Until recently I had very few trial lessons as I had quite a few students on the go. However many of my students have past thier skills test in the last few weeks and I now taking up a few trial lessons. One did stand out a couple of weeks ago. The gentleman in question was from the middle east and was very polite. He kept calling me sir and was very interested and asked lots of questions. As I taxiied out I ask if he had been in a light aircraft before, he told me that he has never flown in his life. I was rather suprised as he had a foreign accent and did not sound as if he was brought up in the UK. He said that he lived in longsight (Manchester). At this stage I thought am I over reacting and then tried to obtain a balanced perspective. once airbourne I pointed out Bolton (Bolton is near Manchester and I would have thought quite well known within the area), my student said that he has never heard of Bolton, also whilst in the air he was very keen to take control. Once on the ground my student thanked me for the flight, again being very polite. I reflected on the situation, again trying to get matters into perspective. I considered the following:-
If he was a threat, surely he would have been more covert and extract information in a more subtle way
Had terrorissm been less of a high profile would I have worried about the flight? I suspect not, and therefore would have considered my student to be very excited and keen.
It really is such a hard judgement call, don't want to over react, but on the other hand don't wish to turn a blind eye.
On balance I thought the student had done nothing wrong and therefore took no action. Be interested to know the views of my fellow flying instructors.