Flying with large people

[bryris]

This may be a bit of a taboo topic, but is never-the-less relevant. I've got some friends and some family who are fairly large folks and have expressed interest in flying with me. I don't really know how to approach it without just coming out with it. My wife brought up the idea of just using limited cabin width as the excuse. Even though I don't have a weight problem personally, I'm a large guy @ 6'4", wide shoulders. If I put someone large in my right seat, even if we weren't overweight in my 140, it'd feel pretty dang cozy in there and I'd struggle to trim the airplane without feeling up some thigh, which is just uncomfortable for everyone. And for newbies, I want to manage the closing the door myself, which is likewise difficult in said scenario.

I love sharing flying with anyone and everyone. At least half the time I fly, that right seat is empty, so I'm all for bringing anyone who wants to come along. But, some of of those folks just are too big to make it a comfortable flight. And even then I worry about the challenge of walking onto my wing and dropping into that seat. A cherokee isn't like getting into an F150. Its easy to damage the door if you aren't careful.

I really don't mean this in jest. Its really a problem these days. Just curious how others approach this taboo issue. How do you tell someone "No" they cannot fly because they are too fat?

 

[Warriorgreg]

 

[ylee]

 

[Baron62]

 

[dshelley]

 

[bryris]

 

[EDC]

 

[JohnPhillips]

 

[EchoDelta]

 

[bryris]