How involved in flying is your spouse / Significant other?

How involved in flying is your spouse / Significant other?

  • They are a Pilot

    Votes: 9 10.8%

  • Not a pilot but play an active role. ( navigation, radios, enjoys fly-ins)

    Votes: 12 14.5%

  • Very comfortable & willing to fly GA, supportive but could care less about Planes or the culture.

    Votes: 32 38.6%

  • Not comfortable flying GA but may fly with you on a calm clear day.

    Votes: 16 19.3%

  • Not getting in a GA plane, no way no how but no problem with you flying

    Votes: 11 13.3%

  • Not getting in a GA plane and doesn’t want you to either!

    Votes: 3 3.6%
  • Total voters
    83
AdamZ

AdamZ

Touchdown! Greaser!
Joined
Feb 24, 2005
Messages
14,866
Location
Montgomery County PA
Display Name
Display name:
Adam Zucker
My wife has no problems flying in our Bonanza and enjoys when I take her to fun destinations like the beach or going to visit friends but she could careless about exciting panel upgrades, talking on the radio or navigation or just going up to bore holes in the sky. ( to get her involved I once involved her in planning a flight taught her were to find frequencies for VORs etc on the sectional etc. About 4 minutes into the flight she fell asleep and dropped the sectional to the floor.) She has no interest in taking the yoke and is just happy reading one of her magazines and even sitting in the back seat. Has no interest in aviation culture and going to Osh would make her bored stiff. Although she does enjoy attending events with groups like LPBA where there are many spouses at their events that stay busy with non aviation activities. I always wish she were more interested but I have a LOT of pilot friends whose spouses or significant others don’t even want them to fly and won’t get in a plane. Makes me thankful my wife is supportive of my passion and will fly.

I’ve been curious as to where most spouses / Significant others fall on the flying interest scale. If you have a spouse or sig other lets hear about their level of involvement.
 
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She's a solo student pilot. But not working very hard toward ever finishing.

Lately she'll want to go anytime there is a meal destination involved, but opts out when I'm flying safety for someone who's just doing a bunch of approaches.
 
When our son was born, my wife moved to the backseat of our 182.

He's four now, and I expect he'll move up front long before she does. She's happy to fly and go places; she has no interesting in learning how to fly or performing any of the ancillary tasks associated with it. She sees the plane as a traveling machine, so anything that makes it safer, faster, or more comfortable, she's fine with.

In the meantime. I'm kinda enjoying the extra space up front.
 
Mine loves to fly, and will assist with everything except talking on the radio.
 
She likes going places, Likes that we have our own plane, doesn't give a rat's arse about the enjoyment of flying.
I yell "Clear!" she falls asleep and wakes up when we land.

She has had 5-6 lessons and decided she doesn't have any interest in ever being a pilot.
The last couple trips have been a little cramped and she isn't saying sell the plane but she is saying we need a bigger one.
That's a good sign.
 
Very supportive, never a comment on the bills.... Likes flying, so long as we are going somewhere, not much for just tooling around or going to fly-ins. Never shown any interest in getting her license or getting involved in the mechanics. She's pretty good at traffic spotting, remembering frequencies and can keep the plane straight and level.
 
I chose my wife "is a pilot". As many of you know I have been medically disqualified for some time (over 35 years). But around 10 years ago my 53 yr old wife decided she wanted to learn to fly. She took a discovery flight and has been hooked ever since. She is now Instrument rated and has well over 1,100 hours, over half of them in our V35 bonanza. The first few hundred was in our C-172, which at one point had a catastrophic engine failure at 1,100 ft agl and 4 miles from an airport. She put it down safely on a highway. She had less than 100 hours at the time.
 
My bride loves to travel in our plane, boring holes in the sky for breakfast runs, not so much. However, if other spouses go she will gladly fly for eats. For Mary its just transportation, just like having a car in the garage, except this one is in a hangar.

