Any advice for new pilot flying with family?

[BarryCooper]

This is my exact scenario. Married, 40 years old, 5 year old daughter, 2 year old son, and a 90lb dog. How do you get the hound in the plane? I am not worried about mine in flight, worried about getting him in on the wing.

My Black Lab loves to fly! He knows which plane is ours on the ramp, he jumps on the wing and climbs in the back seat all by himself. When I cut the power to land, he sits up and looks over my shoulder.

 

[TheFB]

I guess I did everything wrong. We had a good weather day the day after I got my ticket. We flew from North of Atlanta to Orlando for a Disney trip. I had heard of the “short trips first” but I know my family; they were more likely to fall in love with the utility and speed to destinations more than flying itself. We fly as a family together only to destinations but my son will fly anywhere anytime.

 

[Terry M - 3CK (Chicago)]

Don't think that... No, really. You are learning a skill set. Your rental is checked every hundred hours. When, and if you buy.. a 182 or whatever, you'll get a good pre-purchase inspection, a good annual, and some dual in the plane....

You'll practice the same things, a little differently, in that new plane.
You will trust the plane.
You will trust your skills.
You will make smart, safe, go/no go decisions.

You are a pilot (soon). You wouldn't pass the checkride if you weren't able...

Now, get your ticket and go fly.

My wife will not fly on a commercial airliner with me due to the same fear (without the kids - she’s ok if we all go, but not both parents without the kids).

Her fear has little to do with plane capabilities, quality of maintenance or experience and training of pilots.

There is also increased risk of serious injury/death. As PIC you work to mitigate those risks but in SEL GA it exists.

 

[Fiveslide]

Maybe the noise scares him.??

I have fading memories as a child of when my dad was working, loud noises such as the skill saw, or planning machine or any machine that was really loud like that scared me. But having my dad nearby helped me eventually overcome the fear.

My son is autistic. He's not afraid of speed or anything really, but he doesn't do loud noises. I keep a pair of shooting ear muffs in my truck at all times. We took him to a demolition derby last night and he was the only kid I noticed wearing ear protection, happy as can be watching cars crash. He put them on voluntarily as soon as the announcer started talking.

He was just about to get on the Himylaya ride, that ride that goes really fast on an elevated circle track. Then the sirens and horns went off and scared him away from it.

 

[CharlieD3]

There is also increased risk of serious injury/death. As PIC you work to mitigate those risks but in SEL GA it exists.

Yep, there is increased risk of serious injury/death in every activity we undertake... From getting out of bed in the morning, to the end of our day/life.

 

[PaulS]

Don’t scare them.

 

[Briantime]

I guess I did everything wrong. We had a good weather day the day after I got my ticket. We flew from North of Atlanta to Orlando for a Disney trip. I had heard of the “short trips first” but I know my family; they were more likely to fall in love with the utility and speed to destinations more than flying itself. We fly as a family together only to destinations but my son will fly anywhere anytime.

Where did you land for the Disney trip? I have been trying to research a trip down there.

 

[James331]

My wife will not fly on a commercial airliner with me due to the same fear (without the kids - she’s ok if we all go, but not both parents without the kids).

Her fear has little to do with plane capabilities, quality of maintenance or experience and training of pilots.

There is also increased risk of serious injury/death. As PIC you work to mitigate those risks but in SEL GA it exists.

People get silly after they have kids lol

But you two drive in the same car together?

I take it you’re driving a VERY high end road car and both are formally trained (extensive bondurant with regular SCCA time) and also both hold at least EMT-B with recurrent training and have trauma kits in all your cars?

Living in Chicago, I’d also hope the cars are armored, ballistic window on the house, both of you carry, NATO caliber with 5 mags, extensive training, 556 or better long guns in the trunk and home 1000rounds loaded in pmags in the car and 5000 in the house?

I’d also expect you all exercise, kids too, and have a paleo diet with a excellent BWI and did genetic testing before having kids?


