AOPA Pilot Magazine - September 2024 - 22

FLYING LIFE
Living intentionally
Some things in life are worth the risk
BY NATALIE BINGHAM HOOVER
OUR FAVORITE FAMILY VACATION SPOT is Apalachicola, Florida.
My youngest daughter talks about it all year. " I miss Apalach, " she
says at random, when picking up her toys or coloring or petting
the dog. It's a special place on the Forgotten Coast of Florida, with
beautiful, nearly empty beaches, shells as big as your hand, and
dolphins that come to play in the boat wake as you motor out to the
islands. We spend a couple of weeks there every summer, and that
free and easy beach feeling feeds our souls something necessary for
survival in the otherwise go-go-go lifestyle we typically lead. This
year, though, the day before our arrival, there were two separate
shark attacks about 50 miles up the coast. Concerned friends
messaged from home, " Did you hear? Better stay out of the water! "
While I appreciate their concern, we got in the water anyway.
I didn't let the kids swim all the way out to the sandbar this time,
and we made sure to play away from where a couple of people
were fishing, but we were going to have our ocean time. Water in
the nose, sand in the hair (and various other parts unmentionable),
sunburned, paddleboarding ocean time. I made a conscious choice
years ago to refuse to live a life dominated by fear...maybe about the
time I started flying airplanes.
I made a conscious choice years ago to refuse to live
a life dominated by fear....Pilots have to make that
decision again and again every time we get in the air.
Pilots have to make that decision again and again every time
we get in the air. It is a daily exercise in living intentionally. If you
fly long enough, you will have lost friends to airplane accidents,
maybe even friends whose piloting skills and safety practices you
admired. And then there are the stories: the engine that quits on
climbout, the cabin fire, the bird strike. The list goes on and on of
completely unforseeable events, and even the most stubborn of us
start to question our it-won't-happen-to-me decision making. Oh,
we've all heard the statistics. You are more likely to die from cancer
or a car accident than you are by shark attack or airplane crash. But
tell that to a pilot and see if that stat makes him feel one bit less
anxious as he loads up his entire family in the airplane.
I was recently giving an instrument checkride in a Cessna 172
at my local airport when I heard a slight change in the engine noise.
22
AOPA PILOT / September 2024
My applicant didn't seem to notice anything different, continuing
to load the GPS. Was it just in my head, I wondered? But I took
my noise-canceling headset off one ear anyway just to listen for a
second. I didn't hear anything unusual, nor did the gauges indicate
a problem, so we just kept on, business as usual, completing that
approach, then going back for the last one. We were at 2,000 feet
agl and 5 or so miles away from the airport when the engine made
a new sort of vibration, one that got the attention of my applicant
if his wide eyes were any indication. I took the controls and made
a beeline for the airport, letting ATC know we were heading back
for possible engine failure. The applicant tried to read the checklist
in an airplane that was shaking more and more aggressively as
we neared the airport. When we got within gliding distance of
the runway, still at 2,000 feet, I pulled the power to idle, put in a
forward slip, and landed on the runway without incident.
Days later, the mechanic sent me a picture of our cracked
cylinder. It was just a thin crack, no more than a couple of inches
long. How could something so seemingly insignificant be the thing
that could possibly have kept me from getting home safely to my
family? For the next several days, I continued to hear what a friend
called the " automatic rough, " whenever I was in the air. It's the
same thing that happens when you're alone in a dark house after
watching a scary movie. Every shadow and creak causes your heart
rate to spike with an am-I-in-danger rhythm.
Here's the conclusion we all have to make peace with as we
choose how to live out our days. We can hole up in our safe spaces
and imagine that we and our loved ones are safe from every danger.
And to an extent we may be reducing some level of risk. But at
what cost? Some things just make life worth living. I have no idea
what it is for you, although if you're reading this column, I could
venture a pretty good guess. For me, feeling the pull of the ocean
waves and the wind underneath my wings make me feel a part
of something vast and sacred. In the immortal words of Eleanor
Roosevelt: " The purpose
of life is to live it, to taste
experience to the utmost,
to reach out eagerly and
without fear for newer
and richer experience. "
myaviation101.com
NATALIE BINGHAM HOOVER
began flying in 2004. After
corporate and airline work, she
now serves as an FAA-designated
examiner and chief instructor of a
flight school in Mississippi.
http://www.myaviation101.com
AOPA Pilot Magazine - September 2024

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