right on John..
same thing applies to vanagons when there's a known issue of course.

I was a little surprised to get a call from a vanagon owner about
overheating ..
flashing LED ..the usual cooling system weirdness ..
only to hear that after thinking there may not be a 'real problem' he took
off for McKenzie Pass in Oregon ..
which is very steep and unforgiving from the west side..
rather than just head home , which was about 3 hours by freeway..

but he made it ...
but I though that was 'too bold' heading away from shops and safety and
home, and up into the mountains,  when he didn't find a clear simple problem
that he knew was fixed.

but he made it home at least.

yeah..I have a favorite flying story about a guy under a lot of pressure to
make a flight ..in Alaska.
and even though a dozen people didn't like it , he said ..
"this whole picture does not look safe or right, and we're not going. "
and he's alive to tell about it.

that's a called the 'hardest maneuver in flying' ..the 180 degree turn.
In my next life I'm going to be a Bush Pilot.
if there's any fuel left.

----- Original Message -----
From: "John Rodgers" <inua@CHARTER.NET>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Tuesday, September 20, 2011 4:05 PM
Subject: Re: Tranny Whinning in 84 Westy?

> As a bush pilot in Alaska - I can attest that one of the most difficult
> decisions a pilot can make is simply NOT to make the trip - OR possibly,
> to do a 180 degree turn and go back. Prestige, the boss, some young
> up-and-coming hotshot pilot, something - always pushing to go. Even the
> customers. Somehow, over the years of flying the bush, I managed to make
> most of the right choices. I've bent a few airplanes, but I'm still here
> - but many of my fellow flyers are not, their bodies crumpled in the
> wreckage somewhere on a mountain, on the tundra, in a lake. Many failed
> to make the safe decision, pushed by whatever drives one to take those
> chances, while some were victims of other things. But the point is -
> weigh carefully just how really important a trip is, against the
> possible consequences that may follow. Some trips just shouldn't be made.
>
> John
>
> John Rodgers
> Clayartist and Moldmaker
> 88'GL VW Bus Driver
> Chelsea, AL
> Http://www.moldhaus.com
>
>
> On 9/20/2011 2:16 PM, Scott Daniel - Turbovans wrote:
>> Last line ........there are professional mountaineers that have turned
>> back
>> 400 meters from a 8,000 meter summit, and they were smart, and proud, to
>> have made that more conservative safer decision.