Message-ID: <36F5C4D2.78D2B492@paonline.com>
Date: Sun, 21 Mar 1999 23:19:30 -0500
From: Tom Boch <tbch@paonline.com>
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Subject: Re: Took my 1st pax! - finally!
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My first flight with a passenger was not so nice (or romantic).  It was my
dad.  He had always been supportive of my flying ambitions, even buying me
TWO ultralight aircraft when I was a teenager.  I never got them off the
ground but did a hell of a lot of taxiing.  (I think I wore permanent ruts
in the field's grass runway).  Well, after getting my PPL he agreed to go up
with me.  It was in a C-152, and he is a large man (~280 lbs).  I literally
had to sit on half a seat.  It was difficult to manipulate the controls.
Also, we were right at gross.  It took a lot more runway to get off the
ground, and climb was anemic (I was used to having a 140 lb. instructor on
board).  My dad gets very nervous in airliners (he stuffs earplugs in his
ears and wears sunglasses to try to block out as much as he can).  He held
a death grip on the vertical post during the entire trip around the
pattern.  The flight was no more than 5 minutes, but I knew he'd had
enough.  He was more than happy to get out.  However, I was happy to have
been able to prove to him that all of his and my efforts had finally paid
off.

My most rewarding passenger experience was with my grandfather.  He was an
airplane mechanic in WWII stationed in the South Pacific and has tons of
stories of going up with military pilots for post-maintenance checkrides.  I
think his ride with me was his first non-commercial flight since the War.  I
flew him over his hometown and over his house.  After landing he was very
excited about the experience and said it brought back a lot of memories.  I
hadn't seen him this excited or animated in many years.  My grandmother
later told me that he couldn't stop talking about the flight for days
afterwards.  He recently had a stroke and for a while we weren't sure he was
going to make it.  When I visited him in the hospital, the first thing he
asked me was to take him flying as soon as he got better.  I can't wait to
go back to their hometown and take him up again this spring.

St Stephen Ames wrote:

> Today was a great day!...Finally got to take my first pax up with me and
> thank god it turned out to be my wife...I have had to bump 4 previous
> flights due to wx and today was just as perfect as it could be, clear,
> light winds right down the runway and my wife was willing to go(and she
> knows me)!...I arrived an hour early to preflight and make sure there
> was no frost on the plane so when she arrived we could get as much time
> in the air as possible...Sure enough there was a little frost but it
> burned off quite quickly...I was so nervous I couldn't talk to the
> usuals and I was actually shaking somewhat...Anyone else been this
> nervous with their loved ones?...When she arrived my heart started
> pounding, I wanted to impress her and let her know alot of her money was
> well spent...We loaded in the plane and I did my pre-start cklist,
> making sure I let her know everything I was checking and why, started
> the engine, let it warm up and headed to the runup area...I could tell
> she was either a little excited or nervous(probably alot of both) and
> again I let her know everything I was doing and why as I prepped us for
> takeoff...When I was done the last of the cklist my heart started that
> pumping again and I said to her "Here we go, this is what it's all
> about!" and announced and took the active, gave it full throttle,
> checked everything as I rolled and lifted off nervous as hell...Once we
> got to a decent altitude I was relaxed and started the aerial tour of
> Westminster, Hanover, Frederick and our home...After those I climbed to
> 5500' to get above the haze layer and some very smooth air...It was
> heaven, we just flew long circles holding hands and really enjoying it
> with each other...I honestly think it kind of rekindled a little
> something that was missing or just kind of was kicked to the side for a
> while...We've been married for 12yrs and for those who know things can
> stagnate and this really did something I never thought about before
> hand...I don't think we have held hands that long in years...Not trying
> to get mushy here but it was one of the nicest things we have done
> together in a long time(sad fact)...I wanted to fly all day with her
> there but we are renters so like all good things, this too had to come
> to an end...I did a long smooth 90kt, 500fpm descent to pattern altitude
> and probably did the smoothest landing I ever did...She said she didn't
> even feel the wheels touch!...I pulled in, parked plane, kissed my wife
> and went to work...What a great way to start the day...Neither one of is
> can wait to get back up there and do it again...Oh what a feeling, I
> LOVE THIS FLYING!...
> --
>                         Till the next time,
>                                 St Stephen Ames
>                                PP-ASEL - 59.5 hrs(1hr with wife!)
>                "When my abilities = my desire & commitment,
>                       I will be one hell of a pilot!"
>      My flying site: http://www.stephenames.com/flying/flying.html
>       ----------------------------------------------------------------
>          "St Stephen with a rose, in and out of the garden he goes,
>                  country garden and the wind and the rain,
>                  wherever he goes the people all complain!"



