Out Of The Pattern

You Don't Need To Be A Pilot To Fly

Let me preface this. Matt is my friend, and he wanted to learn to fly. We went up for an intro flight and - well - what he learned wasn't exactly what either of us expected. He knows I've written this, and he feels it's important. Perhaps you'll agree.

Have you ever had someone go up for a first flight and decide he didn't want to learn to fly? I have, and this student was a friend - someone I thought I knew. Yet, somehow, with Matt, I missed all the signs. He was almost too enthusiastic about getting started with flight lessons, yet was reluctant to schedule his first flight. He insisted on buying every book up front before the first lesson, saying he wanted to "bone up."

He came to his first lesson with a million questions, and he refused to get into the airplane until I answered each one in detail. Finally (and I should have caught this), he showed me a marked reluctance to slide into the left seat and take the controls.

The signs, if I had seen them, meant only one thing - Matt is afraid to fly. But I missed them all, perhaps having caught some of his enthusiasm for learning to fly. That's why it hit me like a lead pipe when, 30 feet in the air, the airplane abruptly pitched down as Matt released the yoke.

"I can't do this! I hate this! Take me back!" he shrieked.

Whoa, I thought as I recovered the airplane and reset our climb. I looked at him real close. He was sweating profusely and turning pasty green - not a good color for a guy who weighs 290 pounds in his stocking feet.

"Take a deep breath and slowly exhale," I counseled. Then I tried to replace his hands gently onto the controls. "You can do this if you want to," I persisted, but gently.

"I don't like this - I don't want to," he said emphatically. He retracted his hands and feet from the controls, like a turtle pulling its legs into its shell.

"Fair enough," I replied. "Do you want to just make this one a sightseeing flight?" I asked, still patiently trying to bring him around. I might not have done that with a stranger, but I've known Matt for 30 years - he's even been my passenger on countless flights. I just couldn't believe he was secretly this afraid to fly.

His reply was curt. "Get me back on the ground, Amy. I'd rather work harder and longer and pay a pilot to fly me than to do this. Sitting in this [left] seat feels unnatural - get me down." That was enough for my book. We were tied down within 10 minutes.

I was careful not to let Matt skulk off into the sunset, though. We glossed over the usual first flight fanfare of a certificate, photo, and logbook entry. Something told me he wasn't up for it.

But no student leaves my lair without a post-flight debriefing. Matt's was straightforward. "There was nothing you did out there that makes me think you are incapable of learning to fly an airplane," I said, sincerely.

His business requires intrastate travel, and he wanted to fly so he could get home faster. Knowing this, I made some suggestions. "Don't give up your plan," I said. "Aviation can still make your life easier. I'll help you find an airplane and even help you hire the pilot, if you want. We'll find someone you can trust to stick by you and get you there safely," I said. I pointed to our company's Part 135 services as an interim solution. Then, because he's my friend, I gave Matt a hug and walked him to his car.

As he drove off, I went over the whole flight once more in my head, putting together the signposts I'd missed. Oh well, so he wouldn't be my student. So what. He walked away understanding that even without being a pilot aviation can help his business grow and help his family stay close.

In fact, just last week Matt needed to be in Lakeland, then Tampa, and then Daytona. We got him there to cinch a sweet deal and home in time for his son's peewee football scrimmage. It was a good week for business - both ours and his - and an airplane made it happen for both of us.