Wm.Ince wrote:Not necessarily Eddie. Under those same circumstances, I would have done the same thing.
A slow speed abort may have been fine, but high speed aborts, in my humble opinion, should only be done for a few reasons, i.e. engine failure, flight control malfunction or wind shear.
It has been proven that most of the time, excluding things I previously mentioned, it is better to continue the takeoff, fly the pattern and make a normal landing, on a suitable runway (considering best winds), under more stable and SLOW conditions, rather than perform a high speed abort.
That sod field was pretty narrow, airplane performance appeared normal, and the GPS was only a minor distraction.
You made a good call by continuing your takeoff.
Good points all.
Looks like I was just going through 30kias when the GPS popped out:
Stopping on the remaining runway should have been easy.
The reasoning behind my navel-gazing introspection is not so much whether I made the
right decision, but that I was so locked into the takeoff I don't recall
any conscious decision being made - and that part isn't good.
I think I've mentioned one other case like this. A mechanic had just done some minor work on my ROTAX and wanted to fly along for the first flight out of Dahlonega. He was going to make the radio calls, but seemingly the PTT on the front of his stick wasn't keying the mic. So I made the call and began the takeoff roll. When I went to rotate it took MUCH more back pressure than normal, and I quickly thought about the extra weight, but weight in the back should mean
less pressure, not
more, but regardless, it was damn the torpedoes and I pulled the plane into the air. In this case definitely the wrong "choice", but again I don't recall consciously weighing options, which is not good.
Oh, and what was wrong? On my side sticks the trim buttons are on the top and the PTT on the top front. I had already done my Before Takeoff checklist and checked the trim indication, but my mechanic friend was repeatedly hitting the button for nose down trim thinking it was the PTT as he was trying to transmit.
Amazing how the little things can get you - radios coming adrift, wrong button pressed, IR goggle case blocking the controls, that sort of thing. I guess that's why attention to detail and SOP's and checklists are so important - and even those won't save you every time.