First Passengers

I

ISPYFROMABOVE

Filing Flight Plan
Joined
Jun 17, 2012
Messages
20
Location
Yucaipa
Display Name
Display name:
S. Halbert
Well. It's finally happened. I've been lurking around a bit, reading about other recently minted private pilots who experienced flying with their first passengers, as well as the tips about first PAX flying from the more seasoned folks. I had the privelege of flying my first passengers yesterday.

I've been a Private Pilot for about 7 months, but i've continued my training and hadn't really had an opportunity to fly for fun until now. I banged out my Private ASEL and AMEL last year and finished my Instrument rating early in January. After that I immediately started preparing for the commercial ratings, finishing my commercial in both single and multi last month. I've got a little over 200 hrs, devided up fairly equally between C-172, and PA-44, plus a little over 50 hrs in an FTD.

Most of my flying lately has been out of KRAL (riverside Municipal in Southern California). KREI (Redlands Municipal) is closer to home for me, so I visited the flight school there, and ended up joining one of the local flying clubs. I got checked out in their 172's the same day. That was last thursday. Since I recieved my initial PPL last year, my mother has been jumping up and down, hounding me about taking her flying. She is/ was a glider pilot, so having her son chase the sky around didn't bother her. I've been so busy with flying, work, marriage, and well.... life in general, that I hadn't really had the chance to have fun in a while. So yesterday at about 10 AM, my mom, my brother, and my 94 year old grandpa showed up at the airport for some flying.

We took up C-172 N54844. We had to go up 3 at a time, all 4 of us would have put us 50 LBS over max gross:mad2: Oh well. mom in the right seat, grandpa in the back and me left seat, we take off out of KREI, transition through KSBD's class D airspace in our climb, and level off at 4500' headed west. I picked up flight following and advised the controller that we would be headed to KCCB (cable airport) then down to KRAL and that I would like to get a VFR practice approach into KRAL. Mom was interested to see what the IFR flying was about. Got vectors to final after KCCB, lined up on the localizer and was cleared for the ILS 9 approach into KRAL near KCNO (chino). The haze yesterday limited visibility to about 4 miles, so mom got to see how we use the glide slope and localizer to line up with the runway etc. Every time I looked in the back seat, grandpa had a smile from ear to ear. Traffic was using runway 27 at KRAL, so we circled south well above minimumns. I broke off the approach at pattern altitude, entered left traffic for 27 and completed a nice greaser onto 27 at KRAL. Taxied back and departed VFR to return to KREI. Once out of the pattern I let mom take the controls and fly us back up to KREI. Her comment was something like "boy this doesn't feel much like a sail plane". The landing at KREI was uneventfull and the hobbs showed about .9 hrs. I shut the airplane down, mom jumped out and my brother jumped in. Grandpa stayed glued to the back seat. Took off from KREI and went to the east this time. flew over downtown redlands, a little into Yucaipa, and then turned and went to KSBD. We did some pattern work at KSBD before returning to KREI. Again, the landings were uneventfull. Everyone was happy and giddy from the flight. Total for both flights was 1.8 hrs. Even with my Commercial rating, this was a big step. I never doubted that I could operate the airplane safely with passengers. But since I haden't yet had the opportunity to do it, this experience was great. Now I have to figure out a way to coax the wife into the cockpit.
 
Good for you. Some of our best flights were with Great Grandmother (93). For your wife, plan a flight to some great airport restaurant and a romantic dinner for two.
 
Waiting so long was more of a necessity than an option. I have way too many things on my plate most of the time, and I haven't had a weekend off where I had time and money available to get it done. Most of my resources were tied up at my flight school (that doesn't rent for anything other than instruction), or in my house which i'm trying to finish renovations on so that I can get it rented and move into a second home my wife and I are purchasing. We both work full time, go to school, run a small 501 c 3 non profit, etc. etc. etc. So time is one of those things that I have to schedule months in advance. I am glad that I didn't take them up directly after recieving my PPL. I was amazed to learn just how much I didn't know as a Private Pilot when I started my intsrument rating, and again when I began working on my commercial ratings. I know I could have flown them safely back then, but I think that I'm certainly more prepared and professional at it now, and as a result, that added to the safety margine a bit.
 
