power again out of the blue like it did last time, and possibly quit all-together which has always been a fear of mine at low altitudes.

So my question for you guys is, what would you suggest to help get over this fear of flying this aircraft? I Absolutly love flying, its my passion and it has been for the last 5 years; I don't know what I'd do without it. But it's really difficult to enjoy the wonders of flight when your stressed out and sweating every time you hop in the pilot's seat, anticipating the motor to act up.

I'd really appreciate any tips on how to get over this fear of the airplane I've put so much time and money into. Thanks in advance!

 

[Anymouse]

There's a lot to be said about getting back on the horse you fell off of. I'd say go take the thing up and get back in the saddle. Your confidence will come back.

 

[MickYoumans]

If it is confidence in yourself handling an emergency, take an experienced pilot along with you until you regain trust in the plane.

 

[retailguy]

I did manage to limp her back around the Patten and get on the ground safely.

Here's my answer to what you wrote.

I get the fear and the angst. But what you wrote and I quoted above is what mattered. The engine acted up, and as a student pilot, you used the skill and training you had to get it on the ground safely and lived to fly another day. Well done.

I would fly with you any day, any time, in that plane.

Go forth and fly. Do a thorough run up and pre flight, do thorough maintenance with a qualified mechanic, don't skimp on it, be regular and enjoy.

 

[Vaflier]

Suffered an engine failure once on take off and made the runway for landing. Fortunately it was long. Had another problem of sever power loss and severe vibration on a moonless night in a different plane. Both times scared the crap out of me and the only way to overcome it is to go fly. A couple of hours and the fear will fade and you will again enjoy flying. As Nike says. JUST DO IT. you will feel better after you do and will be glad to have that behind you. Besides statistics say that now that you have had your inflight emergency you should be good for many many years with no problems.

 

[Shawn]

Alex...I had a similar thing happen. Engine sputter at 600' on climb out. Can say was the scariest moment of flying so far and the first time I actually had any fear in the air.

Limped it back in without incident and my A&P got right on it. Turns out fouled spark plugs were the culprit and they were pulled, cleaned, replaced and right back up without hesitation. Without hesitation because we isolated, identified and fixed the problem. I was actually a bit more at ease cuz I often have that feeling of "I wonder if something will fail mid air" and I knew the plugs would not be one of those for a while!

If your grandfather KNOWS what the issues was and it was fixed, get up and have some fun and rebuild your trust in the plane!

I hate to say it, but training for and going through something like that when it is real are two different worlds and I believe that it will make you even more prepared in the event of an even worse emergency.

I also fly with the mindset of thinking about what I will do not if, but WHEN my engine fails!

 

[MAKG1]

I had a carb ice incident right after takeoff at PAO, on a student solo.

Lots of people in line for takeoff right after the marine layer burned off on a nice summer day. The engine sat at 900 RPM for quite some time after run-up while I waited my turn. then I took off, and at 400 AGL, the engine ate the ice that had accumulated. Missed HARD, just once. The first thing I did was evaluate the climb -- it was climbing fine, so I completed the pattern, pulled off the runway and did a mag check ('cause I thought it was a bad mag). It was good, but I was rattled enough that I parked the airplane and squawked a WTF.

400 AGL is probably the worst place to feel your engine burp. At that airport, it means landing in the mud, and almost certainly upside down.

What did I do about it? Asked a number of A&P's, both on the field and at work, and everyone said it sounded like carb ice. So, now I turn on the carb heat when idling for a long time in humid conditions in a Cessna. I got right back on the horse within a few days, and I agree it's important. Fears tend to grow, whether reasonable or not.

The important thing is, the reaction was appropriate, as it was in your case.