Taking newbies flying...
"Dudley Henriques" wrote:
You have broken the code for flying with newbies. It's really very simple
and every pilot should do it, but unfortunately, pilots not being perfect,
sometimes forget.
The main thing about first timers is anticipating their normal
apprehension and dealing with it PREEMPTIVELY!!!
This is the "secret" for dealing with all passenger issues.
Pilots should be especially aware of even the smallest detail and be
constantly alert to anything at all that might be upsetting to a new
passenger.
The normal procedure is to begin a flight with a newbie assuming
apprehension and "probe" just enough to verify first of all if
apprehension is indeed present, and if it is present, at what level.
The rest is simply devoting the time to make people feel comfortable in
the airplane and in the environment. Notice I mention TWO things here. The
airplane has noises and sounds that will be new to the first timer. These
should be anticipated and again handled PREEMPTIVELY. The environment can
also be an issue as it interacts with the airplane in flight. This should
also be dealt with PREEMPTIVELY as the flight progresses.
In short, a good pilot takes on the role of an active commentator and
"tour guide" so to speak when dealing with new people.
If pilots follow one single golden rule they will never go wrong in this
area. Doctors have the Hippocratic Oath that states "Do No Harm". Pilots
should take their own private oath to "See to it personally, that no one
who ever climbs into an airplane with them will be frightened by something
that pilot either did, or forgot to do to prevent it".
The handling of newbies is as much a responsibility for a pilot as the
preflight, and in fact, it has always been my personal policy when
instructing pilots, to make the issue of dealing with the matters I have
discussed here an active part of the preflight.
Dudley Henriques
I knew I could count on you, Dudley.
--
Dan
C172RG at BFM
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