I do OK with the guys but the confrontation comes when we're flying kids at a fly-in and the 300# woman wants to tag along to make sure the kid doesn't freak out. It makes sense as a Mother I know but we're giving rides to kids not adults. It's hard to load the plane when the heifer insists on riding in the back with the 150 pound 10 nyear old while the 30 pound 4 year old kid flies right seat. Usually I come back from flying a load and there's a line ready for rides, not a lot of time to think. I'm considering asking a retired pilot to help next year in arranging loads so we don't have to do it. Last year I'm sure they thought I was a dick assigning seats they didn't agree with while not explaining why. One whose scowl could have stopped a clock thought I wanted to sit by her .It kind of took the fun out of it to be the loadmaster.

I'd put up a sign saying something like "Weight and balance rules: to ensure a safe flight, this plane can carry no more than x lbs. in the front passenger seat, and y lbs. in the rear seat, and the seating arrangement will be chosen for best weight balance."

I think it is worth the few minutes to explain useful load and weight distribution especially to the kids? You are not a ride at an Amusement park & if anything happens the law suits will be the only thing flying! You should make them sign a liability release while you are explaining weight concerns when taking off and landing. Your idea to have someone else do it begs the question. You are the Pilot in Command & they are no nothing ground pounders. I can see encouraging a wannabe pilot into the world of General Aviation but when you are being made to feel that you are a womanizer for your good intentions it is time to reflect on the absurdity of the free rider adults(?). Get a box of twinkies and tell the heffer to pacify her oral fixation! I'm just a cranky old man that resents people who would take a free ride then insinuate sexual improprieties. I personally am very choosy who I let in my airplane. Yes there will be a test!

I'm very frank about it. I've had people get upset at me because I'm a porker myself but then I tell them I can't take them up because the both of us would make the plane too heavy. What's funny is when they tell me *I* should lose weight. Yeah, right. You should learn to fly porky.

I admit I get pretty rude when confronted by " larger" people wanting rides. I usually say politely the combination of every ones weight exceeds the limits of the plane. If they continue to press the issue then my " quit eating fuckin donuts" response makes a grand entrance.

Wear this button...



Or put this sticker on the airplane.



Gump

I say that they should ride in the later 182. It is four inches wider than my crummy old plane. What do you do with the manual flat handle?

Get in Gumps plane, it has more power.

Tim

qmdv wrote:I say that they should ride in the later 182. It is four inches wider than my crummy old plane. What do you do with the manual flat handle?

Get in Gumps plane, it has more power.

Tim

So, your not going to take me flying if you come up to Idaho next week?

What ever! I'll be at the Blue Ribbon flirting with the girls while I'm eating my double cheese burger and chocolate milkshake

I'm not sure if this fits your definition of "tactfull", but I once told some passengers that "this is not a 4-seat airplane, it is an 845 pound airplane, the gas in the tanks weighs 225 pounds, I weigh 195, the stuff in the baggage rack weighs 25 pounds, and this is not the internet, if you all decide you are 5ft 10 inches tall, weigh 105 pounds, and have blond hair, blue eyes, and big tits, we will all die in a pile of burning wreakage on top of that hill off the end of the runway". Then they told me what their real weights were and 1 of them stayed on the ground.

Haha, you guys are awesome! There's some good advice in here but mostly funny. "Ya right, you should learn to fly porky." is almost bumper sticker material.

My plane has almost 1200 useful so the overall weight usually isn't a factor but it's sensitive to where the weight is. My skylane has more room than a 185 and 3 seatbelts in the back, so it's perfect for hauling kids. The Hippos that want to crawl in the back are the deal breakers. Some friends of mine almost killed us on a fishing trip when they stashed what I thought was an empty cooler to haul fish home with in the luggage compartment. It had about 50 pounds of beverages and a 50 pound suitcase on top of that. What a handful coming in for fuel in John Day, OR. I then strapped the cooler in next to the bootlegger in the back seat with the suitcase wedged in front of it. Never assume guys don't pack like girls-some do.

The only pax I take are my friends, and I'm a weightist.

I've never taken a stranger flying, and I don't think I ever will-- the prerogative of a hobbyist pilot. A bright eyed little kid looking through the airport fence is a different story, but his/her folks are staying on the ground. The risk vs reward in that case is worth it to spark a kid's interest.

OK NOW
When I get in the plane and fill the tanks, it really doesn't matter which plane it is!
The only person that can go with me and not overload the beast is a 5'10" 105 pound blond and she has to have big ones or I would never get it off-------- the ground!!!

