A reluctance to take the controls

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
ups.com...
Mary and I have given rides to dozens of people over the years. I
usually like to let a newbie ride in the right seat with me, and will
usually let them "take the wheel"

I have had the joy of actually being paid to give glider rides to hundreds
of newbies. For most, this was their first experience in a small aircraft.
Once established off of tow, I would always offer the stick to my passenger and
most of them happily accepted. I even talked one young fellow all the way
through the pattern to touchdown! About 20% refused the opportunity to take the
controls, and it never bothered me. Some might be honestly afraid, most are
probably afraid of making fools out of themselves, some probably just prefer to
watch the scenery; whatever makes them happy makes me happy.

Vaughn

On 26 Nov 2006 05:56:03 -0800, "Jay Honeck"
wrote:

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...


The biggest reason I've had people "refuse" to take the wheel is that
they are enjoying the flight! Looking out the window, talking to
their friends, laughing, and just absorbing as much of the experience
as possible. You say the girl is smart, could it be she is smart
enough to know once she takes the controls that she'll have to focus
on doing the flying instead of just having a fun experience? Or maybe
she knows she won't be steady at the wheel, and doesn't want to
disrupt a good experience for her boyfriend by putting him on a roller
coaster ride. And then there's the possibility that she doesn't want
to be judged at how well or poorly she did when all she really wanted
to do was have a fun flight. I could go on.... Suffice it to say
there are many reasons someone wouldn't want to "drive", none of which
are related to them being ignorant or, as you say are a "sad"
commentary on who they are. To judge someone like you are just
because you don't understand what they are thinking is the sad part.
I actually think its pretty cool that some people know themselves well
enough to know what they want to do, and what they'd rather just be
spectators in.

z

Jay Honeck wrote:
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...
--

One EAA Young Eagle flew, like a fair % of them, love (even if
reluctant at first) to take controls for a little while once in
cruise. But once on a calm, summer evening, this kid (about age
11) was loving it so much, I "vectored" him back to the
nontowered airport. He couldn't see my periodically nudging the
trim wheel, and visible, periodic throttle reductions got us down
to pattern alt, and he steered us pretty good to direct enter the
downwind. Thence he turned base as instructed; no need to touch
throttle after base, just trim; so he got us lined up perfect on
final, glidepath and ASI nailed though not any of his doing. I
hadn't intended to let it go this far, but the kid was doing so
well in the calm conditions. Only one hand on the wheel as
directed. Hey, that is easier, he had earlier said.

I was about to take control 1/2 mile final as the rwy was looming
larger, and kid finally looks up at me and suggests I better land
it. Roger, and excellent job there, Mr. First Officer. On the
ground, the kid runs to his Mom all excited and told her what he
just did!

I've tried this in MSFS, and it's not that easy. Is there
someone out there who can tell me what I'm doing wrong?

Fred F.

TxSrv writes:

I've tried this in MSFS, and it's not that easy. Is there
someone out there who can tell me what I'm doing wrong?

What trouble are you having?

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

In article . com,
"Jay Honeck" wrote:

Mary and I have given rides to dozens of people over the years. I
usually like to let a newbie ride in the right seat with me, and will
usually let them "take the wheel" once we're safely at altitude. Most
people love their new-found freedom, while others are tentative and not
quite sure what to think.

It is a rare person, indeed, who refuses the chance to "steer" -- but
it happened Friday with a 24 year old girl in the right seat.
Actually, Mary was up front with her, while I was in back with her
boyfriend (which is still a very weird feeling, sitting in the BACK of
your own plane, in flight) -- and when Mary offered her the controls,
she politely refused.

What *is* that, anyway?

don't know. I took a co-worker up for a ride, and it turns out that
she is a bit of a timid flyer. She wouldn't touch the controls and
asked me to end the flight early (which, of course, I did). I took
an old college roommate flying once and he wouldn't take the
controls either - in his case I think he was intimidated by all
the stuff, the instruments, the radios, not understanding ATC, etc etc.

--
Bob Noel
Looking for a sig the
lawyers will hate

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
ups.com...
snip

It is a rare person, indeed, who refuses the chance to "steer" -- but
it happened Friday with a 24 year old girl in the right seat.
Actually, Mary was up front with her, while I was in back with her
boyfriend (which is still a very weird feeling, sitting in the BACK of
your own plane, in flight) -- and when Mary offered her the controls,
she politely refused.

I have found that children ALWAYS take the controls and attempt to fly. It
is only adults that make no attempt to attempt to fly.

Danny Dot
www.mobbinggonemad.org

snip

Danny Dot wrote:

I have found that children ALWAYS take the controls and attempt to fly. It
is only adults that make no attempt to attempt to fly.

Danny Dot
www.mobbinggonemad.org


I've had a couple of Young Eagle flights where the kids did not want to
handle the controls. I was quite suprised since they had an obvious
interest in flying given that they signed up for the event -- and in
each case they enjoyed their flight. But a couple of them just wanted to
observe rather than pilot the aircraft. I continue to hope that the
next time these kids had the opportunity to fly that they would feel
less inhibited and take the controls.

I've never had a child who knew me (my kid's friends, family members,
etc) refuse the chance to fly the plane. So perhaps for the reluctant
ones it is a matter of being too polite or a misguided sense of not
wanting to impose on the adult flying the plane.

Steve

Steve Schneider writes:

I've had a couple of Young Eagle flights where the kids did not want to
handle the controls. I was quite suprised since they had an obvious
interest in flying given that they signed up for the event -- and in
each case they enjoyed their flight. But a couple of them just wanted to
observe rather than pilot the aircraft. I continue to hope that the
next time these kids had the opportunity to fly that they would feel
less inhibited and take the controls.

Some people enjoy being in the air but have no desire to actually
pilot the plane themselves.

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

"Mxsmanic" wrote in message
...


Some people enjoy being in the air but have no desire to actually
pilot the plane themselves.

WOW! That is such a really brilliant statement!
Did you figure it all by yourself?
It adds SO MUCH to the discussion.
And I'll bet you can prove it is a true statement.
How did we ever get along without your profundity for all these years?

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

Oh, by the way, transposing the above yields gmail@mxsmanic -- just
thought you'd like to know.

Actually, our own Jay Honeck still hasn't figured it out.

Thanks, BTW, for your contribution.

mike

"N2310D" wrote in message
news:dS6bh.15882$Uz.11958@trnddc05...

WOW! That is such a really brilliant statement!
Did you figure it all by yourself?
It adds SO MUCH to the discussion.
And I'll bet you can prove it is a true statement.
How did we ever get along without your profundity for all these years?