"Scott Post" wrote in message
m...
I was only answering for myself. I still offer non-pilots a chance to
"fly" and most are tickled pink. My 8 year old "flew" with me on Friday
and had a ball. It just didn't interest me before I could do everything
myself.

Your prerogative. IMHO, you're missing out. Why limit your experiences to
things you can only do to some minimum standard? You're sitting there.
You've got nothing better to do. Why not take the moment? (I ask
rhetorically...IMHO, there is no suitable answer to that question).

The difference between being handed the controls briefly as a passenger
and taking a lesson is that the typical passenger only gets to hold the
plane level and maybe do some gentle turns.

So, in other words it had nothing to do with "how much is really involved
with flying a plane" as it did with your dissatisfaction with the amount of
"stick time" you'd get. That is, IMHO, different from what you originally
said.

At the time, did you tell your wife that you would fly if you got to do more
than just guide the airplane in straight and level flight? I have had had
plenty of passengers do lots more than just hold onto the yoke while the
airplane flies itself. But if a passenger declined to control the airplane
without telling me that they simply wanted to do more, I would have no
reason to suggest that.

A student gets to take off,
climb, do climbing and decending turns, etc, all in the first lesson.
In fact, I got to do stalls and steep turns in my first lesson. My wife
(and most non-CFI pilots) wouldn't have been comfortable with me doing
much of that.

Doing much of what? One doesn't normally do stalls or steep turns in a
typical flight anyway. As far as climbs, descents, turns during those, etc.
go I don't see why your wife wouldn't be comfortable with you doing those
things. I've had my share of passengers handle that sort of thing.

A lot of people would be content just touching the yoke
in level flight, but that didn't interest me.

Someone else mentioned that it'd be like turning down an offer to drive
a friend's Corvette. I turned down an offer to drive my Brother in Law's
Corvette because driving it on the street didn't seem worthwhile. I
used to race motorcycles and get offers from friends with *really* nice
race-bred modern bikes to swap during street rides and I almost never
take them up on it. If I can't wring it out on a track I'd just as
soon pass. I understand I'm in the minority with that opinion.

Yup. You are unnecessarily limiting your experiences. Your loss and, as I
said, your prerogative. Me? Sure, I'd just as soon race a car or bike
around a track if I'm allowed, but if what's available is to just putter
down the street and back, well...that's more than I would have been allowed
otherwise. I'm not going to turn that down, just because I can't fully
utilize the experience.

I wouldn't give up doing something more fun, but if I'm just sitting around
twiddling my thumbs, doing *something*, anything, is better than just
continuing to twiddle my thumbs.

As far as Jay's initial question - I think others have hit the nail on
the head that the passenger was probably just enjoying the scenery and
didn't want to be distracted by flying the plane.

Could've been anything. Some passengers really are panicked by the idea of
controlling the airplane, some simply are enjoying the moment of looking
outside, and some just don't think it's worth the trouble. If you don't ask
the passenger, there's no way to know.

Pete