I used to enjoy flying locally when pilots were or were allowed to interact with passengers more.
In the old days when SAA ,was still something to be proud of, there was a pilot that did the milk run in SA, from Jan Smuts, to BFN, KB, Upinton, CT, etc.
We called him the happy appy. He flew that small Boeing like a fighter jet. It was great fun for many of us but plenty of passengers used their airbags.
Vertical take offs steep descents and emergency stops.
Then there was Sakkie van der Merwe, a legend. He continuously told you what was going on. Took you sight seeing if he was ahead if schedule, which was quite often.
On a flight to EL once, ( a notorious place with landings over the sea), we went through some of the worst turbulence ever. The plane dropped like a stone just short of the coast. Everything that was not tied down stuck to the ceiling for a while.
When it was all over and he had landed, he came on the speaker with these words or something similar.
"Sorry ladies and gentlemen for the rough landing, but I had to lean out of the window to remove the fish off my windscreen"