If the answer to any of that is no, the not flying together thing is silly, actually even if the answer is yes it’s still kinda silly.

 

[Matthew Rogers]

Don’t scare them.

You mean don’t have a partial power loss surging engine over mostly to fully forested terrain and a full declared emergency landing on the first flight with your entire family?!? Now you tell me.

 

[PaulS]

You mean don’t have a partial power loss surging engine over mostly to fully forested terrain and a full declared emergency landing on the first flight with your entire family?!? Now you tell me.

Actually that is not too bad in that it really wasn't an issue you induced and you solved it. But yes.

 

[StevieTimes]

Where did you land for the Disney trip? I have been trying to research a trip down there.

Why, at the Magic Kingdom, of course!

 

[Heftiger]

Where did you land for the Disney trip? I have been trying to research a trip down there.

KFUL
Very nice staff.



As far as the thread. My family only flies to a destination. We use the plane to visit other family (instead of a 9 hr drive), or Disney, or wherever. Both my boys are prone to motion sickness. And we live in a mountainous area. So that’s always fun....
Pack snacks. Lots of snacks. And entertainment. For my family it’s really a means of transportation.

 

[av8orDave]

Same stuff everyone has already said, with emphasis on the only in the best weather stuff. Flying with your kids is one of the best gifts you can give them. They’ll remember it long after you’re gone.

 

[Briantime]

I'm kind of envious seeing all of these stories of people sharing their love of aviation with their wife and kids. The pic in my avatar is from two weeks ago. That is the third time my wife has flown with me and we have been married for 24 years. To be fair, I have not been current the whole time, but I doubt I would have gotten past 5-6 times flying with her if I was.

Unfortunately, when we flew out to KJVL for breakfast a couple of weeks ago, it was super bumpy and she found little comfort in my explanation of what causes turbulence and how it is not something that is a safety issue...

On the funny side, she made me keep my hands on the yoke when I had the autopilot on. "Just humor me" she said

 

[danhagan]

My Black Lab loves to fly! He knows which plane is ours on the ramp, he jumps on the wing and climbs in the back seat all by himself. When I cut the power to land, he sits up and looks over my shoulder.

Love the photo with your lab. My cocker spaniel passed this year, but was great in the airplane. She would get mad as she ALWAYS got the shotgun seat in the car, and wondered why she was relegated to the rear. "Payback" was her getting my "attention" by sticking her nose between the seats, raising my short in the rear about 2 inches and cold nosing me above my right hip ... I *HATED* that and I think she knew it.

Caught a mild continuous down draft heading into Carlsbad NM once that allowed her to float in the negative G ... she figured out in a MILLISECOND that she could float herself to the front seat and did just that ... her expression when the downdraft ended was her version of "I got my way" type look

My wife will not fly on a commercial airliner with me due to the same fear (without the kids - she’s ok if we all go, but not both parents without the kids).

My wife did this as well for a couple of years, and it wore off after a couple hundred flight hours. She does not want to fly long XC and often would meet my son and I via SWA (with us schlepping the luggage) ... did Disneyland multiple times (KFUL is awesome), Catalina and Maricopa. She will fly locally for night flights or sunsets ... go figure?

 

[ksp_530]

We did at least three trips with my 3-year old last year in the Tiger. The longest duration was about 2.5 hours (Atlanta to St. Augustine). Can't imagine drive 6+ hours with a with a toddler. I am planning to take my son (7 months) for a flight soon.

 

[cowman]

This is my exact scenario. Married, 40 years old, 5 year old daughter, 2 year old son, and a 90lb dog. How do you get the hound in the plane? I am not worried about mine in flight, worried about getting him in on the wing.

