Newbie

Sounds like an upgrade is needed to GIRLFRIEND 2.0
 
Sounds like my wife. She took three lessons and stopped, got too scared by what she was learning. Still is a chore to get her to fly with me but I did convince her to fly up to Fredericksburg for breakfast. I can tell the more gentle I fly and the more times she goes up, the more she is getting comfortable with it. I just try to keep her calm and ALWAYS tell her before I do anything.
 
aim54pheonix said:
I just try to keep her calm and ALWAYS tell her before I do anything.
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Well done.

I am a man and I like man stuff (cars, bikes, boats, planes, guns, rock'n'roll etc).
Wife is a woman and does not like any of that. And she's a scaredy-cat when it comes to flying.
So just like your wife, she requires me to announce any changes in the cockpit. Power change freaks her out, flaps, landing gear etc. She is getting used to it and we have already had a small emergency and handled it fine so it is all in how slowly one introduces his wife to the "scary" part of living. :)
 
I'm fortunate in that I have a wife that spoils me and likes to travel in our plane. I asked her what advice she'd give you.

She said to first explain the trainers you'll start in land in around 600' and around 40 MPH. If the engine stops you will need to land but there aren't many places in Texas where you can't find a place to land in that kind of plane. You may ding it up but the odds are very good that you will avoid serious injuries if you fly the plane until it stops. You can get hurt or killed but I think driving in Texas is much more dangerous.

Next she said to ask how long your wife will drive for a weekend trip then draw a circle on a map showing how far that gets you in your car. Next take the average cruising speed for the type of planes you will start training in and draw another circle showing how far that gets you. Living in San Antonio the odds are that you will find a lot more places to visit in the plane than is practical in the car.

I live south of Houston and we occasionally fly to San Antonio for lunch on the river walk. You can't do that by car. Once you've traveled in your own plane dealing with commercial air travel will never be the same. The freedom you have in your own plane can't be matched.

Gary
 
Thanks for all the replies. I have been slowly introducing it more to her but by bit. I also used her love for dogs . Found" pilots n paws". Lol. Just to update folks. I basically know gleim inside and out for the written. Getting my medical next week. The flight school that I will attend wants me to have it before we start. Even though they know and I know I don't need it until solo. But they had issues in past and don't want someone to spend ton of money and not get cleared. Mind you I workout 6 days a week and not one health issue. Either or. I got a bag and a great deal on a DC h10-20 used headset. Let's see how it goes.
 
Of course right when I was sending post above the wife had news on and a Cirrus crashed in San Antonio killing the pilot. He was not far from kssf which is where my flight school is
 
CARLOS W said:
Of course right when I was sending post above the wife had news on and a Cirrus crashed in San Antonio killing the pilot. He was not far from kssf which is where my flight school is
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Again, if you pull up NTSB reports for her, she will quickly realize that only a handful of crashes were caused by circumstances outside of the pilot's control.
Majority of crashes (not exactly in this order) are caused by dumb pilot tricks: fuel starvation, VFR into IMC, improper aircraft handling, improper preflight etc. If you are a smart guy and she knows you, she will see through it quickly and realize that as long as you want to keep living, you will do everything in your power to not commit suicide in an airplane.
 
BigBadLou said:
Again, if you pull up NTSB reports for her, she will quickly realize that only a handful of crashes were caused by circumstances outside of the pilot's control.
Majority of crashes (not exactly in this order) are caused by dumb pilot tricks: fuel starvation, VFR into IMC, improper aircraft handling, improper preflight etc. If you are a smart guy and she knows you, she will see through it quickly and realize that as long as you want to keep living, you will do everything in your power to not commit suicide in an airplane.
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Ooh, that can backfire bad.

To us trained pilots, we can see that an engine failure leading to a stall over a field is a dumb pilot trick, but a casual reader would conclude from that that the engine failure caused the fatality.

A CFI or experienced pilot demonstrating an engine out scenario and (simulated) dead stick landing might be a bit more convincing, if a bit more expensive as well.
 
