So, in being forced to fly the plane, Kimbo is forced to face whatever demon prevented him from being a fully-fledged pilot in the first place. Any ideas out there?
They had a near miss as a student/low time/ beginner pilot?
Once, as a student. I accelerated down the (long) runway when my instructor asked me about various instrument readings.
Umm, duh, battery wasn't hooked up right, so crucial instruments were dead. I had time to abort the takeoff and taxi back to base.
Would have been far more exciting to be airborne as a student pilot with crucial information lacking. Especially if I'd been solo...
A second time, when I had many more hours on my log book, I was cruising round in uncontrolled airspace with a new camera taking pictures. I had the radio tuned to the approach of a nearby controlled airport when I noticed that the channel had gone oddly quiet.
I looked at the gas gauges, and noticed that they read empty. A quick gut check reminded me that yes, indeed, I knew there was sufficient fuel in both tanks, so ignored that disconcerting note.
Anyway, landed at a local uncontrolled field, made a land line phone call to my home base, which had a control tower but no radar, saying that in twenty minutes I'll fly in and land there. Got back to my plane, where, duh, I had to rely on the kindness of strangers, who'd listened to my tale, to prop start my plane and send me on my merry way.
Getting lost is a great way to get scared.
My first training lesson as a student pilot included a small plane cutting across our path, which led my instructor to tell the control tower that they knew where lost student was. (We listened to the tower and student talking, with both trying to figure out where latter was. Busy airspace.) The latter was then directed safely home.
Any equipment failure early on, or a bird strike (e.g., a bird smashing through your windshield, resulting in a bloody mess and a howling wind in the cockpit) would be enough to cause second thoughts in many pilots.
Kimbo may also haver flown after drinking? Or likes to drink? Or been in the plane when his partner was drunk?