My wife finally landed the plane. :)

FlyingMonkey

FlyingMonkey

Pre-takeoff checklist
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FlyingMonkey
My wife has been working on a “pinch hitter” course with CFI Jason Miller of the Finer Points. She went from being terrified of flying to actually enjoying it. The experience has changed her excitement to fly on family trips. Hope you enjoy her journey in this video.

I thought I'd hate this- Learning to FLY our Cherokee 6.
 
Nice job, now you have a back seat driver.



Edit, the nice job was for your wife, I reread it and it didn't sound that way, so to your wife, Congratulations and well done. You've got a few hours toward your private now.
 
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Wooh! Congrats to both of you! Hindsight being what it is, the Challenger would have been the one to get the feel for things instead of the Cherokee Heavy. I learned in the six and bought a 180. So much right rudder in comparison. Controls are more firm. Still fly the Six for trips. But the 180 is really fun being so light to control.
 
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CONGRATS!!! Good Job, I couldn't ride along, I'd be a nervous wreck.
 
Good on you for doing this!

My bride has agreed to do the same, but somehow, it has just never happened.
 
Mine took such a course from the 99’s (great organization by the way). She can dial in transponder codes, and change frequencies on the radios. She is fantastic at spotting traffic and calling it out. But actually fly the plane, much less land it, ain’t gonna happen. I’ve tried to get her to simply follow me on the yoke and rudder through straight and level flight, gentle turns, climbs and descents. Nope, no. Even offered to have a female CFI teach her some basics. Nyet, nada.
 
My wife won't even drive my Jeep let alone fly a plane.
 
[mention]FlyingMonkey [/mention] I’m a new PPL with a wife who is pretty uncomfortable in small planes. Your videos (and Jason’s - what a slick idea!) have been just incredible to watch. There were points in both of your videos that brought literal tears to my eyes. Thanks to you and Poppins for sharing that journey with us all!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
“We’ll inspect the gear.”

Great job all around from student pilot to filmmaking!
 
Half Fast said:
Wives are like airplanes - the acquisition cost is nothing compared to the maintenance cost!
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I was going to say that "Spouses are like a lease on an Italian sports car - exciting to have/spend time with, high maintenance cost, and early lease termination comes at a HUGE cost." :p

Just kidding... sort of. My wife is a blessing and my best friend. And even she would agree to the above statement for some people. ;)

@FlyingMonkey: Great job having your wife learn to fly and enjoy flying! I can't get my wife to drive on the freeway, let alone fly with me. I need to get my wife talking to your wife!
 
steingar said:
Been married 30 years dumbass. What none of you get is spouses all have fixed costs. @FlyingMonkey has a spouse that can now fly and airplane, making her an autopilot. All he had to pay for was a CFI for a couple hours. Even experimental autopilots cost more that that.
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I can guarantee a new autopilot going in my plane will be cheaper than acquring and keeping a spouse. I calculated dating costs after it was over with my fiancee. And we hadn't even gotten to the marriage portion. Autopilot is cheaper. Fixed costs are still costs. Then you have recurring costs, increase in electricity and utilities usage, insurance increases, an extra vehicle, etc. The autopilot is cheaper six ways from Sunday.
 
EdFred said:
I can guarantee a new autopilot going in my plane will be cheaper than acquring and keeping a spouse. I calculated dating costs after it was over with my fiancee. And we hadn't even gotten to the marriage portion. Fixed costs are still costs. The autopilot is cheaper six ways from Sunday.
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Ahh the math deficient. Gotta love ‘em. Spouses are expensive, won’t deny it. Not having a spouse has its own cost that can’t be measured monetarily. I would expound, but I’m more getting into philosophy. If you don’t get it no amount of explaining will suffice. A spouse who can take the yoke, follow a heading, and even land the airplane is no more expensive than one who can’t do these things, but can function as an autopilot. A bargain in the Book of Steingar.

This thread has yielded one enormous surprise. There was a woman who at some point wanted to marry Ed. Quite the surprise, even in Michigan.
 
My math is solid, it's your comprehension of costs of acquisition that are failing. Right now an autopilot can get acquired and installed in the Comanche for less than 10k (ok in a couple months when the STC is approved.) Cost of acquistion of a wife is going to be much much much higher.

Now lets talk about maintenance cost for the autopilot. Minimal to none. Maintenance cost for the wife? Well over the purchase price of autopilot PER YEAR.

And if the autopilot fails the replacement cost will still be under 10k. If the wife fails the replacement cost will be 1-2 orders of magnitude higher. But yeah, I'm the one that's deficient at math.

It's a wonder they let you teach, but then again it is at OSU, so not a surprise.
 
Come on Ed, you have to admit, that last line was funny.

A good wife "costs" practically nothing, but makes life a whole lot better. The key is to get along before you get married, if you are not happy and fighting before marriage, run away.
 
Eric, are you sure Jason didn't give Poppins the landing because he didn't want the credit for a hard one? Just kidding, well done, all three of you.
 
