Pinch Hitter

FlySince9

FlySince9

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Jerry
Checked to see if there was a thread on this...didn't see one... SOOOOO...

Just wondering how many out there have suggested/required/asked their significant other to take a pinch hitter course and how many teach the skills themselves or do neither... Though perfectly healthy, I just made the big 60 and have suggested that my Girlfriend take the course... She reluctantly, tenatively agreed...

Personally, I think it is a good idea, especially if you're lucky enough to have someone, who 99% of the time, flies with you whenever you go...which is true in this case
 
I don't think my dog is capable of handling the controls well enough to land. My cat, Toonces however...
 
I've talked about it with my wife. We've both resigned ourselves to the fact that if I bite the big one while she is with me, she is probably going to die unless she is wearing a parachute and even then probably yes she is going to die.

My plan is to keep healthy and try not to die while flying.
 
I've encouraged my wife and daughter to take lessons up to the point where the CFI would approve solo. They don't seem interested. I'll keep bringing it up occasionally.
 
narchee said:
I've talked about it with my wife. We've both resigned ourselves to the fact that if I bite the big one while she is with me, she is probably going to die unless she is wearing a parachute and even then probably yes she is going to die.

My plan is to keep healthy and try not to die while flying.
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HAHAHAHA!!!! This bit of dark humor made my morning :rofl:
 
My wife wants to get to the "survivable landing" phase of training. She has no real interest in becoming a pilot, just learning enough to get the plane on the ground and walk away.

I've taught her as much as I can (radios, 121.5 and so on) without being a CFI. The rest is up to them.
 
The answer to OP is NO NO NO!!!

I wanted my wife to learn to land the plane. Now she has a medical and is taking flying lessons and telling me what kind of plane to buy.

Seriously, I think IMO a front seat pax that will be flying regularly should know some things for CRM and also safety.

First thing I taught my wife was how to dial the radios, and how to get 121.5 and how to set the transponder so at a min, she could give a play by play of the crash and they could locate her in the air.

Next, I showed her how to fly straight and level and once she was able to do that for 5-10 min at a time, I knew I had it made because now I could eat while flying. Really, it meant she could buy herself some time, get on the radio, and get help.

Then I basically had her shadow me on the controls and explained if she can point the plane toward KAFW, keep the nose on the horizon, slow the plane to 70, there is a good chance she will get away with the equivalent of a bad car wreck but may walk away.

She never expressed an interest in flying while I was showing her this stuff.
At some point she got to where she could fly us to an airport and get on a long final with a view of the Vasi, I handed her over to My CFI to teach her how to get it on the ground. She is 4 or 5 lessons in and building momentum that no longer involves me urging her to do it which I hadn't expected.

We have 2 little kids and I needed her to be able to get them to the ground safely. That was my only real requirement. Now I suspect we will be arguing over who gets to fly which leg in a few years.


Edit: and flying a specific 172 because it has a pretty paint job :goofy:
I'm kidding!! (totally not kidding)
 
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My husband wanted me to do basics. Like mrs6pc I got the bug and now have my ir.
 
My wife flies an Airbus, so I suggested she take a pinch hitter course when she flies GA with me. She responded by making fun of how tiny my airplane is.

Or at least I think it was my airplane she was commenting about.
 
Bryan, lucky you!
Sara, could you help me convince my significant other (I am not allowed to say "wife", the overzealous PC id1ots here will yell at me again) to at least learn some very basics to get herself down safely, just in case? She has the kind of "scared girl" excuse but I've been trying to entice her with the idea of saving her own life. Though she argues that she wouldn't want to live without me. (no idea why :) )
 
My wife and the wife of a good friend took a pinch hitter course from the Ninety-Nines about 20 years ago. It helped my wife understand how the plane works and responds to control inputs but it did not prepare her to land a plane, even in an emergency. If you want your spouse to have that skill you need to enlist a suitable instructor.
 
BigBadLou said:
Bryan, lucky you!
Sara, could you help me convince my significant other (I am not allowed to say "wife", the overzealous PC id1ots here will yell at me again) to at least learn some very basics to get herself down safely, just in case? She has the kind of "scared girl" excuse but I've been trying to entice her with the idea of saving her own life. Though she argues that she wouldn't want to live without me. (no idea why :) )
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You could point out that unconsciousness does not necessarily mean immediate death, and that it could make it possible for her to get you to medical care.
 
kayoh190 said:
My wife flies an Airbus, so I suggested she take a pinch hitter course when she flies GA with me. She responded by making fun of how tiny my airplane is.

