My most enjoyable experience with a passenger was taking someone up for a 30 minute bimble this summer whilst in France.
My wife’s aunt and uncle live in a tiny village in the middle of France. Once a year we fly to an airport 45 minutes from them and stay a week.
In this village lives a loud, colourful and charming old French lady of at least 75 or so. Barely ever left the village she was born in – the drive to the airport might well have been one of the longer trips she’s ever taken from home. Needless to say she speaks no English whatsoever and has never been in an aeroplane of any sort. She’s had a hip replacement so it took a couple of us to help her into the TB10.
Anyway, before we departed I took her up – and we flew over the village with the rest of the inhabitants stood in the crossroads waving up at us. It was an absolute delight – she loved it, wasn’t the tiniest bit scared and I’ve rarely seen more effusive thanks for anything.
Even now, if I want to feel happy about the world I think of this flight.
Graham, that’s a great story. On my travels I’ve enjoyed meeting people like that so much, and its terrific she enjoyed the flight.
9 years on, this thread deserves a re-examination 
Has anything changed, really? ;)
I have not read the whole thread but I don-t think the title is representative of the contents. The few posts I have read read more like “Flying with someone is a much richer experience” or something to that effect…
Depending on the mission, it is also a completely different challenge.
I admit having a totally decadent attitude towards my flying, and so do most of my companions
The gang I’m talking about is a group of mostly renegade RV pilots, spending 99% of our time alone in our 2 seaters (mostly). Sometimes solo, sometimes up to 5 or more aircraft, flying to/from a same destination, occupied by… one sole pilot.
As I mentioned, and in accordance with today’s world, an example of extreme decadence.
We like to fly our sport aircraft ourselves, waggle the stick to dive, loop the loop, barrel the roll, soar like eagles, formate, fly low, fly very low, slip, stall, pedal to the metal, etc, etc. This type of flying is performed in our “experimental” sport aircraft… most serious pilots don’t like it, or are, probably rightly so, afraid 
And so would an eventual passenger…
PS
Having transported 793’125 people during my flying activities as a pilot somehow alleviates whatever guilty feelings I could have
As I mentioned, and in accordance with today’s world, an example of extreme decadence.
I know probably hundreds of people who do exactly as you describe in today’s world and I don’t think many of them would resonate with being called decadent. Life is something to enjoy, not endure, and how you spend your hard earned money is your business. You earned it, enjoy it. Fly-outs are fun.
As mentioned earlier, a friend of mine jokes that the best thing about solo flying is the social experience
Dan wrote:
793’125 people
I admit to having spent a few seconds mumbling how you got to that number, and I reached the conclusion that you got it wrong: you forgot to add your “pax” @aart during the LECD fly in
Dan wrote:
decadent
decadent = characterized by or reflecting a state of moral or cultural decline
I would hesitate to call your described attitude as a “moral or cultural decline”
Renegade definitely fits the bill better
I don’t count as a passenger Antonio. I count as a first officer trying his best to keep that renegade captain from flying the shiny side down all the time.
;)
