A reluctance to take the controls

When I was in the 8th grade, I was madly "in love" with
Patti Jo. At the graduation party she actually came up to
me and asked me if I want to dance. Since there were 40
some witnesses present who could talk about my clumsiness I
said no. That has bothered me for more than 40 years.

So Google her. Maybe she still wants to dance?

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

She's old and fat now. I've seen her picture on the web, 40
year HS reunion. She's also married. Ruined all those
wonderful memories of the sweet young innocent Patti Jo.

My memories of the girls of my youth are better than reality
today.



"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
oups.com...
| When I was in the 8th grade, I was madly "in love" with
| Patti Jo. At the graduation party she actually came up
to
| me and asked me if I want to dance. Since there were 40
| some witnesses present who could talk about my
clumsiness I
| said no. That has bothered me for more than 40 years.
|
| So Google her. Maybe she still wants to dance?
|
| ;-)
| --
| Jay Honeck
| Iowa City, IA
| Pathfinder N56993
| www.AlexisParkInn.com
| "Your Aviation Destination"
|

"Jim Macklin" wrote in news:W5qah.1003
:

When I was in the 8th grade, I was madly "in love" with
Patti Jo. At the graduation party she actually came up to
me and asked me if I want to dance. Since there were 40
some witnesses present who could talk about my clumsiness I
said no. That has bothered me for more than 40 years.
Just to prove the point, the worst landing I ever made was
with 3 FAA Inspectors on the airplane.

Coulda been worse. One of the FAA inspectors coulda been Patti Jo.

Her brother was my last of several CFIs when I got my PPL.


"Judah" wrote in message
. ..
| "Jim Macklin" wrote
in news:W5qah.1003
| :
|
| When I was in the 8th grade, I was madly "in love" with
| Patti Jo. At the graduation party she actually came up
to
| me and asked me if I want to dance. Since there were 40
| some witnesses present who could talk about my
clumsiness I
| said no. That has bothered me for more than 40 years.
| Just to prove the point, the worst landing I ever made
was
| with 3 FAA Inspectors on the airplane.
|
| Coulda been worse. One of the FAA inspectors coulda been
Patti Jo.

In article . com,
"Jay Honeck" wrote:

I'm trying to remember if that has ever happened with me in the left
seat, and -- although I've sensed reluctance a time or two -- I don't
think anyone has ever said "No, thanks" to my offer to take the yoke.
Perhaps it's because I give them little choice, and Mary *asked*?

Just say, "Put your hands on the wheel please." When they do, take you
hands off and put them behind you head and say, "You've got!"

"Jay Honeck" wrote in news:1164549363.523917.179870@
45g2000cws.googlegroups.com:

It just seems odd to me, and rather sad. I don't want folks believing
that airplanes fall out of the sky as soon as an experienced pilot lets
go of the controls...

I'm the same way - I always want to give the person in the right seat the
chance to fly the plane. I have had people be concerned that "it's OK" - that
they won't break anything, including rules, if they don't fly well. But no
one has ever absolutely refused except my wife, who is a white-knuckle flyer.

You may just want to ask her (in a no-pressure kinda way) if she was afraid
to take the controls, or if she just had no interest... Perhaps she will be
honest with you now that you guys are on the ground... And either you'll get
it, or you'll be able to explain to her why "it's OK" for her to take the
controls next time.

You may just want to ask her (in a no-pressure kinda way) if she was afraid
to take the controls, or if she just had no interest... Perhaps she will be
honest with you now that you guys are on the ground... And either you'll get
it, or you'll be able to explain to her why "it's OK" for her to take the
controls next time.

In retrospect, I think part of the problem was that she couldn't see
over the dashboard. Her seat was way back, and the passenger seat is
not height-adjustable like the pilot's seat.

This isn't isn't something I'm going to lose any sleep over, but I
think if we can get more people like her interested in flying (I.E.:
Willing and happy to fly in a light plane, but not willing or eager to
take the controls) GA will stand a much better chance of survival.

Further, it would be excellent to grow the women's pilot population,
which still inexplicably stands at just 6% of all pilots. THAT is
where we have a real opportunity to grow GA.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck writes:

This isn't isn't something I'm going to lose any sleep over, but I
think if we can get more people like her interested in flying (I.E.:
Willing and happy to fly in a light plane, but not willing or eager to
take the controls) GA will stand a much better chance of survival.

A lack of interest isn't as much of a danger to GA as the extremely
high cost of participation. Make GA inexpensive, and people will
flock to it. Right now, it's just too inaccessible.

The other major danger to GA is the climate of fear that is turning
the U.S. and the world into a police state. GA will eventually be
regulated out of existence.

Further, it would be excellent to grow the women's pilot population,
which still inexplicably stands at just 6% of all pilots.

Given the attitudes that a great many male pilots have, I'm not
surprised that the women stay away. As a general rule, though, women
tend not to be interested in vehicles for their own sake.

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.

A lack of interest isn't as much of a danger to GA as the extremely
high cost of participation. Make GA inexpensive, and people will
flock to it. Right now, it's just too inaccessible.

It's inaccessible to many, but not most. Plenty of people who *could*
fly choose not to -- that is our target audience.

The other major danger to GA is the climate of fear that is turning
the U.S. and the world into a police state. GA will eventually be
regulated out of existence.

That's the least of our worries.

Given the attitudes that a great many male pilots have, I'm not
surprised that the women stay away. As a general rule, though, women
tend not to be interested in vehicles for their own sake.

It's not the airplanes -- it's the freedom. That's what we need to
accentuate.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck writes:

It's inaccessible to many, but not most. Plenty of people who *could*
fly choose not to -- that is our target audience.

It shouldn't be. Yes, many people could fly if they made appropriate
sacrifices. But the vast majority of people aren't interested enough
in flying to do that. If you try to address that market, you'll never
succeed.

The cost/benefit ratio has to be attractive. The cost of GA is so
extraordinarily high that only a tiny few are willing and able to pay
it. Unless you reduce the cost, it will always be a minority
activity.

That's the least of our worries.

Tell that to pilots in the District of Columbia.

It's not the airplanes -- it's the freedom. That's what we need to
accentuate.

It's laudable to make women more welcome and I'm sure it would improve
their stats, if the macho men could force themselves to do it.
However, flying is always likely to appeal to more men than women, so
a 50/50 ratio would be unlikely.

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.