Flight Training at 15?

"Jay Honeck" wrote

We've talked it over, and he's decided to wait until Summer '07 to start
his "real" flight training, just so he can go straight through till his
check-ride. I think it's the best decision he can make at this time -- I
just hope his interest doesn't wane.

I think that is a good choice. In the meantime, you can always let him get
in some right seat time. Fly some, navigate, even a bit of radio time.

Things like that keep the newness, and excitement in flying, in a kid that
age, the newness is what you need to keep shooting for. He has seen it, now
teach him how to have the responsibility for doing it.

When go, no-go situations come up, ask him what he would do, and how he came
to that decision. Then explain what you would do, and how you came to that
decision. That will teach decision making, and develop the judgment skills,
that so many kids his age are lacking.

How to think for yourself is the hardest of all skills to teach. I think
you can do it, though.
--
Jim in NC

Mortimer Schnerd, RN schrieb:

And would you be comfortable letting a kid
fly off in your precious airplane IF you could even find a way to insure it?

Interesting that you seem more concerned about your precious plane than
about your kids.

Suggestion: let him see how he does with a driver's license first. If he
handles that responsibility well, then escalate.

In e.g. Germany, kids can start to fly gliders at 14, while they must
wait until 18 to drive a car. I hear that the clubs make very good
experiences letting 14 year old kids solo in pretty precious ASK21 gliders.

Stean

Stefan wrote:
And would you be comfortable letting a kid
fly off in your precious airplane IF you could even find a way to insure it?

Interesting that you seem more concerned about your precious plane than
about your kids.




Well, you can always have more kids. Airplanes are expensive.



--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN

VE

On 2006-06-11, Mortimer Schnerd, RN wrote:
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?

Insurance in aircraft, from what I've seen, does not depend on age but
hours and ratings. In any case, if you can't be comfortable letting your
son fly off in your airplane, how can you be comfortable letting him fly
any plane? If he's prone to stupid pilot tricks you'll be mourning the
loss of him not the plane so it's irrelevant which plane he augers in
with.

--
Yes, the Reply-To email address is valid.
Oolite-Linux: an Elite tribute: http://oolite-linux.berlios.de

Dylan Smith wrote:
Insurance in aircraft, from what I've seen, does not depend on age but
hours and ratings. In any case, if you can't be comfortable letting your
son fly off in your airplane, how can you be comfortable letting him fly
any plane? If he's prone to stupid pilot tricks you'll be mourning the
loss of him not the plane so it's irrelevant which plane he augers in
with.


If I didn't say it explicitly, that's what I was implying. I can see letting
him fly the family plane on trips with the family. I can't see letting him out
of my sight solo in any aircraft; particularly one occupied by one or more of
his frriends.

One other thought is that it gives him an unrealistic view of flying as if
everyone had a divine right to it. Flying is expensive; most pilots can barely
afford to fly at all (like me, I'm semiretired). What happens to him when he
hits the real world away from Mommy and Daddy and the family Cherokee? I would
imagine damned few of the staff at McDonalds are instrument rated. Sadly, CEO
jobs are relatively scarce. One very important lesson taught to me by my father
is that just because the family has money doesn't mean *I* do.



--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN

VE

Dylan Smith wrote:
On 2006-06-11, Mortimer Schnerd, RN wrote:

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?


Insurance in aircraft, from what I've seen, does not depend on age but
hours and ratings. In any case, if you can't be comfortable letting your
son fly off in your airplane, how can you be comfortable letting him fly
any plane? If he's prone to stupid pilot tricks you'll be mourning the
loss of him not the plane so it's irrelevant which plane he augers in
with.

I know a guy who at 16 his parents would let him take a plane anywhere,
but he couldn't have the car on Saturday night. Aviation TEACHES good
decision making.

Margy

"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

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.

Philosophically, I agree. However, finances must also come into play here.
Joe knows that we will help him with flight training expenses. He also
knows that he must kick in a fair share of the cost.

Mary and I are firm believers in training as fast and as hard as you can, in
order to minimize the time spent. We both treated flight training like
just another semester of college, flying Mon/Wed/Fri, and studying Tue/Thu.
By doing so, we kept the cost of flight training to a minimum, and finished
up in about four months.

If he can't do that (due to his age), he will end up spending a great deal
more money (both his and ours) to get his ticket. With college looming on
the horizon (and a daughter coming up not far behind), stretching out his
flight training is not a good option, financially.

But, as you may have read in another part of this thread, Joe has already
decided to wait another year before he starts his "real" training. In the
meantime, he will continue to learn all of our bad habits by flying
"unofficially"...

:-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck schrieb:

the horizon (and a daughter coming up not far behind), stretching out his
flight training is not a good option, financially.

There are many commercial glider operations which I'm sure would be glad
to accept him for a three week (or so) full time arrangement during
holidays (http://www.ssa org). This would give him a new perspective to
flying and a license. Besides, it's my strong believe that starting in
gliders makes you a better stick and rudder pilot, but this is just my
opinion.

You'd run the risk, though, that he'll loose interest in powered flight
and decides to stay with gliders.

Stefan

On 2006-06-12, Stefan wrote:
You'd run the risk, though, that he'll loose interest in powered flight
and decides to stay with gliders.

I dunno, powered flight means you can fly the tow plane too!

--
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