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Years ago, while I was still a student pilot in a little Central Utah town, I had things put into perspective. My instructor, who had over 10,000 hours on the books, and who had kissed the earth several times and lived to talk about it, were going out to the local airport for a lesson. As we arrived, we saw a Piper Colt out at the fuel pump. Now, as this was a small airport, and my instructor had the keys to the pumps, we went out to fuel the Colt. It was mid-winter, and a storm squall line crossed the whole sky to the north of us. The Colt was filled with luggage right up to the roof, and the pilot had a female passenger. They had just flown in from Craig, Colorado. The pilot had been flying IFR, in the clouds. He was headed for Provo, Utah. The carb iced up, he was losing power. Carb heat cleared it, but about this time the passenger forced him to get closer to the ground so she could avert a heart attack. As he came lower, he finally came out of the clouds and saw a canyon down below. Thinking it was Provo Canyon, he followed it, and eventually landed at Manti, 100 miles south of Provo. This fine IFR pilot indicated to us that he was doing just fine until the female forced him out of the clouds. Now, those of you who know Provo, Utah, know that there's a range of mountains just east of Provo that average 11,000 ft high. A Colt has 108 HP, and because of it's weight, flies about the same as a Coupe. This ding-dong thought he was doing just great. As we were leaving, my instructor looked at me and said "there's an accident looking for a place to happen. The jerk took off, and headed north, right into the storm. The female passenger? She stayed on the ground and took a bus. Good Pilot, or Bad Pilot? Larry -- ----------------------------------------------------- Click here for Free Video!! http://www.gohip.com/free_video/ __________________________________________________ To unsubscribe from this list please send mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________________________________ T O P I C A http://www.topica.com/t/17 Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Your Favorite Topics
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