Or at least I think it was my airplane she was commenting about.
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I don't care who you are, that is hilarious !! :lol:
 
Palmpilot said:
You could point out that unconsciousness does not necessarily mean immediate death, and that it could make it possible for her to get you to medical care.
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I tried that too. I think she is just too scared right now and might warm up to it later. I do want to start engaging her slowly with tuning radios, GPS etc. I think she just needs baby steps.

Also, I do not see myself being stupid and faking a heart attack in the cockpit to "drive the point home". I think I would die for real that day .... at her hands. :)
 
BigBadLou said:
I tried that too. I think she is just too scared right now and might warm up to it later. I do want to start engaging her slowly with tuning radios, GPS etc. I think she just needs baby steps.

Also, I do not see myself being stupid and faking a heart attack in the cockpit to "drive the point home". I think I would die for real that day .... at her hands. :)
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Show her your life insurance policy. Maybe she will find a reason to survive after you are slumped over the yoke.
 
My wife said no...I've asked her to follow me on the controls and you'd think I asked her to pick up a vomit covered pile of rabid elephant dungeons with her teeth. She wants nothing to do with touching anything.
 
Unit74 said:
My wife said no...I've asked her to follow me on the controls and you'd think I asked her to pick up a vomit covered pile of rabid elephant dungeons with her teeth. She wants nothing to do with touching anything.
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Is she comfortable flying with you in general though?
Just curious if it is afraid of flying or really no interest in flying the plane.
 
My wife taking a pich hitter course would be a waste. She wouldn't be much help on the ground,doesnt have a desire to fly.
 
The pinch hitter classes are fine but as mentioned, a few hours with a CFI is a good follow up. My SO did the day class at the Daniel Webster safety seminar. She could dial in the radio, set the transponder and gps, manipulate the controls enough to keep us on course, and read a sectional.
Not that she ever wanted too. All that stuff was mine and that was that!
Most of the stuff we do isn't hard so long as you have the time to do each item you want to. The trick is doing g it all at the same time. If your passenger is interested enough, get them into a class with periodic follow ups. And get them helping while you fly.
 
My wife flies with me occasionally (she prefers flights that "go somewhere" vs just local sightseeing flights) and feels comfortable controlling the plane. But if something happens to me while we're up there, I fear we're both toast. She'll be sleeping all the way to the crash site. (Though, I guess the fact that she's comfortable enough to fall asleep in-flight is a vote of confidence...)
 
She is fine in the air. Has no problem going up. She doesn't want anything to do with flying it.
 
Lou do you have local female pilot she could talk to? I don't presume you live in or around Ohio? Or are you in kagc territory?

Flying isn't v something you can convince someone to do. They have to want it. I can tell her why I wanted it.
 
Honestly I'm not really worried about it, I'm not knocking on deaths door and there are about a million other freak things that are more likely to kill me, her and anyone else on or below the plane.

That said, not sure I would really do a pinch hitter course, just get a CFI to do a full solo in your plane, that should do, I'd be more concerned with their stick and rudder than teaching them to fiddle with radios and xpdrs, after all thsts what going to save butts.
 
Now that you mention it, Sara, there is a nice lady pilot closeby. I might introduce the two. Good idea. (no, I am nowhere near Ohio, too bad)
Also, wife is deathly afraid to fly .... and we figured out very quickly that she has a problem with big multi-thousand-ton metal tubes filled with cattle, blasting through the skies at .80 at 35,000 ft. She has no problem sitting in the co-pilot seat next to me at 7,500 on the way to the island beach. :) I consider it a big sign of her faith in me.
 
I suggested it to my wife, but she says that she can't live without me. :no:
 
My wife became interested in riding on my motorcycle with me. We bought her her own within a few weeks. My wife became interested in riding on the ATV with me. We bought her her own within a few weeks. My wife has become interested in learing to fly.....................:eek:
 
FlySince9 said:
Checked to see if there was a thread on this...didn't see one... SOOOOO...

