Page 16 - Volume 11 Number 5

in any way, shape, or form! So, what this implies is that we, as pilots, must make our own decision about justified reasons for an abort. A large, multi-pilot flight department should have published Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in an attempt to get everyone on the same page, making the same go/no-go decisions. Standardization of procedures in a flight department with more than one pilot is such an important and admirable goal but one that, based on my observations, is extremely difficult to achieve.
Second, there’s that old adage, “Would you rather be on the ground wishing you were in the air, or in the air wishing you were on the ground?!” I’ll always opt for the former. So when an abort is done at a speed that makes it an absolutely easy slam dunk, then that’s what I will do. But what is that “speed that makes it an absolutely easy slam dunk?” Here is where all of the takeoff conditions – runway length, airport elevation, OAT, wind, airplane weight, runway surface and slope – must be taken into account.
After that disclaimer about all the takeoff conditions that play a role, to now give a hard-and-fast answer may make me look foolish, but here goes: Up to 60 KIAS – even on 3,000-foot-long Catalina Island – I’ll abort for anything not expected. Any annunciator coming on? Abort. An engine gauge reading incorrectly? Abort! Feeling that acceleration is sluggish? Abort. Cracking a windshield? Abort. Why heck, the other pilot making an unexpected loud noise from some body orifice, I might be pulling those power levers aft!
After 60 knots it gets trickier because, depending on runway length and the other takeoff factors, now the abort is not as easily accomplished. In this 60- to 80- knot range, my abort will only follow a strong yawing tendency – lack of directional control – or damage to the airplane, such as hitting an animal or a taxi light or having the door pop open. A red warning flasher? If aborting in this 60- to 80-knot range is not a certain slam dunk, then no, I am not stopping due to a red annunciator with one exception: Inverter Failure when faced with a low ceiling. G1000 or Pro Line 21-equipped machines don’t even have an inverter. Nice!
Blasphemy! Take that crazy Clements behind the woodshed for a good thrashing! Of course, we abort up to V1 for any red annunciator! Our Ops Specs – for you 135 operators who have them – tell us to! It is also in the suggested SOPs that the NBAA publishes.
Now hold the tar and feathers for just a moment. I will not take space here to list all of the warning annunciators, each of which trigger the master warning flasher, but that would be a good homework assignment for you to do. In a quiet hangar or during your next boring, cruise segment, examine all your red annunciators and review
14 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
MAY 2017