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Friends Protecting Friends From Get-Home-/itis/

Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • Facing poor flying weather, the author's friend and insurance agent, Jim, subtly encouraged delaying takeoff without issuing direct commands or analyzing the weather.
  • Jim's approach involved removing all inconveniences associated with staying, offering dinner, a motel, and even a plane delivery service, then allowing the author space to decide.
  • The author learned a valuable lesson about effective, respectful influence, particularly for instructors, by enabling others to make safe decisions rather than dictating them.
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With dark clouds, heavy rain and marginal visibility, the weather was lower than I like for flying over the Smokey Mountains. Hour after hour of updating radar did not yield the forecasted improvement. My friend Jim is also my insurance agent. Being concerned about any possible get-home-itis, he joined me in the FBO lobby, luring me to postpone takeoff and remain overnight.

“If you stay, I’ll take you out for a really nice dinner,” he promised. “I can deliver you to a motel and arrange for a discount.”

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