I have a 70lb dog, in my Archer this was the loading process: have my wife or a line guy hold him on leash, I'd get up on the wing, move the copilot seat forward and have the crate in the backseat. I'd kind of angle/pull the create out slightly so it was filling up the door and I'd hold it open. Then I'd call my dog and have the helper let go, he'd jump right up onto the wing and run in the crate, I closed the door and shoved it back into the back seat. This dog wasn't hard as he's always up for a ride in whatever, YMMV. In the Lance it's slightly more labor intensive- no wing to jump onto. The dog is fully capable of making the jump but I'm afraid of his nails poking holes in my nice leather seats so I pick him up and chuck him into the crate. He isn't thrilled and it's not the most fun but it gets the job done.

Where did you land for the Disney trip? I have been trying to research a trip down there.

For Disney world there are closer airports than this but if you are with family in the Orlando area I'd also check out KTIX- Titusville aka Space Coast Regional airport. It gets close to all the NASA stuff, including the space shuttle runway which, normally if you ask approach you can do a low pass over. Kennedy Space center would be a great place to take a family. There are also some nice beaches and a lot of nature type tours/stuff to see in the area too. Well worth the stop.

 

[SethV]

My wife is not thrilled about flying - she wouldn't go up and just drill holes in the sky for fun, but she loves the ease and convenience. We have no family in the state, so pretty much every holiday and weekend away is somewhere at least an 8 hour car ride away. We have not driven in the car as a family more than 2 hours away in the last 4 years. Its all by air now and while I love it the family just pretty much takes it for granted. Kids are 13 and 15. If its excessive ice or a line of Tstrms we just don't go. IMC and night are pretty common, just stay very proficient (not just current).

 

[av8orDave]

I’ll admit that i was VERY nervous about flying with our son (who at the time was 2) before taking him up for the first time. Can’t quite articulate why, other than to say it seemed like a big responsibility. In the year since, I’ve flown with him more times than I can count, and I loved when I got a pic from daycare where the kids said what makes them happy. His answer was “airplanes”. This pic is one of those “proud dad moments”... not bad for a three year old.

 

[woodchucker]

You have the basic ideas already. But each person is different and you won’t know how the family will react yet to your new hobby. Calm air is best but let’s face it. Flying small airplanes you are going to get bumps. I’m lucky in that my wife can sleep through stuff that I’m sure is about to tear the wings off. Flying with young kids, your first flight should just be in the pattern. See how it goes. One thing I don’t understand is you wanting to get a bunch of XC time in first? Yeah, you will learn new things every XC flight, but why not bring along the crew? One other thought: don’t fret over operational limits such as 500 fpm descents. Have you never done a full flap, full slip descent to landing? Flying into towered fields that can be a thing. That was a checkride item for me. Probably most pilots.

 

[Terry M - 3CK (Chicago)]

@danhagan GSDpilot and it seems most here . . . I’m envious.

On top of refusing to fly even commercial with me without the kids due to the fear of orphaning them, my wife has no interest in flying, even if shorter than a drive, unless it’s cheaper.

So if we could fly somewhere faster than driving, but cheaper on LUV, she has no interest.

Flying somewhere off commercial (say Chicago to the UP or something) - she’d rather skip the trip.

Haven’t stayed anywhere overnight without the kids in the 12-years my oldest has been alive.

I’ve considered divorce just to be able to fly but that would screw my kids and I actually like my wife. But it sucks. The focus on saving and college and paying off the mortgage at the expense of my flying has left me bitter. Now the medical is a real question mark. We’ll find out about Basic Med in a few weeks (but between work and kid stuff I don’t have time really - any time away I’m not working is time from my kids).

 

[danhagan]

@danhagan GSDpilot and it seems most here . . . I’m envious.

On top of refusing to fly even commercial with me without the kids due to the fear of orphaning them, my wife has no interest in flying, even if shorter than a drive, unless it’s cheaper.

