Cub Driver wrote:

When my instructor signed me off for the checkride, he said: "This
means that I would be willing to have a member of my family fly with
you." I was immensely grateful for that word of confidence, though I
have yet to take a member of my own family flying with me--less
because I doubt my ability than because five years of flying has made
me aware that bad things can happen in avaiation, even to the skilled
and cautious. I'm happy to take that risk for myself, but not for
someone I love.

Dan,

I find the aboe very intriguing. I understand that aviation has it own
enherited risks, but so does driving, biking, walking and so on. I also
realize, you have heard the song and dance that flying is safer then
driving, yada yada yada.

But why not enjoy sharing the joys of flying with your loved ones?

I think about all the safety checks that is done during preflight and
runup that are not done in our other modes of travel. One good example
would be, do you walk around your car to see that you have adequate tire
pressure before driving? I would bet not.... Because of aviation, I
now make a point to do a quick walk around my vehicle to insure it is
safe to drive. We do take alot for granted in the reliablility of our
mechanical equipment, and as you already know, aviation does have
redundancy for when something fails.

I explain to every new passenger, that the preflight and engine runup is
for our safety, if anything fails, then we turn back to the ramp. I
stress the safety aspect of flying, not the danger part. I stress the
safety of our flight BEGINS on the ground, not at 7000 feet altitude. I
do not preflight the plane without them, as I want them to see what
safety measures we take. And yes, I use checklists in fromt of them.

When airborne, depending on the person, I may share the safety checks I
do in the air (scanning instruments, cross checking and so on). If I
already know the person is nervous leaving terra firma, I don't offer
this tidbit of information as I want them to enjoy the flight OUTSIDE
the plane, not be focused on the attitude indicater, heading and so on.

I have given 4 discovery flights (2 kids and 2 adults in 4 different
flights) in my short flying career, and there is nothing more rewarding
then seeing and hearing the reaction of people after defying the laws of
gravity.

I figure, if it is safe enough for me to go up, it is safe enough for me
to fill up the other three seats in the plane. Outside of density
altitude considerations and weight and balances, the plane doesn't care
if it holds one or 4 passengers (in my case anyway).

So why not share the joy of flying with three others????

Allen