Either way, I would work very hard to help her through it.

What does this mean? If she =wanted= to fly but was unable to because
of some conditons, this may help. But if the condition is such that she
no longer =wants= to fly, then "helping her through it" really means
"helping her see it my way" (the One True Way), and is likely to have
Unintended Consequences.

I think the basic flaw with your logic is that you're treating my wife
like a "normal" spouse. Mary isn't just another wife who might someday
decide that she doesn't want to fly with me anymore. She is a
certificated pilot, with over 500 hours as PIC, who is as skilled and
dedicated to piloting as anyone on this newsgroup.

In short, we're not talking about a woman who would suddenly decide
that wine-making was more interesting than flying, any more than you
would. It would take a very serious illness -- physical or mental --
for her to "not want to fly anymore."

But it doesn't matter =why= she couldn't or wouldn't fly any more. Take
that as a given. She won't. How does this affect your relationship
with her? With flying?

Now suppose whatever it was that happened, happened while you were
dating. Would you dump her and go looking for another girl at some hangar?

"Another girl at some hangar"? I'd like to see that hangar, someday!
:-)

In my experience, there just aren't very many chicks at the airport...

The main
advantage of owning and flying an airplane, to me anyway, is the ability to
transport my family to far-away places quickly and in great comfort. If all
I could was bore holes in the sky by myself, I would become quickly bored.

This is interesting coming from somebody who, not too long ago, was
touting aviation as the be-all and the end-all of life.

Which is why I then followed up with my statement that I would switch
to aerobatics -- the ULTIMATE "boring holes in the sky" flying!

To answer your original question, there is much more to human
relationships than sharing a cockpit, and love, if it's worth anything,
trumps flying. It certainly trumps "the ability to transport my family
to far-away places quickly and in great comfort".

Of course there is. But I believe it's safe to say that everyone on
this newsgroup is "into" aviation on a level that far surpasses the
"normal" pilot -- otherwise, why are we here? (I suppose it could be
to argue politics, but I doubt it...)

Given this level of dedication and enthusiasm to aviation, I'm still
surprised at the number of guys here who say that their spouses won't
fly with them. It's just sad.

(I've already warned my son about this phenomenon. And he's already
got it firmly in his head that if a girl doesn't like flying, that girl
doesn't warrant a second date. :-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"