That's going to take some work Terry. When my son was close to HS age, my wife relaxed on the "whole family together thing" enabling my son and I to attend a lot of hockey games (2 hours to AZ versus an 8 hour drive). Did a TON of trips with my son, but normally on excursions the wife wasn't interested. Then a HUGE mistake ... my son wanted to attend the varsity playoff game (he played on the JV team) in the Texas panhandle on a Friday 7pm tip off (plus hour change) ... school was warning parents that they were NOT allowed to removed kids from school before 12pm (they want to be paid by the state for a full day); otherwise, unexcused absence (which is a big deal in TX). Drive time was 6-7 hours (thus the noon warning as leaving at noon with the hour change would be 8pm arrival missing the first half) ... flight time was supposed to be 2 hours, but in March we have BIG winds so that was reduced to 1.5 hours. The wife insisted on going, and I told her this wasn't going to be a trip she'd like due to turbulence (my son sleeps though everything now matter how rough). Was able to keep the ride smooth both ways EXCEPT the final 10 minutes, ABQ center asked me how was the ride (just got jinxed) and I replied smooth but slow due to HUGE headwinds on the return leg ... at the center to Class C handoff, ride got REAL exciting and I was forced to land at the Class C to let her out, then continue the extra 10 minutes to my field, returning by car to pick her up.

On the plus side:

1. La Mesa, TX courtesy vehicle held just for us!
2. Picked my son up at normal 3:00 and was airborne by 3:30 arriving with TONS of time in La Mesa TX, even ate before the game.
3. Was on flight following and told to stop descent for opposite direction traffic 12 miles (could already see it so KNEW it was something big) ...
tried to get my son awake to take a picture, sun at our back, with 'Fifi" the B-29 super-fortress passing 500 feet under us and their pilots
waving
4. When I dropped wife and son off at KELP later that evening on the return, "Fifi" was on the ramp.

 

[Terry M - 3CK (Chicago)]

@danhagan awesome. Other than the turb and early drop off. Love stories like that. Fifi to boot!

 

[danhagan]

@danhagan awesome. Other than the turb and early drop off. Love stories like that. Fifi to boot!

I have a feeling that as your hours increase, your wife will come around ... ok, you asked for it, another story

My younger sister (I'm from a big family) was terrified of flying and hadn't left town in nearly 15 years. She is medical also, which forced HUGE time increases to drive to CME (continuing medical education) courses in our region. Being the "good brother" that I am, I called every single week to tell her I was flying over to a nearby field for fuel and exercise the plane (at least 3 years of this), knowing full well she'd decline - which she always did - until one Saturday ... I almost dropped the phone when she said,"I'll meet you at the airport."

Went through the pre-flight with her as she is VERY interested in details and on the previous Tiger the cowl open to view the entire engine ... explained the Mags system, air cooling, etc. Hopped in and told her she had the option shutdown or stop at anytime. She tightened up at engine start and was doing pretty well during taxi until she saw an RV6 taildragger attempt a 3-point and ricochet back in the air about 15 feet .. sjhe asked,"Are WE going to land like that?" ... I laughed and told her absolutely not. On departure and crosswind I thought it was going to be a full stop immediate landing, but she toughed it out ... her house is near the airport, so I took her over it and that's when things totally changed. She has about eleven-teen dogs, and broke out her phone to begin recording them as we performed turns around a point over her house, I kid you not, for 30 minutes and what seemed like 100 laps. At that point I told her let's head back and she asked,"why?" Flew over to the Class C which is on the other side of the mountain and explained turbulence being like a river and that we'd feel some light chop like a raft, but that the wings weren't going to fall off (her concern). She did great and even taped the landing. We were given 26R while SWA was on 26L ... during video, she didn't realize we had landed until the throttle up on the touch and go because she was watching Southwest landing with her head turned and recording straight ahead. She now flies everywhere. Her phone video is attached ... landing was flat on purpose which I do with first time GA passengers so they don't freak out (had one nervous during a 172 40* barn door flap landing years ago). My son recorded the other flights on the youtube channel which were Disney and NHL hockey trips. Haven't recorded anything in the RV7 yet ...

