After completing the pre flight checks I did a weight and balance. The first W&B I did the aircraft was over the weight limit, even with only 12 gallons of fuel in the aircraft, and the C of G would not fit within the C of G limits. I did a few more and weighed all the passengers and took actual weights rather than the weights they had told me. After all that I had to let one of the passengers know that they would not be able to come on the flight.

Initially I told the passengers and let them decide on their own who would sit this one out. 10 minutes later they could not decide so I had to make the decision. One of the passengers was sick so, even though I knew the passenger would be disappointed, I suggested that they sit this one out since a flight would only make them feel worse with the changes in altitude.

As a CPL pilot, you have to able to make the correct decision to ensure the safety of the flight, even if it means disappointing passengers.

Recently a few months after getting my wings, three of my family members made a trip down to Palmerston North from Auckland just to go on a flight with me. The flight was scheduled on the Sunday and they were leaving on the Monday.

I had planned the flight completely the previous night. The plan was Palmerston North – Paraparaumu – Cape Capmbel – Kaikoura, with some whale watching in Kaikoura and then flying back the same route. Come Sunday morning, I woke up early to check the weather and it was forecast to be deteriorating in the south. After further assessment I decided that a flight to the north would be suitable for a better passenger experience. I then planned another flight from Palmerston North – New Plymouth – Raglan. After the new flight plan and completing the pre flight, I re assessed the weather. The wind at Palmerston was already a strong gusting cross wind with it forecast to get worse.

The dilemma was that If I took off from Palmerston North and in the cruise I decided that the weather was unsuitable to continue, I would not be able to land for another two hours to come under the landing weight. I was already under pressure to leave as I was 1 hour late from planning the new route, and my passengers were starting to get bored. I decided to give it a go and escorted the passengers onto the plane, started up and taxied out to the apron. Just before run ups, I got a call from base stating that a new tempo was out which said that the wind was forecast to increase in the next hour and stay like that for the rest of the day. After 2 minutes of contemplating whether to risk it or not I decided to cancel the flight. The only trouble was telling the passengers.

I informed the passengers that the weather was deteriorating and that If we could somehow take off from Palmy and get through the weather, there was no way that we would be able to make it back. I then told them that I was not comfortable putting their lives at risk which made the passengers realise that it was a serious decision. Even though the passengers and I were disappointed they realised it was not worth the risk. An hour later the weather really packed in heavy rain showers, 4000m visibility and cloud base broken at 800 ft.

Although a pilot may feel the pressure to continue a flight for whatever reason, in my case it was pressure to not disappoint my passengers who had come all the way from Auckland for a flight, the pilot should think whether it is worth the risk of putting themselves in an unwanted dangerous situation with passengers, especially in a single engine light aircraft.

Once i was over head the beacon, the DME distance was counting up and on the approach chart, it tells me to turn inbound at 8 DME. And suddenly the DME stop counting, it stop at 4 DME and i have no idea when to turn inbound, however i did my timing, i push the timer button when i was over head the beacon, so i told my instructor that now we are no longer use the VOR/DME chart, we now use the VOR approach only. He did not realize that the DME had fail until i told him. After we landed the aircraft, he said what i just did was a good airmanship to always use timer when flying IFR, it is a good back up plan of not only relying on the DME, because the DME can fail at any time.

In this instance one of the above average student instructors found him self progressively getting below his planned altitude datums as his aerobatic sequence progressed. Towards the end of his otherwise good display he realized his final looping manoeuvre would probably take him just below the competition minimum. Rather than continue he knocked the display off and landed in the knowledge he may have got away with it and won the competition.

He did not finish his display but was soundly congratulated on an excellent airmanship decision.

Too my mind the pilot displayed superb discipline and self awareness to stop the display in the face of immense pressure to continue and win the competition. Further he managed the risk, knew the performance of his aircraft, demonstrated good affective behaviour and ultimately good situational awareness to make a good decision.

I made contact with tower and they cleared me for my route, however, they cleared me for takeoff for Grass 25Right, which is 720 meters in length, which we did not expect. The instructor then called to clarify and requested the Sealed runway, and the controller told us to standby whilst he figured a way for us to taxi to the Sealed runway. Finally he told us that it was not available due to the static aircraft displays, and asked us again whether we would accept takeoff on the Grass 25Right. I was very tempted to make the call to go, however I seeked the instructor's opinion and we collectively decided that even though we could probably make the takeoff, there is a chance we might make a hole in the fence as well.

Because we had three people on board, and the aircraft had an airconditioner which weighed 70kgs installed, we were operating close to max all up weight. A load sheet was also not completed for the Grass runway as we were not anticipating that takeoff. Our final decision was to call off the takeoff, because of the risks involved. I trusted my instructor's decision and I believe this was the correct airmanship. Afterall she had over 2000 hours experience and she flew this aircraft much more than I did, this was my third flight and I only had one and a half hours of flight time in this aircraft.

If i was solo on this aircraft with two other passengers and no instructor, there was a 50/50 chance that i would have gone because of the effort I put to prepare for this flight and also the nice blue-skies day. However the instructor taught me a valuable airmanship lesson, that, even though all the conditions (dry grass, clear sky) might indicate a possible safe takeoff, the risk was still there because we havent done the load sheet.

We eventually cancelled and booked the flight for another day.

Reading the latest post in the ab-initio pilot section on CURRY AND COKE, reminds me of an incident that occurred to one of the pilots flying his third GA rotation of the day a few years ago.

Whilst looking back it is indeed a bit funny, and we can laugh about it now, it certainly was no laughing matter on the day concerned - for the pilot, the passenger concerned, the other passengers on the flight, and the ground staff who had the unfortunate task of clean-up! (ie. me!). the pilot of the flight concerned was coming in to land at our little busy airfield, when the passenger directly behind him "lost their lunch" all over the back of the pilot's head and back! Oh yes, it is true, - conditions were a little bumpy and rough due to a bit of a crosswind, but nothing terriby major - however it was enough for the passenger! The pilot landed the aircraft smoothly which was no doubt a relief to both the pilot and the other passengers. It is amazing that the pilot himself did not throw up over the controls and a testament to his fortitude and iron will to get that plane on the ground. The passenger concerned was humbly apologetic, and though still green around the gills, was ok. The other passengers though feeling a bit sick were ok. The pilot, once on the ground, went off for a shower and returned feeling much better. It was enough for me having to clean up the aircraft, and though I managed to avoid being sick, I certainly felt it. The thing that really got to me though, was on the return leg of this journey for this ill passenger - they requested the seat behind the pilot!!!! and their partner would not sit with them!

We learnt the importance of having sick bags, and letting passengers know their location! especially on those days that are a bit turbulent. I am happy to report, we have never had another repeat of that particular situation, though we of course have passengers who become unwell from time to time.

Good work to the pilot who kept it together under what was no doubt a very trying situation! (He now flies commercially and is having a very happy career to date!)

This very impressive display of airmanship led to the safe completion of yet another busy day in the lives of a GA company and its crew and passengers. Good work and congratulations to the pilot.