One of the first things (non-flying) people always ask me when the topic of flying comes up is: “can you just take-off and go, or do you need to ask someone first?”.
Is this just a Dutch thing?
No. They are surprised and/or scared that in reality you really can just get in and fly. Then I ask them when is the last time they filed paperwork to go ride their motorcycle or car.
Do you fly big/real planes/jets?
Bobo wrote:
One of the first things (non-flying) people always ask me when the topic of flying comes up is: “can you just take-off and go, or do you need to ask someone first?”.Is this just a Dutch thing
I recently flew with my dad for the first time. One of the first things he asked when we were in the air and after we left the circuit was which ATC unit was now making sure we wouldn’t run into other traffic. It was a VFR flight in class E, so my answer “none, we have to look out for ourselves” surprised him a little.
One I get all the time, once the first few typical questions have been answered, is usually:
“You use kerosene in that aircraft, right?
Then I normally go: “No, that’s only for jets and so on. In small piston engine aircraft, we need petrol”.
Then they usually go “ah, so just regular car petrol?”
I then say “no, in most cases, it actually is a very special kind of petrol. It still contains lead; in fact, piston engine aviation is the only industry where leaded petrol is still needed, and allowed”.
THAT’S WHEN EYES REALLY FALL OUT…. :-)
Once they have recovered, they ask how much it costs per litre. Once I tell them, they start asking about hourly consumption. This takes us to hourly cost, etc….
Same as Bobo here. The first questions are « are you allowed to make a flight just for fun ? », then « did you receive an authorization for our flight ?», then « what if the engine breaks down ?», then « how do you know how where the other planes are ? ».
It shows people are stressed about safety and unaware of our basic freedoms. Nothing surprising given our media….
When flying them OCAS, “are you going to talk to someone on the RT at some point?”, “no need”, “what if the engine fails and you need to talk to someone”, “ok let me dialin London FIS they may have some tips for forced landing”, “ok geart very reassuring now” 
Bobo wrote:
Is this just a Dutch thing?
Absolutely the #1 thing I’m asked in UK.
Must be very different here in L.A. In descending order the Qs tend to be:
- which airport are you flying from?
- what’s your airplane ?
- who do you fly for ?
Funnily enough, the last one tends to come up right after I had a haircut – must do something to my appearance, LOL! Over here flying is just pretty much part of normal life. Many of the people you meet have someone in the family who flies or, quite often, had a an airplane in the family when they were kids. That, unfortunately, also tells you something about the decline of GA – mom and dad had an airplane, the kids don’t. ATC sometimes comes up in conjunction with flying in the proximity of LAX, but more often asked by people who are somewhat knowledgeable about the airspace here.
- who do you fly for ?
This one really prompts an answer “I own the f***ing company”…
- what’s your airplane ?
And this one has a classic continuation:
- A C150.
- What’s a C150?
- Well, there isn’t a C150 in sight, but that grey one over there is a C130.
