Nervous about taking first passenger

RyanB

RyanB

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Any advice on how to overcome nervousness about taking your first pax as a private pilot?
 
You are the PIC. Take a deep breath and let your training kick in. Don't become distracted by the passenger, have fun!
 
Honestly it is like overcoming a lot during flying.
You just gotta do it.

You know what you are doing and you know how to do it.

My first pax was my mom and we did probably a 20 min flight around a local lake.
I was a little nervous but I started picking up on her being nervous and I went into "calming my passenger" mode by talking about what I was doing and discussing the plane and weather and that took my mind off my nerves.

My first 5-10 hours with pax involved some nerves.

First time I had the wife and both kids... Whew

But like everything else:
How do I get over fear of thermals, learn when to flare, get over my fear of stalls, etc. You just keep at it and it goes away.
 
The main thing I've found is that you just need to be careful with distractions. It's amazing how much it affects you. I won't realize it until I look back and just realize I wasn't as on-top of my flying and checks as I usually am.

For me: go slowly, be extra-meticulous in pre-flight, checklists, and every phase of flight. Verbalize everything. This helps explain things to your passenger while also ensuring you are paying attention to each item. Do a good pre-flight brief and ensure they know to stay quiet during taxi, takeoffs and landings and around any airport airspace -- with the exception of traffic callouts :)

Most importantly, have fun!
 
Bryan and Geico are right. Be safe, have fun, and just do it.

I flew this morning after a few month hiatus. It was very hazy with no visible horizon, especially facing the Gulf of Mexico. While practicing steep turns, I got a moment of vertigo (which I can't recall happening before during steep turns, actually). I flew straight and level for a moment trying to recover, and for a few seconds, an irrational fear that I'd lose control of the plane was creeping up on me. I think because vertigo is very rare for me and it had been some time since I flew.

I just took a moment to push it away, flew like I knew how, and carried on. Same way as you always do with flying. :)

This shouldn't be an unusual flight for you. In fact, you've carried at least two "passengers" before! The only difference here is that your pax is likely not a pilot, so fly a bit more gently and talk about what you're doing to ease their minds, just don't let your concern for their feelings interfere with your flying.

Enjoy.
 
Maybe go on a flight that u r familiar with...one less thing to worry about. And safety FIRST, which might mean a stern but friendly reminder to ur pax to HUSH UP.
 
Do a flight with a passenger that you are comfortable with and chose a route and area that are you very familiar with.
 
Unless you are expecting to crash whats the worry? :dunno:
 
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jordane93 said:
Take your CFI up
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but tell him "no teaching, just try to throw some mild distractions at me". see how u handle it.

or, just take a willing pax on a familiar flight, you'll get over any fears pretty quickly. I would think.
 
You are right to be nervous. It is a pretty big responsibility for another human, especially one you care about, to put their life in your hands. Just fly like you have been taught and don't try to show off or do anything that would make them uncomfortable. Don't take them up when it is windy or there are other weather issues that add risk or impact the comfort factor. Remember, you want them to really be awed by this thing we love to do.
 
somorris said:
You are right to be nervous. It is a pretty big responsibility for another human, especially one you care about, to put their life in your hands. Just fly like you have been taught and don't try to show off or do anything that would make them uncomfortable. Don't take them up when it is windy or there are other weather issues that add risk or impact the comfort factor. Remember, you want them to really be awed by this thing we love to do.
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And your DPE gave you your certificate. He obviously thinks you are a safe and competent pilot
 
While it's not necessary -- the folks saying to just do it are correct -- you might ease your nerves a bit going up with another pilot in the right seat. Not your CFI. Maybe a student, but preferably another new pilot. And reciprocate if appropriate.

The idea is to put someone who won't distract you in the plane, while still cutting the apron strings with the instructor. This is NOT an instructor relationship.

Just a few weeks after I finished my checkride, I went on vacation to Colorado. I met another recent private pilot there, and he showed me the high altitude ropes, and made my eyes bug out when he needed nearly 4000 feet of runway to get his 177B up. I can't emphasize enough how reassuring it was that his piloting was less than perfect. As odd as that might sound, I was a lot more confident after watching another pilot forget to set his DG to the compass and land with a little side-load (nothing serious). We both survived and had a blast. With my then-6-year-old son in the back.
 
