Can men and women ever be co-pilots?
My wife recently got her PPL and we now tour together, including a mammoth recent trip to Spain. It has been interesting to see how the male/female stereotypes emerge in the cockpit, for example:[list=1][*]when unsure of position she wants to ask someone, whereas I will blunder around for ages before admitting I'm lost[*]the non-handling pilot is now designated as "BSF1" (Back Seat Flyer 1)[*]when she's being helpful there are about 4 mental steps to get from what she says to what she means[*]ATC are much nicer when she's doing the radio, and we never encounter any problems with fuel/customs/immigration[*] during long legs (down, boy!) I alleviate boredom by tracking down every last possible function of the GPS, whereas she wants to know what I'm thinking about[/list=1]
I was writing up the Spain trip for submission to one of the GA magazines when I realised that the husband/wife routine was potentially more interesting.
Any other flying couples out there who would like to share their experiences?
There is a very lively thread on the CRM forum about mixed commercial crews....