Flight Training at 15?

Jay,

I started at about 15, but money (even at $9/hr) kept it slow and I did not have
the background your son has. Then came the Air Force and I continued at Chanute
and finally did the check ride at 21 in Walnut Creek Ca. I think if I had the
opportunity to solo I would have wanted to even if it meant a year to the check
ride. At that age all I wanted to do was to be in the air, carrying a passenger
and having my ticket was just an added benefit.

I know a you kid who's dad was a CFI and an airline pilot, with the hours
similar to your sons he is now 18 and has finished his instrument and I think
his commercial. Best to keep them interested at this age they can get allot
done. Good Luck.

Ron Gardner

Jay Honeck wrote:

My son is 15. He'll be turning 16 in August, and starting his Junior year
of high school.

He's been flying since he can remember, and has many hours in the right
seat. (He's got over 1500 hours as a passenger with Mary and me.) His first
dozen or so hours behind the yoke were "IFR" -- because he couldn't see over
the panel! He can do everything except land the plane -- and I'm fairly
certain he could do that, but I'm not about to risk our lives (or my plane)
to find out.

We both agree that he's ready to learn to fly "for real". So, last week we
sat down with a local flight instructor to check out his options on learning
to fly.

Our options are simple.

1. He can take flight training this summer, and solo before school starts in
the fall. Unfortunately, he is then stuck for an entire year before he can
take the check-ride.

2. He can hold off until next summer, 2007.

Prior to age 37, I could only walk around on the ground looking up enviously
at aircraft flying overhead -- so I have no frame of reference on this
issue. For those of you who were lucky enough to train as teenagers, did it
work for you? Should my son wait a year, so he can go at it full-steam and
get the ticket?

Or should we strike while the iron is hot?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

In article ,
Kyle Boatright wrote:

That would probably mean at least one of the certificated pilots would need
to be comfortable doing everything (including landing) from the right seat.


A good way to get Jay to practice for the CFI ticket



--
Eduardo K. | Darwin pone las reglas.
http://www.carfun.cl | Murphy, la oportunidad.
http://e.nn.cl |
| Yo.

On Sun, 11 Jun 2006 12:44:47 GMT, "Jay Honeck"
wrote:

Should my son wait a year, so he can go at it full-steam and
get the ticket?

Or should we strike while the iron is hot?

If he wants to learn now, then do it. He can always continue flying
with you for the next 2 years until he gets his license.

On Sun, 11 Jun 2006 12:44:47 GMT, Jay Honeck wrote:

Should my son wait a year, so he can go at it full-steam and
get the ticket?

questions is: what does your son _really_ want? Or do you don't care?
in your whole posting I can only read we (I suppose meaning Mary and you)
and never him or he.

#m
--
Did you ever realize how much text fits in eighty columns? If you now consider
that a signature usually consists of up to four lines, this gives you enough
space to spread a tremendous amount of information with your messages. So seize
this opportunity and don't waste your signature with bull**** nobody will read.

Jay Honeck wrote:
Prior to age 37, I could only walk around on the ground looking up enviously
at aircraft flying overhead -- so I have no frame of reference on this
issue.

Sorry man...I'm in the same boat as you Jay. PPL at age 40. Wished I'd
started sooner but very glad I didn't wait any longer.


--
Jack Allison
PP-ASEL-Instrument Airplane
Arrow N2104T

"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the Earth
with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there
you will always long to return"
- Leonardo Da Vinci

(Remove the obvious from address to reply via e-mail)

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:3fUig.26692$1i1.20490@attbi_s72...
[...]
Prior to age 37, I could only walk around on the ground looking up
enviously at aircraft flying overhead -- so I have no frame of reference
on this issue. For those of you who were lucky enough to train as
teenagers, did it work for you? Should my son wait a year, so he can go
at it full-steam and get the ticket?

Or should we strike while the iron is hot?

Unlike Martin, I interpret "we" as "Jay and son". I may or may not have
misunderstood.

And yes, sorry...I didn't learn to fly until adulthood, so you didn't really
ask me. But this is my reply anyway.

Anyway, as far as any of this goes, I'd agree that the real question is what
he wants to do. Getting to fly an airplane solo for a year before taking a
checkride isn't going to hurt him. If he's really all that eager to take a
checkride, the glider certificate is right there ready and waiting for him.
He could even take a friend up with that.

I wouldn't worry at all about how the timing might affect his enthusiasm.
It's more important that he be able to follow what he wants to do. If
training now turns into a bust because he gets distracted by other things
before he can take the checkride, so be it. You can't say that he wouldn't
have also been distracted before even getting around to the training, had he
just waited for the whole thing.