 

[GSDpilot]

View attachment 78751 I’ll admit that i was VERY nervous about flying with our son (who at the time was 2) before taking him up for the first time. Can’t quite articulate why, other than to say it seemed like a big responsibility. In the year since, I’ve flown with him more times than I can count, and I loved when I got a pic from daycare where the kids said what makes them happy. His answer was “airplanes”. This pic is one of those “proud dad moments”... not bad for a three year old.

I am there now, my boy is 2. thanks for sharing!

 

[sarangan]

I am wrapping up my PPL. I don't plan on flying with family until I get some XC solo trips under my belt. My wife is the "you'll shoot your eye out" type, she doesn't love the idea of me flying (but she is somewhat supportive). I want her to be comfortable. I know the basics (no more then 500 feet per minute, pick good weather days intially, etc.). A bad experience in the beginning and she won't go up anymore. I won't fly with her until I am confident she will be comfrtable.

Any advice from those that have been down this path is greatly appreciated. My kids ar 5 and 2, so they don't get much say in the discussion, which scares me more (since the decision and their safety rests in my hands). I saw a video the other day of a pilot and his family that had a throttle cable break in flight, leaving the throttle wide open. He ended up going full lean on final to kill the engine and landed without incident. It got me thinking. Anybody out there fly with their family, or avoid it?

Not necessarily related to flying with family, but I had this happen to me. The folks who dropped me off at the airport wanted to watch me take off. But this was an IFR departure and I had a bunch of things to do before takeoff. I am not sure how I should have handled it, but it was an unnecessary distraction to an already intense flight preparation.

 

[Abram]

I didn’t own an airplane for the first 13 or so years that I had my license. For my first 10 years of aircraft ownership, my family was only in the airplane a hand full of times, and that was to get to a destination. Getting in the airplane for a joy ride was never even a consideration.

As I started getting more capable airplanes, the ability to use the airplane to get to a wide range of destinations became much more possible. However, I am much more conservative with my decision making when I have the family, or any passengers, on the airplane.

In the earlier years when I was just learning to deal with weather in long cross-country flights, I delayed many trips and spent hours hanging out in FBOs waiting for a hole to show up. Now that I have a fair amount of experience with it and I have the capability to get over most of the weather, I am mostly concerned about the weather in the climb and the descent. But even with those capabilities, I am still very conscious of the comfort of the people on board.

The airplane is still about utility to the family and none of them seem to have any desire to learn to fly. In fact, by the time the engines are started, the shades are down and they are either asleep or watching movies on their phones with their earbuds in!

I guess I am grateful that they appreciate the ability to get around the country that way.

Abram Finkelstein
N48KY

 

[PaulS]

Not necessarily related to flying with family, but I had this happen to me. The folks who dropped me off at the airport wanted to watch me take off. But this was an IFR departure and I had a bunch of things to do before takeoff. I am not sure how I should have handled it, but it was an unnecessary distraction to an already intense flight preparation.

You forget about them. My daughter did this last time I visited, got a nice video of my take off from the ground out of it.

 

[TheFB]

Where did you land for the Disney trip? I have been trying to research a trip down there.

KGIF for cheap fuel, nice on field diner and Enterprise on site. Kept me out of Bravo too.

 

[Terry M - 3CK (Chicago)]

It’s interesting to me to read of so many that can afford to own utility planes.

I earn what I thought was a nice income in the Midwest, but with 3-children and a SAHM wife I can’t quite even picture allocating funds to that.

It really highlights to me how much money more than a handful of people are making in the US. I make more than I ever dreamed coming from the South Side of Chicago yet it’s out of reach.

Cool to dream/live vicariously through others though.

 

[Matthew Rogers]

Not to brag, but we make less than $50,000 per year and have a child. So basically lower middle class in NY state. We have low expenses, I built my house with my bare hands, no mortgage. Only a small car loan because rates are so low. But it is a C150, three owners, cheap airport. It can be done.

 

[Terry M - 3CK (Chicago)]

@Matthew Rogers much respect and those are my current thoughts / goals. Not building my house with my own hands as I don’t have those skills or perseverance / dedication. But a C-150 or similar in a partnership.

