My First Passengers (finally) after my PPL...

Hobobiker

Hobobiker

Line Up and Wait
Joined
Aug 2, 2012
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556
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Montpelier, OH
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Hobo
Checkride at 59 hours, and hit 77.x hours last week. I'd been holding out to make sure I was comfortable taking someone else up into the skies with me aside from my CFI friends. Finally, my 14-year old boy/girl twins got to visit me for a few days in PA (divorce situation, I usually go to the state of Indiana every other weekend to visit them). Well, Thursday had winds gusting to 30kts. I don't even fly in that stuff alone, so no way I was taking my kiddos up in that stuff. Friday was better with gusts at 15kts but right down the runway. I took both of them and my girlfriend to KOYM in Saint Marys, PA for lunch - W&B checked very carefully and it was a nice, cold "great for flying performance" kinda day.

My son helped me fly TO lunch, and my daughter took right seat and helped me fly BACK to Indiana, PA after lunch. Great experience for all of us, including my girlfriend who really doesn't like to fly but finally unpuckered and started to talk after we hit cruising altitude.

Of course, I had to hear from multiple family members the very next day of the Piper twin crash that killed four and left the 7-year old daughter. Ugh...RIP and hate it for the little girl and family members.
 
Sounds like a fun trip.

Flying your own plane is great isn't it?

I remind people that you hear about every single fatal GA accident on national news while probably five hundred people died in auto accidents during the same time frame from accident to accident.
 
Cool. As careful as you are now keep doing that. When it becomes 'routine' re-double your efforts.
 
I've only taken my dad up at 60 hours or so. Went to fly today with a friend and it was moderately windy and Unicom girl told me essentially a headwind at 10. Easy enough, so do my run up and I hear a guy coming in about 5 miles out. Unicom tells him 19 headwind. I watch him land, he coasts down the run way a bit crabbed and wobbly. I decide to hold off till another day. Gusts freak me out.
 
OkieAviator said:
I've only taken my dad up at 60 hours or so. Went to fly today with a friend and it was moderately windy and Unicom girl told me essentially a headwind at 10. Easy enough, so do my run up and I hear a guy coming in about 5 miles out. Unicom tells him 19 headwind. I watch him land, he coasts down the run way a bit crabbed and wobbly. I decide to hold off till another day. Gusts freak me out.
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Took my wife up for her first flight about a week post checkride. Wind was direct crosswind at 6 when we took off, it was 12G15 when we came back, it was an....interesting landing. I'll not do that again.
 
Back in the day, I took my check ride in the morning and took my wife for a ride in the afternoon. She had flown with me a bunch prior to that during lessons and at the time we had no kids so there was no issue with leaving them orphans.

Since I started flying again this year the only passenger I have taken so far is my 21 year old son who did fly with me once before but he was still in his mothers belly at the time.:D
 
Hobobiker said:
Checkride at 59 hours, and hit 77.x hours last week. I'd been holding out to make sure I was comfortable taking someone else up into the skies with me aside from my CFI friends. Finally, my 14-year old boy/girl twins got to visit me for a few days in PA (divorce situation, I usually go to the state of Indiana every other weekend to visit them). Well, Thursday had winds gusting to 30kts. I don't even fly in that stuff alone, so no way I was taking my kiddos up in that stuff. Friday was better with gusts at 15kts but right down the runway. I took both of them and my girlfriend to KOYM in Saint Marys, PA for lunch - W&B checked very carefully and it was a nice, cold "great for flying performance" kinda day.

My son helped me fly TO lunch, and my daughter took right seat and helped me fly BACK to Indiana, PA after lunch. Great experience for all of us, including my girlfriend who really doesn't like to fly but finally unpuckered and started to talk after we hit cruising altitude.

Of course, I had to hear from multiple family members the very next day of the Piper twin crash that killed four and left the 7-year old daughter. Ugh...RIP and hate it for the little girl and family members.
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Congratulations. I really enjoy the family trips and all of the planning that goes into them.

On the Piper crash...Don't run out of gas, fly into icing conditions, fly at night in MVFR or below, get out of glide range of a suitable lit landing spot at night, be afraid to declare and head to nearest airport or allow passengers to go without shoulder harnesses if equipped.
 
That's great that you waited until you had a good bit of experience to fly a passenger. I'll probably end up doing the same thing unless my passenger is experienced. My father and grandfather are both pilots, and they're at odds to see who will be the first up with me. :p

I'm so glad yall had a great time!
 
