Airwork: Assessing the Risk of Ascending

Saturday, May 08, 2010 at 07:05 AM ET

Verified

John Harlin III, playing at the controls
of his dad's trainer at Hahn Air Base in
Germany, developed his skills at risk
assessment as a mountaineer.

Key Takeaways:

The author's airplane troubles prompt a "rest cure" trip to Oaxaca, Mexico, where he meets mountaineer John Harlin III, whose family has a strong aviation background.
Harlin's experiences and writings on mountain climbing highlight critical parallels with aviation, especially regarding risk assessment, the dangers of self-delusion, and the importance of proper skill development.
The article stresses the necessity for pilots to make conservative "go, no-go" decisions, prioritizing safety and calculated judgment over ambition, even when substantial time and effort have already been invested.

See a mistake? Contact us.

The idea was to get away. We’d just learned that the life of the engine in our Cardinal ¡ha terminado! And, even after we decided what to do about replacing the engine, it would be some time before we’d be able to fly the airplane again. In the meantime, the IFR certification (transponder and pitot-static system), my FAA physical and the airplane’s annual inspection all would come due.

It felt like too much to deal with; we needed something to take our minds off our airplane’s afflictions.