Challenged
Pattern Altitude
I'm the best man for a wedding in January, so we had a bachelor party this weekend with a group of 8 guys. I asked if the groom would be interested in flying to our destination, and he said that sounded great. So, it ends up being me, the groom and one other guy who fly, and we just meet the rest of the guys at our destination for the weekend.
Well, we have a great weekend, and we go to leave on Sunday morning, but my home airport is showing 700 overcast, and while there is no on-field weather at the airport I am departing from, the closest one is showing 200 feet overcast, and there's pretty heavy fog. From just eyeballing it, it's obvious that we're nowhere near MVFR limits on the field I'm departing from.
The early morning TAF had said it would clear by 9:00 AM, but that comes and goes with no change in the weather. 10:00 AM rolls around and there's still no change in the weather. Everyone is sitting in the lobby waiting for me to give the word, and I have to admit the urge to just go ahead and launch was very strong. I held fast, however, and the sun finally started to poke through and the fog quickly dissipated around 11:00, and the clouds lifted to marginal at the destination airport and we made a bouncy trip back without further issue.
I've had to wait out the weather maybe a couple of times previously, but that was just me, the wife and my dog, and the pressure to come through wasn't nearly as strong as when you have 7 guys sitting there waiting on your decision. Anyhow, for any pilot who has made questionable decisions in the past due to pressures to get to the destination, I definitely saw first-hand how it can be tempting to bend the rules.
FYI: I've got about 12 hours of training left before I can get my "cloud license".
Well, we have a great weekend, and we go to leave on Sunday morning, but my home airport is showing 700 overcast, and while there is no on-field weather at the airport I am departing from, the closest one is showing 200 feet overcast, and there's pretty heavy fog. From just eyeballing it, it's obvious that we're nowhere near MVFR limits on the field I'm departing from.
The early morning TAF had said it would clear by 9:00 AM, but that comes and goes with no change in the weather. 10:00 AM rolls around and there's still no change in the weather. Everyone is sitting in the lobby waiting for me to give the word, and I have to admit the urge to just go ahead and launch was very strong. I held fast, however, and the sun finally started to poke through and the fog quickly dissipated around 11:00, and the clouds lifted to marginal at the destination airport and we made a bouncy trip back without further issue.
I've had to wait out the weather maybe a couple of times previously, but that was just me, the wife and my dog, and the pressure to come through wasn't nearly as strong as when you have 7 guys sitting there waiting on your decision. Anyhow, for any pilot who has made questionable decisions in the past due to pressures to get to the destination, I definitely saw first-hand how it can be tempting to bend the rules.
FYI: I've got about 12 hours of training left before I can get my "cloud license".