Father/son day at the airport

I made it to the airport for the first time since my son (first child)
was born in May. I did a little PAO-WVI-E16 loop by myself.

I couldn't help but notice that a lot of the Sunday flyers were father/
son or father/daughter teams. Perhaps that's how it's always been, I
just hadn't noticed it before.

It made me wonder, how long did you parental pilots wait to take your
kids up on their first flight? In any case, I've got years to wait! In
the meantime, I get to dress him in airplane themed baby clothes -- of
which he has many.

Dave J

PS -- I guess its heartening that I saw mostly father+youngster rather
than grandfather+youngster teams -- but then again, this was Palo
Alto -- the planes were late model Diamonds, Columbias, and Cirri,
too. Sigh. I wonder how excited my son will be to go up in a 1970's
172 with funny mechanical instruments!

In article ,
Dave J wrote:

It made me wonder, how long did you parental pilots wait to take your
kids up on their first flight? In any case, I've got years to wait! In
the meantime, I get to dress him in airplane themed baby clothes -- of
which he has many.

My son has been flying since he was few months old and my daughters
since they were a few years old. My son (now 9) loves flying, one
of my daughters (6) is ok with it, and the other (6) doesn't like
it at all. My sister steals one of my kids on the weekends I have
them, so when she takes the one that doesn't like flying, I usually
take the other two up.

PS -- I guess its heartening that I saw mostly father+youngster rather
than grandfather+youngster teams -- but then again, this was Palo
Alto -- the planes were late model Diamonds, Columbias, and Cirri,
too. Sigh. I wonder how excited my son will be to go up in a 1970's
172 with funny mechanical instruments!

My kids have been plenty excited to go up in 1970s Cherokees, but
after awhile started asking to go up in a Cessna for something
different. The 1970s 172 was a big treat for them. The funny
mechanical instruments makes it easier to introduce one instrument
at a time to them.

John, also at PAO
--
John Clear - http://www.clear-prop.org/

On 8/25/08 6:52 PM, in article
, "Dave J"
wrote:


I made it to the airport for the first time since my son (first child)
was born in May. I did a little PAO-WVI-E16 loop by myself.

I couldn't help but notice that a lot of the Sunday flyers were father/
son or father/daughter teams. Perhaps that's how it's always been, I
just hadn't noticed it before.

It made me wonder, how long did you parental pilots wait to take your
kids up on their first flight? In any case, I've got years to wait! In
the meantime, I get to dress him in airplane themed baby clothes -- of
which he has many.

Dave J

PS -- I guess its heartening that I saw mostly father+youngster rather
than grandfather+youngster teams -- but then again, this was Palo
Alto -- the planes were late model Diamonds, Columbias, and Cirri,
too. Sigh. I wonder how excited my son will be to go up in a 1970's
172 with funny mechanical instruments!

I waited until my grandson was 3 before I took him up. I wanted him to be
able to understand what was going on (at least a little), and reach the yoke
to "help" steer. I've been putting the flying bug in his ear since he was
born since I don't have any other flying buddies in the family. It has
worked so far.

It warms my heart when, out of the blue, he whispers that he wants to go to
the airport with me, although I suspect sometimes he's just as content to
wander around and look at the planes as much as fly in one. We do that too
when we have a day that the weather won't cooperate. We head down to KATL
and watch the heavy iron come and go from the parking deck.
--
Jeff 'The Wizard of Draws' Bucchino
Cartoons with a Touch of Magic �

http://www.wizardofdraws.com
http://www.cartoonclipart.com

It made me wonder, how long did you parental pilots wait to take your
kids up on their first flight? In any case, I've got years to wait! In
the meantime, I get to dress him in airplane themed baby clothes -- of
which he has many.

My son went up with me for the first time when he was four years old. My
daughter was 18 months old. They've each flown with Mary (my wife, also a
pilot) and me over 1,800 hours since then.

Fast forward 14 years, and dozens of wonderful flying adventures later. My
son, now 18, earned his Private last fall (and flew into -- and camped at --
Oshkosh this year), and my daughter will be taking flight lessons in the
summer of '10.

Enjoy them while they are little. I know you'll hear this a lot (and it'll
seem hard to believe), but the time really does go by in a flash, so enjoy
the journey with them!
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
Ercoupe N94856
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Dave J wrote:
how long did you parental pilots wait to take your
kids up on their first flight?

A couple months after I'd passed my checkride, after doing a lot of solo
flying and gaining lots of confidence, I took up my then-12-year-old
son. He had an amazingly steady hand at the right-seat controls, kept
the altitude and heading completely on track...and found it only mildly
interesting, especially since I wouldn't do any stalls or stunts.

The girls went with me once or twice when I took a friend to summer
camp, but found it boring as well...just another internal combustion
vehicle, like riding with me to the grocery store.

Still, that was my attitude as an adolescent, and a long time later it
reawakened as the urge to learn flying -- so who knows?

Stella

Jay, I thought both of them both went up with you while they were still in
liquid form?

{;-)

Jim

--
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought
without accepting it."
--Aristotle


"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:G5Ksk.314184$yE1.92939@attbi_s21...

My son went up with me for the first time when he was four years old. My
daughter was 18 months old. They've each flown with Mary (my wife, also a
pilot) and me over 1,800 hours since then.

I asked the greybeards in the EAA chapter I belong to for their advice
on when to take my first born up. The advice was to wait until they
could understand verbal instructions.

I purchased two DC 10-13.4Y's to fit their small heads. I took my first
one up in the Champ when he was two. It made for an interesting photo of
a child in a car seat in the front seat of the Champ.

My second child got to fly at about 18 months when my wife's father died
and I had to fly her to be with her mother. I flew home with both kids
in the back seat of the Musketeer. Each had a grease pencil and drew on
the side windows to amuse themselves during the 1.5 hour flight.

Following that trip, whenever we drove past the airport, the second
child would always ask, "Are we going flying?"

13 years later, the second one likes to fly with a camera in hand.
Some of the first pictures she took were of the Chicago skyline as we
flew the shoreline coming home from Oshkosh.

"RST Engineering" wrote in message
...
Jay, I thought both of them both went up with you while they were still in
liquid form?

So you heard about him giving the UPS guy a ride also.

That one went right over the top of my head.

Jim

--
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought
without accepting it."
--Aristotle


"Mike" wrote in message
news:%dWsk.847$lf2.697@trnddc07...

"RST Engineering" wrote in message
...

Jay, I thought both of them both went up with you while they were still
in liquid form?

So you heard about him giving the UPS guy a ride also.

"RST Engineering" wrote in message
m...
That one went right over the top of my head.

Why am I not surprised?



Jim

--
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought
without accepting it."
--Aristotle


"Mike" wrote in message
news:%dWsk.847$lf2.697@trnddc07...

"RST Engineering" wrote in message
...

Jay, I thought both of them both went up with you while they were still
in liquid form?

So you heard about him giving the UPS guy a ride also.