Most of my collegues are tech-minded and some of them expressed interest to join for a flight.
So I organized Summer Evening flights with them.
I booked the aircraft in advance and my collegues could enroll. This worked out really well and there was more demand than flights, so I will do another round in September.
The destination is as important as the flight!
We went to the island Texel EHTX, which is about 30 minutes flight time.
I arranged the courtesy car so we could drive to the beach and have dinner there.
I also arranged permission to depart after airport closing time.
It was great fun and one collegue asked whether he could borrow my theory books so he had something to read during his holiday 
lenthamen wrote:
one collegue asked whether he could borrow my theory books so he had something to read during his holiday
way to go !
as for the “safety pilot”, I felt once that I needed one when I was new in the area and the weather as a bit hazy and I did not feel confident to find all the right VRPs
I simply arrived at the club, saw a pilot arriving back from a flight, asked him if he agreed to come with free of charge just to help me navigate safely because I did not know the area so well, and off we went.
Heh, I am on the other side of the fence. I would love to try out flying, but it is way over what I can afford. Maybe paragliding…
Reading this forum also does not inspire enthusiasm (too much real info without rosy glasses). Being not very technical type, reading about the repair shop practices … its bad enough with cars where your life is not on the line, just your wallet (and with less 0s at the end). Regulation is another issue…
Still, the dream is to do lazy 8s around fair weather cumuli, hopping for a weekend trip to Bulgaria/Croatia/Greek sea, or for some quick mountaineering to highest Alps without full day (or more) drive…
Maybe I should stalk blueline for a ride, he is barely 100km from my place (Bratislava). :-)
Actually, I did one tryout on a Challenger Ultralight many years ago in Canada. Winter flying (still a bit bumpy), low over frozen lake, on skis. Fun stuff (after I got over the initial nausea), alhough not very practical for transportation.
Noise is annoying, oil does not help either. I wish there was a practical electric aircraft. Still would not refuse a ride in old clunker… although the pilot better be good/safe. :-)
Still, the dream is to do lazy 8s around fair weather cumuli, hopping for a weekend trip to Bulgaria/Croatia/Greek sea
I wonder how many people going to our September fly-in might have spare seats?
I am currently booked… On the two fly-ins last year I had two passengers who got airline flights to Gatwick. Obviously there is a risk with that (weather) but if the passengers accept that…?
For the cost of an airline ticket, which can be very low, you can get a nice trip.
esteban wrote:
Reading this forum also does not inspire enthusiasm (too much real info without rosy glasses)
Which – the real info part! – is one of the really great things of this forum and something that sets it apart from most (if not all) other GA fora! Kudos again to Peter!
Other than that – largely same experience, but with more interest shown here in the US than in Europe. No idea why that should be, perhaps because GA is much more part of the ‘scenery’ here than in Europe. Also, the GA facilities are lightyears better than in Europe – I mean, at how many GA airports in Europe can you land, and while you are shutting down, the lineman drives the rental car up to your airplane, helps you load the bags and off you go? Pretty standard here.
Guess we’ll have to accept that ours is a minority interest. And, I ask, so what?
@ Esteban: Sure, why not? I’m occasionally flying to Slovakia and can stop over at a field near you the next time.
My experience with passengers is quite different. I have probably flown +250 non-pilots in 20 years, and there has been 1 (!) who was scared, but he had told me before and we just wanted to give it a try.
Many times parents allowed their kids to come along, even without them (which i would never allow …) and although it’s hard to find a passenger for a long flight, i have managed a couple of times (to Sweden, Spain, Crete).
But i still do most flights alone – which i enjoy. Flying alone my performance/concentration is the best and i don’t have to explain anything if i have to fly a detour or if there’s a weather related delay.
And while i do like to socialize or introduce other people to flying – the flying itself i enjoy the most when I’m alone.
