My father-in-law flipped out at me for taking my wife up during an Airmet Tango

That's completely over the top. She called her father for an opinion when I mentioned that their might be some turbulence. She regrets calling him and says she won't do it again before a flight. Essentially she made a mistake and she fully admits it. Don't give me this BS that I'm heading for divorce or something over this.

In theory, yes this could be a symptom which leads to a divorce. But so could the fact that you burnt dinner....
I prefer your attitude, this is just a bump (could not resist the pun).

Good luck,

Tim
 
In theory, yes this could be a symptom which leads to a divorce. But so could the fact that you burnt dinner....
I prefer your attitude, this is just a bump (could not resist the pun).

Good luck,

Tim
The issue isn't really even between us. She realizes she screwed up by calling him. I'm not mad at her because she never thought he would act this way. We're already planning our next flight which she seems excited for.
 
P.S. -
I find it a blessing that some of our non flying spouse's come up with us. Most people aren't aviation fanatics like we are, and many spouses / gfs / bfs/ mom / dad / friends, etc. won't fly with us. I find myself incredibly lucky that my wife comes with me and that *most* of my friends and family come up. But I do have one friend who's wife won't let him fly with me, even though he's said he's perfectly willing, and I've met plenty of pilots who do most of their flying alone and can't share their passion with their loved ones, there are at least a couple on here who I've heard mention the same

SO... my advice to @MassPilot would honestly be a little different than what some of the others here recommended, I agree with @Ravioli , you want to keep that smiling face with you in your avatar. Play a round of golf with your father in law and build that relationship and if you're wife seems nervous enough to call her dad, don't take it personally, just drive and take the ferry, she'll appreciate that gesture. You want flying to be an organic thing you both enjoy, not something that is a sacrifice on someone else's part. I think in the big picture you'll eventually get a lot farther by playing the humble card here than proving a point with your father in law, etc. My $0.02
 
The issue isn't really even between us. She realizes she screwed up by calling him. I'm not mad at her because she never thought he would act this way. We're already planning our next flight which she seems excited for.

Sorry, I should have noted I was being cheeky. Have a good flight.

Tim
 
Amused at how fast this spun into marriage counseling, psychoanalysis, gloom and doom, screen doors in the wind, etc. PoA at it's finest Lol.
Lol yup. I will say it feels good to vent to people that understand my perspective.
 
I should add that I see nothing unsafe about what you did. And nor would I say you're heading for a divorce over this. Good that your wife learned from it, too.

Some things, it's best that some parents not know. My mom specifically said not to tell her if I started flying lessons. She knows I'm a pilot now and has accepted I'm not a terrible pilot, but she doesn't know about the motorcycles or guns. Hopefully I do a good job at maintaining open relationships with my kids.
 
I should add that I see nothing unsafe about what you did. And nor would I say you're heading for a divorce over this. Good that your wife learned from it, too.

Some things, it's best that some parents not know. My mom specifically said not to tell her if I started flying lessons. She knows I'm a pilot now and has accepted I'm not a terrible pilot, but she doesn't know about the motorcycles or guns. Hopefully I do a good job at maintaining open relationships with my kids.
My mom would worry so much when she knew I was going flying that I stopped telling her until after I was back. She seemed to prefer it that way. Last fall she finally went flying with me, which was her idea, and she enjoyed it.
 
Some talked about taking it out on his daughter in the bedroom and I'm the bad guy?
I actually found those comments funny (I have a dirty sense of humor). I just don't see how you anything I've said can be interpreted as my marriage running into trouble.
 
.......hey, did you guys hear that @MassPilot is getting divorced? so sad. but he never should have flown in an airmet tango, so I think because of that she gets half his stuff.
 
.......hey, did you guys hear that @MassPilot is getting divorced? so sad. but he never should have flown in an airmet tango, so I think because of that she gets half his stuff.

Hey hey, it takes two to tango.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
He's never flown GA in his life.

The winds were almost perfectly lined up with both runways I landed on yesterday.
Then he isn't qualified to have an opinion. You might retort to that effect, and tell him about your serious concerns about his judgment, considering he can draw broad conclusions about your decision making, based on a topic he has only shallow knowledge of.

I bet some podiatrists know something about heart surgery - but not much more than a lay person. . .
 
