Questions/Comments you receive (from non-pilots) about Flying/General Aviation

Coincidentally, last Friday was GOLD Day at Boon elementary school. A day where Sandra and I talk to successive groups of 4-6th graders about the fun of flying. Some sample questions from the Q&A at the end of the sessions:

Q. Have you ever crashed?
A. Obviously not, I am still here.

Q. How far can you fly with full gas?
A. Until my bladder is full.

Q. Doesn't flying a 45 year old airplane scare you?
A. (Long explanation of the difference between annual car inspection (30 minutes) vs annual airplane inspection (3 days))

And many many more from the 5 years we have done this.
 
Some recent ones:

"The reason flying is so dangerous is because the planes are so old and crappy."

"When you're up there, how do you even know where you're going!?"

"Those small planes crash every day."

"Wow this is so, so cool!"
 
The questions I get are benign. The most common questions are probably aren't you afraid and how do you guys know where you are up there.

I don't recall getting any funny or dumb questions.

What has surprised me is how many people, particularly grown men, are deathly afraid of small airplanes. I'd be willing to bet that on average women have less fear of being GA passengers than men. It might not sound true based on conversations but I think it would be true if there was a way to weed out who talked smack vs. who actually had the guts to climb aboard.
 
"Hi, I'm a pilot."

"Oh, really! Here's my phone number, email, instant message handle, home address, dress size, and schedule for the month!"


Yeah. Right.
 
From my wife:

Before I fly with you , we need to get life insurance and will drawn up ....



Last week, I'll fly with you and Anthony or anyone else , but (see above) before I fly with just you.




Isn't your spouse supposed to be supportive? :dunno:
 
cavmedic said:
From my wife:

Before I fly with you , we need to get life insurance and will drawn up ....



Last week, I'll fly with you and Anthony or anyone else , but (see above) before I fly with just you.




Isn't your spouse supposed to be supportive? :dunno:
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:rofl:

My spouse will fly with me anytime. My parents on the other hand will not. Two coworkers have asked to go up. One did and brought along his daughter. The other canceled at the last minute and admitted that he was afraid. That was despite being an accomplished RC pilot so his GA fear really surprised me.
 
I don't think that the fear is a gender thing. My ex-wife will fly with me, as well as my son. My last girlfriend would not. I have had one woman I was dating in the last two years that would. I think that was Sac Arrow's point.
 
I have experienced TWO instances (one a co-worker, one a vendor of mine) where people worried or THOUGHT IT WAS ME when a plane crashed. They fear for me. Not good.
 
"How high do you cruise at?"

"Oh, around 8000 feet usually."

"That's good. So you can bail out from up there if you hit bad turbulence and the plane stalls out right"
 
John221us said:
I don't think that the fear is a gender thing. My ex-wife will fly with me, as well as my son. My last girlfriend would not. I have had one woman I was dating in the last two years that would. I think that was Sac Arrow's point.
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I don't think I could date someone who would not go flying with me.
 
I tend to get two types of questions:

1) How much does it cost?
2) You mean you are allowed to fly there?

--

And the comments are things like:

Huh, I never thought about how far you can go at 130mph in a straight line.
 
I deal with a lot of foreign businessmen, and they are almost universally amazed at our cheap (to them) cost to fly, and the fact that we can just get in, crank up, and go somewhere without requesting permission from "the authorities" first.

I have one Indonesian gentleman who now refuses to do business with me after he found out I'm building an experimental aircraft - he is certain that I will be "found out" at some point and jailed for eternity for daring such a thing, and wants no association with me.
 
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dell30rb said:
I don't think I could date someone who would not go flying with me.
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It is not quite that black and white. They usually say someday, maybe, or eventually (and probably meant it at the time), it just doesn't end up happening. By the time you realize they aren't going to fly with you, there are actual feelings and relationships to deal with. Limiting the dating pool to women who will climb in a plane with you on the second date kind of limits the pool.
 
I recently did video interviews fishing for these types of responses. The best one - one guy thought if you didn't have a flight plan, you were going to jail. period. I was actually surprised on a lot of the responses being close to accurate, decent guesses.
 
