your passenger(s)

BalooAirService

BalooAirService

Pre-takeoff checklist
Joined
Jul 31, 2016
Messages
108
Display Name
Display name:
Cloud Kicker
I wanted to know how you guys feel about the passengers your flying with (more so when you were a NEWLY licensed pilot and maybe even till today still).
I myself am a newly licensed pilot who is still learning and training in different ways everyday.
Do you guys feels added pressure (with safety, risk, and dangers) flying with your own family or non family passengers??.
As in for example "im flying with my ONLY son or mother/wife on board" or im just flying with "bob" next door.
I personally feel more pressure with family.. and more at ease with friends.
Im curious to know if anyone feels the same way or the exact opposite... or no difference at all even. The physcology of flying is amazing to me.
 
No difference for the most part. May allow a few less bumps for immediate family members, unless I'm ****ed off at the wife. :)
 
do you guys feel like you can clearly say "no difference" due to your experience or it has always been that way for you both??
 
I'm pretty anal retentive when it comes to safety, preflighting, et cetera. So when my girlfriend is on board, I know we're both in good shape. I do find myself constantly worrying if she's having a good time and wondering if I need to reassure her if it is bumpy... but she's an excellent passenger. Just enjoys the hell out of looking around.

If you don't take any chances with your own safety, then you shouldn't be concerned about the safety of your passengers. You're the one flying, so you need to be at the top of your priority list in this case. Everything after that will fall into place.
 
nice.. I will try to relax like you guys then lol
 
I don't find friends or family much of a difference, they're both close and important people to me. Like phoenix said, I always try to make any passenger feel safe and ill ask throughout the flight if they are enjoying it or if they are feeling uncomfortable, especially if it's a first time flyer. Having passengers in your airplane is a big responsibility and nothing to take lightly.
 
Just apply the appropriate risk management items, give a good passenger briefing (see here for a good guideline to add to your checklist), make sure they know what they can and can't do, load them up, and go have fun!
 
Either freind or family ,or just a new acquaintance ,treat them all the same worry about safety,and then the quality of the flight you provide.
 
My wife is my best passenger. I just love flying with her. No pressure just a good sport bumps are no issue. She has been flying with me since I was training sitting in the back seat even during unusual attitudes. She flew with me when she was first pregnant with my son. After I started flying again after a 20+ year break my son seems unimpressed went one time and I have invited him several times but he hasn't gone and my daughter goes every so often and seems to like it. My wife goes pretty much anytime she can.

When I first started flying again my wife was concerned about orphaning the kids. I told her first of all I don't plan on dying today or any day I fly. Our "kids" are 23 and 19 and although they still live at home there is plenty of money between the 401Ks and the sale of our house for them to live the next 5 or more years without worrying at all. If they can't figure it out by then there isn't much more we could do.

ETA: Wife was first passenger on the day I got my PPL.
 
I can't say that I have ever worried about the passengers' safety, separate from my own. My first few passengers were relatives, as I recall.
 
I will let you in on my secret method of determining if you should fly on a particular day with a particular passenger.

Here is what you do, imagine the headline they will write in your head. For example: Your friend is getting married and you want to go for a flight the morning of his wedding. DON'T! "Local Man Killed In Small Plane On Morning Of His Wedding."

If the headline reads bad stay home. :)
 
I was, and in some ways still am, concerned about providing a smooth ride with no hiccups or things that make non-fliers nervous. But I'm not any less concerned about my own safety than I am the safety of others, so I was never 'afraid' to take passengers up. If I'm that unsafe, I don't need to be solo anyway.
 
This is a good question...I only have 59 hours...I feel very safe and I am very very conscious about safety...but sometimes I wonder if I am better off waiting a while before I take anyone up...I haven't taken anyone up since I got my PPL.
 
I find I'm actually more relaxed with a passenger. It gives me an extra pair of eyes to scan for traffic, and it's somehow calming to be able to describe everything I'm doing to lessen their anxiety as much as possible. But about 5 miles out from the airport, I invoke the sterile cockpit rule!

I'd fly with your easygoing friends as much as possible to develop a real comfort zone, and then take family members up.
 
It's all the same.
 
Early on, I worried a lot about doing everything right since people were trusting me to do everything right.
Now. I just fly but I do remind myself that I have my kids on the plane and they did not choose this added risk like the adults I fly with.
I keep that in the back of my mind when I fly them just to make extra sure I stay focused on the tasks at hand.

Honestly, My minimums are a more strict when the kids are in the plane.
I don't fly at night much as a personal rule but sometimes I do.

I don't fly at night with the kids in the plane.
I wont fly them in MVFR condtions.
I don't drink alcohol when I am flying with the kids on board.
 
I fly the plane, and the passenger relationship isn't a factor. Literally. Does not intluence me even a little bit. I will/will do things when alone that I won't do with pax aboard.
 
From a safety standpoint, I won't do anything alone that I wouldn't also do with passengers aboard. I'm a big fan of remaining alive. :) The passenger makeup doesn't matter either. Friends, family, it's all the same. That said from a comfort standpoint, I'd absolutely fly at times where I'd never take a passenger, unless I knew he/she would be cool with it, or even enjoy it.
 
kayoh190 said:
From a safety standpoint, I won't do anything alone that I wouldn't also do with passengers aboard. I'm a big fan of remaining alive. :) The passenger makeup doesn't matter either. Friends, family, it's all the same. That said from a comfort standpoint, I'd absolutely fly at times where I'd never take a passenger, unless I knew he/she would be cool with it, or even enjoy it.
Click to expand...
That's cool. . .I can do without the drama during stall series, or flying real low, etc. I don't want to give someone a bad experience, and I like to skip the screaming, puking, and praying.
 