As pointed out before, you are your FIL's enemy. Afterall, you are the kid who's boinking his precious daughter. By default, that brews an unhealthy relationship from the start. (I am so lucky that I married into a nice family and my in-laws are actually cool, I am finding out this is not usually the case)

IMO, he doesn't have to agree with you and you don't have to agree with him. Y'all are two grown men (or at least he should be one) with your own opinions.
I am no psycho-babble-assessor but if I was in that situation, I would politely express my opinion once and leave it at that. Just like you did. I don't care for acceptance and approval. I already got my FIL's blessing to marry his daughter before and we're happy together. And the in-laws are happy for us.

I think the most important thing is: how does your wife feel about it? Does she care at all? If she puts her life in your hands and trusts you to keep her safe, I think that's all that matters.
People MUCH wiser than us say: "Happy wife, happy life".

Now go fly and enjoy it!
 
Airlines and GA are a wee bit diffrent, when it comes to small plane stuff airline dudes are far from the end all in knowledge.

Lots of amphibs flipped and Pitts ground looped, airline guy "well I fly a 747 so that little airplane, meh!" Yeah lol

Just say "thanks for your opinion, bless your heart" and call it a day.
 
He's involved because my wife got him involved in the first place when I warned her about the possibility of some turbulence. Her parents have always been pretty overbearing and controlling. I do think it's a bit hard for my wife to listen to me over her father about flying matters when he has over 100 times the experience.
He doesn't have 100 times the experience you have because he has NO relevant experience. Ask him when was the last time he called 1-800-wxbrief or didn't use a autopilot enroute was. Then tell him that as long had he doesn't tell you how to fly spamcans, you won't tell him how to push buttons on his 767.
Your FIL sounds like a real D I C K and it has nothing to do with flying. His text after you landed should have been, "I guess you made the right call."
 
Flying to Nantucket is a no-win situation according to everything I read. Removing from bucket list (bummer...)

I am told by one international-level commercial pilot that little GA pilots often are better at flying than the big-iron PhDs.
 
guess she doesn't read PoA either then :p

Nope, the woman can barely use a computer. Right now she can't figure out how to change the batteries in the keyboard for her iPad, so she's unable to send eMails.

Think about that for a minute. ;)

My mom would worry so much when she knew I was going flying that I stopped telling her until after I was back. She seemed to prefer it that way. Last fall she finally went flying with me, which was her idea, and she enjoyed it.

Initially, I think my mom was just afraid of me crashing and killing myself. I suppose she thought that because of the number of speeding tickets I had at the time (a lot), even though I had never had an accident of any sort and always took my driving seriously. I told her I was taking lessons after my first solo. She thought for a minute. Realizing that telling me not to do something had never worked for her in my life, she then said "If you're going to be a pilot, you need to get your instrument rating. JFK Jr died because he didn't have his instrument rating." Then I got my instrument rating, and she said "You should fly twins. That way if one engine quits you have a second engine to land safely." Both grossly oversimplified, but it was the path I was going anyway. She ended up being my first passenger on an IFR flight. The day after passing my instrument checkride, I flew her from NYC to Virginia in the Archer. Flew over 10 hours that day in the little plane (PA-NY-VA-PA), and she did pretty well. I think that was when she realized that I was a halfway decent pilot. She'll never fly with me again, but more than anything it's because the circumstances won't present themselves.

Motorcycles, it's just easier not to talk about. Mom knew I rode in college (my "motorcycle gang" as she called them - the chapter of the Christian Motorcyclists Association I participated in - came to my graduation in their riding gear), but after that it was easier to just not bring it up since she never liked it, even though she did like my CMA group. She seems happy to believe that motorcycles were a part of my life that's now gone by the wayside.

Guns, she just hates guns. Another one that was easier just not to talk about and I think she's happier that way, too.

Then he isn't qualified to have an opinion. You might retort to that effect, and tell him about your serious concerns about his judgment, considering he can draw broad conclusions about your decision making, based on a topic he has only shallow knowledge of.

I bet some podiatrists know something about heart surgery - but not much more than a lay person. . .