I had looked at some classic aircraft with a good dude from this site, but the maintenance/upkeep and parts foraging or forming required on a 75 year old airframe scared me off (I think he is closing on a Luscumbe this week).

I agree it can be done with the right spouse (no spouse) and budgeting mindset.

When I read about folks who have a 3rd child so they get a Lance or 310 or something to go above the weather . . . That’s when I get really surprised.

Can I afford to buy into a 5-way partnership in a 310 probably yes (doesn’t sound like these folks are in a partnership). Can I afford the hourly rate and maintenance on a 310 to fly often enough to be safe?

Personally, I cannot.

For me it opens my mind to how “fixed” my mindset is. I was taught there was a “right way” do get through life. And I’m learning there are many doing it a different “right way” making a lot more money or creating a lot more freedom for themselves.

 

[Matthew Rogers]

Yeah, C150, costs split three ways, and auto gas and the hard costs are not much more than $25/hour.

 

[Bill Greenwood]

Beny, where are the shoulder harnesses for the two kids in the rear seat?
And for the OP, your kids are awfully young, at least some times you and your wife should fly together, so you don't have to worry about kids in the back seat. And take her somewhere an hour or two away, shopping that she enjoys.

And O P you may well want to train for an instrument rating, but you need a lot, ie hundreds more hours before you should take your family into any kind of bad weather. Really, at the start,there are two kinds of weather: vmc and don't fly.

 

[jpskies]

Fly like an airline captain. Before engine start or even boarding, brief your passengers and make sure they keep quiet during take off and landing (especially on a tower airport). They can resume talking after 1000 feet or when you tell them to. Brief the safety procedures such as how to open and close the door, stay away from propellers and other running airplanes, how to use a life jacket (with exaggerated demonstration). Of course brief the fun part -- the destination, enroute and fight time.

Delegate some tasks to your lovely flight attendant, such as keep kids quiet during take off and landing and watch traffic...etc.
It will be a fun and safe trip.

I start to miss my family trips for the past 20 years especially when my kid're small.

 

[kaiser]

I've been following the thread and am in a very similar position. Advice so far has been very helpful. The wife and I have millions of miles as passengers on big iron but she's skeptical on anything with fewer than 30 seats; I'm a 100 hr pilot. I'll try not to thread creep but will post my experience and steps so far.

Thus far I've given the fam (wife + 2 kids, 5 and 3) a tour of one of the planes I rent (172S). We did it at our home airport (not where I rent it) and I think that gave us time/space to explore. We all climbed in. Kids love aviation (we did our first OSH this year) and wife/I got to consider how to handle kids in the back seat in-flight. At this point the biggest unknown I have is how to handle taking care of the kids in the back seat (not that this is common in car trips). Overall response was very positive - though the wife did comment how small the 172 was! (you're telling me!)

Next step will be to take them up. I'm thinking short flight, early on a CAVU morning over some prominent landmarks (Fermi Lab, over our house, over their friend's house and a few others). Nothing scheduled yet but I can post again once that happens. At this point I'm in no rush and expect it'll happen in the next month or two, as opportunity allows.

 

[GSDpilot]

I've been following the thread and am in a very similar position. Advice so far has been very helpful. The wife and I have millions of miles as passengers on big iron but she's skeptical on anything with fewer than 30 seats; I'm a 100 hr pilot. I'll try not to thread creep but will post my experience and steps so far.

Thus far I've given the fam (wife + 2 kids, 5 and 3) a tour of one of the planes I rent (172S). We did it at our home airport (not where I rent it) and I think that gave us time/space to explore. We all climbed in. Kids love aviation (we did our first OSH this year) and wife/I got to consider how to handle kids in the back seat in-flight. At this point the biggest unknown I have is how to handle taking care of the kids in the back seat (not that this is common in car trips). Overall response was very positive - though the wife did comment how small the 172 was! (you're telling me!)

