In article , anon wrote:
Our 17 year old son want to fly as a passenger with his 17 year old friend who
is a brand new pilot. We think the boy is level-headed and mature. He grew up
flying with his dad who is a retired test pilot for an aircraft manufacturer.

These credentials not withstanding, I'm guessing that there is increased risk
of accidents with new pilots. We are uncomfortable about letting him fly with
his friend, but we want to be reasonable.

Newly qualified pilots will (generally speaking) always be a riskier
proposition than experienced pilots.

However, I have known novice teenage pilots who I'd fly with LONG before
some experienced older pilots.

If your son's friend is a regular hanger-out at the airfield they fly
out at, you can probably get a feel for what type of pilot he is from
other people at the airfield. Pilot communities are quite tightly knit.
We always had a pretty good idea who at our airport was 'looking for a
grid reference'.

--
Dylan Smith, Castletown, Isle of Man
Flying: http://www.dylansmith.net
Frontier Elite Universe: http://www.alioth.net
"Maintain thine airspeed, lest the ground come up and smite thee"