Pinch Hitter course

labbadabba

labbadabba

Pattern Altitude
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Aug 12, 2014
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Lawrence, KS
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labbadabba
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KIXD, KLWC
My Mother-in-law is terrified about me flying my family. She is convinced that my heart will explode in my chest the moment we're airborne. My wife has never flown with me, nor does she have any interest in becoming a pilot (she wouldn't get past the medical anyway, I suppose I could convince her to get a sport rating...). But I did mention the Pinch Hitter thing that AOPA has been pushing and she seem interested. Now that I'm nearing the completion of my IR she's open to flying with me.

How do I arrange that? Is that something CFIs have in their back pocket in terms of a set curriculum?
 
A couple of CFI's Ive talked to about it dont have any set curriculum ready. Both were willing to do some sort of course. I think I would sit down and talk to them and my wife about what they were going to be doing beforehand.

Like I said in the other thread, when we fly I usually have my wife do little things like changing freqs, setting the GPS, and flying sometimes. It gets her more comfortable and she knows where things are.
 
Many years ago, one of the local FBOs had a pinch hitter course. My wife agreed to take it. She nearly lost it when she found out it wasn't just classroom training. But she did it. She learned the basics of using the radio, straight and level flight, and practiced a few landings. I had deliberately chosen a young, soft spoken, female, CFI. I think that made a difference.

https://www.aopa.org/asf/publications/inst_reports2.cfm?article=4375
 
My wife did one put on by an AOPA or EAA group. She and her friend (also wife of a pilot) enjoyed it. It was all ground school, though, so no learning to fly the plane. They concentrated on basic forces of flight, definition of a stall, emergency communications, etc. It has made her a bit more comfortable. She now knows that when the throttle closes, we don't fall out of the sky and that I bank to turn, not to scare her.

It was in a group, so I think that was helpful. One on one probably wouldn't be as good.
 
I recommend sometime in an airplane even if you have to arrange outside of the course.
 
Margy was ready to do a pinch hitter course when we left Oshkosh the first year. But by the time she got home she decided to just get her private.
 
I had my CFI work with my wife for a few lessons, we didn't call it pinch hitter but we did outline a basic training idea that wasn't the end goal of getting her PPL. She had gotten spooked during a cross country flight when we ran into some turbulence. A front had gone through the night before and it was fine the first hour or so but the last hour was bumpy as heck. I tried climbing and slowing down but I couldn't find any smooth air, I offered to land but she said she was OK. We were never in trouble but it was bumpy as heck. She almost didn't get back in the plane for the return trip a couple days later, which turned out to be a smooth ride all the way back.

She did a lot of pattern work and basic maneuvers but it took her 7 or 8 lessons just to get where she wasn't scared to death. I don't think she ever landed it completely by herself. The last lesson or two, she finally started to learn but she had to return to work and has been unable to "find" the time for more lessons. I really wanted it for her much more than she wanted to study and become a pilot. You can't want it for anyone, at least now she is comfortable flying with me. I think she could get it on the ground if she had to do it, her approaches are flawless and she can fly the plane...somewhat.

I think it's a good idea for anyone that is going to fly a good bit to be able to handle the basics of maneuvers, traffic patterns, stalls, radio communication and especially landing. Pinch Hitting sounds like a good idea to me.
 
flyingron said:
Margy was ready to do a pinch hitter course when we left Oshkosh the first year. But by the time she got home she decided to just get her private.
Click to expand...

That's awesome, and it would be a dream come true for me.
 
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