MAKG1 said:
Ooh, that can backfire bad.

To us trained pilots, we can see that an engine failure leading to a stall over a field is a dumb pilot trick, but a casual reader would conclude from that that the engine failure caused the fatality.
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True, the reader would have to have enough IQ to understand English and enough patience to get to the probable cause.

Even in a stall crash in an engine-out scenario, the probable cause should read "pilot's failure to maintain sufficient airspeed".
 
Welcome Carlos!

Flying has risks (as a lot of people have already said) just like most of the things we do on a daily basis. It can be very safe. I have only two worries when I am flying. One is mostly outside my control (the airplane catching on fire) and the other (running into another airplane) I do my best to mitigate. The small airplanes we fly can easily be landed without the engine running if the pilot keeps his head. Even if the terrain is hostile, the odds of surviving are good as long as the airplane is landed under control. As many have said, an awful lot of the crashes could be avoided if pilots would stop pushing the envelope beyond their capabilities.

Enjoy learning to fly, and best of luck in convincing your significant other that it is safe. Her opinion will mostly depend on you and your attitude.
 
Thanks!.. I see the pattern with the replies. I been reading a lot and feeling bit better. And just trying to feed that over to the wife. But we are human. And we do make mistakes. It's just hopefully we do the best that we can do when the time comes that we make a mistake it's a small one and fix it right away.
 
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Well i have to give an update. Sorry if a bit long. The school I am looking at didn't have times for me to get an intro flight for past weeks. So I just focused on FAA test studies , got my 3rd class medical ( which the Dr who has flown for decades tried to talk me out of it lol) and spent time with my wife (to keep smooth talking her.). So finally they had a part time instructor who fly's a private commercial jet that was available. So i booked it. So yesterday I showed up 30 minutes early to the appointment and chatted with few guys there while I waited. My turn was up and the instructor was very easy going and made me feel at ease. He said thats our plane. I looked and It was a symphony 160. I said OK. When he opened up the door I saw it was a center stick yoke. I said to my self WTF. Looked like a toy. But i figured that it will make me use one hand. He had me sit on the right though. Then I hooked up my DC h10-20 headset I bought on eBay for a great price hoping it worked. It did! When taking off I was just a bit nervous and thought to myself " what the hell am I doing!" But once we got air born I was on cloud 9. Then he told me "do you want to take the controls".. so I did.. at first felt just a bit uneasy since I can feel every movement with the stick. But I remembered many tips and just used my 2 fingers to hold the stick and let go to see what it wants to do. After a minute I was just hooked. It felt like a relaxing therapy session. Plus I saw plenty of flat land which made me feel comfy. After an hour up in the air we headed back. When I was on the ground I had the biggest grin. And just couldn't get that cloud 9 feeling away. Even at night laying in bed I had that grin . But now I have to wait until next Tuesday to get assigned an instructor. ☹️. I will keep posting with my experiences periodically. I took a few pics on the climb .
 

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CARLOS W said:
Well i have to give an update. Sorry if a bit long. The school I am looking at didn't have times for me to get an intro flight for past weeks. So I just focused on FAA test stidies , got my 3rd class medical ( which the Dr who has flown for decades tried to talk me out of it lol) and spent time with my wife (to keep smooth talking her.). So finally they had a part time instructor who fly's a private commercial jet that was available. So i booked it. So yesterday I showed up 30 minutes early to the appointment and chatted with few guys there while I waited. My turn was up and the instructor was very easy going and made me feel at ease. He said thats our plane. I looked and It was a symphony 160. I said OK. When he opened up the door I saw it was a center stick yoke. I said to my self WTF. Looked like a toy. But i figured that it will make me use one hand. He had me sit on the right though. Then I hooked up my DC h10-20 headset I bought on eBay for a great price hoping it worked. It did! When taking off I was just a bit nervous and thought to myself " what the hell am I doing!" But once we got air born I was on cloud 9. Then he told me "do you want to take the controls".. so I did.. at first felt just a bit uneasy since I can feel every movement with the stick. But I remembered many tips and just used my 2 fingers to hold the stick and let go to see what it wants to do. After a minute I was just hooked. It felt like a relaxing therapy session. Plus I saw plenty of flat land which made me feel comfy. After an hour up in the air we headed back. When I was on the ground I had the biggest grin. And just couldn't get that cloud 9 feeling away. Even at night laying in bed I had that grin . But now I have to wait until next Tuesday to get assigned an instructor. ☹️. I will keep posting with my experiences periodically. I took a few pics on the climb .
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Good deal Carlos! Glad you enjoyed it. Sounds like you're hooked. Good luck.
 
