A good discussion 
I like both – with and without passengers but prefer to fly with somebody.
I like to do informal mentoring, and took one guy all the way to a PPL (including ground school). He then went to a school and did the whole PPL in 45hrs! To be fair he was very motivated. Another guy dropped out due to a lack of time/commitment and I haven’t done any more since, but would like to.
It is hard to find passengers for significant trips because
so flying alone definitely has its place, though I don’t like it much. Advantages are
We should take people up when we can (to promote GA and to mentor people who want to do a PPL) but it isn’t easy because you can’t just take a total stranger up for a flight. I know instructors have to pretty well do that, and the statistical risk seems very low.
I made two people do their PPL after flying with me.
The first was my wife. On one of our first dates I took her flying (of course to impress her, what can a poor boy do :-)) … and after we landed she said “Oh, I want to learn that too”. She (coming from a household in which both parents play piano) did it in 35 hours, flew almost perfectly for some years and then lost interest (and time) when we had kids.
Then I have this other friend who once flew with me. He is about to do the PPL checkride – and I gave him my Piper Warrior for free (he has to pay for maint., insurance, hangar). Maybe in two years he will join me flying the Cirrus.
So, yes, it is fun to fly with other people, and some find it very inspiring. Ten days ago I flew to Split, Croatia, to pick up my uncle (65) there and to bring him to Germany. Although he has travelled the whole world in Airliners it was his first flight in a small airplane. He sent me about five eMails the last days about how cool the flight fomr Splut to Munich was, and that he wants to come along now whenever possible. He thought it was one of the best things he ever experienced and (as a sound engineer, electronics engineer and musician who runs a studio) he absolutely loved the avionics and what they can do.
It is a lot of fun to give people a chance for thsi experience. But, as I said, to me flying alone is like meditation and I enjoy that a lot. The best ideas for my jobs I have when I’m up there …
but it isn’t easy because you can’t just take a total stranger up for a flight.
This is what happens if you use any of the ride-sharing platforms though (I know: different discussion and a pretty new concept in the UK due to the “club”-limitation just being lifted earlier this year) or any other social media. I know at least one owner/pilot who I fly with occasionally who does that a lot (for company, not for money) and has only had positive experiences. Of course, my first attempt at this resulted in the Bifteki incident.
I don’t take “total strangers” for a flight, but i do fly all people who would like to fly and have never done it. And I never charge them for gas the first time. Last week i took my Iraqui haircutter, his russian girlfriend and their 12 year old son – and the way the kid was gleaming after I introduced him to the plane and it’s systems flying around the Bavarian mountains and lakes – well, it was really worth it!
This is what happens if you use any of the ride-sharing platforms though (I know: different discussion and a pretty new concept in the UK due to the “club”-limitation just being lifted earlier this year) or any other social media
There is usually a little bit of contact beforehand, however, so you can make a judgement. On facebook, you look up the person’s profile and unless it is a very time-consuming fake, you get a pretty good idea of whether they might be a bit crazy.
Funnily enough, a few years ago, I put my details on a “seat sharing site” and got a woman sending me some one-line emails that didn’t “hang together” at all (illiterate, but she said she had a CPL). I was with Justine then anyway but no way was I going to fly with this one. I just got a very bad feeling about it and your instincts are usually right.
There is usually a little bit of contact beforehand, however, so you can make a judgement. On facebook, you look up the person’s profile and unless it is a very time-consuming fake, you get a pretty good idea of whether they might be a bit crazy.
That is true. In my case, I didn’t pick the first person to express interest, but the one that seemed most “normal”. I certainly didn’t want to take the guy who kept on sending one-liners and who had to work until 4 am and wasn’t sure if he could make it for the 9 am meeting point to go flying.
I wonder, are there types showing up at flight schools where an FI can and should just not agree to go flying with?
Unfortunately one-liners are common these days because so many people use their phone as their sole email / messaging device, and for them emails (which they treat as no more than transient messages) merge with all the other forms of instant messages. You can tear your hair out trying to make sense of it sometimes, but that’s the way it is going. Fortunately it is not yet common in business. I recall some big IT player proposing a messaging solution for business and I hope it never goes anywhere.
The other aspect of flying with people is this: how do you create a pilot community where you are based, if there isn’t one? For example where I am (Shoreham) there is no longer any community. There may be some within some school(s) but those will be rather sterile because experienced pilots are not normally encouraged to hang around. If you have a decent local community then you will have a lot more people you can fly with.
This might also be relevant.
I wonder, are there types showing up at flight schools where an FI can and should just not agree to go flying with?
In this case, where a suicidal passenger overpowered the pilot and crashed the plane in Lake Constance, it would have been wise to object. But how to tell beforehand? Not every freak can be immediately recognised. Luckily, these tragedies are more than rare …
The other aspect of flying with people is this: how do you create a pilot community where you are based, if there isn’t one?
Today ownership is what it takes. Ask yourself another question: how do you create a vintage car/mc/boating community if no one is interested in owning a car/boat/mc ? The answer is you don’t, it would be meaningless.
Today microlight is flourishing, and the reason is easy, no nonsense ownership with zero bureaucracy. I mean, people get together to own a dc-3, or an old jet trainer. They increasingly seldom group up to own a Cessna when for less total cost they can individually own a microlight.
This microlight fulfills maybe 80% of their “potential” needs, but 100% of their actual needs.
I don’t agree that flying alone is a total waste.
Sure, if I’m going for a bimble, someone can come along (or not, it doesn’t really matter).
Sure, it’s good fun to fly with someone if you’re going to be travelling together for the same purpose.
However, I find that flying with someone because they happen to be going the same place as me very burdensome – now I’ve got to fly on some mutually agreed schedule instead of mine, we need to arrange meeting times, I lose all the flexibility I would otherwise have – if, say, I’ve gone down to Gloucester to do something down there and really need to stay for a couple more hours I’m under pressure not to do that any more because someone’s now expecting me to give them a lift home. The actual flying bit is fine, but I really dislike the burden of having to be at a certain place at a pre-appointed time, the inevitable array of phone calls and emails to send if plans change (this is complicated by the need to file a GAR for practically any cross country flight I want to do) etc.
I also enjoy flying on my own, it’s some quality “me” time where I don’t have to answer to anyone (well, at least in class G airspace)
