It's been 7 weeks since I flew. Is that possible? I've safety piloted for a few of the guys - I've been a working passenger. It felt good. Everything was exactly how it should be ... I've been worrying that I'd get rusty ... seven weeks didn't show worse for the wear at all. I was being, flying, especially sweet because this was my passenger's first flight in this small a plane. He wanted to see the stadium and another specific landmark - which he saw. I realized that he was just a bit overwhelmed by the experience ... I banked 20 degrees and lined his point of interest off the right wing tip ... he was like holycow or something like that. His follow up comment was,"Don't we lose lift on a steep turn like that?" I shook my head no and said, "You seem to know enough to scare yourself...no worries" and I gently tapped the altimeter. "Still 2500." I said. We remained level at 2500MSL for the bulk of the flight ... certainly throughout the sightseeing portion. I tried to hold his attention on the altimeter and pointed out the vsi to give him a little assurance. "Now we'll climb up to 3000," I told him, "and trade a little airspeed for the additional altitude." I tapped on the ASI. He wanted to see some of the undeveloped area around here - and there is a lot of it. He asked for a steep turn and I set up for it, but it didn't occur to me that his idea of a steep turn and mine were different. I noted that he thought 20 degrees was steep, but ... well a steep turn is at least 45 degrees angle of bank. "Are you ready/" I asked and he seemed ready. I rolled left and a bit of power... touch of trim ... perfect ... lovely ... man, it's hazy I'm thinking and I roll back to the right ... glance at the instruments ... allow myself the slightest smile ... there's the wake ripple.... there she is I think. He said something that indicated that he wasn't loving every second of this ... "Alright, we'll discontinue the maneuver I tell him." SnL ... I tap him on the knee to make a tiny bit of contact. "You okay?" I ask, smiling encouragingly. "Uhhh yeah ... that's my first G. (45degree steep turn is less than 1.5 Gs) I tell him we'll head back to the airport and do some landings if we have time. And then I ask him a chef question to put him back in his comfort zone. I like that I remembered to tell him exactly what and why for each hand movement I made. I like that I gave him airspeed and altitude instrumentation to look at. I'm glad that I didn't put him through several take offs and landings. I gave him a beautiful take off and a sweet little smooth landing. He did great! What I wish could have been different is I wish I hadn't given him a steep turn ... he didn't know what to expect and that was my oversight. I wish I had heard rather than just listenned when he said a 20 degree bank was steep. I knew the landing might worry him a bit and I talked him through the entry all the way down to clear of 36 ... I sensed him tense ... I saw him hold on to his seat ... "This is good ... perfect ... see the lights (VASI) you were talking about ... we're looking for 65Kts all the way down ... over the gate I'll ease the power out and ... flare ... and ...whah la you're on the ground ... !"

It's very different to fly with a non-pilot. I need to remember that as I begin instructing. Everything is new. As we secured the plane and walked in to the FBO he asked me if the G's bother me ... I said I just don't experience them as anything other than a piece of information about what the airplane is doing. A lot of what you heard and felt is a normal subroutine for me ... like when you cut something ... I never look away from my knife. "Yeah, I get it" he said, "I can smell done ... hey, don't burn my Parmesan...". "Yep that's it ... I haftah set the timer" I told him, and if I do otherwise we know it's ready when the smoke alarm goes off!