Wearing a parachute for cross country.

[jrs14855]

Originally Posted by Auburntsts

I'm going to offer some food for thought from a different point of view -- is your wife actually mentally prepared to bail out? Please be brutally honest with yourself and with her. My $.02, based upon how you've described her is she's not. While I've never bailed out I was a paratrooper in a previous life and if you've never done it the mental hurdles are difficult to overcome without training -- even in a life or death emergency. My point is I think a personal parachute in the scenario you are describing would at best only provide a false sense of security. My vote would be to pursue more pinch-hitter type training focusing on A/P use as has been previously suggested.

My only real fear is fire. Bailing out of an airplane with a serious fire would be the lesser of two evils. The RV pilot in the NW who bailed out without a chute did so because of fire.

[Toddsanderson]

Originally Posted by Auburntsts

I'm going to offer some food for thought from a different point of view -- is your wife actually mentally prepared to bail out? Please be brutally honest with yourself and with her. My $.02, based upon how you've described her is she's not. While I've never bailed out I was a paratrooper in a previous life and if you've never done it the mental hurdles are difficult to overcome without training -- even in a life or death emergency. My point is I think a personal parachute in the scenario you are describing would at best only provide a false sense of security. My vote would be to pursue more pinch-hitter type training focusing on A/P use as has been previously suggested.

Very good point. I'm also leaning on more training with maybe trying a different angle on the approach.

[snoop9erdog]

I have the Solution:

You and your wife fly to Portland and schedule a Rv14 flight...or in any of the other models. Let her see how docile (yet great X country birds) and total performance they are.

Then reassure her by teaching her how to land one god forbid you become incapacitated...

?? Maybe??

[Toddsanderson]

Originally Posted by snoop9erdog

I have the Solution:

You and your wife fly to Portland and schedule a Rv14 flight...or in any of the other models. Let her see how docile (yet great X country birds) and total performance they are.

Then reassure her by teaching her how to land one god forbid you become incapacitated...

?? Maybe??

You and I both know that, but it is hard to get someone with anxiety to overcome the condition. In the G3 she absolutely loved the ride with the heavy wing loading, but the plane scared her because of the skill it took to land the plane. In the lower loaded wing like the Bonanza she freaks out over the bumps, but can pretty much land the plane with no problem.

I think the key is getting her to overcome the fear of the bumps in a plane like an RV that are easy to fly.

[Lynnb]

My .02 is it might be best to start with seeing if she'll talk to a Dr or therapist to see if they can help her work through the anxiety before asking her to get back in the plane. Constantly putting her back in the situation might be making it worse and not better. I do agree that the more training and information she has on what's going on should help, but there might be other coping mechanisms that you/she hasn't thought of that a professional might could help with.

Lynn

[Paragon]

Since you solicited advice, it seems like perhaps you need more than airplane advice.

A passenger suffering from the level of anxiety you describe doesn't seem like a good candidate to land an aircraft successfully in an emergency. Nor to bail out successfully. Even trained pilots sometimes have bad results in these situations.

It seems to me either she needs to go via airline to your destination, or she needs to go with you in your preferred aircraft, but under a strong prescription anti-anxiety medication or sedative.

Personally, if I were a passenger suffering a level of in-flight anxiety so high that I could not be trained to fly the aircraft to a landing in an emergency, I pretty much would not be interested in flying GA at all.

Just my opinion, worth what was paid for it...

-Paragon
Cincinnati, OH

[Jetj01]

Since the majority of my ?fun? flying is in formation and acro, I now where a chute in my RV-4 on every flight. It?s a Strong Seat chute. While not as comfortable as my hand made/form fit seat cushions were, the comfort I feel from this safety item makes up for it. While I agree in general you should be able to land an RV, there are some things only a chute will remedy. Good luck in your search!

[N941WR]

Why not look at an RV-9?

With it's lowered landing speed, your chance of survival is better.

Either way, pinch hitters course sounds like a better investment than parachutes.

[jcaplins]

Originally Posted by Toddsanderson

Very good point. I'm also leaning on more training with maybe trying a different angle on the approach.

I'll throw in my opinion...
A different approach sounds like a good idea. If she is afraid to fly, she will have no motivation to learn to fly. The first thing, as others have mention, is work on overcoming the fear. Otherwise everything else is wasted effort.
I also believe trying to teach anything to a spouse is a bad idea. A student /teacher realationship immediately creates a power difference and is another barrier to motivation and learning.

[rmarshall234]

Originally Posted by jrs14855

My only real fear is fire. Bailing out of an airplane with a serious fire would be the lesser of two evils. The RV pilot in the NW who bailed out without a chute did so because of fire.

Same here. As in post-crash fire. As soon as I bail out I take that concern right out of the equation. In fact, I can use smoke from the fire to determine wind direction for landing

As a professional in the parachute business, this discussion of parachute or not amuses and concerns me. Parachutes save lives, airplane crashes kill people. I know of SIX successful bail outs from last year alone. That is SIX guys that were able to go home and kiss their wives and hug their kids. I wonder how many died in RV crashes last year..