2 mins is legal. 3 perhaps prudent in the prevailing conditions.
If you have been cleared to line up and then suddenly think " hang on - there's not much crosswind and I'm not too happy about this" then asking for 3 mins might well be a Very Good Idea.
Shame it didn't occur prior to entering the runway but sometimes that happens - checklists, cabin secure, FO wittering on etc. etc.
Better to cause a complete non-event (go around from 1000ft) than to enter a take off event with doubts. Surely?
It takes guts to get yourself into a situation which makes you unhappy-but-legal and then ask for something out of the ordinary to make yourself happier. If more Skippers and FO's had done this over the years then we might not have an annual CRM course...
I have no knowledge about this non incident whatsoever and only wish to comment in generalised terms as a junior FO.
I have found based on scant experience that the safest way of operating is to ask yourself - "Am I happy?". If there is the merest hesitation then you speak up and say "hang on - I need a minute here - are we OK with...".
Its often hard to do. 99 times out of a 100 you just expose your inexperience and/or ignorance of something that you should be aware of. But THAT IS the professional thing to do. THAT is CRM in day to day practice. IMHO.
Every attempt to make ATC's life as easy and predictable as possible is made in every Brit airline I imagine. But sometimes odd things happen and you ask for something unexpected. The hesitation to do so is probably more hazardous than the reuslt of doing so.
Maybe.
I am mindful of speaking from very limited experience. But it is my honest opinon.
Cheers
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