Sounds like you have it together pretty well, what mental defect do you have then that made you decide to become a pilot?:D;)
 
HA..... I think I have a natural aversion to having too much time and money.

Like many others, i got bit by the bug early on. It's in my blood. Both parents were glider pilots. Their sailplane (lk-15 "nugget") is hanging in the National Soaring Museum. They got out of flying when mom was pregnant with me. Well...... out of full scale flying anyway. My choldhood was full of controll line and RC airplanes. Dad was always teaching us about aeordynamics, aircraft design, etc. I grew up with it as part of my general knowledge. In high school I was in Civil Air Patrol as well as AFJROTC, so flying is just one of those things that I always new I needed to be doing.
 
What a fantastic experience. Right after I got my PPL I took my wife up in the 152 I owned at the time, not sure who was more nervous, me or her. Maybe if I can someday get my commercial I'll be in a better position to convince the rest of my family to go up for a spin as well.
 
My mother was my first passenger. She was terrified, but loved her son more...

Thanks mom... RIP
 
My first passenger was my wife. She is awesome. The first approach with her ended up being a long straight in which I was less familiar with at the time and I was displeased with the approach crossing the fence and did a go-around. Kudos to her for not freaking out and I went around the pattern and made a great landing.

More recently I've been teaching her a bit (with her in the right seat) although this has been limited to straight and level, turns, and descents in the practice area for now. She is interested in at least getting to the point of making a "pinch hitter" landing. We tried some more practice today but it was a lot bumpier and she said with her level of experience it made it quite hard to tell if she was doing something wrong or if it was the conditions - lots of control chasing. So we turned in for today but she is still interested in trying again on a calmer day.

Sharing the joy of flight with other people is one of my favorite aspects of aviation.
 
My mom on the other hand... is claustrophobic and I don't think she would ever be comfortable flying in the Cardinal (and the Cardinal is pretty easy to get in and out of). I doubt she would be comfortable flying in anything less than a bizjet... oh well.
 
One grandma, one sister, dad, and of course, Karen have all flown with me. It's great to share flight with family. Mom says she will go, but she wasn't as interested years ago.

Must be warming up to it after watching me fly for a couple of decades. ;)
 
My first passenger was my buddy Rod who could not wait, we were up literally 45 minutes after my check ride, then I took off and headed to visit friends and Family back east, second passenger was my dad who though not a pilot is in a way responsible for me flying, seems it's in the extended family, his uncle gave me my first stick time in a 206 on floats when I was 4 or so, gave me my first helm time in a boat on the same visit. Dad used to also take me to small airports to look at planes and we'd take scenic flights when on vacation or just for fun.

It was 6 months later in my own plane before I could get mom in, bless her she's a white knuckle flier in a transport jet. She did ok though.

Whenever I visit St Louis, I always end up taking up friends who always enjoy it. It's a lot of fun taking em up since most of them are gear heads like me who love a fine machine regardless what it does.
 
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rainsux said:
I like Rick Durden's thoughts on first flights:

http://www.avweb.com/news/pilotlounge/182673-1.html
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I read this last week. I was voraciously tearing appart the internet looking for articles relating to flying passengers for the first time. I enjoyed this article. I've flown with someone who liked to fly low and fast through the bumps. Anyone familiar with the southern california area and "Banning Pass" in particular know what i'm talking about. On one particular flight with this person, we needed to get back to KRAL quickly in order to return an airplane on time. It was his rental, and I wasn't a licensed or even a student pilot yet. We came out of KPSP (palm springs), and stayed at 2000 msl. This was in may, it was hot, all the "windmills" (Palm Springs has thousands and thousands of electric generating wind turbines) were spinning away, and he refused to climb out of 2000' We were paralleling the mountains south of the 10 freeway flying WOT. Had i known then what I know now I would have found a way to encourage/ force him to pull the power back and get away from the yellow arc on the ASI because the turbulence we were flying through was bad. I think we went 40 - 60 degrees of bank on several occasions, and I hit my head on the ceiling of the 172 more than a few times even though I had tightened my seatbelt as much as i could. I don't fly with this individual anymore.

