"Jay Honeck" wrote:
[snip]
and when Mary offered her the controls,
she politely refused.

What *is* that, anyway? This girl is a wonderfully intelligent, highly
educated young lady, with no tendency toward timidness or air sickness,
yet, when given the chance to try something that VERY few people on
this planet will ever get to do, she refused. Stranger still, she has
flown with us before (albeit in the back seat), so it's not like she's
afraid of flying.

Why do you automatically think it has something to do with fear,
education, intelligence or experience?

I'm a pilot, and I occasionally decline the offer to fly also. Does that
make me less intelligent or afraid or timid or make you question my
level of education? Shame on you for thinking of only those reasons just
because she declined!

There are MANY elements to enjoy when on a flight in a small airplane,
SOME of which you can't appreciate as fully when YOU are at the
controls, especially when you don't have a clue what you're doing. As a
pilot, I'm still scanning gauges, listening to radio calls, looking for
potential places to land, and watching for traffic (can't help that!)
.... but I don't have to have the controls in MY hands every time to
fully enjoy every flight. Sometimes I like being able to relax a little,
appreciate the scenery a little more, and just be a passenger.

Maybe the intelligent young lady will want to learn to fly one day too,
maybe she will even ASK, specifically, to take a turn at the controls,
maybe not ... but perhaps she likes just being able to relax and enjoy
the ride, with someone capable like you or Mary at the controls. And
that IS why you take her flying, isn't it?

Just because flying is something that very few people ever get the
opportunity to do doesn't mean that *everyone* jumps at every
opportunity to do it.