Just wondering how many out there have suggested/required/asked their significant other to take a pinch hitter course and how many teach the skills themselves or do neither... Though perfectly healthy, I just made the big 60 and have suggested that my Girlfriend take the course... She reluctantly, tenatively agreed...

Personally, I think it is a good idea, especially if you're lucky enough to have someone, who 99% of the time, flies with you whenever you go...which is true in this case
Click to expand...

If I could have gotten my ex to touch the controls would have been a miracle. She acted like if she touched them we'd fall out of the sky in a flaming wreck...:dunno:
 
BigBadLou said:
Bryan, lucky you!
Sara, could you help me convince my significant other (I am not allowed to say "wife", the overzealous PC id1ots here will yell at me again) to at least learn some very basics to get herself down safely, just in case? She has the kind of "scared girl" excuse but I've been trying to entice her with the idea of saving her own life. Though she argues that she wouldn't want to live without me. (no idea why :) )
Click to expand...

It's ok, you can call him your wife here.
 
Henning said:
If I could have gotten my ex to touch the controls would have been a miracle. She acted like if she touched them we'd fall out of the sky in a flaming wreck...:dunno:
Click to expand...

Hey hold on a sec, did you have your wife call my wife to teach her how to be properly afraid of the flight controls? I swear mine acts in the exact same way. Do I dare say that women think alike and are scared alike? Nah, I should not make such statements because I don't want to chanc being called a sexist and chauvinist pig again. :D
 
BigBadLou said:
Hey hold on a sec, did you have your wife call my wife to teach her how to be properly afraid of the flight controls? I swear mine acts in the exact same way. Do I dare say that women think alike and are scared alike? Nah, I should not make such statements because I don't want to chanc being called a sexist and chauvinist pig again. :D
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Here's a check without going into phone records. If she asks you to try to stay below the tree tops (pecan trees mind you) and cries continuously above 1000' AGL, then yes, they have likely talked.:rolleyes:
 
Henning said:
Here's a check without going into phone records. If she asks you to try to stay below the tree tops (pecan trees mind you) and cries continuously above 1000' AGL, then yes, they have likely talked.:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Probably not then. On our first flight, we went around the pattern once and I landed, as I promised (no tricks, no lies). She wasn't scared so we went around again, this time I extended the downwind a few miles (lol) and circled over the house, then over other people's houses and came back 45 minutes later. She couldn't believe that it was 45 minutes. :) And no screaming about tree tops. :)
Eventually I convinced her that SCT is safe and we CAN fly in cooler and calmer air (instead of getting the snot beat out of us at 3000 in 95F). Now she is finally at the point of allowing a climb above SCT because it provides nature's A/C (60F) and is much smoother. :)
But for the life of her, she won't even look at the yoke for fear of spiraling out of the sky in a fiery ball. *shrug*
 
BigBadLou said:
Probably not then. On our first flight, we went around the pattern once and I landed, as I promised (no tricks, no lies). She wasn't scared so we went around again, this time I extended the downwind a few miles (lol) and circled over the house, then over other people's houses and came back 45 minutes later. She couldn't believe that it was 45 minutes. :) And no screaming about tree tops. :)
Eventually I convinced her that SCT is safe and we CAN fly in cooler and calmer air (instead of getting the snot beat out of us at 3000 in 95F). Now she is finally at the point of allowing a climb above SCT because it provides nature's A/C (60F) and is much smoother. :)
But for the life of her, she won't even look at the yoke for fear of spiraling out of the sky in a fiery ball. *shrug*
Click to expand...

The one bit of luck I had was that as an Ag and pipeline pilot flying a twin, it didn't bother me to keep it low, to tell the truth, I like it better as well, but because I like the view better. Out in the middle of nowhere Texas, it's no big deal to fly cross country and climb into the pattern.:lol:
 
BigBadLou said:
Hey hold on a sec, did you have your wife call my wife to teach her how to be properly afraid of the flight controls? I swear mine acts in the exact same way. Do I dare say that women think alike and are scared alike? Nah, I should not make such statements because I don't want to chanc being called a sexist and chauvinist pig again. :D
Click to expand...

I think this one's not afraid of the flight controls:

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My first wife has no interest in flying at all, so the question of pinch hitter is irrelevant.

Don't know about my second wife yet...
 
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