Flying with small kids

[Bill G]

Anyone have any experience taking small children flying for the first
time?

Did the kids start screaming the minute the wheels left the pavement
or were they pretty calm?

Bill

[mindenpilot]

"Bill G" > wrote in message
...
> Anyone have any experience taking small children flying for the first
> time?
>
> Did the kids start screaming the minute the wheels left the pavement
> or were they pretty calm?
>
> Bill

How small?
I have 7, 4 and 2 year olds.
They all like to fly. No crying at all.
However, they have more interest when in the front seat, and tend to fall
asleep in the back.
The littlest one tends to take her headset off until she falls asleep.
When on trips they get bored easily.
When tooling around the area, the love steep turns, etc.

Adam
N7966L
Beech Super III

[A Lieberman]

On Fri, 06 May 2005 00:58:58 GMT, Bill G wrote:

> Anyone have any experience taking small children flying for the first
> time?
>
> Did the kids start screaming the minute the wheels left the pavement
> or were they pretty calm?
>
> Bill

Hi Bill,

My niece and nephew have been up with me at the young age of 1 1/2. First
trip was just around the pattern to see what their reaction would be.

Big mistake *smile* as my nephew lives and breathes airplane. My niece now
looks at it as "just another way of getting around".

Both were calm the first time, though the first time my nephew squawked
about getting in the plane. He didn't like the slope of the wing, and was
too "independent" to accept help. Once in, not a problem. We had bought a
child size headset, and he didn't mind it at all.

Both kids on their first cross country were great. It was a one hour
flight and right at 50 minutes, they did get fidgety, but once they felt
the plane start to descend, they seem to understand the trip was almost
over. Both wore headsets without any discomforts or problems.

Hope this helps.

Allen

[George Patterson]

Bill G wrote:
> Anyone have any experience taking small children flying for the first
> time?
>
> Did the kids start screaming the minute the wheels left the pavement
> or were they pretty calm?

I've done a number of "Young Eagles" flights. Kids are at least school age for
those. Reactions have varied -- a few do the screaming routine, as if it were a
carnival ride. I hit the pilot isolate button at that point. I've never had any
kid scream because they were scared. Usually there's silence during the roll.
Then about 300' AGL or so, somebody says "COOL!".

George Patterson
There's plenty of room for all of God's creatures. Right next to the
mashed potatoes.

[Don Hammer]

Had my 5 year old grandson start crying at about 2500 ft. Since then
I teach them how to clear their ears before flying. Never had a kid
that didn't love it.

[Gary Drescher]

"Bill G" > wrote in message
...
> Anyone have any experience taking small children flying for the first
> time?
>
> Did the kids start screaming the minute the wheels left the pavement
> or were they pretty calm?

The 2-to-4-year-olds I've taken flying were very excited until shortly after
takeoff. Then they fell asleep.

--Gary

[aluckyguess]

My little girl (10) loves to fly but her ears always hurt, but other than
that they all seem to love it, and yes they fall asleep on long flights.
"Gary Drescher" > wrote in message
...
> "Bill G" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Anyone have any experience taking small children flying for the first
>> time?
>>
>> Did the kids start screaming the minute the wheels left the pavement
>> or were they pretty calm?
>
> The 2-to-4-year-olds I've taken flying were very excited until shortly
> after takeoff. Then they fell asleep.
>
> --Gary
>
>

[Amandasdaddy]

Hi Bill -
I have 2 girls - 5 and 8 and they both love flying. My 8 year old
always wants to sit up front and the little one gets ****ed if she has
problems with her child headset (we fixed the sizing problems and all
is well now).

I am taking them to Ukiah this weekend and they can't wait... as long
as the weather holds out here in N. California (currently raining).

Take them - they'll have a blast, until they get bored...

[Matt Whiting]

Bill G wrote:
> Anyone have any experience taking small children flying for the first
> time?
>
> Did the kids start screaming the minute the wheels left the pavement
> or were they pretty calm?
>
> Bill

All three of mine were calm, curious for a few minutes, then promptly
fell asleep. :-)


Matt

[Ron Tock]

Bill G wrote:

> Anyone have any experience taking small children flying for the first
> time?
>
> Did the kids start screaming the minute the wheels left the pavement
> or were they pretty calm?
>
> Bill

I have not flown any kids but myself and my brother used to fly with my
dad at just a year or two old. We had a blast.

[Flyin'[email protected]]

My 6 year old son has only flown a couple of times with me, and he enjoys
it. However, on the second trip he turned a little green around the gills
and forced an early end to the flight. He is anxious for another flight
for which I will oblige. :-)

Bill G > wrote:
> Anyone have any experience taking small children flying for the first
> time?
>
> Did the kids start screaming the minute the wheels left the pavement
> or were they pretty calm?
>
> Bill

--
Mike Flyin'8
PP-ASEL
Temecula, CA
http://flying.4alexanders.com

[Mike Granby]

My two year old had his first ride about eight months ago, and he's now
completely airplane crazy. He loves going to the airport, and going up
in the plane, and most of the time he'll even keep his headset on,
although it's a problem getting him to keep it on permanently. My nine
month old has also been up a couple of times in the Saratoga, and with
him, we struggled to find a good way to protect his ear. The latest
idea is one of those caps with the ear covers, with some soundproofing
sown into the flaps. We'll see how it works!

