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

"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

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

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/

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

"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

"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!!"

"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

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

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.