If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Taking newbies flying...
....offers endless opportunities for screwing up the experience for them, as
I've demonstrated yet again. My business partner's 21-yr. old son has been hinting around for a few years that he wanted to try flying sometime. When he finally asked outright to take a flight, I was happy to agree, especially since he would be bringing along his supermodel-quality girlfriend. So T_ and M_ showed up at the airport Saturday afternoon. T_ was interested in everything that was happening on the ramp and M_ was stopping students and flight instructors in mid-sentence as she walked by. The weather was perfect and this was going to be great fun. After the walkaround and passenger briefing, I got my pax headsetted and buckled in and gave T_ a description of how the controls worked. I let him steer on the long taxi out to RWY 36. Cleared for takeoff, I let him control the yoke. He did fine on the rotation and climbout, so I let him make the climbing 180 deg. left turn to our departure heading. He did that fine, too. Once I got T_ trimmed out and flying level, I turned to M_ in the back seat to ask how she was doing. Ummm..., not so well: M_ had the look of someone who had just stared death in the face. " Doing OK, M_?" "Uh, better now," said M_, attempting a brave smile. "That turn was a little scary!" What M_ wasn't saying, of course, was that she had just spent a few seconds fearing for her life because an apparent lunatic had turned over control of an itty bitty airplane to her virtually clueless boyfriend, who promptly put it in a bank 500' from the ground. M_ brightened up a bit as the flight went along but she mentioned the scary departure turn a couple more times. I was cursing myself the whole way. I had really screwed it up by doing a wholly inadequate job of preparing my pax for what they were going to experience. As a result, I somehow doubt that I will have the pleasure of M_'s company on any future flights. Lesson learned: tell your newbie pax everything that is going to happen in advance. Be especially detailed about any plans for their controlling the airplane, and find out if they are going to be uncomfortable with anything you have planned. -- Dan C172RG at BFM |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
Taking newbies flying...
"Dan Luke" wrote in
: Lesson learned: tell your newbie pax everything that is going to happen in advance. Be especially detailed about any plans for their controlling the airplane, and find out if they are going to be uncomfortable with anything you have planned. Good tip Dan. It truly sounds like you did salvage the flight for the person though??? I had a newbie up yesterday too, but after quizzing him about what he liked for hobbies and he rode bulls, I knew my Sundowner would be a much tamer beast. I had a student pilot in the right seat, and he sat in the back and we went up to Greenwood MS to visit an "airliner graveyard" where they strip down DC10's L1011's, and any other jet model you can think of for scrap. Nice to walk around these huge planes and get a feeling of being so small :-) I had the newbie take the controls on the way back after I was straight and level. I had him do some turns willy nilly, and then had him "drive the plane home" using the GPS and visual references outside. I don't let anybody near the controls during climb in the pattern as the last thing I want them to hear is the stall horn on climb out. In fact, I tend to "simulate" a soft field take off, by getting off the ground as quick as I can, lower the nose a little so I can get ground effect to help me build my speed up and keep the angle of attack lower. Newbie loved it, and got an email from the student, that all the newbie talked about was the flight :-) CAVU and calm air always makes it nice. Allen |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Taking newbies flying...
Got to agree with you Allen, I find it tough letting a newbie take the
controls during takeoff. Briefing the pax before a flight is very important, ,there have been so many times when you think a newbie can handle most aspects of the flight but then assumption are always a bad thing. A Lieberma wrote: "Dan Luke" wrote in : Lesson learned: tell your newbie pax everything that is going to happen in advance. Be especially detailed about any plans for their controlling the airplane, and find out if they are going to be uncomfortable with anything you have planned. Good tip Dan. It truly sounds like you did salvage the flight for the person though??? I had a newbie up yesterday too, but after quizzing him about what he liked for hobbies and he rode bulls, I knew my Sundowner would be a much tamer beast. I had a student pilot in the right seat, and he sat in the back and we went up to Greenwood MS to visit an "airliner graveyard" where they strip down DC10's L1011's, and any other jet model you can think of for scrap. Nice to walk around these huge planes and get a feeling of being so small :-) I had the newbie take the controls on the way back after I was straight and level. I had him do some turns willy nilly, and then had him "drive the plane home" using the GPS and visual references outside. I don't let anybody near the controls during climb in the pattern as the last thing I want them to hear is the stall horn on climb out. In fact, I tend to "simulate" a soft field take off, by getting off the ground as quick as I can, lower the nose a little so I can get ground effect to help me build my speed up and keep the angle of attack lower. Newbie loved it, and got an email from the student, that all the newbie talked about was the flight :-) CAVU and calm air always makes it nice. Allen |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
Taking newbies flying...
