The check out flight for the Diamond went well enough that there wasn’t a question in my mind about taking my wife up. She would be my first passenger. I scheduled the plane for the afternoon and we set off for the flight school. I knew she was nervous and to be honest I was as well. She was nervous about crashing or something bad happening and I was nervous she wouldn’t like it. My future in aviation can be exponentially easier with a wife that likes flying.
As we were walking up to the flight school, I showed my wife the DA20 through the fence. She remarked on how small it looked. I told her it felt bigger on the inside and we proceeded into the flight school. I introduced my wife to everyone, including my flight instructor. I was really looking forward to this flight, but my main focus was making the experience enjoyable to my wife. To that end, when my flight instructor said the 172 was available, I asked if she would rather take it . She told me that if I was comfortable with the Diamond that we could just take it. We borrowed a headset and set out for the plane.
I have basically adopted the check-ride type preflight for flights with passengers as it provides a means with which to address most of the information they need to know. I talked her through the preflight as I performed each task. This drags it out a little, but it has a noticeable calming effect on the passengers. Now this is not to say that I tell them each little tiny detail, but I feel like I’ve struck a balance of work and safety briefing that works for me.
So after completing the preflight and strapping on the plane, I started the engine. This is where things got interesting. The DA20 is much more finicky with regard to engine starts than the 172. It requires some coaxing on occasion. So as I followed my check-lists, my wife gets this look of worry on her face and she says, “What’s wrong?” Well, I explained that I was used to the 172 starting right up and that sometimes the DA20 took a little more work to start, but that everything was normal (it was). Once the engine was started, I taxied up to the edge of the ramp like normal. At the risk of domestic discord, I feel it necessary to mention that we had rolled approximately 10 feet when my wife looks over and says, “This is fine. Just stop here and let me out.” I laughed and reassured her that everything was fine. We stopped at the edge of the ramp and I cautioned my wife that I would be doing a lot of talking to the tower. Her initial reaction was “can they hear me now?” I said no, but that if she talked in the next little bit there was a very real risk they would hear her.
The plan was to initially go out to the Walland Gap practice area. This doesn’t sound all that fun, but our route would take us directly over her parents house. Also, it has the added advantage of keeping us near the airport in case we needed to come back and land. In short, it was a test. The takeoff was pretty uneventful, but I did notice that my wife got a little tense when I throttled up and we took off. I took every effort to be smooth and it seemed to be working. I flew around and showed her a few things and we discussed all the privileges of my new certificate. After about 20 minutes of gently circling, a poorly placed steep turn (I couldn’t resist), and depleting the camera battery, I asked what she wanted to do. I explained that we could return to the airport or we could fly somewhere else. I mentioned some of the nearby airports, but she said that it would be best if we returned to the airport. Being a good husband, I complied.
I had noticed that the longer the flight lasted the less tense my wife seemed. This was great. Unfortunately, all the tension was coming back the closer we got to the airport. We entered a right base for 5R and I glanced over to see my wife with her head buried in her hands. I asked if she was OK and she replied she was fine, she just couldn’t look. I told her that we were doing perfectly and that it was sure to be a perfect landing. We turned final and just over the fence my wife looks over suddenly and exclaims “Did you put the gear down?!” I laughed for a moment and then told her that the landing gear doesn’t retract, but I thanked her for the reminder. After all, what if they did retract and I had forgotten? We continued on to a greaser of a landing and we taxied back in and tied dow the plane.
It was a great flight. Several things about the flight hinted that my wife would make a good pilot, but I can’t get her to believe me. I guess I’ll have to keep exploring that topic with her. After all, two pilots are better than one (most of the time).