I'm reviving this thread to mention a passenger who was not exactly bad, but did get a bit worried.
I went flying with a friend who is a bit of a technology geek. He knows a bit about flying, and loves techno gadgets of all kinds. As he's a bit of a Special Forces Counter Insurgency Spook wannabe as well, he loves all the "Roger Mike Charlie Victor Vector" rubbish that we get to do whilst flying.
Off we went in a very smartly turned out Bulldog intending to footle about over Essex. I collected an FIS from Southend and floated about a bit near Chelmsford. The aircraft had just had a dodgy alternator fixed (or, as it turned out, not fixed). My friend noticed the alternator warning light before I did. The ammeter confirmed that there was no positive charge. I reduced electrical load, recycled switches etc, but to no avail. No big deal. The battery must have been a bit flat after the previous alternator failure, and we lost the radio very quickly (although the transponder was still able to kick out a 7600 squawk, which was seen by D&D, of which more later).
I pointed out to my friend that, although we could not visit anywhere, we could still fly about a bit if he wanted to, as neither the wings nor the engine are powered by electricity, but he was very keen that we should land immediately and, to be fair, the emergency drills do indicate that this is what you should do. Back we went to North Weald, waggled our wings to say hello, and landed flapless with no difficulty. Quick phone calls to our destination and to Southend and a nice call from D&D who had spotted the squawk and were concerned that we were OK (thanks again, guys). Then it was time to adopt Plan Beer.
My friend had been quite rattled by what was, to me, a minor matter of trifling importance. The weather was clear, we were in the open FIR, and North Weald is uncontrolled. My friend also told me that he had generally felt that the aircraft was less safe than the Cap 10 I had previously taken him up in. Odd, that, as to my mind the Dog has a reassuringly chunky feel, and some people have thought the dainty wooden Cap a bit flimsy (wrongly assuming aluminium to be tougher than wood). My friend said that this was because the Bulldog's panel looks so decidedly old-tech (despite a nice stack of modern nav/com boxes in front of his seat). Perhaps this was in reality down to my rough flying (also, as I fly the Dog less often, and it is a little bit more complicated than the Cap, I had a checklist on my knee, which I don't in the Cap).
A number of points: (1) We are used to the quaint appearance of oldish aeroplanes, but to people used to modern car interiors, they probably look pretty bonkers. (2) Although I do fairly detailed passenger briefings, including what to expect if something goes wrong, you can't go into every possible eventuality, and in any event to do so might cause needless anxiety. (3) Notwithstanding these points, my friend is a bit of a wimp. Too techno-oriented for his own good. Nice leather jacket and gloves, though.
Last edited by FNG; 30th April 2004 at 08:53.