On Sun, 10 Dec 2006 10:29:52 -0600, Dan Luke wrote:
Lesson learned: tell your newbie pax everything that is going to happen in advance. Be especially detailed about any plans for their controlling the airplane, and find out if they are going to be uncomfortable with anything you have planned. the interesting part is missing: where are the pics of M_? :-) Yep, I agree: talk to your first time passengers just like you're talking to your examiner (without the tech-speak). Talk talk talk ... #m -- Enemy Combatant http://itsnotallbad.com/ |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
Taking newbies flying...
Great story, Dan.
I've never let a "newbie" handle the controls on takeoff -I'm too paranoid--, but last summer I took a friend's 15-year-old son on a flight. We took off out of Gallatin Field near Bozeman, MT and flew west to the Missouri confluence near Three Forks. Once at altitude I handed the controls over to him. He did great. We turned north and followed the Missouri to Canyon Ferry, then followed the creek east between the Big Belts and the Horseshoe Hills toward Maudlow. I wanted to skirt the north end of the Bridger Mountains and follow the Shields River Valley south to Livingston, then west over Bozeman Pass and back to Gallatin Field. Once we got established heading east between the Big Belts and the Horseshoes I told him to maintain a 100 heading by following the compass. He complied. This heading didn't quite work as we were heading straight toward Blacktail Mountain, which was slightly higher than us. 15-year-old kid: "Uh, Walt, we're heading straight for that mountain. Should I keep flying by the compass? Me: "Yup." (I was looking for elk). 15-year-old kid: "UM, okay". We get closer to Blacktail. And closer. 15-year-old kid: "Mr. Weaver, I really don't want to die today. Can I turn the airplane?" Me: "Yup. I don't want to die either. Go around it to the left." Kid got a big smile on his face and turned the airplane. We skirted Blacktail to the north, then turned south and went to Livingston. I didn't find any elk. And I'm still wondering if he'd have flown the airplane into Blacktail if I didn't tell him to turn. :) Kid had a great time and is taking pilot lessons now. --Walt Dan Luke wrote: ...offers endless opportunities for screwing up the experience for them, as I've demonstrated yet again. My business partner's 21-yr. old son has been hinting around for a few years that he wanted to try flying sometime. When he finally asked outright to take a flight, I was happy to agree, especially since he would be bringing along his supermodel-quality girlfriend. So T_ and M_ showed up at the airport Saturday afternoon. T_ was interested in everything that was happening on the ramp and M_ was stopping students and flight instructors in mid-sentence as she walked by. The weather was perfect and this was going to be great fun. After the walkaround and passenger briefing, I got my pax headsetted and buckled in and gave T_ a description of how the controls worked. I let him steer on the long taxi out to RWY 36. Cleared for takeoff, I let him control the yoke. He did fine on the rotation and climbout, so I let him make the climbing 180 deg. left turn to our departure heading. He did that fine, too. Once I got T_ trimmed out and flying level, I turned to M_ in the back seat to ask how she was doing. Ummm..., not so well: M_ had the look of someone who had just stared death in the face. " Doing OK, M_?" "Uh, better now," said M_, attempting a brave smile. "That turn was a little scary!" What M_ wasn't saying, of course, was that she had just spent a few seconds fearing for her life because an apparent lunatic had turned over control of an itty bitty airplane to her virtually clueless boyfriend, who promptly put it in a bank 500' from the ground. M_ brightened up a bit as the flight went along but she mentioned the scary departure turn a couple more times. I was cursing myself the whole way. I had really screwed it up by doing a wholly inadequate job of preparing my pax for what they were going to experience. As a result, I somehow doubt that I will have the pleasure of M_'s company on any future flights. Lesson learned: tell your newbie pax everything that is going to happen in advance. Be especially detailed about any plans for their controlling the airplane, and find out if they are going to be uncomfortable with anything you have planned. -- Dan C172RG at BFM |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
Taking newbies flying...
