First non-pilot passenger

My wife will not fly with me,
but I'm still hopeful that that day will be sooner rather than later.

This is so sad, but not uncommon. Care to elaborate on her reasons?

My wife doesn't like the idea that she cannot just get out if she feels
uncomfortable, ie. in a car, you just pull over to the side of the road and
get out, one cannot do this in a plane. I've often thought that the only way
to get over this fear/issue is to have her learn to fly a plane, this way
she'd know exactly what is going on. She's never sat inside my C152 (too
small) and I don't thing she's that fond of a high-wing, since you're
hanging below the wing. She's been inside an Aztec and a Beech Travelair and
those she felt a bit better in, but she never actually flew. I think I'll
need a low-wing before she'll go up with me. I think a bit of claustrophobia
as well, so it would need lots of windows, or at least large ones. She's
said that the Trinidad looked like a nice airplane (because of the large
windows) but that's a bit out of the price range right now.

but today was looking pretty decent, and I'd done 16 touch &
goes the day before

SIXTEEN touch & goes? Wow -- I don't think I've ever done more than 8 in
one flight, even as a primary student! I'll bet you've perfected your
landings, eh?

Normally I'd get pretty bored doing just touch & goes, but the winds
were quite tricky, so one landing might be with a direct crosswind, another
with a tailwind, another with a strong headwind, it was just a really
perfect way to get many different landings in, the wind was anywhere from 10
to 15 knots in any given direction, so yes, I feel real comfortable landing
the plane again. It was a good workout after not having flown for a month.

This time I asked my 2
year old if she'd like to come with me today. She agreed

Is that a typo? You *asked* your 2-year old, and got a cogent answer?

Actually she's almost three, but she is quite capable verbally and does
understand most of what we tell her. Ask her a question and you'll get a
direct response that makes sense and shows understanding. I'd like to think
it comes from my side, but most likely takes after my wife.

One needs to understand that I'm generally a sympathetic
vomiter

Now *there* is something I've never heard before. You puke when other
people are getting ill?


Yes, it is a problem, and especially frustrating for my wife at times
when the little one is sick as I cannot help without becoming severly
nauseous myself. I know I'm not the only one as I've seen the reaction in
other people, don't know why it is or what causes it though.

Was able to get her home and cleaned up and when my wife asked her
if
she ever wanted to go flying with daddy again she said "Not today
anymore,
tomorrow". Hopefully she'll be willing in the future, she's still pretty
excited that we went. Maybe with more positive experiences (it was
positive
overall at least) we can convince her mother to go with me sometime down
the
road.

Um, reality check here. Your little girl barfed in the cabin, and your
wife
is specifically asking her if she ever wants to fly with you again? This
doesn't sound like an experience that will grease the skids toward getting
your wife to go along next time, IMHO.

Well that's just it. My wife was surprised that even after throwing up
in the plane my little girl was in really good spirits. She just didn't
beleive that she could have had a good time even after what had happened, so
I look to it as a positive, all things considered.

Skip the drugs. Fly on a calm day, in the early morning or early evening,
when the winds are light. Limit the flight to 30 minutes, limit bank
angle
to standard rate, do everything extremely smoothly -- and SKIP THE TOUCH
AND
GOES. Landings are only "fun" and "interesting" to pilots -- first time
passengers can be terrified by them, which contributes to their
queasiness.

All most passengers really want is to see their local mall, their home,
and
a pretty sunset -- and to survive the landing.

Yes, I appreciate all the good advice that everyone has given me. I will
use it in the future as others fly with me. I guess it's good that I took my
2 year old up first, since children are so forgiving of their parents. Next
time we won't go right after lunch either

--
Louis L. Perley III
N46000