Checkride passed! Now what to do...

dwalt

dwalt

Pre-takeoff checklist
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DWalt
Arrived to the DPE yesterday with 40.0 in the logbook...left with 41.0 and with my ticket!! But now what to do...

Once I save up some more I'll start my instrument, but in the meantime I feel like it's going to be so strange not "needing" to go build time or take lessons.

Also...any advice on getting a terrified girlfriend up in the air with you?
 
Congrats on getting done at minimum time. Most people aren't ready by then.
 
Congrats!

Get her good and drunk, it will make it much easier. JK, babysteps. Take her out to the airport and let her watch some airport activity. Let her sit in the airplane and ease some tension that way. Then see if she wants to go get lunch, make it fun.
 
Congratulations!

First, find out why she is scared.

If it's small planes in general, not sure how to overcome that without just trying to get her to go up.

If it's flying with someone who only had 40 hours under his belt (understandable), rent a 4 place and go up with your CFI once, so she can see that you know what your doing.

As for what to do now, if you can get your girlfriend up on one, start going places :)
 
Inverted said:
Congrats!

Get her good and drunk, it will make it much easier.
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Haha well it's worked in other situations...

Mafoo said:
Congratulations!

First, find out why she is scared.

If it's small planes in general, not sure how to overcome that without just trying to get her to go up.

If it's flying with someone who only had 40 hours under his belt (understandable), rent a 4 place and go up with your CFI once, so she can see that you know what your doing.

As for what to do now, if you can get your girlfriend up on one, start going places :)
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It's strange...she says she trusts me 100% and knows so much about aviation now because of me. She's spent plenty of time hanging out at the airport watching me do pattern work, X-wind practice, etc. It's just this general fear of flying - commercial too
 
dwalt said:
It's just this general fear of flying - commercial too
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That's a much bigger problem. If she is scared in a commercial airliner, she is most likely going to be prettified in a GA aircraft.

Good luck man.

On the upside, you now know you can buy a 1 place aircraft :)
 
dwalt said:
Also...any advice on getting a terrified girlfriend up in the air with you?
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My wife was the same way. She finally decided to go with me to dinner one night. When we got to the airport, I thought she was going to have a heart attack, she was so freaked out. I tried to calm her down, said we didn't have to go, she did NOT have to fly in the plane. Se finally decided to tough it out. Took all of about 10 minutes for her to decide that, no, we really weren't going to fall out of the sly and die in a fireball. The next day she was talking about "the next time we fly somewhere..."

Give her time, and opportunities, but don't try to force the issue. You may be flying solo for a while.
 
dwalt said:
Arrived to the DPE yesterday with 40.0 in the logbook...left with 41.0 and with my ticket!! But now what to do...

Once I save up some more I'll start my instrument, but in the meantime I feel like it's going to be so strange not "needing" to go build time or take lessons.

Also...any advice on getting a terrified girlfriend up in the air with you?
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Just make sure the plane you take has a kitchen.
 
dwalt said:
Also...any advice on getting a terrified girlfriend up in the air with you?
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Congrats on getting your PP. Doing that in 40 hours is the exception rather than the rule. And if you want to make that girlfriend a keeper you will never, ever take her up in the air unless she really wants to go.

There are some people that will never be comfortable in a small GA plane. Just like there are plenty of people that will never be comfortable on a boat smaller than a Royal Caribbean or Carnival cruise ship. Nothing wrong with them, they just aren't good to go like you are.
 
avoid turbulence

ideal flight, depart for a 45 min flight returning 10 min after sunset. Smooth as a baby's butt

if its bumpy she'll likely balk. Its rare for even a timid flyer to get freaked out over a completely smooth ride.

I made the mistake of taking my girl for a first flight on a hot saturday afternoon just after I got my PP. it was bumpy, she got sick and didn't like it. I took her for a sunset flight a few weeks later and she loved it.
 
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Try to get a landing at a different airport more than 50nm from home on each flight to build good experience as well as XC PIC time for your IR.

As for the girlfriend, if you're serious about flying, either get her past her concerns or risk AIDS (Aviation-Induced Divorce Syndrome) later.
 
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The first flight I took after getting my ticket was on a very hot day with my wife, who was terrified of flying. Bad move on my part. the turbulence was awful and I got dog sick.

After that experience it was baby steps to get her flying again. I talked her into doing pattern work. Told her we would always be withing landing distance and if things got bumpy or went bad in a different way we were only 2 minutes from terra firma. After a few pattern flights I picked a really smooth early morning to fly to a nearby airport. This was followed up with a realy smooth evening flight.

My wife has always been terrified of commercial airlines. She felt every bump and freaked out with every sound. After flying in 172s and Warriors she has no problem at all with commercial travel. It's great.

Another idea is to have your girlfriend get in the plane and try to Taxi. We all know how hard it is and she would probably have fun trying it for herself. Let her taxi around then drop her off so that she can watch you do pattern work. This would get her comfortable with the airplane without having to actually leave the ground.
 
dwalt said:
Arrived to the DPE yesterday with 40.0 in the logbook...left with 41.0 and with my ticket!! But now what to do...

Once I save up some more I'll start my instrument, but in the meantime I feel like it's going to be so strange not "needing" to go build time or take lessons.

Also...any advice on getting a terrified girlfriend up in the air with you?
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Concentrate on trips that have a stop more than 50NM from your point of departure so that you can work toward the 50 XC hours you'll need for your commercial and your IR.

Find out why she is scared to fly, so you can get her to knock out those XC hours with you.
 
dwalt said:
Arrived to the DPE yesterday with 40.0 in the logbook...left with 41.0 and with my ticket!! But now what to do...

Once I save up some more I'll start my instrument, but in the meantime I feel like it's going to be so strange not "needing" to go build time or take lessons.

Also...any advice on getting a terrified girlfriend up in the air with you?
Click to expand...

Lucky dog...I have twice your hours and am still not there :/

Anyway, I got lucky with my ex girlfriend...she LOVED flying. She thought it was really fun...I soon realized not everyone was like this, as my buddy's wife says she'll NEVER get in a plane with me at the yoke :D
 
My gf's first flight was with my father at the controls (1st time), a CFI, me and her in the back. I loved it, since I had previous experience, she hated it.

But she gave it few more tries when I went for my training. And monotony of pattern work actually made her fall asleep. So now she's calm as you can be in a plane. Few times I look at her and she's doing a crossword puzzle...

Other people, however, for some reason think that if plane is not as big as a Boeing 7x7, the moment it leaves the ground, it will break to pieces, fall in a swamp, where alligators will eat us all.
 
Meanee said:
Other people, however, for some reason think that if plane is not as big as a Boeing 7x7, the moment it leaves the ground, it will break to pieces, fall in a swamp, where alligators will eat us all.
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Ya know, this is possible. It's a darn good thing I live in an arid state so there are no alligators...

:D
 
Meanee said:
My gf's first flight was with my father at the controls (1st time), a CFI, me and her in the back. I loved it, since I had previous experience, she hated it.

But she gave it few more tries when I went for my training. And monotony of pattern work actually made her fall asleep. So now she's calm as you can be in a plane. Few times I look at her and she's doing a crossword puzzle...

Other people, however, for some reason think that if plane is not as big as a Boeing 7x7, the moment it leaves the ground, it will break to pieces, fall in a swamp, where alligators will eat us all.
Click to expand...

One of my A&P instructors was afraid of GA aircraft...her father had a Tri-Pacer and she was terrified of it. She referred to GA as "death traps". I expect this from most "civilians", but never would've expected it from anyone with an FAA cert. :idea:
 
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