The day’s mission was to relocate a friend’s new-to-him Bonanza from Class B International to its new forever home at an outlying field. The ferry pilot who flew it in the night before and the friend were aboard. I was in the left seat because I knew the airspace better and had more Bonanza time than either of them.
During a detailed pre-flight inspection, I pointed out to the new owner several normal items he would want to pay attention to during future operations and, finding nothing that would prevent us from flying the airplane, we saddled up and taxied out.
The airplane felt solid and everything seemed to work during the run-up, so I edged up to the runway’s hold-short line, switched frequencies and called the tower ready for takeoff. The tower responded with a takeoff clearance and I added power to taxi to the numbers. I was still holding the brakes, though, as I scanned the area to ensure the tower controller hadn’t made a mistake.
My last check before releasing the brakes was to scan the runway approach for traffic. My caution was rewarded by spotting a Piper Seminole with gear and flaps extended about 50 feet above the runway, aiming for the same spot our Bonanza was about to occupy.
“Uhh, we’ll hold short for landing traffic,” I told the tower. There was silence on the frequency for a few moments as the Seminole landed and rolled out. Then we were cleared into position as the Seminole exited the runway a few thousand feet away, and then for takeoff. The rest of the flight was uneventful and we got the “new” Bonanza tucked into its hangar.
I owe my primary flight instructor for many tips, but one of them—looking up the final approach path to see if any traffic was about to land before entering the runway—likely saved my bacon that day.
This was a few years ago and, looking back, I regret saying anything about landing traffic on the tower frequency. Somebody screwed up, and I was a bit annoyed. But I could have said nothing and let them figure it out on their own. It would have been more professional of me.
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