Rant: Exercising PIC, no not that PIC

[Jim K]

LOL. That would be quite an act of intimacy in a Cherokee... I'd feel almost obligated to put a $20 bill in his belt loop for the dance.

We both got out

Wait you actually got out so he could check the tire? And you got back in? I'm pretty non- confrontational, but I'm pretty sure I would've pulled the plug right there.

 

[Charlie Golf]

Wait you actually got out so he could check the tire? And you got back in? I'm pretty non- confrontational, but I'm pretty sure I would've pulled the plug right there.

I don't know if I would've made it past the point where the guy was playing whack-a-mole with the fuel pump breaker.

 

[Randomskylane]

This sounds like a great episode of Candid Camera; when does it air?

 

[ArrowFlyer86]

Wait you actually got out so he could check the tire? And you got back in? I'm pretty non- confrontational, but I'm pretty sure I would've pulled the plug right there.

Yeah, we both got out. It was about 2 minutes later that I said he can drop me off.
To be clear: I'd made up my mind after the run-up I just was finding the right spot in the conversation to voice it. I don't even know what can cause an engine to run that rough. At least nothing I've ever experienced in any airplane I've flown.

I'll admit, I probably would have bailed earlier except for that fact he was a nice guy and I felt bad. I know that's not a great reason. But he had taken off work just to go fly. And here I was essentially saying "thanks, but your plane is a busted piece of **** that I don't feel safe in".
In the end common sense prevailed and I left fairly gracefully, but it took longer than it should have lol.

 

[Hengelo]

This would be a lot funnier if it wasn't real.

 

[midlifeflyer]

Yeah, we both got out. It was about 2 minutes later that I said he can drop me off.
To be clear: I'd made up my mind after the run-up I just was finding the right spot in the conversation to voice it. I don't even know what can cause an engine to run that rough. At least nothing I've ever experienced in any airplane I've flown.

I'll admit, I probably would have bailed earlier except for that fact he was a nice guy and I felt bad. I know that's not a great reason. But he had taken off work just to go fly. And here I was essentially saying "thanks, but your plane is a busted piece of **** that I don't feel safe in".
In the end common sense prevailed and I left fairly gracefully, but it took longer than it should have lol.

"Nice guy" sounds like a bad reason but it's kind of human nature to put the gloss on. Like others, if the repeating fuel pump breaker tripping didn't do it, that combined with the avgas smell, would have been the last straw. And if I was instructing them, all "nice guy" would get them is that I might not charge them for my time and the airworthiness ground lesson.

 

[Dan Thomas]

Yes, they are out there, but “typical” is an over exaggeration.

Is an "overexaggeration" worse than an "exaggeration?"

Those of us who are mechanics know that most pilots would be shocked at what we find in airplanes. Are you a mechanic?

 

[Dan Thomas]

And the plane looked so sexy on the outside that there was some cognitive dissonance in my own head trying to reconcile what I was experiencing inside versus how nice it looks with fresh paint and a good interior and a brand new nav unit.

Yeah, I've worked on a few airplanes for their new owners. Nice paint and upholstery and radios sure do sell, but they are sometimes just lipstick on a pig. I used to find some sick stuff that should have killed the deal if they'd had a proper prebuy done.

 

[morleyz]

All these old birds have some nits, but I think this would give me a serious pit in my stomach. Definitely would have made the same decision. You'd think with fancy avionics and a paint job, maybe a little money should be spent on things that won't cause you to become gliding manhole cover.

Now this makes me want to bug my A&P about my "it does that sometimes" that he says "they all do that". Lol.

 

[Racerx]

even know what can cause an engine to run that rough. At least nothing I've ever experienced in any airplane I've flown.

My only experience with roughness came during training. As I advance throttle on run up I thought I heard something. Mag check was fine. Chalked it up to first flight with new headsets. Take the runway and advance throttle I hear it again. But it's worse. Instructor didn't hear it. Abort. And down the runway I'm playing with the throttle trying to diagnose. Instructor now hears it and asks what I think it could be. Out loud first thing I said was exhaust leak....but it would be a really bad exhaust leak. Is it down a cylinder like a plug wire came off? No, mag check was ok. Settled on exhaust leak. Instructor pulls the cowl, "nailed it!" One exhaust flange was only being held on by one nut, which eventually worked it's way off. The other stud was chowdered up and I pulled out the remnants of a failed attempt of a helicoil.

Took me back to the race car days. Tried to game the invert at national qualifier by pulling a plug wire in qualifying. Man did that thing run ROUGH. Felt like an idiot driving through pit lane. Was too good and too competitive and consistently fast to just go slower.