Anniversary flight

Although she has been flying with me in years past, my wife has always been a reluctant and nervous passenger in airplanes of all sizes.
It took a while to work her courage up but she finally agreed it was time for an introductory flight in the RV that she bucked and shot so many rivets on!

It was fitting that yesterday, on the one year anniversary of our RV-6A's first flight, Kellie finally received her "RV-grin" on a short flight from the Palo Alto, CA airport out over the Half Moon Bay area and back again:




I had to wonder if she was smiling because she enjoyed the flight or just because she was glad to be back on the ground, but it was a gorgeous day for some great views of the San Francisco Bay area and she says she had a good time. So here's hoping we'll be making some RV trips together in the coming year - I enjoy the trips taken with my son but am looking forward to some "get-away" trips with my wife!

I'll be sure to try and plan for smooth air flights with gradual climbs / descents as she gets comfortable with flying in the RV but I'll welcome any other suggestions from those of you with spouses that were a little nervous at first with the idea of travelling by air.

Great way to celebrate N731CK's first "birthday".

Wonderful, Chris..

...Look for a neat restaurant by the sea that doesn't take much more than 30-45 minutes for a day trip. Better yet, ask her where she'd like to go and you be her personal pilot/chauffeur.

Regards,

From a spouse...

From a ?reluctant, non-flying, wife? to building partner to flying partner

Things that helped me become comfortable:

-kayaking (or, boating for some). We have 16 foot wooden sea kayaks. Riding the waves are like riding the air ?waves? of turbulence?..I began to see that both are ?solid? (have substance). Just because I can?t see air, bumps and turbulence do not mean I am about to fall out of the sky?I learned you ride them just like you do water waves in your kayak or boat.

-using a Cessna as a stepping stone?. towards what I later found to be a much finer airplane (although knowing what I know now, I wonder if an RV is not the better plane to start with). Wallace took me on short hops on good-weather-practically-no-wind days. He did gradual, shallow turns and I learned leaning with the plane and into the turn is better than pulling away and against the turn?and is actually more fun. He did the gradual climbs and descents. He flew gently?no surprises! Since I was not a flyer, I needed to get comfortable with how ?fast? (ha, ha?how I know differently now) a Cessna went before moving on to the faster RV. A side note: I find the RV is waaaay better than a Cessna(!) ?it makes finer adjustments and thus more responsive without being a bull in a China shop?for me it is kinder and gentler? than a Cessna. (don?t know if you RV pilots think of the RV as being? kinder and gentler?, but it is for me).

-reading portions of (and still reading off and on) Rod Machado?s Private Pilot Handbook. It is quite humorous and explains complicated concepts in simple terms I can understand. Oh, so helpful.

-navigational duties. Although attempting to read a sectional is a frustrating challenge(!), it was helpful for me, and useful for Wallace at times, to attempt to help with navigation while flying. It gave me a false sense of control?but any sense of control when first getting used to flying is helpful. <which power line on this ?map? was THAT one, honey?>

-focusing on the destination. Contrary to popular pilot opinion, there is some excitement in looking forward to the destination. A word of caution, though?beware of the weather gremlins?.your destination may have to wait for another day?but, then again, you will still have it to look forward to. Still, unexpected deviations can be new and fun as well.

-focusing on the journey. When I?m not assisting in my small, feeble way of right seat duties I LOVE the view! Oh, it is so beautiful to see the clouds, the colors, the geography and land lay-out below?.on a good day you can see for MILES. To see what you know on the ground from a higher, broader perspective as part of God?s creation is breathtaking.

-knowing Wallace is ?safety first? is a BIGGIE for me?.whether it?s building or flying. There were only a few hours that I was not present while he was building it. I was his ?go-fer?. He explained things to me and encouraged me to do a few minor, hands-on tasks. I could see that he did things safely. We?ve also talked about his philosophy on safe flying conditions. Having a mutual discussion and understanding about this makes me more comfortable. He also reads appropriate flying magazines/literature, talks with others/asks questions, and reads VAN?s Air Force. Van?s Air Force is without a doubt a first class act. MANY THANKS (!) to Doug Reeves and all who help with this ?publication?? and to all those who contribute feedback.

-reading Van?s Air Force. Yes, I peruse it, too?maybe not for the same things Wallace does?but the trip write-ups and photos about the mechanics of flying cross-country, the safety articles, etc., help me learn from others? experiences and makes me feel more comfortable.