Some personality types respond well to that, but in my experience that rarely works well with high time pilots who are looking down on your lack of experience. There are a couple of those on another forum I participate in, and pointing out to them that they lack relevant experience is very quickly brushed off. While it might make you feel good at the time, it doesn't help things long term.
 
In my experience consulting pax or warning them upfront typically just makes non flying people more nervous and anxious. And if you already are nervous or anxious that tends to magnify any turbulence, etc.

I agree in general, but you have to know the pax well. My brother INSISTED on a flight, and wouldn't stop bugging me. Weather was usual windy west Texas weather over the course of the weekend. I took him up ... it was hot, turbulent and bumpy and I was expecting the worst (barf bags on the ready). He loved it and said he'd been in worse commercially (he flies a TON for the government as an auditor). His daughter flew the following month and she held up well also. I never offer flights if weather isn't calm-mild ... but some pax are tougher than you think. I don't think I'd have done that well on my first GA ride.
 
His text after you landed should have been, "I guess you made the right call."

While I understand your sentiment, surviving a flight does not mean that you made the right call. I have made more than one flight where making the go decision was the wrong call.
 
Wow, it's an AIRMET not a Severe Thunderstorm Watch/Warning. Does he even know the difference between AIRMET and SIGMET?

I would like him to describe the hypothetical scenario in which you could have crashed and died.

I too, would love to hear his explanation.
 
While I understand your sentiment, surviving a flight does not mean that you made the right call. I have made more than one flight where making the go decision was the wrong call.
I agree that surviving a flight doesn't mean that it couldn't have gone different. But this does not seem to be a situation where the OP just lucked out, it seems to be a situation where he made the right call and his FIL violently overreacted.
 
but you have to know the pax well
Good point. And depending on who's coming can definitely impact my decision. Took my brother in law up on a gusty windy day, it was pretty bumpy, but he didn't care. Definitely wouldn't have taken most people on a day like that

You are lucky though! Hot and bumpy is usually a recipe for disaster for most people when it comes to air sickness
 
I too, would love to hear his explanation.
He said that moderate turbulence can turn to severe turbulence and result in loss of control or structural damage. He said he's seen forecasted moderate go to severe many times, but when I pressed him on it he admitted that it was up in the flight levels.
 
I don't know why its taken me so long to think of this but, post your father in law's contact information and we'll have AZBlueBalls open up a can-o-internet whoopass on him. :)

Hahah I lol'd at this...az blue balls...
 
I agree that surviving a flight doesn't mean that it couldn't have gone different. But this does not seem to be a situation where the OP just lucked out, it seems to be a situation where he made the right call and his FIL violently overreacted.

I agree completely - there was nothing wrong with the OP's decision, and it's the same one I would have made. Honestly, airmet Tango? Don't think I've ever even checked for one. I know what else makes turbulence likely, though, and make my own determination on that. It would be nice if the F-I-L in this case realized his lack of relevant experience, and maybe one day he will, but that can be hard for some people to do, especially in aviation.

I tend to go the opposite way. I'm more nervous to hop in a piston single that I flew years back and fly it than I would be to hop in a twin I've never flown before and fly that, just because I realize that all my experience is in piston twins (with a bit of turboprop), and so I'm used to how they fly. But a friend made me fly a leg in a Mooney a few months back (hadn't flown one or in one since 2009), and I actually managed to have a pretty smooth landing in it. So maybe I remember more than I realize. I'd still feel more comfortable borrowing a Duke than a Mooney and flying it solo.

My point was just that surviving the flight doesn't mean the correct response was "Guess you made the right call."
 
The issue isn't really even between us. She realizes she screwed up by calling him. I'm not mad at her because she never thought he would act this way. We're already planning our next flight which she seems excited for.

And that last sentence makes her a keeper even with the excess baggage.
 
All this talk about
He said that moderate turbulence can turn to severe turbulence and result in loss of control or structural damage. He said he's seen forecasted moderate go to severe many times

ok.. I change my stance on this.

Father in law should drink beer.
or maybe he was before the call ha ha

no wait, maybe I should start.
yeah...that's it
 
What's kind of funny is that he doesn't have have a ASEL rating so he's not qualified to be PIC of a C172 lol
hey, di$%head you're not even qualified to be PIC in a single engine piston airplane, is prob not the best way to improve the relationship, no matter how satisfying it might be to say!!
 
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