----[Please read http://ercoupers.com/disclaimer.htm before following any advice in this forum.]----
Amen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ----- Original Message ----- From: "Greg Bullough" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, February 26, 2004 8:43 AM Subject: Re: [COUPERS-FLYIN] Night VFR Adventures > ----[Please read http://ercoupers.com/disclaimer.htm before following any advice in this forum.]---- > > > Tim: > > Your night VFR flight sounds awe-inspiring. > > However, as someone who wants to see all Ercoupers live to > a ripe old age and retain their licenses, I see many reasons > for you to have cancelled your contemplated flight and only > one reason to have continued. Now I know it's a sensitive > subject, second-guessing another pilot's judgement, but > there are just a number of things that bother me about > that flight: > > 1) Your GPS failed, due to a line cord problem and there was > no battery. It was night, and you were in one of the busiest > airspaces in the country. For that flight, I'd want not just a > panel-powered GPS, I'd want battery back-up. In fact no small > number of us who a serious GPS users actually have a smaller, > spare unit. > 2) It was your first night cross-country in years. > 3) You were leaving the immediate area, where changes in landmarks or > dark patches could cause confusion or even spatial disorientation. > 4) You had no gyro instruments, making recovery from vertigo very > difficult. > 5) You had to 'pray' that your wet compass was accurate enough. You > mean you rely on it when you didn't know? Anyone can swing a > compass, but it's hard to do it after takeoff. > 6) You did induce a bit of spatial disorientation, and you were fortunate in > the outcome > 7) Your passenger was a non-pilot. He could as easily have been a CFI, > or another pilot (who brought his or her own hand-held GPS along). Had > that been the case, both pilot and passenger would have had a better odds > of getting home to their sweethearts that lovely Valentine's day. > > Now I know that SoCal is lit up like a Christmas tree on a clear night, and > that > it makes night look like day. I also know that the sea of orange > streetlights and > highways sometimes creates confusion and doubt. > > And I also know that you probably have a rebuttal for each of the points above. > > But also know, that for as many people out here who would have said 'go' there > are a few more who would have said 'not tonight.' > > Nobody ever died from saying 'not tonight.' > > Please be conservative and join us at many EOC meetings to come. > > Blue skies, > > Greg > > > ========================================================================== == == > To leave this forum go to: http://ercoupers.com/lists.htm > Search the archives on http://escribe.com/aviation/coupers/ > > > > ========================================================================== ==== To leave this forum go to: http://ercoupers.com/lists.htm Search the archives on http://escribe.com/aviation/coupers/
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