A reluctance to take the controls

I hope you didn't make your young friend feel like she disappointed or
even surprised you because she declined to take the controls.

No, we didn't say a word to her, nor was it ever mentioned the rest of
the day.

I was just surprised, is all.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

If my friend had a 'vette, I would probably not accept
an offer to drive it.

What the heck is wrong with you, Jose? If someone gave me the chance
to drive a new 'Vette, I'd be all over it like stink on
you-know-what...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

In any case, kudos to Mary for *asking* instead of making her feel
compelled to take the controls. I hate it when someone "asks" you to do
something in such a way that you feel you can't comfortably decline. You
*do* realize, don't you Jay, that if you made her feel dumb, afraid or
like she disappointed *you* because she declined that you may have just
made her think twice about going up with you again. There's a reason for
the term "different strokes".

You would do well to concentrate on the topic at hand, rather than
making gross generalizations and speculating about things I personally
might have said or done.

No one was made to feel dumb, and no one was disappointed because she
didn't take the controls. I brought this subject up simply because I
found her lack of eagerness puzzling, and I believe that understanding
this could perhaps be key to figuring out how to get MORE people
interested in flying.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

What the heck is wrong with you, Jose? If someone gave me the chance
to drive a new 'Vette, I'd be all over it like stink on
you-know-what...

.... and that is what we are trying to tell you. Not all of us are as
keen on [certain] things as you are. If I gave you a chance to make a
pot on a potter's wheel, or to run spotlight at the community theater,
would you be "all over it like stink on you-know-what"?

Jose
--
"There are 3 secrets to the perfect landing. Unfortunately, nobody knows
what they are." - (mike).
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

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" 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

Guy Elden Jr writes:

Well, one of the missions of AOPA is to promote GA to as many people as
possible, and understandably, for many reasons, not everyone is
destined to be a pilot. Whenever I get the chance to chat someone up
about aviation, I find that more often than not, the issue of cost
crops up.

When a hobby costs ten thousand dollars to get into and thousands of
additional dollars a year, cost usually crops up in the conversation.

My impression is that most people still think that pilots of
small planes are the untouchable richie rich establishment doctor /
lawyer crowd, and despite all of my arguments about ways to manage the
cost, the fact that I choose this versus many other things I could do
with that money, etc, that thought sticks in their minds.

Justifiably so. Richie Rich, doctors, and lawyers are a lot closer to
reality than McDonald's employees, welfare recipients, or the average
wage earner.

About the
only way I can think of shaking that mentality is to take someone to a
nice small airfield about 50 miles away that has a nice rustic charm to
it, with lots of pilots hangar flying over breakfast / lunch in a nice
small restaurant on the field, watching the old airbirds flying in and
out.

What if they don't want to fly old airbirds?

--
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Jay Honeck writes:

What the heck is wrong with you, Jose? If someone gave me the chance
to drive a new 'Vette, I'd be all over it like stink on
you-know-what...

I exhausted the novelty of driving cars long ago, and I don't recall
ever being interested in sporty models. My main criteria of choice
were economy, safety, comfort, and reliability (not necessarily in
that order).

--
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Jose writes:

... and that is what we are trying to tell you. Not all of us are as
keen on [certain] things as you are. If I gave you a chance to make a
pot on a potter's wheel, or to run spotlight at the community theater,
would you be "all over it like stink on you-know-what"?

The spotlight thing sounds interesting; I used to have a passion for
theatrical lighting systems and equipment, although I was never able
to do much with it. I've never tried a potter's wheel, but I'd try it
once to see. Both sound like more fun than driving a car.

--
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unicate writes:

No, but that may indeed have been part of it. She may be more
comfortable with JUST Mary in the plane, or with a professional
instructor that isn't a personal friend so that she doesn't feel as self
conscious about doing something wrong.

That type of performance insecurity is more common in men than women.
Women are not expected to be good at "manly" things, so they are under
less pressure.

But a far simpler explanation is that she simply wasn't interested,
period.

--
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