Hints for parents of 13 year old student pilot?

"J" wrote in message
$1000 down
the tubes.


Kinda early to say that, ain't it? Those kind of investments may take a
while to mature, you know. Because of her early experience, she may blossom
into something unexpected like an astronaut or (your worst nightmare) an
engineer.

--
Jim Fisher

"G.R. Patterson III" wrote:

My only advice is to go for it. Ok, so he *can't* solo for a few years. If you
wait until he can, there's a good chance that he'll be more interested in abusing
your ears with his idea of how to play a guitar or mooning over some girl. Let
him do what he can, and, if he loses interest, he'll have more to come back to
later than a vague memory of how Papa took him flying as a kid.

On my last flight I let my little four-year-old think she was flying
the airplane. "Left turn! Yay!" "Right Turn! Yay!"

People tell me that she'll never let go of that interest, having
developed it at such an early age. If so, then I should not have a
problem keeping her interested in flying, because she'll do it all on
her own.

Rob

On my last flight I let my little four-year-old think she was flying
the airplane. "Left turn! Yay!" "Right Turn! Yay!"

My son started flying the plane about age 4, too.

The only danger is that flying can become so commonplace, they forget how
special it is. Both of my kids have gone through period where they were
jaded about flying, simply because we do it so much.

Of course, that's when it's time to give them some right seat time, which
usually does the trick. (But it ain't always easy, getting my wife -- also
a pilot -- to relinquish that seat! :-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

On Mon, 22 Mar 2004 14:16:08 GMT, "Jay Honeck"
wrote:

My son, age 13, is planning to take flight lessons this summer. My wife and
I are both pilots, so he has been flying since birth.

Any parents out there gone through the same experience? My concerns a

Jay,

Time for you and/or Mary to get your CFI. I can't imagine a more
gratifying experience than teaching your son how to fly.

-Nathan

In rec.aviation.piloting Jay Honeck wrote:
Of course, that's when it's time to give them some right seat time, which
usually does the trick. (But it ain't always easy, getting my wife -- also
a pilot -- to relinquish that seat! :-)

How about Mary in the left seat, and your son in the right?



--

__!__
Jay and Teresa Masino ___(_)___
http://www2.ari.net/jmasino ! ! !
http://www.oceancityairport.com
http://www.oc-adolfos.com

In article IyC7c.58287$_w.912977@attbi_s53,
"Jay Honeck" wrote:

My son, age 13, is planning to take flight lessons this summer. My wife and
I are both pilots, so he has been flying since birth.

I'm of the opinion that stretched out lessons may be harmful.

My friends and I all did the FIT program while in college as a part of
our impending flight school with the USAF. We flew Cessna 120's and
140's. Flight time to solo averaged about 6-7 hours. Some did it in 3.
Those that got to 10 or 12 were in serious danger of washing out. Now
days, because of liability fears and to feed the time-building needs of
what passes for an instructor, students get 30+ hours.

OK, so I'm an opinionated old fart.

When I was your son's age, farm boys like myself could get a drivers
license at 14. We'd all been driving a long time by then. In that part
of the word, it's still true today. My son's measure of becoming a man
was when he could finally get the clutch all the way down on the truck.
He was 10.

I know a 3rd generation airline pilot whose dad let him fly the Cub out
of the pasture solo well before 16.

I gather from your letter you are intending to hold him off from solo
until 16 no matter what age he becomes ready.

So wait. Let him start his formal lessons no more than 6 weeks before
his birthday.

End of opinion.

--
Ron

How about Mary in the left seat, and your son in the right?

Actually, the only time we've done that it was my DAUGHTER in the right
seat, Mary in the left seat, and us guys in the back.

It felt very, very strange!

But Mary's always welcome to do so -- she just never wants to.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

My friends and I all did the FIT program while in college as a part of
our impending flight school with the USAF. We flew Cessna 120's and
140's. Flight time to solo averaged about 6-7 hours. Some did it in 3.

I did it in 6.2, 10 years ago. That was considered exceptionally fast,
then. (I think my CFI screwed up, soloing me before he meant to. I really
think he mixed me up with another student -- but he would never admit it.
:-)

When I was your son's age, farm boys like myself could get a drivers
license at 14. We'd all been driving a long time by then. In that part
of the word, it's still true today.

In Iowa it's still possible to get a "farm license" (or whatever they call
it) at age 14. Being city-dwellers, I won't allow my son to do that -- it's
just asking for trouble, in my opinion.

I gather from your letter you are intending to hold him off from solo
until 16 no matter what age he becomes ready.

I would feel more comfortable with him flying anytime, rather than driving
on I-80. But that's just me.

So wait. Let him start his formal lessons no more than 6 weeks before
his birthday.

I hear you. Thanks for chiming in.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:_iW7c.70219$Cb.992922@attbi_s51...
On my last flight I let my little four-year-old think she was flying
the airplane. "Left turn! Yay!" "Right Turn! Yay!"

My son started flying the plane about age 4, too.

The only danger is that flying can become so commonplace, they forget how
special it is. Both of my kids have gone through period where they were
jaded about flying, simply because we do it so much.

Keep increasing their participation on each flight to where by the time
they're 15 they're doing most everything.

On Mon, 22 Mar 2004 21:34:19 GMT, "Jay Honeck"
wrote:

This is exactly what I thought as soon as I read Jay's post. Jay should
continue flying with his son, and fostering his interest, and put off
having him take formal lessons until he's atleast 15.

Yeah, I've thought the same thing, off and on. But...

Then I read Trace Lewis' posts, with him asking insightful questions about
flying, and creating little musical videos of him flying a sail plane, and I
realize that SOME 13-year old boys *are* ready for this kind of thing. I
just don't know if *my* 13 year old boy is ready for such things.

Here's the deal: We want our son to feel the joy of flight. We want him to
be able to feel pride in achieving something other than the high score on
"Grand Theft Auto" (a popular video game, for you old fossils out there) --
while at the same time we don't want to push him into something he doesn't
appreciate.

On the OTHER other hand, a 13-year old is not unlike a pack-mule -- he'll
pretty much go whichever way you face him. If you don't steer them, they'll
just sit around all day eating potato chips and watching TV.

We are able to give him a unique opportunity -- an opportunity 99.999% of
the world will never have -- but this can be a double-edged sword if we
don't do it right.

*sigh* They say raising kids is the hardest thing you'll ever do. I'm
starting to believe that.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"


Have you read Rick Durden's article about his daughter soloing in a
glider? There is a picture of her in this month's Sport Aviation
standing in front of the glider and looking hugely mature for a 13
year old, and extremely smug about things.

He flew beside her watching the flight.

I think Rick would probably explode with pride if his skin were a
thousandths thinner. ;-)

Corky Scott