GT

Baggage is usually the deal breaker in my line of work, when all 5 of the passengers show up on the ramp with what appears to be all their worldly possessions for an overnight trip. I just tell them to pick something or someone to leave behind and throw that ball back in their court. Sometimes you just have to throw tact out the window and be a dick about it, it's a small boat, but I'm the captain!

What bugs me is some of my buddies who are getting older and starting to get big guts. These are guys who were never fat but now that they hit 50+..... we're talking beer guts here. It makes me sad for them, because they ain't going for as many airplane rides and is isn't healthy! My favorite all time passenger is Tracy, at 95 lbs, fearless, and cute as hell, the plane actually flies better with her on board.

On EAA young eagle flights, I try to arrange as per weight, does not always happen. Had two 200 pounders in the back seat and 60 lb copilot. Wt and Bal was good due to low fuel. The trim wheel hit its stop before I could get nose right on take off. It is good that most of the kids are under 200 lbs. I don't try to hurt feelings, but I do not fly big passengers anywhere but right seat. Wt and Bal makes me think that out. My check pilot (grandfather to one of the 200lb kids above) is 325 lb and I take an 80 lb bag of sand in the luggage compartment to fly with him on a check ride. I do ask weights and do the chart if I have any doubts. Have refused rides due to weight and don't feel bad, Safety first. Most people can not do the math and I just point out it is not safe for the airplane and them. Done.
100 lb seat covers do make the airplane fly better.

This thread brings to mind an experience I had flying heads in S.E. AK some years back.
I was flying a 206 Amphib to pick up a couple in Elfin Cove. As I tied up, here they come, he was huge but behind him was his wife and she was bigger. And they were elderly. Well, he made it in ok, but when she took a look at the situation she said, I can't make it up there, you are going to have to push.......... Well, being the helpful kind of guy that I am, I positioned myself and started pushing, my hands disappeared up in there somewhere and after a struggle she was in and my hands came out, seemingly no worse for the wear. The only scars are psychological..............

Just point to the tailwheel and tell her that the little wheel used to be on the nose until you tried to put another lady of her size in the backseat at which point it had to be moved to the tail to keep the ass from dragging.

Dale Maul wrote:
".....this is not the internet, if you all decide you are 5ft 10 inches tall, weigh 105 pounds, and have blond hair, blue eyes, and big tits, we will all die in a pile of burning wreakage on top of that hill off the end of the runway".

lc

I saw a bumper sticker on a big Ford 4x4 "Lifted, cuz fat chicks can't jump"

I have never had to tell anyone they couldn't fly with me yet, but I have told some of the larger people that if they want to fly, we won't be going very far with the amount of gas I can put in I let my wife pack her own luggage once, and after I extracted the seat cushion from my butt, I decided that I should not let her bring her bowling ball and anvil collection any more.

I feel your pain with trying to get larger people loaded. In high school, I helped give horse rides to tourists, and some of them were far to big for the horse. I did actually have to tell a lady that it just wasn't going to be possible and she understood. I will never forget some of the things we had to do to load them on. First cinch up the saddle super tight, then a stepping block, then push and try not to get squashed if they fall back down, and then as they threw a leg over the saddle, the poor horses would stagger around with their eyes all bugged out like "are you serious". Unloading was the dangerous part cuz they could smash me like a bug if they fell wrong.

We just held our ninth annual fly-in at our small local airfield. Our unstated goal is to introducs folks to aviation, and it's generally open to anyone via word of mouth and those who notice uncharacteristic activity at an otherwise usually quiet airport. I'm just now learning that the latter contingent comprises a much larger segment of the attendee population that I previously realized. In fact, many of these "walk-ins" have been younger kids, some of whom I've watch grow up over the years and begin to actually log time towards a license. Really exciting stuff for me.

However, here in central NC we are smack in the middle of barbecue country. And it's delicious barbecue. It's a shame that some folks don't know how to balance their barbecue intake with healthier foods and exercise, but I don't judge.

The past few years I have been confronted with various arrays of passengers who at a quick glance would obviously or possibly tax max gross on my airframe. Man woman or child, though, I have never had the slightest misgiving about assigning seats contrary to riders' desires, asking someone to wait for the next flight, or even telling someone they're too big to fit in the airplane.

And I'm not ashamed in the least, nor have I worried too much about explanation. I know the limitations of my aircraft, and if someone is excessively large, I'm sure they know that. There's no judgment, it's just fact. It's my airplane and I'm offering free rides- there's no way I'll ever worry about hurting someone's feelings to the extent that I would jeopardize their (or my) safety.