Re screaming, neither has screamed much at all. Someone told me that if
they do start, just keep climbing, and as the air things, they'll go to
sleep........ Not had to try that yet, thankfully!

Re ear pain problems, I give the oldest candy on the way down, and my
wife nurses the youngest. Also, I keep the descent to 500 fpm. Again,
so far, so good.

For strapping them in, I just use their car seats. The easiest
technique is actually lift the car seat out of the truck with the kid
still in it, and strap it in the plane as is. This is particulatly
useful in reverse when you get back, as they'll often be asleep after
an evening flight.

[George Patterson]

Don Hammer wrote:
> Had my 5 year old grandson start crying at about 2500 ft. Since then
> I teach them how to clear their ears before flying. Never had a kid
> that didn't love it.

Well, my stepson started blubbering once. Said he was homesick (we were about 2
hours away). Next thing I know, my wife is crying too. We were at 11,500'
crossing over the Dulles class-B at the time. I put it down to hypoxia.

George Patterson
There's plenty of room for all of God's creatures. Right next to the
mashed potatoes.

[Ross Richardson]

mindenpilot wrote:

> "Bill G" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>>Anyone have any experience taking small children flying for the first
>>time?
>>
>>Did the kids start screaming the minute the wheels left the pavement
>>or were they pretty calm?
>>
>>Bill
>
>
> How small?
> I have 7, 4 and 2 year olds.
> They all like to fly. No crying at all.
> However, they have more interest when in the front seat, and tend to fall
> asleep in the back.
> The littlest one tends to take her headset off until she falls asleep.
> When on trips they get bored easily.
> When tooling around the area, the love steep turns, etc.
>
> Adam
> N7966L
> Beech Super III
>
>
I have over 200 EAA Young Eagle flights and not a problem with any of
them. As we taxi out I explain what will be happening. I also have 3
grandkids that really like to fly with grandpa, 10, 5, and 3. The 3 year
old has the most fun. I do put books in the back seat to keep them
occupied until the drone of the engine puts them to sleep. I made some
adapters that fit my adult headsets, so the headsets fit on the younger
heads. That has really helped. My biggest thought was that they would
want to pull the headsets off, but that has not been a problem.

--
Regards, Ross
C-172F 180HP

[Matt Whiting]

George Patterson wrote:
> Don Hammer wrote:
>
>> Had my 5 year old grandson start crying at about 2500 ft. Since then
>> I teach them how to clear their ears before flying. Never had a kid
>> that didn't love it.
>
>
> Well, my stepson started blubbering once. Said he was homesick (we were
> about 2 hours away). Next thing I know, my wife is crying too. We were
> at 11,500' crossing over the Dulles class-B at the time. I put it down
> to hypoxia.

I thought hypoxia was supposed to make you happy? :-)

Matt

[Bill G]

Thanks to all of you that replied to my post, reading your experiences
has been very helpful. I'm thinking of taking my son up soon...he
alwasy says he wants to go flying with Dad when he sees me leaving the
house with my flight bag...I think now I'll give it a shot.

Thanks again!
Bill



On Fri, 06 May 2005 00:58:58 GMT, Bill G >
wrote:

>Anyone have any experience taking small children flying for the first
>time?
>
>Did the kids start screaming the minute the wheels left the pavement
>or were they pretty calm?
>
>Bill

[Matt Barrow]

"Ross Richardson" > wrote in message
...
> mindenpilot wrote:
>
> I have over 200 EAA Young Eagle flights and not a problem with any of
> them. As we taxi out I explain what will be happening. I also have 3
> grandkids that really like to fly with grandpa, 10, 5, and 3. The 3 year
> old has the most fun. I do put books in the back seat to keep them
> occupied until the drone of the engine puts them to sleep. I made some
> adapters that fit my adult headsets, so the headsets fit on the younger
> heads. That has really helped. My biggest thought was that they would
> want to pull the headsets off, but that has not been a problem.

Do you give them gum to chew?

I used that when my kids were four and up and never had a problem.

Only problem was when they became teenagers and started using Walkman
headsets and started bouncing to the music -- wrecked havoc with the W&B.
:~)

[Steven Barnes]

The first time I took my (then) 4 year old up, I let my CFI fly the plane
while I sat in back with my daughter. She thought it was cool for a while,
then fell asleep. If you're going to be the one driving, I recommend another
family member be in the plane to handle crowd control until you can get back
down.

