Message-ID: <362B380A.7D80@ibm.net>
Date: Mon, 19 Oct 1998 08:00:58 -0500
From: Snowbird <snbird@ibm.net>
Reply-To: snbird@ibm.net
X-Mailer: Mozilla 3.0 (Win95; I)
MIME-Version: 1.0
Newsgroups: rec.aviation.student
Subject: Re: Required FAA Briefing
References: <707q4k$qph$1@usenet41.supernews.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
NNTP-Posting-Host: 32.100.136.139
X-Trace: 19 Oct 1998 13:19:38 GMT, 32.100.136.139
Organization: IBM.NET
Lines: 57
X-Notice: Items posted that violate the IBM.NET Acceptable Use Policy
X-Notice: should be reported to postmaster@ibm.net
X-Complaints-To: postmaster@ibm.net
Path: news.jprc.com!dca1-feed2.news.digex.net!dca1-hub1.news.digex.net!digex!feeder.qis.net!news-b.ais.net!ais.net!newsm.ibm.net!ibm.net!news1.ibm.net!32.100.136.139
Xref: news.jprc.com rec.aviation.student:35844

Matthew Moore wrote:

> I have been training until recently at a Part 141 school.  Their 
> prestart checklist includes a statement about giving passengers a 
> required FAA briefing.  I asked my instructor who kind of mumbled 
> and said something about making sure the passenger knew the aircraft's > safety features and making sure they follow the PIC's instructions.  
> <...>
> I'm curious if there are any specific items that must be covered 
> in the brief and if there's anything that is not required but worth > mentioning.

Hi Matt,

To my knowledge the only FAA *required* instruction regards seatbelts.

Other info I think is worth mentioning:

Make sure first time passengers understand how the door works and 
can open it and shut it themselves.

If you have a fire extinguisher in the plane, point it out and 
explain its latching mechanism.  Everyone I've flown with seems
to find the presence of a fire extinguisher reassuring for some
reason.

For non-pilot passengers, I like to point out that the yoke and
pedals in front of them will do absolutely the same thing that
my controls will, and that many of the knobs on the dashboard 
control the engine, so they should be careful not to touch them.

For first time passengers, I like to emphasize that the point of
this is to have fun, and if they start feeling uncomfortable they
should tell me *at once* and not wait until they feel sick as we
can probably change simple things to prevent this. (I make sure I
have barf bags handy, but I don't mention them.  I also have a spare
water bottle and mint-flavor tums/crackers for nervous tummies).

I also like to explain that the air is a fluid with waves and
swirls in it, just like water except we can't see them; just
like a boat, the plane will hit a wave and feel a little bump.
Just like a boat, the plane is designed to ride the waves and
swirls safely.  This seems to help pax cope better with bumps
and such, some ask me "are we rising up a wave now?" "yep, exactly"

Oh, yes, before reducint power on descent it's also a good idea 
to explain that the power makes the plane go up, but it won't
stop flying without power.  Instead, it will gently float down.
So in order to descend and land, we have to take away power and
float down.  There are so many news clips which make it sound as
though the plane falls from the sky when the engine stops that
reduced engine noise can make some people quite nervous.

For an interesting example of a good passenger preflight briefing,
check out Tina Marie's web page, but I (durn) I don't have the
link -- Tina?

Snowbird

