back seat passenger

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evapilotaz

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I never sat in the back seat of a single engine airplane. I sat pilot or co pilot seat. What's it like in the back of an airplane? I think I would have anxiety being so far from the controls when someone else is flying.
 
Roomy.

And you get to kibbutz on the skill of the PF.
 
Same as riding in the back seat of a car.
 
Depends on the airplane,it can be roomy,or very cramped. The front seat pilots have to be considerate and move their seats forward,just like in the back seat of most cars.
 
One thing I like about the cirrus airframe is it is a roomy four seater. I'm 6'6" and you could fit 4 of me in my plane - meaning I can have the front seats all the way back and still fit comfortably in the back. Useful load wouldn't allow four people my size with much fuel but that has been improved with the G5's useful load increase.
 
It's like sitting in a seat with people in front of you :dunno:

You will feel it a little more if the pilot doesn't keep the ball centered.
 
I have never flown back seat except with two other pilots up front. Usually a shared trip (OSH) or fun event (Gaston's). One time, though, I was in a plane in which the intercom unit was inop - it was like being in a penalty box!

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Back seat in a Bonanza is very roomy (darned near huge).
 
Lots of room in a 182. You can't see squat out the front window, so if you're prone to airsickness, that could be a problem. Otherwise, it's fine.

Somewhat less room, but still good for a big guy in a 172, 177, or PA28.

Mooney M20Ks and Beech Duchesses are terrible. You have to be a double amputee.

I'm sure you could bum a back seat off SOMEone. Maybe a student pilot who needs ballast to try a more-aft CG than usual.
 
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You feel like you're at the kid's table at Thanksgiving.
I rode backseat on my wife's training flight. Straining the whole time to see what was going on up front.
 
I have lots of time in the back seats of Cubs, 206s, and Beavers. Forward visibility is simple enough. The ability to look around is great. I don't mind it at all if I trust the pilot and I've been in some stuff that would have made me uncomfortable had I been doing the flying. I don't care for the third row in any small plane but I've been the sardine a few times, too.
 
Stewartb said:
I have lots of time in the back seats of Cubs, 206s, and Beavers. Forward visibility is simple enough. The ability to look around is great. I don't mind it at all if I trust the pilot and I've been in some stuff that would have made me uncomfortable had I been doing the flying. I don't care for the third row in any small plane but I've been the sardine a few times, too.
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Wah?? You don't like riding in the midget seat of a 185 :D
 
Riding in the back seat is a good lesson in why you want to be coordinated. You don't feel uncoordinated rudder control nearly as much in the front row as you do in the back.
 
For me, riding in the back seat of a plane is more like riding in a car, vs. being a right seat passenger up front, which is more like flying.
 
I think anyone who has a mind to grab the controls anytime he gets nervous would make me nervous.
 
only time I've been in back was on a training flight with my CFI and his brother in a 172. I had some time to kill and they were going up so I offered to add some ballast. It was fun, but also a little scary, mostly because the student only had about 8 hours and his landings were.....a little scary, made worse by not being able to see over the panel in the flare. I swore we were landing sideways a couple times.
 
Ive never been a passenger in the back of a small plane either. Like you, I cant get to the controls so it kind of freaks me out. My wife might start taking lessons in our plane and I plan to ride along in the back, so Ill let you know how it goes. haha
 
One of my favorite days in aviation I spent 8 hours in the back seat of a Cub with the very best Cub driver I know on a windy day in the Alaska Range. Holy cow, we did some cool stuff. I learned a lot about Cub flying that day and I never touched the controls.
 
evapilotaz said:
I never sat in the back seat of a single engine airplane. I sat pilot or co pilot seat. What's it like in the back of an airplane? I think I would have anxiety being so far from the controls when someone else is flying.
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Scariest flight of my life... JK. I had my license and my Dad was going to try and get his. He was in front with a CFI and they were doing pattern work. My Dad was sweating bullets profusely, and all I could see was the ground, the sky, the ground, the sky, the ground, the sky all the way to short final when the CFI took over. The CFI had my dad doing this for nearly an hour before we all had enough. My Father was the poster child of over controlling. Thankfully he became better, he learned to relax and get a more stabilized approach. I think it took a few years off me though...:D
 
simtech said:
Ive never been a passenger in the back of a small plane either. Like you, I cant get to the controls so it kind of freaks me out. My wife might start taking lessons in our plane and I plan to ride along in the back, so Ill let you know how it goes. haha
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If you really love, or even like your plane you're probably better off staying on the ground for those flights. Preferably somewhere without a view of the runway. That ride in the back with a student practicing landings made me feel really sorry for the airplane, and the owners of the planes I trained in. No harm done to either really, but if we did landings like that in MY plane I'd cry.
 
I just sat in the back seat during a check-out the other day. Even though I know the procedures and did them myself many times, steep turns and stalls are scary from the back seat. :hairraise:

Never ever would I take someone on a check out or into a flight training, who never flew in a 'little' plane before... :no:
 
If you're in the back seat, and the pilot happens to spin out of one of those stalls, go ahead and climb over the right front seat, and into the lap of the person sitting there. Keep going, on up onto the glare shield, as far as you can. It may not help, but it'll give you something to do until impact. Be sure to slap the pilot, if time allows.
 
evapilotaz said:
I think I would be more prone to airsickness as well. I get car motion sick easily when riding in back of a car on long trips.
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That can happen.

Don't take photos from back there if it's a factor. Last CAP photo training we had, 7 of 10 photographers came back with a bucket of hork, including everyone who flew in the afternoon. Most of them were experienced pilots.

I was one of the lucky three (and I was assigned in the morning). I got a little green at one point, but kept my lunch.
 
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