"im afraid of those little planes"

Coming to this late, but whenever topics like this arise, Auntie Mame's quote always comes to mind:

"Life is a banquet, and most poor bastards are starving to death."

They don't know what they're missing, and too afraid to find out.
 
Geico266 said:
Allowing children to play around, under, and in airplanes and avionics equipment is a recipe for complacency leading to potential disaster. Would you let those kids to ride a creeper under a car? Would you let them play with the controls of a car?
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Wow.

Proceed directly to the "Things kids don't do any more" thread. :nono:

This hits a nerve because a friend of mine let his kids play around their vehicles. One was killed when the other one took the emergency brake off and the truck rolled over the other kid. The parents were sitting on the front porch and watched the whole thing.
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That wasn't the parents letting the kids do something wrong, that was simply a lack of proper supervision. (They coulda put a set of chocks on the car beforehand, which is a smart idea whether you're a kid or an adult anyway...)

Just like my rant about trying to fly the naysayers above... We MUST let kids crawl around airplanes, or GA will be dead in a generation or less. Teach them how and why to stay out of the prop arc, not fiddle with the little round knob extending out of the panel or the mag switches, yes... But let them crawl all over that airplane, while keeping a watchful eye on them.
 
Danos said:
I had a guy once tell me "No. I don't fly with amateurs". Ah well.
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Unless this person is paid for driving, he's an amateur too. On the other hand, I've seen some pretty awful "professional" driving. (City cab drivers come to mind as do some truckers.) Hardly a good yardstick.
 
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If it is someone that I know well, and if THEY ask for a ride, I will... I don't go around trolling for folks to go with me...
We haul grandchildren around from state to state (in the summer mostly) so they can get together for vacation time, and we use the airplane to go places ourselves...
Flying people you barely know is a recipe for trouble...

denny-o
 
Hey!
It's a tough sell sometimes. The Press seldom prints the cool stuff. But keep plugging away. And maybe lose that motorcycle approach. I used to ride one too.
 
If you flying is more dangerous than you driving, that's your fault. It just so happens that it is enough individual people's fault that on average flying is more dangerous than driving. However the average is not applicable to the individual case. I can drive my truck down the road and someone can run a red light, t-bone me right in the driver's door, and end up in the hospital or dead. The probability of that happening is significantly higher than the probability of a 737 slamming into my Aztec (or even a 172). If I crash the Aztec (or anything else), it's probably because I did something stupid, and my own personal stupidity does not apply to any other pilot.

As to the good public relations, I think a much better sell is to let people know about the good things people do with GA and how it's a positive force. Push the Angel Flight and animal rescue angle, plus the fact that GA helped out significantly after Katrina and is now helping after the Haiti disaster. Some people don't want to fly and that's their business, I won't try to convince them. My bigger concern is if they think that such things should be banned or taxed out of existence - I'd rather convince them that doing such things would hurt society overall. Eventually, they'll come around.
 
I guess there are 2 things to consider:

Folks either like flying in small planes, or they don't. I'm not sure that taking someone for a ride, no matter how nice the flight might be, will change their minds. And that's OK, it's just not for everybody.

The other issue is folks' attitude towards GA. Even someone that doesn't like flying in small planes, or is scared of them, doesn't necessarily think GA is evil.

I don't think it's too efficient to spend a lot of energy trying to get someone to fly when they don't want to. I DO think it's a good return on investment to keep promoting the positive aspects of GA and for the GA community to behave in a manner that enforces the image we are trying to present.
 
jstro said:
Now, motorcycles, I feel they are too dangerous for my comfort level. I had one accident already and I don't ride anymore. YMMV. :)
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Gee .. I have an experimental aircraft AND a Harley. Does that increase my
risk exponentially? haha What if I ride it to the airport to go flying? Am I
doomed?