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My advice:

1. Take someone you're familiar with. Wife, mother, dad, best friend.

2. Take off, fly the pattern -- and LAND. Ask your passenger if they are comfy, and want to continue. This looks like you're doing it for their comfort, but you've really done it for yours. (Presuming that you didn't prang the landing, they will want to do it again!)

3. Do NOT fly the pattern like you've been trained to do.

My first passenger was my wife. I took off and flew the pattern, as I had done a hundred times before. What I didn't realize was that I had grown so comfortable flying the pattern that I was wracking it around pretty good, and I managed to scare my poor, unsuspecting wife -- although she hid it well.

Keep your turns shallow. VOCALIZE what you are doing, so that they know IN ADVANCE that you're about to turn. These little things make your passengers much more comfortable.

Most of all -- act like you're having fun! Passengers pick up on your tension. If you're tense, they think you're scared. If they think you're scared, they wonder if THEY should be scared.

Let us know how it goes!
 
...I just posted a video in a thread a week or so ago of me taking up my sister-in-law who had never been in a GA plane and was pretty freaked out by flying in general...even with the airlines.

You gotta be confident. If you aren't your passengers will pick up your nervousness and I can assure you that they are already a little nervous...even if they REALLY want to go with you. Like others, I give them a short pre-flight basically recapping what I did on the pre-flight (I try to get there early when I know I'm taking passengers to get all that done...less time for them to just be milling around thinking of all the ways they could die today :)) and answering any questions.

When you get in the plane - do your thing....act confident and in command and like you've been there at least 30 or 40 times before.

Then have fun!

Here's the video of my sister-in-law. She is scared to death and luckily her husband was with us in the backseat. I don't show it in the video out of respect for her...but she is balling on the climb out...we are literally reminding her to breath. After we landed the first time she was fine after that...still a little nervous but confident that I could get the plane up and down and that it wasn't as bad as she thought it was going to be.

Your primary duty is to fly the plane and I guarantee your confidence in your abilities will translate and calm your passengers.

Good luck!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3LE0llqH8Q
 
What's to be nervous about? You had a passenger in all your dual rides, your CFI. Just make sure to brief them on safety and the sterile cockpit when the radio is going and the rest is just a matter of occasionally checking to make sure they are not getting sick or are unhappy.

Most of the time they are curious about what's going on, so tell them. It will help you too.
 
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I have always found it helpful to give a verbal heads up when adjusting my power setting -- passengers seem to listen very intently to the sound of the engine. So a "...and I'm pulling the power back a bit here for cruise" seems to be appreciated.

I think the OPs nervousness, if like my first passenger flights, comes from the weight of responsibility of being in command of the airplane with someone else's life (who isn't a pilot) completely in your hands. They are total trusting your skill to get them back down to earth safely (CFI or DPE, not so much). This is just a confidence thing that will come with time and build with experience -- remember, you know how to fly the plane. I like to compare it to driving on a two lane road with passengers; oncoming traffic and trees are just feet away from you on either side -- you have everyone's lives in your hands there too. It's not really that different, so you've been there before. Main difference is, you're a pilot and after the flight your passengers will thank you and spread the word about the fact that you're a total badass. :D
 
Be aware as the PIC that if you say things unconsciously out loud like "damnit!" or "crap!" when something annoys you, it will really freak your passengers out.

They don't know that you're just expressing every day pilot lingo...

+1 you must show confidence. Keep it simple with the attitude like "it's just another walk in the park on a sunny day."
 
txflyer said:
Be aware as the PIC that if you say things unconsciously out loud like "damnit!" or "crap!" when something annoys you, it will really freak your passengers out.
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+1

I scared the bejeezus out of a passenger once when the guy ahead of me started flying a 747-size pattern.

Tim
 
This probably sounds dumb, but confidence in body, as well as mind. I know I scared a passenger once when I heard traffic call out position, and I whipped my head around and sat forward in the cockpit to try to find it. She startled.

Even in the preflight, if you do that with them watching. Take it slow, don't rush. Don't have jerky, nervous movement. You've done this a thousand times and it's a great day to go flying.
 
timrb said:
+1

I scared the bejeezus out of a passenger once when the guy ahead of me started flying a 747-size pattern.

Tim
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I scared my passengers once when I climbed to 13000 to find some smoother air in a high pass and commented we had 30 minutes until we needed oxygen.

They didn't know I was talking about regulation....
 
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