Paul Folbrecht wrote in message ink.net...
I have a friend who really wants me to take he & his two boys up- they
are 3 & 5. I am worried about them "freaking out"- especially the
little one. They have never flown before (commercially or otherwise).

Of course they need to be in back of the 172, which would make it
difficult for my friend to reassure them, etc.

I'm especially concerned about the younger one for the obvious reason
that 3 is pretty young. To the folks that have a lot of experience
taking up little kids- what are the rough odds that he'll be just fine
vs. having a cow? I need to decide if I should suggest that this isn't
a great idea or not. TIA.

Well, it depends a lot on the attitude of the parents and
the individual kids.

We've taken up our fair share of that age group and had them
sit in back w/ the adults up front, but our daughter (who has
been flying in GA planes since age 12 weeks) is usually one
of the kids, and of course she's happy and calm. More or less.
Now that she's been allowed to sit up front and actually
manipulate the controls a few times (age 3 1/2), she keeps
lobbying for the right front seat .

However, friends with 2 young siblings have had nothing but
fights and squabbles if the two are left in back. The
good news is in a C172, you can reach the back seat pretty
well.

Depending on the child, 5 may be old enough to sit in the
front and exercise enough self control as to not touch
anything before asking. Or, another alternative is to take
up one at a time, with the father sitting in back with the
child. (watch the CG of course).

Cheers,
Sydney