Its October and most backcountry and float flying activities have wound down in Northern Canada. I just finished my first season flying a Cessna 206 on floats commercially and while it was exhilarating and amazing, I had my fair share of near misses and close calls.

After a close call such as narrowly escaping the trees on take off, or, just making it off the water before the rocks (to name a couple) does anyone else get that uneasy feeling that probes you later on and how do you deal with them? Thoughts like: “that was just way too f**kin close” or “dammit (my name) you’re an idiot”.

At the end of the day I try to identify where my mistakes were made and how to not to have the same situation happen again. I ultimately love flying and believe my heart would simply stop beating if I was ever restricted from the sky. But I would love to know how other pilots deal with these pucker moments and what keeps you charging the sky.

Cheers

A while back, I was visiting with a young aviator, who found out I'd flown commercially in Alaska for a number of years. He commented that I must have done a lot of "really scary" things, flying there.

I thought about that for a moment, in the context of all the "STOL this and that" that we are bombarded with via the internet these days, and responded that, in the contrary, most commercial operators in the bush DO NOT do a lot of "really scary" things on a day to day basis.

That said, to the uninitiated, and to the newby, a lot of the things done out "there" LOOK pretty scary. And, yes, occasionally, as you noted, sometimes a bit of doubt slides in there.

Those ops often look marginal to the uninitiated, but they are generally done in very calculated fashion, and based on a good bit of experience, recency and skill. But, in a "STOL competition", if a competitor yanks on full flaps just a hair too soon on a takeoff, the worst that happens is, they scratch.....no harm, no foul.

But, the bush operator to makes the same error, at a point where he or she REALLY needs that little extra boost, may wreck the plane. So, a lot of calculation goes into that kind of operation. Break your plane, you may spend a night or two in the boonies, and you may be out of work for a while, maybe a long while.

But, you are doing exactly what you need to do.....look at every one of those situations where things were a little "close", trying to assess what you did wrong, and how you could have done better. That really helps the learning curve, and over time, you become more and more precise and proficient, both in the pure flying skills, but also in your judgement of where to go somewhere, and precisely the conditions you need to make it work. With that experience and knowledge, now it's easier to say NO when it's necessary.

I am reminded of a small oxbow waterbody that I used to work crews in and out of. A Cessna 185 (and later a 206) with two people and all their camping gear and sampling gear. That short, narrow oxbow had a serious curve to it, and trees both sides. The wind had to be "just so" to get OUT of there safely with a load, though getting in was pretty easy.

More than a few times, I arrived overhead, didn't like what I saw, told the crew on the radio that I'd be back after midnight, hopped over to a cabin 20 miles away, took a nap, and returned when the wind had laid down. That was based on trying to come out of there with a crew early in my experience there when the wind was wrong. Popped up above the trees and nearly got slung into the trees opposite by the rotor..... Didn't break anything, but learned an important lesson by getting waaaaay too close.

Just like you're doing now. Good for you!!

Mike

It’s hard to have a flying job and have no close calls . I think the reason for that is there is money on the table , the aircraft is most likely full/heavy and the person who owns the machine wants you to fly it.Takes some guts to leave gear or people or whatever behind because in your eyes it’s too hot / too windy in the wrong direction or you just don’t feel good about it . Nothing worse than that shakey leg after you clear something by the skin of your teeth. It’s a creepy feeling . At least for me. I’ve just always tried to be humble about it and learn what I don’t want to do again. Airplanes can be super scary sometimes.

Not for me though . Never scared

low rider wrote:Not for me though . Never scared

Agreed, but cleaning bills on underwear can run up the bills.....

Aviation is an ongoing series of learning events, hopefully the experience you have supports the experience you are encountering at the time of the "learning" event.

Thank you, Mike, for a well thought out and excellently worded reply!

There were indeed a few times I should have at least said, “Maybe later today” or just flat out “No” but I didn’t. Never again!

Ted

I appreciate the advice Mike. I've had more time to think about this season and what I will do and won't do going in to next season. Thanks for the response!