"Dan Luke" wrote in message ... ...offers endless opportunities for screwing up the experience for them, as I've demonstrated yet again. "Uh, better now," said M_, attempting a brave smile. "That turn was a little scary!" What M_ wasn't saying, of course, was that she had just spent a few seconds fearing for her life because an apparent lunatic had turned over control of an itty bitty airplane to her virtually clueless boyfriend, who promptly put it in a bank 500' from the ground. It may have been the turn itself, more than who was controlling the aircraft. I did commercial glider rides for a few years, and I learned to ask about the past experiences of my passenger before the flight. If they had no experiences in light aircraft, I would always remind them that an aircraft banks when it turns "like a bicycle". Try to remember back to your first ride in an airplane and what your sensations were. The experience for a first-time passenger in a light plane can be very disorienting, and turns are the biggest problem. One thing that helps is to direct their attention outside the airplane to some landmark that they will recognize. Vaughn |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
Taking newbies flying...
"Dan Luke" wrote in message ... ...offers endless opportunities for screwing up the experience for them, as I've demonstrated yet again. I'm glad it ended up okay. I invited a friend to take a ride with me for his birthday present. His wife and 12-year-old daughter went along in the back seat. During the passenger brief, I pretty much explained stuff to everyone's satisfaction including some insightful questions from the youngster. After we were leveled off and trimmed out, I demonstrated some movements of the controls including, with permission a 'steep' turn, which did not go more than 45 degrees and got a giggle from the back seat and a request to do it again. I glanced at Mom and she was doing fine so I did one more to the other side. We flew over their house and I did a 360 to both sides. On the way back to the airport I gave the controls over to Bill and coached him through some gentle turns, nothing more than 10 degrees or so. Then, from the back seat came this young plaintive voice, "Is my daddy flying the airplane?" "Yes," I answered, "and he's doing a great job." Then came this shriek, followed by, " I DON'T WANT MY DADDY TO FLY IT!!" |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
Taking newbies flying...
"N2310D" wrote in news:_gYeh.331$yZ4.104@trnddc05:
Then came this shriek, followed by, " I DON'T WANT MY DADDY TO FLY IT!!" LMAO! Yep, those kids do say the darndest things, and probably the wiser too :-) Allen |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
Taking newbies flying...
Have I got this right? You are not a flight instructor. (If you are,
please correct me.) Despite this, you hand over the controls to a stranger. To a stranger nonetheless who sits the first time in his life in a small plane. And you don't just hand over the controls at altitude (which admittedly I have done myself), but right on the ground and you let him fly the take off. Then you let him fly a 180 at low altitude. And all this *with a passenger in the back*! Yes, you screwed up royally. But for a different reason than you think. Stefan |
#10
|
|||
|
|||
Taking newbies flying...
Stefan writes:
Have I got this right? You are not a flight instructor. (If you are, please correct me.) Despite this, you hand over the controls to a stranger. To a stranger nonetheless who sits the first time in his life in a small plane. And you don't just hand over the controls at altitude (which admittedly I have done myself), but right on the ground and you let him fly the take off. Then you let him fly a 180 at low altitude. And all this *with a passenger in the back*! Yes, you screwed up royally. But for a different reason than you think. Everything seems to have gone well. -- Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail. |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Fun canyon flying | Robert M. Gary | Piloting | 28 | August 31st 06 03:10 AM |
Cloud Flying | Shawn Knickerbocker | Soaring | 48 | August 30th 06 07:21 AM |
Air Force Aerial Refueling Methods: Flying Boom versus Hose-and-Drogue | Mike | Naval Aviation | 26 | July 11th 06 11:38 PM |
ADV: Mountain flying & instruction: Idaho, Colorado, Utah! | [email protected] | Piloting | 0 | April 14th 06 05:02 PM |
Newbie Qs on stalls and spins | Ramapriya | Piloting | 72 | November 23rd 04 04:05 AM |