Now, my daughter is 7 1/2. She'll pretty much only get in the plane if we're
heading to grandpa's house. She knows how much shorter trip it is. Although,
she's starting to "are we there yet?" in the plane. Guess it's time to step
up..... ;-)


>
> On Fri, 06 May 2005 00:58:58 GMT, Bill G >
> wrote:
>
> >Anyone have any experience taking small children flying for the first
> >time?
> >
> >Did the kids start screaming the minute the wheels left the pavement
> >or were they pretty calm?
> >
> >Bill
>

[Jay Honeck]

> Now, my daughter is 7 1/2. She'll pretty much only get in the plane if
> we're
> heading to grandpa's house. She knows how much shorter trip it is.
> Although,
> she's starting to "are we there yet?" in the plane. Guess it's time to
> step
> up..... ;-)

Everything is relative, no?

My kids fly a lot, and they've been doing that "Are we there yet?" thing for
the last five years or so.

What's really fun is when we have to drive somewhere that we usually fly to;
THEN the "Are we there yets?" start 45 minutes into a 5 hour drive!

I then use the next four hours to constantly remind them of how lucky we are
to fly.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Mike Granby]

> My kids fly a lot, and they've been doing that "Are
> we there yet?" thing for the last five years or so.

That's what the CREW mode is for on the intercom.

If only we wore headsets in the car.......... :)

[Jay Honeck]

> That's what the CREW mode is for on the intercom.
>
> If only we wore headsets in the car.......... :)

Mary and I have repeatedly tried to press "Pilot Isolate" in the car...to no
avail.

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

[Andrew Gideon]

George Patterson wrote:

> Usually there's silence during the roll.
> Then about 300' AGL or so, somebody says "COOL!".

That happens even when I'm flying alone.

- Andrew

[Andrew Gideon]

Steven Barnes wrote:

> The first time I took my (then) 4 year old up, I let my CFI fly the plane
> while I sat in back with my daughter.

That's a good point. So far, I'm not willing to take our (almost 3 yo) son
up w/o my wife aboard. That gives someone to take care of him while I fly.

- Andrew

[Jay Honeck]

> That's a good point. So far, I'm not willing to take our (almost 3 yo)
> son
> up w/o my wife aboard. That gives someone to take care of him while I
> fly.

That's the way we do all first flights with kids. There has to be a
"designated parent" on board, just in case.

I've only had one kid start to flip out while on his first ride, and I was
glad his mom was there to calm him down. By the end of the flight, he was
fine, but it sure would have sucked having him sitting behind me whimpering.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Andrew Gideon]

Jay Honeck wrote:

> That's the way we do all first flights with kids.Â*Â*ThereÂ*hasÂ*toÂ*beÂ*a
> "designated parent" on board, just in case.
>
> I've only had one kid start to flip out while on his first ride, and I was
> glad his mom was there to calm him down.Â*Â*ByÂ*theÂ*endÂ*ofÂ*theÂ*flight,Â*heÂ*was
> fine, but it sure would have sucked having him sitting behind me
> whimpering.

In my case, it's not just first flights. I'm not sure when I'll stop doing
this, but so far it is for every flight.

And it's not just for the melt downs (though of course for that too), but
for little things like "I want water" or "I want pretzels" or "I want to
rewire the audio panel".

- Andrew

P.S. Of course, this also works for me because my wife is my
favorite passenger.

[Matt Whiting]

Jay Honeck wrote:

>>That's a good point. So far, I'm not willing to take our (almost 3 yo)
>>son
>>up w/o my wife aboard. That gives someone to take care of him while I
>>fly.
>
>
> That's the way we do all first flights with kids. There has to be a
> "designated parent" on board, just in case.
>
> I've only had one kid start to flip out while on his first ride, and I was
> glad his mom was there to calm him down. By the end of the flight, he was
> fine, but it sure would have sucked having him sitting behind me whimpering.

That roll just after lift-off was a little too much, eh? :-)

Matt

[Wade]

Jay Honeck wrote:
>>That's a good point. So far, I'm not willing to take our (almost 3 yo)
>>son
>>up w/o my wife aboard. That gives someone to take care of him while I
>>fly.
>
>
> That's the way we do all first flights with kids. There has to be a
> "designated parent" on board, just in case.
<snip>

I'm considering whether or not to take my 5 year old up,
since it would be in a Citabria, where I'd be in the front,
and he'd be in the back, all by himself.
But again, he might just love it. I suppose I could monitor him
closely through start, taxi, and run-up, and if he feels ok,
then we'd just do a few quick laps around the pattern.

[Jay Honeck]

> I'm considering whether or not to take my 5 year old up,
> since it would be in a Citabria, where I'd be in the front,
> and he'd be in the back, all by himself.
> But again, he might just love it. I suppose I could monitor him
> closely through start, taxi, and run-up, and if he feels ok,
> then we'd just do a few quick laps around the pattern.

I would be extremely reluctant to give a 5-year old a ride from the back
seat of a 2-place aircraft.

On the other hand, I suppose, the aerobatic harness will pretty much
immobilize him -- right?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"