Fred as in Flintstone

It is certainly the solution to her concerns!

Do you have any advice for someone buying their first M20E or M20C based on your first experience and your most recent one?

Thanks for that. It looks helpful. I'll check it out.

Yeah.... Interestingly, for a Vans (6 or the 7 or even the 9), they are as much or more than a Vintage Mooney (C or E) and it would be nice to have the option of flying others somewhere (I do have brothers/brother in laws and nephews who would fly with me). Having the third (fourth - :-) ) seat is kinda attractive. Would love to have an RV-14 but they are a lot more expensive.

And here's another. They talk about the importance of pushing forward immediately with loss of power in a climb, and having that ingrained in your brain and muscle memory.

There has been a push online at least to rectify this. Here are a couple of videos that I think point out what you are saying and how to fix it...

Thankfully not a "crash", but rather a well executed off field landing!

Good luck on the checkride! You'll do fine. Remember, they want you to pass.

I'd be content flying by myself. And the motion sickness thing is real. I get that. I'm not interested in having her miserable. But right now, it's antagonistic about even me just flying.

What about my level of resentment? The one thing I have found as I have gotten older that I really really enjoy, and someone who's supposed to support you and your dreams craps on them?

Have thought about the Cirrus thing. I actually do think she'd view a parachute as a safety net (she has said as much). I'm not sure that she'd ever get in it though. While I could afford a Cirrus, that level of monetary commitment would also be something that there's no way she'd be ok with it.

It's not a matter of disregarding her reasonable fears or concerns, though they are overstated. It's not trivializing them. I'm not trying to force her into a plane. I have stopped asking her to fly with me.

I understand what you're saying. Why can't she respect my wishes? What about my needs? Wouldn't a loving wife who is committed to her husband and her marriage want to encourage and support his passion and loves in life?

Couldn't agree more with you about #1. And unfortunately, it is a situation where it is active discouraging and complaining these days. And I am a husband who is very accommodating and will do pretty much whatever she wants. I don't refuse to do anything she has asked to do. And I'd never ask her not to do something she'd really want to do. And I don't talk about any of the flights.

Thanks. And thanks to all who are posting.

That's good advice. She actually seems to have bought into the idea of being a CFI in terms of not caring about the money side of it. I'll have to look into the charity ones.

Thought about a 2 place. But I do have a brother and brother in law I'd totally want to fly to see a football game on a weekend (2 1/2 hour flight). And the Mooney 20c/e would not be stupid expensive nor expensive to just tool around in locally

Don't really want to do that. And I thumbs up'ed this one because you found someone who shares the passion. To be fair, this was not something I did from the start of our relationship 11 years ago. So this wasn't something she had signed up for.

Well, had a couple of good flights, then the one. I wish I could get her to come around to the idea of the increased exposure making it fine. Unfortunately she isn't willing at this point to even give it a try. I think part of it is she doesn't want to feed the fire / fan the flames.

I would be completely happy with this situation. That is what I hope for.

Yes, that is one of the things I try to point out. A 6 hr drive, not really weekend doable, to see her mother in CA or 10 hr drive to see kids at college turns into a <2 hr and a < 3 hour flight. But pointing it out is useless as she just seems adamantly opposed to it. So that wouldn't be happening. I have tried to make sure she knows that I would not fly her in anything close to adverse conditions, first thing in the morning and all of that. Still I've gotten nowhere, so have stopped offering. I do think that if she just gave it a shot again, she'd find it OK. That's the frustrating part. She has been on other flights with me - had a friend fly us on a long (400mile) cross country and it went great. Smooth as could be. One discovery flight with one school - went fine. Starting training - she was left seat, I was in the back, and it was a hot turbulent day. And that was it. No more. Hadn't anticipated that. The real question for me is how to balance my passion and wanting to fly all the time with her refusing, We do ok money wise, so while she doesn't like how much it costs, we certainly can afford it and we wouldn't have to change our lifestyle financially if I'm flying all the time (for which I am grateful). But what do I do? First, gonna finish instrument / commercial, but then what. Someone mentioned CFI. I actually have thought about that. Have that be a retirement job and way to fly and get paid. But that's 10 years off. I know this is relationship advice more than flying advice. I am just frustrated that the thing I love the most outside of family is not something that I can end up sharing with her. I can't talk about the greased landing or the amazing views or the nice flight or the awesome 8's on pylons because she isn't impressed and doesn't want to talk about it.

So.... First post here. A little background. Mid 50's. Always dreamed of flying, finally took the plunge three years ago. Working on commercial / instrument now with rentals. When I first started the private, my wife was also interested / on board and we were going to do it together. Well, she had a bad experience with motion sickness on a very hot Arizona afternoon in an Archer where the CFI was demonstrating inherent stability. Since that time I have not been able to get her in a plane. Period. In fact, it's become even worse than that. She is now convinced that flying is super dangerous. Sends me links to fatal GA plane crashes. Doesn't like how much it costs or the time that it takes. I think some of it is that I'm a low time pilot (200hrs) and not sure she "trusts" me. Unfortunately, I'm the opposite. I'm 100% in. It is a passion. I want to fly more. I'd love to fly places. I want to live the pilot life. But I can't get her to budge. And interestingly enough, none of the family are really interested in flying with me. I do have extended family that would fly everyday with me (brother, brother in law, sister, nephews) but not my kids. Just looking to see how many other people struggle with the same thing. How do you deal with a non-flying family when you want to do it all the time? Want to buy a plane (really want to buy a short body Mooney). There have to be others out there dealing with this.