...refused to fly with someone you felt was not entirely safe?
(With that
person acting as PIC, not as a passenger in your own plane.)

No but I would have if I know what I know now. At the time I
had solo'd and nothing else.

Ha! I hadn't even *thought* of that, but now that you mention it...

One of Mary's uncles took us flying in a rental Cessna back in the
early 80s. None of us were aware that he had his pilot's license (a
point that should have seemed odd to me at the time...), but we were
thrilled to go flying with him.

Well, more accurately, *I* was thrilled to go flying. Mary, at the
time, was ambivalent toward flying.

We took off and had a very enjoyable flight over central Wisconsin.
The flight orginated from a small, uncontrolled airport, so there was
no traffic or tower to deal with -- but in retrospect I don't remember
him using the radio at all. And, with 20/20 hindsight, his approach
speeds were very fast, and he floated forever on landing. We knew
nothing (this was actually my first flight in a small plane), but I was
ecstatic to be airborne.

Only much later, when I began flight training, did I casually do some
checking on him, just to see what his ratings were. Imagine my
surprise when I discovered he wasn't listed as a pilot at all!

This guy was always the "wild uncle" -- motorcycling across Europe,
traveling the world with a back pack and a smile, never having a pot to
pee in but living extravagantly -- and I suppose he took a few flight
lessons and decided that he already knew what he needed to know...

I shudder to think about it now...

;-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"