I will give her big time credit, she climbed back aboard after our accident and is ready to travel once again. I have been lucky enough for her to fly a little, but, no radio, no flight planning. Her most comfortable mode is sleep. She actually was asleep just after start up and before the hold short run up here at Ocean City, I just don't get it.

First flight together since the accident
Gary and Mary 7_10_19.jpg

The crew!
mary and gary.JPG
 
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Im getting married in a week and a half. My fiance has never been in a plane before and we are going on our honeymoon to the bahamas. I really want to be her first flight but she is too afraid of me "Killing her". I got her convinced to go for a 15 minute flight but everytime I want to do it shes to afraid. I really hope I can get her to go with me :(
 
GMascelli said:
My bride loves to travel in our plane, boring holes in the sky for breakfast runs, not so much. However, if other spouses go she will gladly fly for eats. For Mary its just transportation, just like having a car in the garage, except this one is in a hangar.

I will give her big time credit, she climbed back aboard after our accident and is ready to travel once again. I have been lucky enough for her to fly a little, but, no radio, no flight planning. Her most comfortable mode is sleep. She actually was asleep just after start up and before the hold short run up here at Ocean City, I just don't get it.

First flight together since the accident
View attachment 76431

The crew!
View attachment 76432
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Good for her. And I'm glad to hear you are recovering well.
 
Rebel Lord said:
Im getting married in a week and a half. My fiance has never been in a plane before and we are going on our honeymoon to the bahamas. I really want to be her first flight but she is too afraid of me "Killing her". I got her convinced to go for a 15 minute flight but everytime I want to do it shes to afraid. I really hope I can get her to go with me :(
Click to expand...

Might as well start getting numbers of divorce attorneys now.
 
Wife has zero interest in my home building/flying. Refuses to fly with me, even for a lap around the pattern in clear air. Grandkids, whom she adores, live an 8 1/2hr car ride away. Doesn’t see the advantage of a 3 hr flight to go see them. Even dislikes flying commercial. Hang ups include claustrophobia, motion sickness, relinquishment of control, visions of us being in the middle of a smoking hole. Just not wanting to try it.

No support of aviation, but no interference in my involvement. So I fly solo, wishing she would be a flying companion.

Depressing.....
 
Rebel Lord said:
Im getting married in a week and a half. My fiance has never been in a plane before and we are going on our honeymoon to the bahamas. I really want to be her first flight but she is too afraid of me "Killing her". I got her convinced to go for a 15 minute flight but everytime I want to do it shes to afraid. I really hope I can get her to go with me :(
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Eek. Sounds like trust issues. Does she let you drive the car down Texas highways at Mach .11 with her on board?
 
My wife has more than 2x the hours than I do (me at 3,000, her approaching 7,000) and is a better pilot. That said she's not been hugely involved in our personal flying, that's mostly been me. Most of that is because when we met I was already used to single pilot ops and since that's all the flying I do, she tends to give me some space there. I've not asked her for that so it's more self-imposed on her part. Now she's trained up on the MU-2 though and will start flying it some when we go places.
 
We were both pilots already when we met.
 
Rebel Lord said:
...My fiance has never been in a plane before ... I want to do it shes to afraid.
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EdFred said:
Might as well start getting numbers of divorce attorneys now.
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Nice sarcasm.

Brad Z said:
Eek. Sounds like trust issues. Does she let you drive the car down Texas highways at Mach .11 with her on board?
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Not really. For a grown adult who’s never flown in a plane before, I don’t see it as unreasonable to fear something they’ve never experienced that usually only pops up in the news cycle when something bad happens.

Add to it the stress of a major life decision (getting married) and not wanting to possibly threaten that with what could be perceived by her as a humiliating event (OMG I just freaked out, broke down crying, and threw up in front of him and now he hates me forever), I can understand it being a reasonable fear.
 