Plruleman said:
That's great that you waited until you had a good bit of experience to fly a passenger. I'll probably end up doing the same thing unless my passenger is experienced. My father and grandfather are both pilots, and they're at odds to see who will be the first up with me. :p

I'm so glad yall had a great time!
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Take them both at the same time after you fly some aft CG/near gross loads with your CFI and another pilot or two. It will fly alot different as you will see. Flying my family the first time was a big mistake, but my instructor never mentioned it and I did not know about POA in 2008. All went well, just not a good time to be going..."what the"....Take off roll/VS in climb sucked, glide ratio improved, stall speed increase, nose up trim barely needed and rollout longer. The one thing that helped and still applies today is the "sterile cockpit" on takeoff and landing unless calling out traffic or flames are observed. Have fun and stop in see us at PMH.
 
Firefighter_324 said:
Where do you fly to in Indiana ?
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The airport I fly out of is located in Indiana, PA (but I actually grew up in Osceola, IN - so it's comical conversation). So far I've stayed in the western PA and southwestern NY areas for my flights.
 
OkieAviator said:
I've only taken my dad up at 60 hours or so. Went to fly today with a friend and it was moderately windy and Unicom girl told me essentially a headwind at 10. Easy enough, so do my run up and I hear a guy coming in about 5 miles out. Unicom tells him 19 headwind. I watch him land, he coasts down the run way a bit crabbed and wobbly. I decide to hold off till another day. Gusts freak me out.
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Good call, but... (why is there allways a but?) One of these days you'll take off into severe clear and calm. While you're gone the wind will pick up to 15G45, and about 20* to the runway. Now what ya gonna do? You'll fly the airplane to a passable crosswind landing. I know, BTDT. :yes:
 
This is an interesting thread.

For the most part our passengers do not know what we know. They also do not know what we don't know and if we cut corners. They don't now if we are safe or not.

From reading your posts, I think I would feel comfortable letting my kids ride with you. You are not scraping by or making bad choices.

I got my ticket and I think within 2 weeks had flown ~5 people. I was safe or I think I was. I feel safer now and I know I made some bone headed mistakes between then and now.

It is unfortunate there is no way for pax to get an idea of how thorough, serious, safe their pilot is in GA. I heard it so many times "Well you wouldn't fly your kids if you thought something bad was going to happen" No, I wouldn't but that was their only barometer.

Anyway, this thread got me thinking a bunch.

Neither here or there but you should think about doing young eagle flights. I only know you from posting here but I think you are taking a very cautious approach and that is the kind of pilot we need at these events.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
This is an interesting thread.

For the most part our passengers do not know what we know. They also do not know what we don't know and if we cut corners. They don't now if we are safe or not.

From reading your posts, I think I would feel comfortable letting my kids ride with you. You are not scraping by or making bad choices.

I got my ticket and I think within 2 weeks had flown ~5 people. I was safe or I think I was. I feel safer now and I know I made some bone headed mistakes between then and now.

It is unfortunate there is no way for pax to get an idea of how thorough, serious, safe their pilot is in GA. I heard it so many times "Well you wouldn't fly your kids if you thought something bad was going to happen" No, I wouldn't but that was their only barometer.

Anyway, this thread got me thinking a bunch.

Neither here or there but you should think about doing young eagle flights. I only know you from posting here but I think you are taking a very cautious approach and that is the kind of pilot we need at these events.
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I didn't catch your response 'till just now, so I apologize for the late reply. I appreciate the "safe" comments, and that's exactly what I'm striving for, but I also know that becoming OCD about it has diminishing returns - even the safest pilots can encounter difficult circumstances and have a bad day. I will say that this forum has been a GREAT resource to a newbie like me and has taught me things that just don't appear in books verbatim. Your posts are among those that "get you thinking" and smiling at the same time, so keep it up B!
 
Hobobiker said:
Of course, I had to hear from multiple family members the very next day of the Piper twin crash that killed four and left the 7-year old daughter. Ugh...RIP and hate it for the little girl and family members.
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Get used to that...

"Oh so i've heard you are a pilot? What do you think about that crash, you know the one..."
 
My 4 y.o. son was my first passenger, it's a great satisfaction to get to share those moments, especially with your kids.

Never forget every flight is a learning experience and there is really no value at all in cutting corners. He's almost to the point that he knows the walk around, fuel check and checklist routines as good as I do! Although I still use the list to verify. He still hasn't learned what it means to have a sterile cockpit, thank god for isolate!
 
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