-just doing it. We started with small hops around local, familiar territory and have slowly expanded our circle while gaining experience. I?m not quite as scared at seeing other planes in the sky now?and, everything is not as ?fast? as it once was. Traffic Controllers/Approach are ALMOST not speaking as fast ?and some things they spew out are beginning to make a little more sense. There is always something new to see or learn, and it?s always been fun. Our plane?s first flight was May of this year. We made our first major cross-country a couple weekends ago. The more we?ve done a little at a time, the more comfortable I?ve gotten and the bigger our familiar territory has become.

Good luck, Chris and Kellie. Major congratulations to you, Kellie, on taking that first step outside your comfort zone. I certainly know what a big step that was, but saying ?yes? can bring you both many rewards.

Marietta Goodloe
(Wallace Goodloe)
N211LV

Motion sickness in an RV worse than a 172?

My wife gets a little motion sickness when in the back of a car and has some anxiety about what it will be like in the -7. She has flown in 172's with me and not had an issue. Any thoughts or past experience from anyone to think the tighter confines of an RV or the better view would cause a problem?

A restaurant by the sea

is a great idea. Monterrey is close by and an ideal spot for a romantic weekend in Carmel. Couple that w/ a little whale watching from the air and you might have a sure winner. Before a flight, I'm always careful to describe the sensations and noises a first time pax might feel and hear. All of my fist timers have told me that they felt much better knowing that those sounds and feelings were quite normal. I also think that involving them in the planning process is a good idea. Spend a few minutes at the kitchen table showing them some basic chart reading and follow-up during the flight having them track your progress along the chart course line and on the moving map (if you have one).
The fact that you're sensitive to her anxieties and willing to make her as comfortable a possible should be a great help too.
Good Luck

Steve

Thanks for the tips

We'll definitely start with short trips until she's comfortable. Eventually I'm hoping we can make some trips to the Seattle area to visit family.
The RV flight last weekend was the first time in more than 15 years that Kellie had gone flying with me - that was back when we lived in the Seattle area and occasionally rented a C-172 for trips to Friday Harbor in the San Juan Islands.

Monterey is a good suggestion, and also just happens to be where my RV wings were built when I was stationed there in 1998-2000. So we already have our favorite restaurants there.

As for the motion sickness question, Kellie has never had an issue with that in planes, cars or boats, but my son has had bouts of motion sickness in all three and has done a lot of flying with me over the last 10 years.
He is 16 now and has been flying with me since he was about 6 yrs old. First I found out he had the sensitive stomach was when he was around 7 or 8 and I ended up having to clean up a rental C-150 in Indiana and stop for new clothes for him on the way home.....even several years later, we occasionally had to stop for breaks on relatively short trips in our Cessna 140 when the afternoon bumps were active. So I was a little worried about our CA to OSH trip this year when we finally got to take the RV to Oshkosh (great airplane camping trip with my son!).

He did great on the OSH trip in spite of some pretty bumpy afternoon time over the mountains and a bumpy ride under some afternoon buildups on last leg into WI.
What he found helped him the most was having his i-pod music plugged into his headset, and me turning the auto-pilot off so he could work on keeping the plane on course. Having something to do and something to listen to kept his mind off the bumps and he felt fine the entire trip both ways (I've got an audio jack wired into the stereo intercom that works great but am glad his headset has a direct jack so I didn't have to listen to that many hours of the stuff he and his sisters listen to).
I haven't found my RV to be particularly better or worse in turbulence than the other small planes I've flown, just different and there's more room to slow down with the RV (most of my time was in Cessna 140 / 150 / 152 / 172 prior to the RV, with most of that Ce-140 time and I'm not a particularly high time pilot at approx 600 hrs). Other opinions may vary.

Best regards,

What a great attitude, Marietta.

thinkn9a said:

From a ?reluctant, non-flying, wife? to building partner to flying partner

Things that helped me become comfortable:

-Good luck, Chris and Kellie. Major congratulations to you, Kellie, on taking that first step outside your comfort zone. I certainly know what a big step that was, but saying ?yes? can bring you both many rewards.

Marietta Goodloe
(Wallace Goodloe)
N211LV

Click to expand...

I knew when Wallace was here he'd be safe.

Really good writeup that needs to be shared with other antsy wives

Thanks,