"George Patterson" wrote in message
news:SD7Ke.4802$lK2.1218@trndny01...

You seem to be concentrating on the money. While it may or may not be true
that
most Americans can afford the $5,000 or more it takes to keep a 4-seater
on
tiedown and fly it a few hours a year, I certainly wouldn't think so.
That's
about 10% of the median income for an American family.

As for the other two items, very few can take the time necessary to
maintain a
proficiency level good enough for even a few VFR cross-country trips a
year.
Fewer still can afford to get an instrument rating and stay current. And
even
fewer are able to convince both themselves and their spouses to take the
risks
inherent in taking long trips by light aircraft, especially if they're
honest
about how marginal their piloting skills have become flying, say, 50 hours
a
year. It's also one thing to head for Sun'n Fun solo, knowing that you
will have
to call the boss if the weather keeps you from coming back on time. It's
quite
another thing to take the family somewhere and risk having to return 3
days late.

And just about the time that the kids are getting big enough to enjoy it,
you
can't fit the family in the old Cherokee (or the not-so-old Maule)
anymore.

George, you nailed several points about GA and families. While it is
certainly possible to involve the whole family in GA activities, in many
cases, it's hard to do. Like you said, when they are really small, they fit
the W&B, but they are very needy and may actually not like it. When they get
older, they have this way of getting big (and heavy) and I just can't afford
a Cherokee Six, at least right now. And kids want to bring their friends
along. What now? A Caravan?

I've been wrestling with this issue for a few months now. I have a 6 year
old son and a 1 year old daughter.

I have taken my son to the airport hundreds of times, but he's just not that
interested. I took him flying and and he wasn't too impressed. He's the
outdoorsy type who likes to fish, hike and explore and likes my attention.
While you're flying, you just can't pay attention to your kids, which is
what they really want anyway. Why the hell take them if they don't enjoy it?
[Now, I am just talking about flying here, not X/C's. Destinations can be a
lot of fun] I came to the realization that flying is for ME, not really for
the family and I seem to be the only one who gets a kick out of it. Not that
there is anything really wrong with that, but when you have a young family,
you just don't have that much time for yourself. My wife supports my flying
(for which I am very grateful), it's just not HER thing either.

You mentioned time. I seem to have NO extra time these days. I pay dearly
for any time spent away from the house because my wife needs me at home to
help with the kids. It's hard to fly enough to keep current because of the
lack of time. I began to feel that the best thing to do would be to find
things that we can do together as a family that I also enjoy, not just me
going off by myself.

So, I bought a boat this year. It's an activity that we can all do together
and we can invite friends as well. While it's not flying, it does have some
of the same feelings of satisfaction of a job well done. The big difference
is that while I enjoy doing it, the whole family does too. Someone mentioned
that the best way to keep your kids interested in family outings is to let
them invite their friends. No big deal, invite who you can, pack the cooler
and head to the lake. Everyone has a blast and it's cheap!

I still fly, but I don't badger everyone to do it with me. I realize it's MY
thing and anyone who wants to join me can do so. I do hold out hope that
it's something that my kids will take a shine to, but there's always that
chance that they won't. I have to be OK with that. I plan to take my son up
this Fall, just him and me and see how it goes. It's funny, he always is
asking me when we are going fishing again, even though we've flown before. I
think the difference is that while fishing, we can talk, and relax and we
spend time together. While flying, I am rather preoccupied with what I am
doing and can't be silly, which he really likes.

GA is awesome, but my opinion is that it isn't the ideal family activity. To
those who make it work, God bless'em.

-Trent
PP-ASEL