A coworker and I needed to get to a reliever airport in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, leaving from the Washington, D.C., area. We were going to use my Piper Saratoga SP, which could make the trip without stopping.
It was late spring, and winter’s remnants included a fast-moving cold front lying across our preferred route. It featured everything cold fronts are known for, including strong surface winds, thunderstorms in lines and clusters reaching for the flight levels, some heavy rain, warnings for hail and other unpleasantness.
One look at the weather radar and it was plain we didn’t want to fly through it. Closer looks at the radar, though, highlighted that once the front came through and relieved itself on the Mid-Atlantic, there was good weather behind. It was obvious that waiting would pay off, even if it meant completing the flight after sundown. I was night and IFR current, completely rested and had no real responsibilities the next day. If push came to shove, we could depart early the next morning and, thanks in part to time zones, easily make the scheduled meeting.
My colleague/passenger wasn’t a pilot but was no stranger to personal airplanes. And he could read a weather radar presentation as well as anyone. After a few moments looking at the FBO’s display, and pointedly asked, “What are we going to do?”
I responded, “Well, we’re not going anywhere for an hour or so. I’m going to take a nap, and I suggest you do the same.”
And that’s what we did. I left the airplane in its hangar, found a vacant recliner in the pilot’s lounge and began inspecting my eyelids.
An hour or so later, I woke up, refreshed, and looked outside the window. I was greeted by a wet ramp, sunny skies, some puffy cumulus skittering across the sky and a breeze with easy-to-fly gusts at the surface. We launched into improving weather and, a few hours later, after local sunset, landed at our destination in great conditions. We even had time to visit the hotel’s casino. The next day’s get-back was just as easy.
I (re)learned three things: First, despite our best efforts and meticulous planning, Mother Nature sometimes has other ideas. She deserves our respect. Second, some pilot lounges can be quite comfortable for afternoon naps. Third, and most important, it pays to be flexible. A rigid schedule, compressed into a narrow range of choices, simply wouldn’t have worked for this trip.
Have you encountered a situation or hazardous condition that yielded lessons on how to better manage the risks involved in flying? Do you have an experience to share with Aviation Safety’s readers about an occasion that taught you something significant about ways to conduct safer flight operations? If so, we want to hear about it.
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