On Fri, 18 Jun 2004 10:59:22 -0700, Eric Ross
wrote:

I recently received my license and I am taking my somewhat nervous wife
up for the first time. I am aiming for a clear, reasonably smooth day.
Any suggestions for making this flight as positive as possible for her?

Thanks much,
Eric Ross

Yes, I'm in the same situation. Nervous wife, inner ear problems (can
get airsick) plus, her ears clog and hurt her when altitude increases.
She can feel discomfort just going up hills in the car.

I picked a windless day for the first flight and tried very hard to
keep all turns extremely gentle. I explained every turn and every
situation we would encounter. When we approached the airport I told
her what was happening and explained what the tower was telling us.

Turned out, even the tiny dip of the wing for the gentlest of turns
scared her. She was thinking "Oh god, there goes the wing down, it's
going to continue to go down and we'll end up upside down then CBD
(Crash Burn Die).

She was extremely reluctant to move her seat up close to the
instrument panel because she did not want to touch anything and cause
CBD.

She also was unnerved a bit by my explanation of the cockpit emergency
procedures, but I felt it was necessary to go through everything.

She's been up twice now and casually mentions it to friends, says it
was cool.

Both flights were limited by her ears hurting though. I heard her
talking on the phone with our son last night mentioning that I'd gone
flying in the evening and that she didn't go because there was some
wind and she did not want to spoil the flight by puking all over the
nice plane. ;-)

Corky Scott