RT
 
Instead of panic, how about just plain stupidity. I took a ride in the EAA's Bell 47G helicopter at Osh a few years ago. The first thing I noticed was that the right side controls were removed...ALL of 'em including anti torque pedals. I asked the pilot why. He said he was flying passengers there one day and he had a big guy get in. He gave him the usual speech about not touching anything and enjoying the ride. Just as the skids cleared the ground the guy looked down at the floor, paused, and slammed one big hammy foot down on one of the pedals. The pilot said he just barely got the bird back on the ground without killing them both. After having the guy removed he asked him why the hell he did that. The guy just shrugged and said "I wanted to see what would happen." :yikes:
 
OffCenter said:
Instead of panic, how about just plain stupidity. I took a ride in the EAA's Bell 47G helicopter at Osh a few years ago. The first thing I noticed was that the right side controls were removed...ALL of 'em including anti torque pedals. I asked the pilot why. He said he was flying passengers there one day and he had a big guy get in. He gave him the usual speech about not touching anything and enjoying the ride. Just as the skids cleared the ground the guy looked down at the floor, paused, and slammed one big hammy foot down on one of the pedals. The pilot said he just barely got the bird back on the ground without killing them both. After having the guy removed he asked him why the hell he did that. The guy just shrugged and said "I wanted to see what would happen." :yikes:
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Right side? I thought the right side was the command side.
 
gismo said:
Right side? I thought the right side was the command side.
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When I got my ride in 47 the pilot was on the left. Perhaps the 47 is different than most helicopter. I am sure there are some helicopter pilots here that probably know.

Brian
 
brcase said:
When I got my ride in 47 the pilot was on the left. Perhaps the 47 is different than most helicopter. I am sure there are some helicopter pilots here that probably know.

Brian
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You know, on the one ride I had in a Bell 47 (about 25 years ago) it seems like the pilot was indeed on the left side (we had three in the front bench seat). But every helicopter I've been in since was set up for the pilot to fly from the right.
 
EdFred said:
What do I need to do to get one of those incentive rides?
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Join the USAF and win several awards

OR

Become famous and very friendly with a General

OR

Go to work for a congressman that is on the armed services committe


OR go my route:

College, commissioning, compete for UPT, graduate in the top 10% and be the one giving the incentive rides. :rolleyes:
 
gismo said:
You know, on the one ride I had in a Bell 47 (about 25 years ago) it seems like the pilot was indeed on the left side (we had three in the front bench seat). But every helicopter I've been in since was set up for the pilot to fly from the right.
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I learned in an Enstrom where the pilot flies from the left, but the Enstrom can also be set up in a three seat bench configuration where the only throttle/collective is on the left. That is not the way we flew it, however, since to give instruction you obviously need dual controls. :eek:
 
I've been a passenger in two Bell 47s. Both were flown from the left. Same with the two Hughes 300's I rode in. Of course the Bell 47J Ranger had only a single pilot seat and controls in the middle. My wife and I rode on the bench seat in the back. At a nearby airport there is a Sikorsky S-55. That one has all the pilot's instruments on the right side. If there is a "conventional" pilot seat in a helicopter, it's news to me since I seen plenty of both.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Wow.

Proceed directly to the "Things kids don't do any more" thread. :nono:



That wasn't the parents letting the kids do something wrong, that was simply a lack of proper supervision. (They coulda put a set of chocks on the car beforehand, which is a smart idea whether you're a kid or an adult anyway...)

Just like my rant about trying to fly the naysayers above... We MUST let kids crawl around airplanes, or GA will be dead in a generation or less. Teach them how and why to stay out of the prop arc, not fiddle with the little round knob extending out of the panel or the mag switches, yes... But let them crawl all over that airplane, while keeping a watchful eye on them.
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Agreed. Kids can be taught to respect potentially dangerous situations without being endangered. I showed my 5 year old my guns and told him if he ever wanted to look at or hold one, he could ask me anytime, but he could never touch them when I'm not around. I have a very realistic prop gun (metal, cannot fire ever), and occasionally I'll leave it laying around his play area, and sure enough, I'll hear him holler "Dad, please put this gun away!"

Also, he got a marshmallow gun for Christmas, it's so harmless that it would be hard pressed to even injure an eye at point blank range. But I make him use muzzle discipline anyway, i.e., no pointing at people or cats, and no looking down the barrel.

And yes, I do keep my real guns locked and away from curious hands. My hope is that even if he grows up not being a gun owner / hunter / target shooter, he'll be safe and comfortable around them.

What I worry about is that airports now are so locked up tight that a guy can barely go and just do some planespotting. How is anyone going to get information or even just daydream a bit anymore?

My new way of opening the door a bit is to show people my iPhone and just say "and here's all my pilot stuff...". Some people are interested and will then ask "oh you're a pilot?" If they don't care, they won't ask.
 
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