Rebel Lord said:
Im getting married in a week and a half. My fiance has never been in a plane before and we are going on our honeymoon to the bahamas. I really want to be her first flight but she is too afraid of me "Killing her". I got her convinced to go for a 15 minute flight but everytime I want to do it shes to afraid. I really hope I can get her to go with me :(
Click to expand...
EdFred said:
Might as well start getting numbers of divorce attorneys now.
Click to expand...
TCABM said:
Nice sarcasm...
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I didn't think it was sarcasm...I wish he would have said it to me 30 years ago (and now 12 years after my divorce)
 
AdamZ said:
My wife has no problems flying in our Bonanza and enjoys when I take her to fun destinations like the beach or going to visit friends but she could careless about exciting panel upgrades, talking on the radio or navigation or just going up to bore holes in the sky. ( to get her involved I once involved her in planning a flight taught her were to find frequencies for VORs etc on the sectional etc. About 4 minutes into the flight she fell asleep and dropped the sectional to the floor.) She has no interest in taking the yoke and is just happy reading one of her magazines and even sitting in the back seat. Has no interest in aviation culture and going to Osh would make her bored stiff. Although she does enjoy attending events with groups like LPBA where there are many spouses at their events that stay busy with non aviation activities. I always wish she were more interested but I have a LOT of pilot friends whose spouses or significant others don’t even want them to fly and won’t get in a plane. Makes me thankful my wife is supportive of my passion and will fly.

I’ve been curious as to where most spouses / Significant others fall on the flying interest scale. If you have a spouse or sig other lets hear about their level of involvement.
Click to expand...

You just described my wife's situation to a 'T'. She loves the idea of being able to get from Point A to Point B relatively quickly and that's about it. I tried to take her up a few times on cool nights to see a nice sunset, etc., but she just doesn't buy into it and would rather be going to a 'destination'. The good thing is that she is motivated enough to get to destinations that she really pushes me to stay plugged in to flying myself. I had fallen out of the loop (2 years past BFR lapse), but we had a trip that we thought would be cool to do via GA, so she pushed me to get things updated. Now she's pushing me to get my IR currency back so we can get back into the swing of travelling more - especially now that the boys are big enough to enjoy it as well.
 
Weekend Warrior said:
I didn't think it was sarcasm...I wish he would have said it to me 30 years ago (and now 12 years after my divorce)
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I know. I was giving benefit of the doubt, as marriage isn’t for everyone and in today’s social landscape, is becoming seen more as a liability than an asset.

I’ll also say it takes empathy and the actions of two to build trust in a relationship.
 
Rebel Lord said:
Im getting married in a week and a half. My fiance has never been in a plane before and we are going on our honeymoon to the bahamas. I really want to be her first flight but she is too afraid of me "Killing her". I got her convinced to go for a 15 minute flight but everytime I want to do it shes to afraid. I really hope I can get her to go with me :(
Click to expand...
You had better pick right now, her or the plane, or boat or race car or etc., seriously. You will have to sell the toy to pay for the divorce. Then you will have neither.
 
She’s indifferent. She’ll go up whenever I want to go up which has only been a few times. Isn’t super excited but isn’t bored either.
 
Mrs. Steingar spots aircraft and airstrips before I do. She has no interest in flying the crate, but she'll happily fly in it. She's wanted to go to Oshkosh ever since I started, and I am scheming a way to make that happen this year. Might mean not flying in for the first time ever.
 
EdFred said:
Might as well start getting numbers of divorce attorneys now.
Click to expand...
Brad Z said:
Eek. Sounds like trust issues. Does she let you drive the car down Texas highways at Mach .11 with her on board?
Click to expand...
TCABM said:
Nice sarcasm.



Not really. For a grown adult who’s never flown in a plane before, I don’t see it as unreasonable to fear something they’ve never experienced that usually only pops up in the news cycle when something bad happens.