John221us said:
It is not quite that black and white. They usually say someday, maybe, or eventually (and probably meant it at the time), it just doesn't end up happening. By the time you realize they aren't going to fly with you, there are actual feelings and relationships to deal with. Limiting the dating pool to women who will climb in a plane with you on the second date kind of limits the pool.
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That's why you take them flying on a first date :)
 
Where did the silly notion of needing a flight plan ever come from? I've heard it repeatedly and passengers are amazed that I can just go out and fly my plane anytime I want.

My daughter with a BS in hard sciences said "and that little propeller is the only thing holding you in the sky?"

My wife, who's training to be a sport pilot, asks hundreds of intelligent questions, oftentimes sending me to the FAR/AIM and other reference books and causing me to have to *learn* things rather than regurgitate the study guide answers. Yesterday morning was a 20 minute discussion of CAS vs TAS.
 
Old Geek said:
Where did the silly notion of needing a flight plan ever come from? I've heard it repeatedly and passengers are amazed that I can just go out and fly my plane anytime I want.
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the incident in Austin a few yearss ago of Cherokee vs, IRS building didn't help that very much. The newsies kept repeating how the pilot left Georgetown without filing a flight plan. The public didn't respond well about the freedom we enjoy to fly anywhere we wish without ATC being "properly" informed.
 
"Is your name Orville?"
 
Can you do that (pointing at a picture of an inverted Pitts)? I fly a Cherokee 140.
 
Old Geek said:
Sounds like it's time to start looking for a higher class of pax.
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Not a chance, degenerates spend money and have fun, if you're with them, you're invited to come. My degenerate clients are salt of the Earth, they truly are, their values may not coincide with all of yours, but when the are 'f-ing' someone, it comes with a 'happy ending', not some poor schmo in the poor house.
 
"When you come back do you need to make that much wind?" This from a yacht after we dropped our swimmer on board to check out a passenger with chest pains. :dunno:
 
Hmmmm... I have heard from friends growing up "Holy s-t! They let you fly?"
 
Henning said:
The last time I was a Mustang Ranch the IRS was managing the place...:rofl::rofl::rofl:
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There was a fun NPR show about that, and I think CNBC's American Greed also covered that period of the Mustang's history in one of their episodes.

Quite the social and economic oddity that prostitution is legal in portions of Nevada and fairly well regulated by government. It's fun trivia when someone says offhandedly in some political or social issues discussion that "prostitution is illegal in the U.S.".

Well... Actually... No... It's not... everywhere.

The more flabbergasted ones will usually say something like, "No that ended long ago!"

Actually, no... It didn't.

The abandoned airfields website guesses that the developer of the nearby Parumph airport somehow got the Chicken Ranch to close their airstrip, but I suspect that the Internet and digital cameras had a whole lot more to do with it.
 
Henning said:
"Are there any airports with whorehouses around here?"
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Sure...

W00, CGS, VKX, W32 are all within an easy drive, DCA a little further out. There are doubtless numerous states with similar arrangements.
 
My most frequent questions...

"Do you wear a parachute?"
"You mean you can just land anywhere?" (No, I pretty much need to see a runway first.)
"Aren't you afraid you're going to die?" (No, I'm certain of it, but I'm pretty sure it won't be while I'm flying.)
 
wabower said:
"Is your name Orville?"
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I think for you, it would be, "how long does it take to polish your entire airplane?"


I frequently share the story you told me three years ago when I got my first ride in your 180. How when it was a "normal" paint job, no one gave you a second glance. Now, with it all polished aluminum, every one takes a sec to look and nealy always gives you a wave.
 
kimberlyanne546 said:
This is most likely what my friends want to say to my face. But they're too polite.
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Not mine lol, but then they're used to seeing anything I got airborne to end in a ballistic trajectory to hell... RIP you poor old cars.:rofl::rofl::rofl:
 
"You're training to be a pilot? So are you going to fly for the airlines?"

or

"So once you're a pilot, can you fly the jets right away?"
 
cavmedic said:
From my wife:

Last week, I'll fly with you and Anthony or anyone else , but (see above) before I fly with just you.
Click to expand...


I think your wife may be the bravest individual in which I have EVER heard.


:D
 
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