As a teenager, his job is (among other things) to explore different
possibilities and get an idea of what he wants to do with his life. IMHO,
this necessarily requires following wherever his current interests lead him,
without worrying too much about whether he can keep up his interest. It's
no longer your job to try to mold him (assuming it ever was)...he's too old
for you to be able to decide for him what he'll like or not like. Just let
him have his experiences, and he can figure it out on his own.

Pete

Jay Honeck wrote:
We both agree that he's ready to learn to fly "for real". So, last week we
sat down with a local flight instructor to check out his options on learning
to fly.

Was he there at the meeting? He should have been. Does he really want
to do this? Or is this something you and Mary want?

Let me tell you a story. Once I went with a friend of mine to pich up
a very nice glider he picked up for a very reasonable price (It was a
Ka-8b, and he paid $5K for it, in flying condition and with a fresh
annual). Only problem was, it had sat on its trailer in a hangar for
almost five years. There was a reason it sat there.

A guy who was really into flying (including gliders) bought it for his
15 year old son. Now, when I was 15, I would have been willing to kill
someone to get my father to buy me a flying maching of any description
whatsoever. But this kid just didn't much care about flying. He never
did fly it. It sat, and it sat, and in the end his father sold it to
my friend, when it became obvious that his son wasn't going to fly it.

In a world full of people, only some want to fly. Isn't that crazy?
But it's true. I think if your son really wanted to fly, you would
already know what to do. He could have soloed a glider at 14, and he
can get a glider certificate at 16. He can solo at a powered airplane
at 16, fly for year doing solo flights and training, and take his
private and instrument back to back. There are lots of options. But
the real question is, what does he want? Unless he really has a desire
to fly, it won't matter in the long run what you do - he won't fly.
And if he does have a desire, he'll let you know in no uncertain terms.

I know a kid who chose having a glider over having a car at 16. Would
your kid make that choice?

Michael

Jack Allison wrote:
Prior to age 37, I could only walk around on the ground looking up enviously
at aircraft flying overhead -- so I have no frame of reference on this
issue.

Sorry man...I'm in the same boat as you Jay. PPL at age 40. Wished I'd
started sooner but very glad I didn't wait any longer.


I grew up around airplanes as my father flew large aircraft for the USAF.
However, when he retired he never pursued GA. I finally figured no tickie, no
washie as far as lessons went and paid my own way when I was 24.

While I would have LOVED to have learned how to fly at 15 (that's the age I was
when I first started sneaking my father's car out in the middle of the night), I
have to question what the hurry is? And would you be comfortable letting a kid
fly off in your precious airplane IF you could even find a way to insure it?
It's not the technical skills I would question but rather the maturity.

I know I didn't have it at that age. Even when I was in my late 20s I still was
prone to buzzing. I finally got that out of my system but I suspect it would
take any kid a long time to do the same... I don't care how mature he seems to
be.

And if he likes aircraft, he's still gonna like them when he's older. I'm 52
and I still don't turn down plane rides. Any excuse will do.

Suggestion: let him see how he does with a driver's license first. If he
handles that responsibility well, then escalate. You might hold it out as a
reward for some future acheivement (3.0 average in college?). But don't just
GIVE it to him if you want him to really value it. Make him earn it.



--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN

VE

Mortimer Schnerd, RN wrote:

I grew up around airplanes as my father flew large aircraft for the USAF.
However, when he retired he never pursued GA.
My Dad was a USAF fighter pilot. One thing he did upon retirement,
however, was to start flying at the nearby Navy base aero club. That
meant I got to ride in the back when he flew as a safety pilot or,
better yet, in the right seat when he'd cruise around the San Francisco
bay area. I got to fly the traffic pattern at a local airport and
pretty much take the plane down to 50 AGL or so while Dad worked the
throttle. Soon it was off to college and then fast forward another 20+
years before I finally decided it was time to get my PPL.

While I would have LOVED to have learned how to fly at 15 (that's the age I was
when I first started sneaking my father's car out in the middle of the night), I
have to question what the hurry is? And would you be comfortable letting a kid
fly off in your precious airplane IF you could even find a way to insure it?
It's not the technical skills I would question but rather the maturity.

A good point to consider.

And if he likes aircraft, he's still gonna like them when he's older. I'm 52
and I still don't turn down plane rides. Any excuse will do.

And I thought it was just me :-)


--
Jack Allison
PP-ASEL-Instrument Airplane
Arrow N2104T

"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the Earth
with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there
you will always long to return"
- Leonardo Da Vinci

(Remove the obvious from address to reply via e-mail)

While the objective isn't merely to solo, I find myself asking why not go
ahead and do a lot of training this summer? Why should your son wait next
year
to experience solo flight?

How many guys do you know that tell you "I soloed a plane back in 19xx" --
but never got their ticket?

I have met a whole bunch of them. I don't want my son to solo, get "stuck"
in a rut waiting, and then never finish up.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"