Cogito said:
Eric, are you sure Jason didn't give Poppins the landing because he didn't want the credit for a hard one? Just kidding, well done, all three of you.
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It didn’t even look THAT hard


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Not exactly Rashomon, but Jason's film and your film definitely have different perspectives. His is more about the process of teaching and learning, yours is more about the emotional journey your wife is going through to achieve her goal.

Have any pinch-hitter instructors ever taught flying the plane right onto the runway? I understand it could be dangerous to have too much speed, but landing at a full stall, which is what Jason appears to be teaching, can be trickier and requires practice. He seems to be teaching her to become a private pilot not just to save her family if Eric has a heart attack. I've flown with Jason, I'm sure he's done the math.
 
From the Bible. “Always treasure a virtuous woman, for her price is greater than rubies.”

And, no, I don’t know Rubies’ price. ;)
 
AndyMac said:
[mention]FlyingMonkey [/mention] I’m a new PPL with a wife who is pretty uncomfortable in small planes. Your videos (and Jason’s - what a slick idea!) have been just incredible to watch. There were points in both of your videos that brought literal tears to my eyes. Thanks to you and Poppins for sharing that journey with us all!
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I'm so glad you enjoyed the videos. It means a lot to me to know that the video moved you in some way. Thank you for sharing that. It really does make the time and effort I put in worthwhile.

Cluemeister said:
“We’ll inspect the gear.”

Great job all around from student pilot to filmmaking!
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Thanks!

Cogito said:
Eric, are you sure Jason didn't give Poppins the landing because he didn't want the credit for a hard one? Just kidding, well done, all three of you.
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Haha that's really funny actually. :)

Cogito said:
Not exactly Rashomon, but Jason's film and your film definitely have different perspectives. His is more about the process of teaching and learning, yours is more about the emotional journey your wife is going through to achieve her goal.

Have any pinch-hitter instructors ever taught flying the plane right onto the runway? I understand it could be dangerous to have too much speed, but landing at a full stall, which is what Jason appears to be teaching, can be trickier and requires practice. He seems to be teaching her to become a private pilot not just to save her family if Eric has a heart attack. I've flown with Jason, I'm sure he's done the math.
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Love the Roshomon reference, being a USC film school graduate. LOL. He taught her to use an approach speed that is about 10 knots faster than what I would use on final. There is a good margin of safety built in and we discussed at length the idea that she is not getting power on or off stall training. I think it is a challenge as an instructor to figure out how to teach this and he talks about this in his companion videos. She does know that is she hears the beeping of the AOA indicator in her headset it is time to add plenty of power if landing, or pitch the nose down on takeoff when full power is already applied. She is definitely not trying to grease it and using mostly 2 notches of flaps and trying to get to a long and wide runway. It's a good discussion about what the curriculum for something like this should or should not include.
 
So... when's she starting her PPL training?
 
AirHare said:
So... when's she starting her PPL training?
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Step 1 - she gets ppl
Step 2 - she flys the plane more than you
Step 3 - you have to ask to fly her plane
Step 4 - you become a trophy husband.......
 
@WDD : Think of all the positive benefits of that... Imagine your wife coming to YOU and saying, "Honey, I think we should get a bigger/nicer/faster airplane." Not exactly a bad situation to be in.
 
EdFred said:
My math is solid.
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Your math is not solid. You have to factor in some spouses work and make good money! My 1st wife was a total financial drain! But, I learned my lessons and my 2nd wife actually makes more money than I do. Spouses are like anything else, you have to shop around till you find one that meets ALL your needs. They are out their, you just gota find one.
 
AlphaMike said:
Your math is not solid. You have to factor in some spouses work and make good money! My 1st wife was a total financial drain! But, I learned my lessons and my 2nd wife actually makes more money than I do. Spouses are like anything else, you have to shop around till you find one that meets ALL your needs. They are out their, you just gota find one.
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Some, not all. And divorce rate is 50% (your situation reinforces that). Couple those two factors combined with the chances of me finding someone who makes more than I do is essentially 0. I stand by my assertion.
 
AlphaMike said:
Your math is not solid. You have to factor in some spouses work and make good money! My 1st wife was a total financial drain! But, I learned my lessons and my 2nd wife actually makes more money than I do. Spouses are like anything else, you have to shop around till you find one that meets ALL your needs. They are out their, you just gota find one.
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E Harmony vs Experian Credit Scoring .........
 
WDD said:
E Harmony vs Experian Credit Scoring .........
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Believe it or not, there are some dating services that do check credit score and w2s. Funny as that sounds but it’s real. A friend of mine was using some service (“it’s just lunch” or something like that) and they would match him up with Women that had similar income. I’ve never used anything like that but it’s available.
 
This discussion has been funny.

I'm definitely the expensive one in our relationship, between all the stupidly expensive hobbies I have (though, since I haven't flown in forever, that hasn't been too much of a factor... the woodworking, though, has definitely made up for that). Plus, she makes 15% more than I do... and I make good money.

And money aside, as @steingar mentioned... some things can't be measured with dollar signs, and I am definitely a richer man in every way for having my wife in my life.

Congrats on getting your wife to be part of the cockpit team. That's pretty great stuff! Hope she goes all the way and gets her PPL.
 
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