Learning Experience: Limping Home At Night
There’s a reason the typical aircraft piston engine has two magnetos, but this isn’t it. (This article originally appeared in Aviation Safety Magazine in November 2024)
The trouble started on the outbound day of a multi-day, multi-leg trip that took me well beyond the Mississippi River from the U.S. East Coast. Along the way, I’d picked up a passenger and we’d worked and played together for a few days, but now we were heading home.
The “trouble” was a rough-running magneto. It managed to get through pre-takeoff magneto checks, but was clearly running ragged. I’d had it looked at during an overnight, but there was nothing that facility could do except confirm there was a problem. Starting was fine, and so was most of its in-flight operation, but it was intermittent occasionally. It was the first thing on my maintenance agenda when I got back to the airplane’s base. But first I had to get there.
I had just dropped off my passenger and was about to take off on the last leg home. With bated breath, I ran up the rpm and switched mags. The first one I checked didn’t result in the expected rpm drop. Hmmm. When I switched to the problem child, the engine died. I switched back to both and tried again. Same result: The bad mag had finally given up.
What to do? It was late on a summer Sunday afternoon. The FBO was deserted, and there was no maintenance available. I was about 45 minutes from home; the last segment of the flight would be at night. What to do?
I took off and flew home on one mag.
I can’t really sum up why I did that, except I wanted to get home after a long few days on the road. I don’t remember if I even balanced my decision against the risk involved. I certainly rationalized it, but I can’t recall how.
I did pay attention to the nearest airports as I flew home, got high and stayed there as long as I could before starting the descent for home plate. The metabolic relief I felt on landing and putting the plane in the hangar told the tale of how stressed I was and how my subconscious self was rebelling against my stupidity.
I didn’t fly the airplane again until I had a mechanic hang two brand-new magnetos on the engine. At the first run-up after the work was complete, I was greeted with a tight pair of rpm drops, both well within spec.
Was it worth it? No. I learned that the added stress wasn’t worth the risk, and I’ll never do that again. Neither should you.