That was the last person I wanted to fly with. Heck, i love flying, but that one flight and pilot almost turned me off to it. The last thing I wanted to do was turn any of my family away from aviation. And I especially didn't want them to dislike flying with me. I took it smooth, enjoyed the nice weather and stayed well above the bumpies untill it was time for landing. Even then, the only real lifting air we ran throug was on downwind for KSBD where there are a few wherehouses that have a crapload of solar panels on the roof. That dark mass on the top of the building always creates some interesting bumps as the air heats up and screams up off the roof.
 
I try to exclaim phrases like "Oh sh*t!" or G*d Damnit every once in a while because I am a little high on approach or forget a frequency or something.


:D
 
One explative clearing my lips would have produced the fingerwave:nono: followed by a thump on the head by my mother. While i'm not averse to using "colorful metaphore" from time to time, they cause her to turn back into "mom" mode. She has no qualms about smacking her 30 year old son in the back of the head for using profanity.
 
Anthony said:
I try to exclaim phrases like "Oh sh*t!" or G*d Damnit every once in a while because I am a little high on approach or forget a frequency or something.


:D
Click to expand...

"Holy Mother of God, we're going to DIE!!!"
 
Anthony said:
I try to exclaim phrases like "Oh sh*t!" or G*d Damnit every once in a while because I am a little high on approach or forget a frequency or something.


:D
Click to expand...
Seriously, I thought I was the only one. "OH &*(& MOTHER &$#*$ CRAP" because I had to make a minor heading adjustment :yikes:
 
Anthony said:
I try to exclaim phrases like "Oh sh*t!" or G*d Damnit every once in a while because I am a little high on approach or forget a frequency or something.


:D
Click to expand...


Kinda like being under your panel snipping zip ties and saying , oh ****, what was that wire for. :yikes:
 
Yeah, I learned early on that muttering some expletive under my breath for a minor faux pas in technique caused passenger to go into a frenzied panic.

I try not to do that now.

I thought you get a fuel line Keith. :D
 
Yep, pilot attitude is everything. "Are we supposed to be upside down with the wing bent like that?" " Yeah, no worries, it's all good, we'll be landing here in a moment anyway."
 
My friend tagged along on my first dual X-C. On the return home, I was too high on final and decided to go around. My friend says that my exact words to my CFI were, "We're not going to make it." My friend later told me that he freaked out when I said it, although he kept his mouth shut at the time. I learned a lesson in watching what you say with non-pilot passengers on board.
 
Stuff I like to do is to discuss the latest NTSB accident reports, especially ones in similar planes to the one I'm flying. I also like to crack jokes like "We've just lost hydraulics" when something beeps (like an altitude alert). Of course I have no hydraulics but they don't know and it sounds impressive. I also ask them if their life insurance is current as we come in on final wobbling. My co-workers love flying with me.
 
denverpilot said:
One grandma, one sister, dad, and of course, Karen have all flown with me. It's great to share flight with family. Mom says she will go, but she wasn't as interested years ago.

Must be warming up to it after watching me fly for a couple of decades. ;)
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Never had family in my plane for a full flight, until last night (with the exception of one landing last year, 0.3 Hobbs). It was definitely different flying with cousin and Dad in the plane, than flying around with pilots I barely know. It was so comfortable being with them, in the air, especially my Dad. I hope more of my family gets over their fear of flying and comes with me. I know my uncle and I went to the airport last year but were fogged in, so I guess he is next.
 
Henning said:
Who did you throw out and from what altitude? :popcorn:
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Like I said, low ceilings left my Dad and I at the airport last year. Wanted him to be my first passenger, but his new wife wouldn't let him be one. By the time he drove all the way North (about 2-3 hours) the darned weather was nasty. Rather than send him home, I flew a hundred feet or so below TPA to stay my required distance from the clouds, and did one take off and landing. I don't consider that a "full flight" just "pattern work".
 
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