A bit too close for comfort...

Friday morning found me wondering what I was going to do that evening.  The choices were: go fly around the pattern and northern GA for a while or try to go see Boondock Saints 2: All Saints Day.  As fate would have it, my favorite plane was booked the entire evening but, I got a call from my favorite friend who wanted to go do something anyway.  In the end, she and I went to see Boondock Saints 2.


It wasn't until the next day I found my way into the cockpit of my ol'e trainer plane.  This is where the closeness got too close.  It was a busy day at the airfield; something I'm quite use to.  There was a Diamond and a Piper doing circuits on runway 13.  I was behind two other aircraft on the taxi to depart.  I had noticed a super cub was being readied for some flying on the ramp, but I didn't see him start up until after I turned downwind.


As is a ritual of mine, I was going to remain in the pattern and do a few touch-and-goes before heading North over the lake.  My eyes and ears busily scanning for traffic, I didn't notice the little super cub make it's way to the departure end of 13.  As I turned base and Final, I saw him waiting patiently, at least I thought, for me to land before he departed.  Just in case, I called short final as I pegged my approach speed approximately 1000' from the threshold.


Then, to my great surprise, about 700' from the threshold, right after I called short final, the little super cub announced departing 13 and maneuvered right out in front of me.  I made ready to move right and go-around if need be.  He didn't move as if he cared that I was very quickly overtaking him.  Just as I keyed the mike to call go-around, his little plane sprung to life and lept into the air within 300 ft of runway; only about 300 ft in front of me.  As he climbed quickly and cut across the pattern in front of the piper in the circuit, I rounded out and landed.


Now, I'm no judge of pilots, but I would have liked to ask that pilot a few questions.  Was the 45 seconds he saved by pulling his maneuver worth putting our lives on the line?  In theory, with all factors ideal, I was in little to no danger.  We both knew the super cub could easily take off and climb away before I reached the deck.  However, a good pilot always expects things to go wrong and is surprised when they go right; what would have happened had either plane or pilot not performed ideally?  There would have been no margin for safety and, frankly, I like keeping a good bit of distance between myself and other flying objects.  300 ft is too close.  


Just as I was beginning to feel I was overreacting, a voice came over the CTAF; "that was a bit too close for comfort, wasn't it".  The voice was easily recognizable as the Piper pilot behind me in the pattern.  He had a right to comment as he'd seen the cub's performance at takeoff and then been cut off by him in the pattern on downwind.


The moral of the story: it's better to wait and follow procedure than to try and save a few seconds on the hobbs meter.  When you're waiting to depart and you see a plane on final, is it going to kill you to wait a minute or two for them to land?  It may kill you if you don't.  Also, the airport has a pattern for a reason; so aircraft movements are somewhat predictable.  I never thought I'd have to say that; then again, I also never thought that I'd ever see a pilot blunder around an airfield like that.