How to give a passenger confidence ...

[FullyFlapped]

A little while ago, my wife and I were flying when we encountered "a few problems" with the aircraft. Maydays ensued, followed by tower fly-bys, diversions and finally a completely uneventful if highly unusual landing, thanks be ... :D:D

Obviously, I was calm, cool, totally in control ... :eek:

Mrs FF, on the other hand, was more than a little peturbed, poor thing, and who can blame her. In the circumstances, I think she handled the whole thing exceptionally well, and certainly made my job a lot easier.

However, the downside of all this is that currently, she'd rather see me insert my aeroplane where the sun don't shine rather than climb aboard it again ... :ugh::ugh:

I have therefore been seeking ways to reinstill confidence. I'm getting there slowly (all advice welcomed), and am hoping she might be back in the air before too much longer. However, we both had a good laugh at this story today http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archives/avflash/946-full.html#196064 , and I wondered if the "judgement king" will manage to get his lady back in the air with him any time before Gordon Brown's forgets how to spell "tax" ... ;)

FF :ok:

[Saab Dastard]

ff,

You have evidently coped very well with an emergency situation - you are alive and well, and the aeroplane seems to be re-usable! Mrs. FF should have more faith in you now (although possibly less in the aeroplane). Perhaps you have statistics on your side now? You've had your failure, so the probability is that you won't have another?

Good luck,

SD

[PompeyPaul]

You've had your failure, so the probability is that you won't have another?
Ahhh, the gambler's fallacy....

[digital.poet]

Tell her that in SEP pilots generally experience one engine failure per 1000 hours of flying, so if she doesn't hurry the :mad: up and get back in the plane, another one will be due. :}

[Lister Noble]

Don't force the pace,your wife may fly with you again or she may never get back in with you after the fright.
Major Plus Point- at least she isn't asking you to stop flying.
Good luck
Lister:)

[IFollowRailways]

I have a similar problem.

Whilst my wife is happy for me to fly.......

Many years ago, I parked a taildragger on it's roof when it's Lycoming engine went into self destruct mode and ate itself just after taking off. I landed straight ahead into a field of standing wheat (flying something that vibrated and sounded like a cement mixer full of bricks!). Unfortunately the wheel spats filled with wheat and it "tripped up" in the waist high wheat during the landing roll. My wife, who was in the passenger seat, was not particularly impressed by any of this - especially hanging upside down from the straps whilst I kicked the window out! Broadly uninjured, we were carted off to hospital by ambulance under the full flashing lights routine - We were collected from hospital by my mother-in-law, who called me some very bad words :mad: :=

My wife has not flown in a light aircraft since...............

[IO540]

This is a major issue which I struggle with too. My partner doesn't like turbulence at all.

I don't have a solution to this though - she will still get inside a 737. There is a different psychology at work there: most people regard the "professional pilots" as gods, in their well ironed uniforms, with their posh confident voices, and of course it helps if the passengers cannot see where they are going ;)

The trouble started when I started explaining weather, CBs, and accidents to her. I think it's best to not talk about these matters at all.

[StillStanding]

I was studying my aircraft's flight manual the other day in the performance section and came across a page entitled 'en-route glide - power unit inoperative'. First time I have heard it called that, but maybe it sounds better to tell a passenger that 'we are having an en-route glide' than 'oh ****, the engine's stopped'.

[denhamflyer]

I suffered this one to start with. In essence the only way to build confidence in to get into/back in the "saddle".

I managed to get over a lot of resistance by planning flights that were aimed at her or our kids. This gave the reason for the flight some purpose which seem to mitigate the reluctance. We did things like Cardiff & Blackpool for the Dr Who Exhibitions, France overnight somewhere romantic... I found overnighting more attractive to her than "double flying" on one day.

She still hates turbulence but now flies more regularly and has even started taking photos :cool: . It is a constant battle of "motivation/benefit" against "anxiety". We even managed to go all the way down to Marrakech without use of "inflight storage vessels" :yuk:

So keep on trying and hope it all gets back to normal.

PS. I have learnt the hard way that saying "oh-****" scares the crap out of people even when its very minor , and can take some time to recover (weeks/months) - so I am training myself.

[Whirlybird]

I have learnt the hard way that saying "oh-****" scares the crap out of people even when its very minor , and can take some time to recover (weeks/months) - so I am training myself.

Yep. You need to do what all instructors do (lowish hours ones anyway; maybe those with thousands of hours don't need to) - act super-confident even when you're not. There's a problem? So what; Superflyer can solve it. You're lost? No matter; the expert aviator is actually only unsure of his/her position for a few seconds, and isn't even remotely concerned about it. There's a light come on and you don't know what it is? It's nothing at all, but we'll drop in to that airfield over there for a cup of tea just to get someone to have a look at it, shall we?

There's a difference between saying: "Oh ****, the weather's closing in; let's get on the ground", and "Bit hazy, isn't it; can't see too much so it's no fun; might as well land and have a break".

It's hard to do when you know you're not a superperson but only a low hours PPL...or even a high hours CPL, but only human. I guess surgeons and barristers and people like that do it too. If you've put your life in someone's hands, you want to believe that nothing could ever go wrong.

So....should acting lessons be part of the PPL course? Discuss. :)

[Shunter]

Not acting per se, but I think awareness of the fact that fear and panic are contagious is a good thing. I've found it fairly obvious, but perhaps some people don't?

[Nibbler]

Sayings and Meanings.

I've seen a few already on this thread so I thought I'd add a few I've used on my wife...

"Yes he is safe, taught me everything I know" = I know nothing that's why he's flying the plane.

"He's a great pilot and even flew in the war" = That's WWII, and this is not a lancaster

"Don't be silly, you won't need a parachute" = like you'd have time to jump, or would know what to do if you did

"If you feel scared don't worry it's actually exitement" = no, it really is fear

"It's warm in here, that's why your sweating" = that's the exitement again