Glad you finally got in the air again and enjoyed it. Odd that he put you in the right seat, but better than my first discovery flight where I ended up in the back seat! (I brought an eager teenager with me to ride along who was offered the left seat and I couldn't bring myself to squash that once on the table). Seems like you're hooked, keep us updated, I always like to read about a new student's progress.
 
On the right? WTF?

That's not how you instruct in an airplane.

And if the school can't be bothered to find time for an intro flight, scheduling your checkride is gonna suck. Most outfits jump at intro rides 'cause that means new customers (though the instructors might not if there is a discount involved -- it's the instructors that get the short end of the stick for that).

I'll suggest that both of those are red flags.
 
Ya.. but the school gets recommend alot. I bet a few of the problems also was my schedule and weather. We had a week of bad weather when I first went then with my schedule I wanted an afternoon flight. Each time I went they did seem like the whole day booked. I needed to book ahead of time but I only could call with a few days notice. Sitting on the right was a surprise but I noticed it forced me to fly the plane visually and not by looking at the gauges since awkward turning to my left to see. And when I headed west that sun was blinding. But at least I kept straight and level lol.
 
Stick vs. yoke during primary training can devolve into a "Tastes Great vs. Less Filling" argument.

I learned in a Diamond DA20 that had the stick, and for me, it was faster to wrap my head around what control input did what. But either way, you quickly adapt after a few minutes.

Enjoy the training, Carlos!
 
I really enjoyed the response with the center stick. Now I need to pick which plane I want to train in.. c152' c172 or the symphony 160.. the c152 is about the same size as the s160. But the 160 has bit more power.. I guess need to see how big my instructor is lol.
 
Any of those three will do you just fine.
 
AggieMike88 said:
Stick vs. yoke during primary training can devolve into a "Tastes Great vs. Less Filling" argument.

I learned in a Diamond DA20 that had the stick, and for me, it was faster to wrap my head around what control input did what. But either way, you quickly adapt after a few minutes.

Enjoy the training, Carlos!
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Yeah, I went back and forth between a stick and yoke (DA-20 and Cherokee) in training, and the adjustment is pretty easy. I do prefer stick, though.
 
I found out very quickly that controlling the yoke single-handedly worked better for my brain. I want to bank right, I lift it with left hand. I want to bank left, I pull on it with the left hand. It kinda became a wing leveler in my mind. The horizontal part of the yoke (the ram horn style) should normally be level with the wings. If the wings aren't, lift the yoke on the side of the wing that dropped. Again, I do not think about it, it became an instinct. But I never thought about this coordination until now.
 
Well my second flight ( first lesson) went well. Took the c172 this time. Just did taxi, take off, level flight, descend, and climbs. Also he talked me through my landing. Wasn't the best landing lol. The CFI let use my GoPro and I also recorded the intercom communication. I will mostly use it for my self but may post it on YouTube to follow my lessons. I wish I could do lessons daily but the scheduling is a pain. By the looks of it I will only get maybe 2 days a week. I could do more but CFI blocks and plane blocks will be the issue .
 
I was able to only do once a week when working on my PP certificate. That's okay though, as I was in it for the fun. No rush. Relax and enjoy the journey!
 
