A Non-emergency

Pilots are trained to prepare for emergencies. Engine failures, fires, electrical problems, radio failures, forced landings, control failures, and even hijackings are discussed and reviewed by every pilot even in their most embryonic stages. All of this is done with the hope that you never have to call upon the training. You will never react better than you have prepared. I found this out this past weekend.

I departed TF Green on a south easterly heading towards the Newport practice area. I was set to practice intermediate figures. I reached 3000 feet and configured the airplane for the cruise out to the practice area. ATC cleared me on course after keeping on a specified heading for several miles. Had I turned direct to the practice area I would have been flying out over the middle of Narragansett Bay. I elected to fly tight along the shore of Bristol should I need to make an emergency landing. This is something I do regularly. A good pilot is always, without question, eyeing the ground for a potential landing spot.

A few minutes into the cruise the engine hiccupped loud. The airplane shook momentarily and the engine sounded like it was not getting fuel or not firing on one cylinder. The whole event only lasted a few seconds but in all my years of flying I had never experienced such shaking. The engine smoothed itself out and ran normally after only 5 seconds but that was enough for me. I pushed my mixture control forward, checked for oil pressure and temperature, both of which were normal.

At this point, the airplane is flying, I have altitude, I have airspeed, and I have power from the engine. I turned towards back PVD and then announced I was coming back in. They asked why and I told them I had an engine warble but that it was not an emergency. Had the engine continued to run rough I would not have hesitated to declare an emergency and get on the ground. Even still, I wanted to be on the ground and fast. I stayed at 3000 feet until I was back over land. I made a diving approach back towards the airport, keeping my energy state high until I knew I could reach the airport should my engine fail. My touchdown was smooth as butter.

The whole thing took 9 minutes from the engine warble to my touchdown. I felt great that I did everything right. Looking at the engine, we (me plus mechanics) determined that it was water in the fuel as we could not find any evidence of a bad spark plug or other likely culprits. I’ll be back in the air as soon as work and weather allow.