Add to it the stress of a major life decision (getting married) and not wanting to possibly threaten that with what could be perceived by her as a humiliating event (OMG I just freaked out, broke down crying, and threw up in front of him and now he hates me forever), I can understand it being a reasonable fear.
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Morgan3820 said:
You had better pick right now, her or the plane, or boat or race car or etc., seriously. You will have to sell the toy to pay for the divorce. Then you will have neither.
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Also a family friend of theirs daughter died in a plane crash with her pilot husband right after they were married. He survived. I think it made national news.

And the fact we are the same exact ages as them freaked her out.


I know she will come around, shes just afraid right now but the fact that I even got her to agree to a short flight is major progress.
 
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Gordon Baxter’s line: “My first wife didn’t like flying”

I’m very lucky, not only does she like flying, but she was very supportive when I decided to go back to doing it full time.
 
Missing an option: 'Will fly with me if it cuts a 6hr slog on I95 into 1:25 on the plane.'
 
EdFred said:
Poll is missing an option.
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No Ed its not! LOL Kaiser will fly with you anytime. Go get a spouse and you can respond to the poll ROLMAO!

Ted DuPuis said:
My wife has more than 2x the hours than I do (me at 3,000, her approaching 7,000) and is a better pilot. That said she's not been hugely involved in our personal flying, that's mostly been me. Most of that is because when we met I was already used to single pilot ops and since that's all the flying I do, she tends to give me some space there. I've not asked her for that so it's more self-imposed on her part. Now she's trained up on the MU-2 though and will start flying it some when we go places.
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I seriously considered and option " Laurie is a much better pilot than me and loves to fly" but I knew I'd only get one response.
 
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Reactions: Ted
JOhnH said:
I chose my wife "is a pilot". As many of you know I have been medically disqualified for some time (over 35 years). But around 10 years ago my 53 yr old wife decided she wanted to learn to fly. She took a discovery flight and has been hooked ever since. She is now Instrument rated and has well over 1,100 hours, over half of them in our V35 bonanza. The first few hundred was in our C-172, which at one point had a catastrophic engine failure at 1,100 ft agl and 4 miles from an airport. She put it down safely on a highway. She had less than 100 hours at the time.
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Oh my gosh John I remember you posting about that engine failure. How long ago was that?
 
My wife is very supportive and in fact encouraged me to start flying again after a 30 year layoff. Since ive gotten my PPL (and Inst, Comm and CFI) she has been supportive all the way. When we fly, which she enjoys doing, she spots traffic, switches freqs, monitors weather, and fuel (and badgers me to switch tanks relentlessly) and occasionally talks on the radio and flies the plane. She has recently mentioned that I should probably teach her to takeoff and land. Thts encouraging.
 
JCranford said:
My wife is very supportive and in fact encouraged me to start flying again after a 30 year layoff. Since ive gotten my PPL (and Inst, Comm and CFI) she has been supportive all the way. When we fly, which she enjoys doing, she spots traffic, switches freqs, monitors weather, and fuel (and badgers me to switch tanks relentlessly) and occasionally talks on the radio and flies the plane. She has recently mentioned that I should probably teach her to takeoff and land. Thts encouraging.
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That's great. I don't know you or your wife, but I might suggest you see if you can get her to take some lessons from a (different) CFI. That just often seems to go better than teaching your wife.
 
My wife is improving. Last time we flew together she only closed her eyes on the takeoff. For the first time she kept them open all the way through the landing.
 
My wife enjoys being involved in the real time game plan (not pre-takeoff planning), helping spot traffic, and working the radios. She loves traveling via our plane but isn't a fan of busy fly-ins. She generally stays up front and involved but occasionally will crawl in the back to sleep or read. She's excited to be getting an IFD540 in front of her so we don't fight over the view/range on the 550. That all said, she has zero desire to become a pilot. That works out well for me because I'd hate to have to play paper/rock/scissors to see who gets left seat. :)
 
My wife steps in the airplane after I preflight, start the engine, and then turn the AC on.

She complains about the crappy beverage service.

The plus side is she will go anywhere I take her.
 
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