Spousal checkride -- any suggestions?

Going low and slow on the first flight (1,000'-1,500' AGL) may help ... that
is what I did with my wife after she refused to fly with me for six years.
Staying low makes the ground "unroll" underneath faster and more
interestingly. Later on you can explain that higher altitude is a bit safer.
Worked for me.

Henry

-Make sure you do a thorough passenger briefing, while emphasizing that being
-prepared does not mean you actually expect something bad to happen. As part
-of the briefing, provide a brief description of what you expect to happen on
-the flight, from takeoff to landing.

It also helps if you show her how to help you with the written checklist. Mine
has a "challenge" and "answer" ... if she doesn't get the exact answer to her
challenge, she gets to call you on it. It becomes a game, albeit a very serious
game. You also explain WHY challenge "Aileron hinge security" is answered One,
pin; two, pin; three, pin. Much more confidence when she becomes part of the
process.



- * The airplane gets very quiet during the last stages of the pattern,
-final approach, and landing, due to the very low power setting. This is
-perfectly normal, and doesn't indicate anything went wrong with the engine.

The explanation, "coasting downhill" always works for me.


-
- * The stall warning horn will likely go off during the very last moments
-of landing. Again, this is perfectly normal and in fact suggests a
-well-executed landing in most airplanes.

I prefer "the about to land horn" to "stall warning".


Jim
-

Jim Weir (A&P/IA, CFI, & other good alphabet soup)
VP Eng RST Pres. Cyberchapter EAA Tech. Counselor
http://www.rst-engr.com

Kyler Laird wrote:


Take along your flight instructor for the first trip as a "thank you" and
as a way to ease your wife's concerns (and to make the trip easier for
you.)

Hmm. "I don't trust myself"? Not perhaps the best message.

- Andrew

"Eric Ross" wrote in message

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?

Tell her what to expect beforehand, and--this is what I've found most
helpful with skittish passengers--describe a little of what you're doing as
you're doing it. All you really have to do is think out loud. ie, "10
degrees of flaps, pitching for 70 knots...." or, during the runup, read the
checklist "to yourself" out loud. "flight instruments set, oil pressure and
temperate looks good..."

If a passenger is the curious sort, explain a couple of instruments..."this
instrument shows how many feet per minute we're descending." ... "This is a
standard-rate turn which means we will make a complete circle in exactly two
minutes."

People tend to "disasterize" if they don't know what's going on, and imagine
worst-case scenarios. Give their minds something to think about and their
anxiety will move further back into their thought processes.

-c

"Henry Kisor" wrote in message
...
Going low and slow on the first flight (1,000'-1,500' AGL) may help ...
that
is what I did with my wife after she refused to fly with me for six years.
Staying low makes the ground "unroll" underneath faster and more
interestingly. Later on you can explain that higher altitude is a bit
safer.

It might help or it might hurt. It depends on the passenger and on the
weather. Low and slow often correlates to bumpy, with higher altitudes
being smoother. Also, for some people who may be nervous about heights, low
altitudes are actually worse...once you get high enough, you're not close
enough to the ground for there to be good height references, which actually
can alleviate a fear of heights.

For some passengers, low and slow is the perfect recipe for entertainment
and distraction from things that might otherwise cause the flight to be no
fun. But this is a "bag of tricks" suggestion, in my opinion, rather than a
"this works for everyone".

Pete

And a couple one-gallon, zip-lock freezer bags, each in in its own
brown paper bag... just in case.

Eric,

As many others have said, I would recommend early morning or evening (when
still light enough). The winds are lighter and the air generally smoother.

Do not hound her about going, let her want to go when she wants to go.

My wife was my first non-pilot passenger. I did take her over areas she was
familiar with, one off them where she worked which is right next to another
local airport. Don't do a lot of turns. I did so trying to stay close to
airport, "just in case" but was told all the turning bothered her and got
the "go someplace" statement. Have her watch the preflight. I even offered
to let her read the checklist to me to give her something to do and relieve
any apprehension. She declined. Explain things but not too much. Never
say "it's never done THAT before" or anything close (even if it hasn't).
When I asked her if she was ready to go back I got the reply, "Only if you
want to." Landed just about sunset. She even helped push the airplane into
the parking spot! Now she is waiting for the next AOPA pinch hitter course
to come to the area. She wants to learn how to tune the radios and
transponder (but not use) for me. She even wants to learn the GPS to help
me out. She knows not to ask questions when we're approaching the airport
but looks for traffic. She tells me about airliners she sees that aren't
even a factor, but I'm not going to stop her. We then went out to dinner
afterwards so she could ask any questions.

I may have had an advantage though. My CFI recommended she come on a cross
country (when we wouldn't be doing maneuvers or stalls) with us. He
explained a lot of the things we were doing to her. She went on my night
cross country. When I found our home airport I was close to it and did a
forward slip, forgetting she was in the back. She later said "that sideways
thing was cool!" She also helped with my training, quizzing me from the
training materials.

--
Chris Ehlbeck, PPASEL
"It's a license to learn."

"Eric Ross" wrote in message
...
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

it took me about 5-6 flights for my wife to make it over the mountain, the
mountain is like 4500 ft off the end of our runway to the SE, now she has a
few hundred hours under her belt she does good. But the key is for you to
never act nervous and to be in control and to have good answers to any
questions she has for you.

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

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


Early morning or just before sunset are generally the least turbulent
parts of a summer day and offer great beauty. As far as the flight is
concerned, keep it short. I know you'll be fine for an hour or more,
but she's scared and doesn't have any control over the situation.

20 minutes is a good first flight. If she's still having fun go an
extra 10. 30 minutes should be about as long as you want to keep her
up (hopefully there will be a next time, so she'll see more in
eventually).

DON"T DO STALLS. Also avoid touch and gos they aren't much fun for
the passenger. If at all possible keep banks on the shallow side 20
degrees is good even though it seems like it takes for ever to make a
heading change with such little bank. 30 is ok, but don't go beyond
that. Stuff starts "spinning" too fast for non-pilots and they
generally don't like it (unless they're roller coaster freaks).

I personally like the sunset flight, and would probably throw a little
romance into the deal. Take the short flight and then take her out to
dinner. At dinner thank her for sharing with you your passion. It
will make her feel good and may improve your chances of a second date
er, I mean flight.

This may sound hokey, but psychology works and the whole idea is to
get her comfortable with the process. A reward at the end aides in
achieving that goal.

Sorry for the book, I only planned on a couple sentences. Hopefully
this helps and you have a GREAT time introducing your wife to the
friendly skies.

Good Luck,
z

On Fri, 18 Jun 2004 12:25:38 -0700, "Peter Duniho"
wrote:

On the other hand,
I've had some very satisfied passengers on smooth nights with the sun
setting, as they sit peacefully in their seat with a well-judged meal
resting in their stomach, watching the sun go down. In the right
proportions, food can be quite calming.


I generally agree with your statement, but think the first flight
should be just that, with the dinner after a successful landing.

z