An Audience, A Failure

Flying Hours Today 0:00, Total 31:35

P1 Flying Hours Today 0:00, Total 3:05

I had an audience today for the first time. My parents were in town so they came to the airport to watch me take off. I first took them airside for a tour around the aircraft - checking off the line items in the A-Check and explaining the various activities and their importance.

After escorting my parents off the airfield I strapped myself in, fired up the engine and received my taxi instructions to hold at F3.

I was expecting to get there and then to do my power checks. However the airport was very busy with GA - General Aviation - traffic so it was an expedited backtrack along R27, across R32, exit at A3 then hold.

I did so and at the hold I started the power checks. Half way through, just after the magcheck I was requested to enter the apron, turn 180 and hold again at A3 but facing the other direction. When I had turned around I received departure clearance and completed the power checks. I was almost ready to report ready for take off.

During my final checks I noticed the HSI - Horizontal Situation Indicator hadn't moved! It wasn't aligned with anything remotely like the direction I was in.

I checked the compass and my heading relative to R27. This thing was not operational at all. For the first time I closely checked the CBs - circuit breakers - and various switches. Nothing.

So had to tell ATC I had a problem and needed to return to the GA apron and flying was cancelled for the rest of the slot as there wouldn't be time to fix things and re-plan my route.

I should have been checking instruments on the taxi, but was busy getting into position. However this was a very valuable lesson in continuing through the checklist line by line to the very end.

My method is to talk out loud as if explaining to someone what I'm checking and why. This time I pointed at the HSI and confirmed that it indicated the reality outside. 100% of the time until now it had done, but this one time it didn't.

The aircraft was still capable of being flown, I would have just had a rude awakening as I attempted to turn on my first heading and would have had to report back to land at Leeds (EGNM) immediately.

Most disappointing though was that my parents didn't get to see me take off. They had heard so much about my flying exploits over the past year and it was just my luck that on the day they would be watching the aircraft would become unserviceable and not suitable for a training flight.

Instead I should have been taking off just like this pilot.