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>going on weekend with buddies, one of them with a pilot license so we're borrowing a DA40 from his flying club rather than driving
>flight there uneventful
>3 days of boozing later, time to get back
>riding in the right seat on the flight back
>engine start, taxi, line-up, full throttle
>rotation
>*ding*
>hol'up, I can't remember the plane dinging at us on take-off any other time I flew with him
>pilot buddy keeps his composure
>check panel
>Master Caution on
>"anon, is-"
>raised hand to my face
>alright we got a problem serious enough for him not to waste attention talking about it
>check panel again
>ECU1 Fail
>ECU2 Fail
>Yep, that looks like a problem alright
>Buddy starts doing a lap
>throttle still fully open, engine load meter slowly but steadily going down
>60% by the time we're back on final
>clean landing anyway
>Talking is now allowed again
>"Guys, we're not flying home"
>call insurance, get a taxi within the hour and 4 first class seats on the next train back home
>it's a train strike day tho, have to get a bunch of tight-ass old ladies out of our booked seats
>another taxi waiting for us at the arrival station to drive us back to the flying club
>Buddy goes for a quick verbal murder of their mechanic (plane came out of the shop right before we took it)
>Total travel time : 7 hours rather than a cushy 2 hours flight.
Buddy later mentioned he hesitated between doing a lap back to the runway or just going straight after take-off, over a house, under a power line, and into a field. Everything else around that airfield was trees.