Next step will be to take them up. I'm thinking short flight, early on a CAVU morning over some prominent landmarks (Fermi Lab, over our house, over their friend's house and a few others). Nothing scheduled yet but I can post again once that happens. At this point I'm in no rush and expect it'll happen in the next month or two, as opportunity allows.

Thanks for sharing. You are in the same situation.

 

[LongRoadBob]

I don't understand the fear of flying with family members on board. I love my family as much as anyone, anywhere, and I can assure you that my will to live is as strong as anyone else's. I don't intend to die or fly recklessly or plan badly or be ignorant or stupid whether I'm alone or with anyone else. I love my airplane, and I fly it like I would like to use it again. That, alone, tends to make for some relatively safe flights. If your family does not want to fly with you, then I'm sorry to hear that. I have the opposite 'problem' where everyone always wants to go with me but my wallet precludes ownership of a large enough aircraft to bring a full squad of aviation enthusiasts all at the same time. Matter of fact, I can bring no more than one.

you don’t understand? Maybe you have been flying a very long time, but from my viewpoint I can understand. A new pilot wants to get some time under their belt, to convince themselves they really can handle everything ok much like when you first get your drivers license.
But on top of ones own confidence, there also is the non pilot view many take that small planes are dangerous. Also your wife or husband has seen you be forgetful, or make dumb mistakes and now you are flying an airplane? So on the rare chance that something bad did happen, you imagine being blamed for taking such a risk.
It doesn’t matter how many times you point out that the highway is more dangerous than a small plane, people just often don’t believe it.

To the OP, I read a book by an experienced pilot who if I recall was flying as passenger for the first time in a fighter where the pilot asked him before taking off, and throughout the trip “on a scale of one to ten, how are you feeling right now?”. It was new to him, but it makes a lot of sense. Turned out he was getting a little green, and when the number started going down, the pilot took him back. The author pointed out how this was a great technique at least until your passengers get experience flying because he points out “most people, if you just ask them “how are you feeling” tend to say “ok”, but if they put a number on it, they tend to be more accurate and the pilot can avoid airsickness or other discomfort and land in time so it isn’t a bad experience.

 

[Tommar98]

you don’t understand? Maybe you have been flying a very long time,

It doesn’t matter how many times you point out that the highway is more dangerous than a small plane, people just often don’t believe it.

.

For what it’s worth I agree with your basic premise. I too feel it’s more of an issue taking family - especially the older I get. When I was younger I took my 3 kids up frequently in my piper warrior. Now that I am a grandparent I am hesitant to take the grandkids up. BUT I must disagree that that the highway is more dangerous. GA accident rate compared to driving is far worse. Commercial flying is different - but GA, by some analysis, is 10 times as dangerous. Try telling that to someone the next time you take them up with you.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[GSDpilot]

you don’t understand? Maybe you have been flying a very long time, but from my viewpoint I can understand. A new pilot wants to get some time under their belt, to convince themselves they really can handle everything ok much like when you first get your drivers license.
But on top of ones own confidence, there also is the non pilot view many take that small planes are dangerous. Also your wife or husband has seen you be forgetful, or make dumb mistakes and now you are flying an airplane? So on the rare chance that something bad did happen, you imagine being blamed for taking such a risk.
It doesn’t matter how many times you point out that the highway is more dangerous than a small plane, people just often don’t believe it.

To the OP, I read a book by an experienced pilot who if I recall was flying as passenger for the first time in a fighter where the pilot asked him before taking off, and throughout the trip “on a scale of one to ten, how are you feeling right now?”. It was new to him, but it makes a lot of sense. Turned out he was getting a little green, and when the number started going down, the pilot took him back. The author pointed out how this was a great technique at least until your passengers get experience flying because he points out “most people, if you just ask them “how are you feeling” tend to say “ok”, but if they put a number on it, they tend to be more accurate and the pilot can avoid airsickness or other discomfort and land in time so it isn’t a bad experience.

Great advice, thanks!