I want everyone that I fly with to have fun and arrive safely but I would be lying if I said that the thought of wiping out my entire family with1 stupid pilot trick hadn't caused me to check the weather again or land for fuel ahead of schedule because the fuel gauges started to read funny.
 
totally agree @ papa and golf.

thanks guys for all the genuine answers to my question..

I personally dont fly with family even if the winds are a bit iffy. I want a good experience.. not someone praying lol like another poster said and my minimums for safety goes way up with family.

This may be another question in itself, but what about soloing?? I personally feel no pressure when im alone.. im just flying the plane.
Having a passenger on board makes you a true PIC which is an amazing feeling. To me the responsibility factor goes way up. Your the captain... you have lives in your hands literally.

another question.. do you guys teach your non flying friends/family basic emergency procedure just in case you yourself become incapacitated. Someone knowing how to trim the plane... keep it level, make a basic turn, talk on the radio may also save your own life. I think empowering your passenger is also a good thing, they will not feel completely helpless in a bad situation.
 
BalooAirService said:
another question.. do you guys teach your non flying friends/family basic emergency procedure just in case you yourself become incapacitated. Someone knowing how to trim the plane... keep it level, make a basic turn, talk on the radio may also save your own life. I think empowering your passenger is also a good thing, they will not feel completely helpless in a bad situation.
Click to expand...

I arranged some "pinch-hitter" training for my girlfriend. I know she can land my plane if I cannot. And in about a month she'll finish her PPL. Talk about creating a monster. I think she'll want to fly MY plane instead of the C-150 she's been training in. :)
 
My wife worries on occasion about the whole incapacitation thing. I have offered for her to get some pinch hitter training but so far she hasn't taken me up on it. Love the woman to death but she has a hard enough time finding the airport on the ground in the air we could be in the pattern and she still wouldn't see the runway. Would be nice to have a chute in those situations but honestly incapacitaiton is really pretty low on the list of factors resulting in accidents.
 
Unfortunately, I have yet to take up any victi... er, passengers, since getting my PPL. Odd how no one wants to fly with a newly minted pilot :rolleyes:

I have had the same thoughts as you, though. However, because I like living, I don't see that I would take any more risks flying solo than I would with pax. Although they are trying to destroy me, I actually really enjoy going home to my kids every day and want to live long enough to see them have their own kids so I can witness karma and laugh at their struggles. As such, my personal minimums right now basically restrict me to near-perfect weather conditions. I really can't imagine being any more safety-conscious than I already am. Maybe I will feel more pressure when I have family up with me than my friends, but I still don't think it will change anything in how I fly or the minimums I fly in.
 
If you're worried about your skills to the extent it affects your decision whether to take passengers along, you aren't ready.
 
"Bob''s got family too ya know. I dont feel any 'added' pressure with family vs Bob. I actually feel more pressure with another pilot, just because I like to get it right with another pilot on board.
 
JCranford said:
"Bob''s got family too ya know. I dont feel any 'added' pressure with family vs Bob. I actually feel more pressure with another pilot, just because I like to get it right with another pilot on board.
Click to expand...
I always feel more pressure with another pilot.
That is when you are certainly going to forget to remove the chocks, leave the master on while eating lunch, have your worst landing, Accidentally broadcast on guard...

I am a perfect pilot when I am solo. I swear.
 
Oddly enough, my first passenger didn't KNOW he was my first passenger. We did a little jog through the Bravo from KFWS to KTKI and back. When we were clear of the runway back at Spinks I told him, "Congratulations, you are my first passenger!" He's like "...if you had told me before..."

Still one of my best friends and frequent passenger.
 
Everyone who says they do the same thing regardless of who is in the plane is either letting skills atrophy or lying.

Steep turns, stalls, slow flight, spins, even just multiple loops around the pattern, are things a passenger or two may not enjoy.

I've gotten requests to "pull Gs" a couple of times, which means a 60 deg steep turn, but otherwise, I don't do that stuff with nonpilot passengers. Occasionally I do with another pilot.
 
I fly the airplane different when its full of pax because its heavier. Other than that, no difference. I fly as safely as I can at all times.
 
MAKG1 said:
Everyone who says they do the same thing regardless of who is in the plane is either letting skills atrophy or lying.

Steep turns, stalls, slow flight, spins, even just multiple loops around the pattern, are things a passenger or two may not enjoy.

I've gotten requests to "pull Gs" a couple of times, which means a 60 deg steep turn, but otherwise, I don't do that stuff with nonpilot passengers. Occasionally I do with another pilot.
Click to expand...
I interpreted the OP's question to be about risk, not passenger comfort.
 
JCranford said:
Come to Texas! I wanna be your 'first'!!
Click to expand...

Weather permitting, I'm popping my pax cherry on Sunday... taking a friend up for a tour around Cape Cod! There's going to be a TFR in the area (thanks Obama), so can't wait to see how many F-16s I pick up on this one.
 
Cajun_Flyer said:
can't wait to see how many F-16s I pick up on this one.
Click to expand...

Foreflight gives you a GPS position-referenced map of the airspace (includes graphic overlay SIGMETS and TFRs) - $75 bucks that will totally save your bacon in bizybizy airspace. Plus, a whole bunch of awesome situational awareness, and approach plates for your upcoming instrument ticket. :)

I did 3 touch and gos (2500' strip!) immediately before taking passengers up the first time.
 
whereisrandall said:
Foreflight gives you a GPS position-referenced map of the airspace (includes graphic overlay SIGMETS and TFRs) - $75 bucks that will totally save your bacon in bizybizy airspace. Plus, a whole bunch of awesome situational awareness, and approach plates for your upcoming instrument ticket. :)

I did 3 touch and gos (2500' strip!) immediately before taking passengers up the first time.
Click to expand...
Avare does too on Android. :D

For free!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top