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An excellent wife...

douglassmt

Well Known Member
My wife has been supportive of the build, but has helped out in the shop only occasionally. She's got a lot going on in her life, ailing parents, new job, empty nest. It's been enough that she's encouraged me and let me do what I love to do. She's not a pilot and doesn't love to fly (private or commercial), so I"m going to have to treat her very well when the plane is finished so she can learn to enjoy the experience.

Not being a pilot, she of course doesn't understand the finer points of aviation and flight planning, but I've explained the concept of winds aloft and how they can speed you up or slow you down in getting from A to B. So the other day, when the winds were howling at 40 knots around here, we were driving down the road and she - out of the blue - says "you know, when you finish the airplane, we should just take off someday and fly....downwind. Downwind every day for a week or so, and just see where it takes us." Now I like the way she thinks!

Of course, at RV speeds and normal prevailing winds, I'm not sure how she'd feel about going to - England. Still, it's a good sign that she's getting into the spirit of adventure!
 
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Of course, at RV speeds and normal prevailing winds, I'm not sure how she'd feel about going to - England. Still, it's a good sign that she's getting into the spirit of adventure!

I love her idea! And here in England people speak a similar language, so no trouble in that respect, either. Of course I still have difficulties understanding my neighbour ... :eek:
 
Neighbor?

Kidding:)....now start her on the four cardinal points...."Honey, which direction are we driving?":)

Best,
 
I love her idea! And here in England people speak a similar language, so no trouble in that respect, either. Of course I still have difficulties understanding my neighbour ... :eek:

I remember when I was about 10 years old I was introduced to a couple from England. Well, this farm boy from Arkansas had never seen anyone from further than 50 miles from home. I asked the lady if she spoke English. I couldn't understand a word she said. I have gotten a little better in my old age though. My daughter-in-Law is from Australia. I still ain't eating that Vegemite though.:D
 
Guess we have a lot in common, besides our name.

Montana, empty nest, RV's, aviation nervous wife. BTW we are downwind from KMSO(only took us 43min the other day in calm conditions).
 
Bryan,

I take my wife for breakfast flights on a regular basis. She loves it. So much so, that she often watches the weather and announces that we need to fly the following day before some weather moves in. She isn't a pilot either, but knows how to use the checklist (command and response), keeps up with the navigation and will look up freqs, etc. when I ask. Even if your wife isn't a riveter, I'll bet she would jump on the job of paint scheme/upholstery selection in a heartbeat. It will let her know the aircraft is her's also.

Take care and you'll have a eager flying partner.

Jim
 
This story put a smile on my face and I'm not even married. She is obviously thinking about some of the cool trips the two of you will be taking:D. Now when the time comes you just put a bug in her year by saying something like I wonder what it would be like spend a weekend in................:)
 
Yup

Thanks for the replies. For a while there, the thread got diverted to a discussion of England, totally missing my point. The last two comments get it back on track.

Yep, the good news is that she's starting to wrap her mind around the freedom an RV can give us. With our kids 1000 miles away (and that's where the grandkids will be when they come along!), the RV is a big part of my plan for our mobility to see and spend time with them in the future. I will take very good care to make flying a pleasurable experience for her and certainly take advantage of opportunities to make special trips. One really nice feature of the RV-10 is that we can take other couples. She likes me well enough, I guess, but throw in another couple once in a while and I think those trips would be a good sell.

I did get her advice on the colors for the seats, and will steal the suggestion that she help out with paint and other cosmetic parts of the project.
 
Flight Planning

Your original post describes a situation that must be typical for a lot of couples. You are indeed very lucky and you know it. One thing that I got my wife to help with was (and still is) flight planning. We have evolved from planning with sectional charts to the IFR charts but I still use hand written flight plans and we develop them together at the kitchen table and it is a significant part of the overall experience of the trip. I originally did it all by myself but I recognized there are tasks that she could do that would help out and deepen her understanding of how we are going to fly the trip. Our early process was me looking at the big picture charts figuring out the shortest compatible airway route to our destination then using the low altitude enroute IFR charts to get the details. I then give her the information verbally as she asks for it and she enters it on the flight plan form. After I bought the Garmin 695 I got the bright idea of bringing it home and using it in the process. I entered the waypoints in the flight plan after I decide the route from the charts. and then we would go through our old process of filling out the paper flight plan form. Then I thought, I wonder if she would get more satisfaction out of the process if she entered the waypoints in the 695. WOW! did she ever take to that? Her feeling of competence and personal value to the effort jumped to a higher level. She owns that job now. I must have the paper flight plan for pilotage and dead reconing navigation (don't waste your time trying to change me) but the flight plan is also in the 695 and it is sitting right there between us for her to see as we make the trip and it allows her to evaluate our progress.

I hope you continue to think as you are now and enjoy the bliss of traveling with your wife to far away places in your RV-10 for many years.

Bob Axsom
 
My wife is soooooo in love with the -10..

Since she suggested getting it, she also now finds a Sunday "brunch" at a hotel at the coast and plans the trip, makes reservations and checks weather....it's a partnership deal.....keeps her very happy.

We both mention a different couple to take and when we do...we often hear, "Wow...this is soooo beautiful"...above a scattered layer, skimming above big, white, puffy cumulus...from our passengers, that we enjoy seeing them wide-eyed at what we so often take for granted! Or, "Is that really the ocean? Wow!"

Jenny is so much a part of our trips and I, too, remark that it's "our" airplane.:)

Best,
 
Up in smoke

If your spouse is involved in your build, consider yourself blessed. Without a doubt, my wife would rather I take all the money I spend on an airplane and light it on fire. She despises the idea so much that she'd rather just burn the money. In fact, it's the only reason I've put off building for so long. We've had some heart to heart talks recently about the subject, and simply put, we don't see eye to eye and never will. However, she admits she doesn't want to stand in my way.

I've since ordered the RV7 preview plans and purposely left them on the kitchen counter opened to the page titled "Aircraft Construction Manual". A few hours later I noticed it had been moved (not disposed of or burned luckily). There were no comments or reactions.

She still drops disapproving comments now and again, but the real test comes next week when the empennage arrives. As my brother's wife so succinctly said: 'right before the divorce papers arrive".

I really don't think it will come to that, but if you love spending time with your spouse and she isn't adamantly opposed to your wild endeavors, I envy you. :(
 
Welcome Jason...to VAF!

There are lots of debates about getting wives on board and also the divorces...including mine, in the archives.

As long as you pay attention to your wife and really listen to her concerns and objections, things will be easier to discuss. If you also assure her that no one in the family will suffer either from your lack of attention or excessive money thrown at the project...things will go much better...just keep the lines of communication open....and a bit of humor goes a long way too:)

You might consider showing her some of the neat trip write-ups like the one to Baja that Scott recently wrote, and other similar wife-included day trips, where she'll see the benefits to her, of your airplane ownership.

Best,
 
I love her idea! And here in England people speak a similar language, so no trouble in that respect, either. Of course I still have difficulties understanding my neighbour ... :eek:

But you are not from round here........

Something about Deutschlandlied I believe......... :D

By the way, my wife irons - it was part of the wedding arrangement.

She wouldn't obey, I wouldn't iron........ :eek:
 
Further to last...........

I had better quit while ahead, lest Louise threatens to rip my head off again....:rolleyes:

It's a Colonial misunderstanding thing !
 
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