One a recent flight with a friend of mine we were having a great trip around the Lehigh Valley only to develop engine issues about an hour into the experience. Nothing that we did had any impact on our rough running engine. Fuel-Good, Mixture- Set correctly, Ignition-both sides produced the same result (rough!). First thing, admit there is an issue, contact air traffic control and let them know what was up, gain altitude (in case we needed it later), follow ATC instructions on our way back to the home airport, and reduce our fuel consumption (not an issue given we had 5 hours on board). So what does all this mean?
Running a global IT team requires hitting on all cylinders most of the time. All personnel need to know what their objectives are, the proper amount of fuel being provided, and ignition working properly. If all these conditions are correctly applied then you can accomplish everything needed with great efficiency. If one thing is not working correctly, then you get the rough running engine and attention is required. Having just completed a major integration effort I can say that for the most part we have been hitting on all cylinders. Now that the majority of the work is completed it certainly seems that some things could be running more smoothly. More on the outcome of all of this later.
In the case of the flight, all turned out ok and we had a nice visit with the local fire/AMS and police forces. I will say that the landing at the end of a few minutes of doubt turned out to be one of the best in a while. Go figure!
All things in life are related to aviation in some way!