Ya but I just wanted to keep the hours to a minimum and not make it take to long.. while it's good weather lol
 
Well, fly as much as you can afford. The more often you fly, the better it gets.
Of course, if you have the money to put down upfront on your own trainer (it does not have to be an expensive 172), you can train possibly even faster and recoup your investment once you sell the plane after training. But that is up to you and your finances.

Have fun!!!
 
My issue wouldn't be finances. It's more if the better half would go Cray cray if I did buy a trainer. Plus I wouldn't know the proper steps in making sure to that I am not buying a money pit lol..
 
CARLOS W said:
Hi everyone. Well my journey started in 2008 when I took a discovery flight at the St Petersburg Florida airport. Flying along side the coast was amazing. I was going to start my lessons but I knew it would of been hard during anesthesia school and I got a bit nervous after I had a friend die along side his dad in a single engine. Now fast forward 8 years , 37 years old and have been out of school for 5 years and ready for my lessons. I currently live in San Antonio and am looking at Sky Safety for school. But now I have my wife sending me daily plane crashes and making me feel like I'm going to kill my self.. it brings back bad memories from my friends death years back. So I am getting hesitant . I have been studying ATC communications for few months and also was going to start studying from the Kings package. I guess I will see. I am going to pass by the flight school to chat and get a feel. I am happy to be on this site and enjoy reading all the posts.

Update: through out this post I will update everyone on my progress.
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How Safe is Flying!? The Truth about General Aviation Safety
 
CARLOS W said:
My issue wouldn't be finances. It's more if the better half would go Cray cray if I did buy a trainer. Plus I wouldn't know the proper steps in making sure to that I am not buying a money pit lol..
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Just don't bring home the one trashcan you showed me and she'll be fine.
I went through the same with my wife. I explained to her mathematically how it will lower my cost of training if I purchase a small trainer and then resell it, hopefully recovering the initial investment.
She agreed, we did as we planned, I did recoup my investment so my training cost only fuel, some maintenance, tie downs and insurance. (well, plus instructor fees, of course)
If you can find the right airplane for the right price, not only you can save money on training, you will enjoy it more because you will have your own airplane ready to go whenever YOU are ready. No fighting over ragged-out 172's at the school.
No go fly, it is gorgeous out there today!
 
Well update, I am 4.5 hours into training. I been recording my flights. I have only recorded 2 flights because the damn adhesive from go pro didn't hold up. I would see if the suction cup would work on that plastic ? My wife still doesn't like it but she didn't say anything. And once in a while she acts like she cares to listen. Flights have been progressing each time. Today was my best ATC communicstion day . I was making all the calls until I did 3 touch n go's. Today we did slow flight, power on and off stalls , steep turns and 3 touch n go's. I was so concentrated that I had blinders. But each flight I notice the blinders getting wider. Just want to thank bigbadlou for answering my question via text.
 
Today i added 1.5 hours of training. So think that will be 6 total. Just touched up steep turns, power off and on stalls, and slow flight for stage 1check. Radio talk a bit better untill my landing again. Then I was ****ed about them and my selective hearing was on lol. I'm still a bit tentative in my head about things.. I fly around 3pm which in Texas plenty of thermals. So I feel like I am constantly correcting the plane. CFI says all good but maybe I am painting a picture worse then it is. I picture the plane just going left, right, down , up etc lol..
 
CARLOS W said:
I fly around 3pm which in Texas plenty of thermals. So I feel like I am constantly correcting the plane. CFI says all good but maybe I am painting a picture worse then it is. I picture the plane just going left, right, down , up etc lol..
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Go fly either at sunrise (if you can) or during sunset. It will be much calmer.
Or ask the CFI to go higher. No reason to stay at 3000 all the time. Afterall, it is your money, you are the boss. You should find calmer air (even in TX) at 5 or higher. From the videos, it seems that she has plenty of power to climb up fast. Just make sure they don't fill her up to the top again. :D
 
Ya I will ask him on monday
 
Well 10 hours into it and enjoying every minute. E wife still doesn't like it but still see. This week has been plagued with bad weather. Hopefully I can salvage tomorrow. Next week I have 4 days planned in a row.
 
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