First flying experience for young child

Howdy all,

I have a young daughter (currently 17 months old) who I am looking
forward to taking up in a plane some day. I have a private pilot's
license and typically fly C172s, Pipers, etc.

I feel she's too young right now, but as soon as she's old enough to
understand most anything we (my wife and I) say to her, we will
consider taking her for a ride.

Has anyone else taking their youngin' for their first flight? What
about seating (carseat compatibility in abovementioned planes)? Are
there headsets for smaller heads? (I didn't see any at Sporty's, at
first look). What else did you do to make the flight as enjoyable as
possible?

Thanks in advance!
Dave M.

"Dave" *m wrote

Howdy all,

I have a young daughter (currently 17 months old) who I am looking
forward to taking up in a plane some day.

Dave M.

I taught a dog to learn to ride a motorcycle with me, using positive
reinforcement, and acclimatization, to make it a very enjoyable thing for
her. I feel there is much that could be transferred, in taking a small
child for their first rides, so that it is not terrifying, and even
enjoyable, and looked forward to.

At first, put the child into the plane, and do nothing but get her used to
the airport atmosphere, noise, and small quarters. Figure out what is a
reward, for the immediate, like coloring books, or candy, or whatever. The
next time, start the same way, with the reinforcement, then add starting the
engine, but go nowhere. Next time, taxi around some and do a runup. Next
time, try the flight, but pick a smooth day, once around the pattern, and
land. All the time, keep that distraction, and positive reinforcement
going. If you push too hard, and scare her, all is lost; back up and work
up again.

It must be fun for her, on her level. In time, the other joys may grow.

Others will tell you about the other stuff; I wanted to cover the "mind"
part.
--
Jim in NC


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We took our daughter up when she was three. We figured that this was an
age where she would really appreciate the concept. She had been in the
plane a few times before while on the ground, and had a few flights
commercially as well. (On one, we were in the front row of a BAE 320
IIRC. The captain gave us a set of headphones so we could listen in.
She thought that was great.)

When we took her up, I had her in the back seat (in a booster seat that
we use in the car) with mom right next to her in case the flight did not
turn out as planned. Her first comment was "Boy, are we high up!". It
was all downhill from there. The only problem now is that mom is
relegated to the back seat when ever we go anywhere. Our daughter is
now 7, and jumps at the chance to go flying.

Sigtronics does sell a headphone set with a shorter headband, along with
a replacement band when an adult size is needed (got them from Sportys).
We use a chair cushion so she can see better. (I would love to have a
thicker cushion, but that interferes with the control wheel. 1964 C172)
She can handle the plane pretty well, given her 7-year-old size. Good
luck.

Dave wrote:
Howdy all,

I have a young daughter (currently 17 months old) who I am looking
forward to taking up in a plane some day. I have a private pilot's
license and typically fly C172s, Pipers, etc.

I feel she's too young right now, but as soon as she's old enough to
understand most anything we (my wife and I) say to her, we will
consider taking her for a ride.

Has anyone else taking their youngin' for their first flight? What
about seating (carseat compatibility in abovementioned planes)? Are
there headsets for smaller heads? (I didn't see any at Sporty's, at
first look). What else did you do to make the flight as enjoyable as
possible?

Thanks in advance!
Dave M.


--
Remove "2PLANES" to reply.

Has anyone else taking their youngin' for their first flight? What
about seating (carseat compatibility in abovementioned planes)? Are
there headsets for smaller heads? (I didn't see any at Sporty's, at
first look). What else did you do to make the flight as enjoyable as

Mary (my wife, also a pilot) and I have been flying with our kids pretty
much since birth. (They're now 10 and 14.)

Flying with a very small child is simple: All you've got to do is buckle the
car seat in and go. They won't differentiate between riding in the car, and
riding in the plane.

Your main concern is the noise in the cabin, as very young children simply
do not want to wear headphones, and will do anything to get them off. We
eventually gave up trying, and simply used ear-plugs...

....which presented ANOTHER problem, in that little kids will do almost
anything to remove ear-plugs. Our solution was to put them in a hooded
sweat-shirt or jacket, and lace up the hood tightly around their little
faces. This effectively prevents them from removing the ear-plugs, and you
can fly without worrying about their hearing. (Of course, this doesn't work
when it's hot out.)

Within minutes they usually fall asleep anyway! :-)

I feel she's too young right now, but as soon as she's old enough to
understand most anything we (my wife and I) say to her, we will
consider taking her for a ride.

I would start taking her flying NOW, and just make it a normal part of her
life. As she matures she will gradually become aware of her surroundings,
and -- since she'll have been flying all of her life -- there will be no
chance for fear or discomfort to develop.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

We started taking our daughter along on flights when she was six
months old. She is nearly six years old now, and has been all over,
including one coast-to-coast round trip.

First step is to go to a gun store and pick up a pair of child-sized
ear protectors. These are like a headset without electronics. They
are very comfortable and adust all the way to infant size. Add a car
seat, and you are ready to go. Make sure the car seat is FAA approved
for aviation use. Our first flight was to a restaurant a half mile
away.

We kept a car seat in the airplane until she outgrew it last year.
Since then, she sits in the back on a thick pillow. She also
graduated to a real headset (Lightspeed ANR) so that she can listen to
her favorite music and talk with us while in flight.

Bring along a supply of toys. For longer trips, bring along a few new
toys, books, etc, and present them as surprises.

Up until about the age of three, she slept for most of all flights.
At about that time, she started getting interested in things out the
window.

Paul

I took my 2 year old grandson in my Skyhawk. I put the carseat in the
back and lock it in. Not very user friendly getting the buckle locked
and unlocked behind the carseat, but doable. I built some extenders that
fit on the headphone headband and will raise the headset about 3/4 of an
inch, which is enough to let them fit. They are made out of foam and
cloth and afix with velcro. Works great. I came up with the idea when I
fly EAA young eagles. He loves it when he can go flying with grandpa. I
also fly my 5 year old and 9 year old grand daughters.

Ross

Dave wrote:

Howdy all,

I have a young daughter (currently 17 months old) who I am looking
forward to taking up in a plane some day. I have a private pilot's
license and typically fly C172s, Pipers, etc.

I feel she's too young right now, but as soon as she's old enough to
understand most anything we (my wife and I) say to her, we will
consider taking her for a ride.

Has anyone else taking their youngin' for their first flight? What
about seating (carseat compatibility in abovementioned planes)? Are
there headsets for smaller heads? (I didn't see any at Sporty's, at
first look). What else did you do to make the flight as enjoyable as
possible?

Thanks in advance!
Dave M.

Hello,

Our son Alexander is almost 8 months old. He took his first flight in
our Beech Musketeer when he was 4 months old. He's been up 5 or 6
times since. We just use his normal car seat in the rear seat of the
plane. I bought a child's 'shooters' hearing protector at Dick's
Sporting Goods for $10. It adjusts and seals fine; supposedly it is
rated at 24 db noise reduction, which is better than the passive
reduction on my aviation headset. He ends up going to sleep very
quickly; he seems to like the vibration. I try not to climb or descend
more than 300 FPM. ATC has always been accomodating when I've had to
ask for a slower climb. We keep a bottle or sippy cup handy in case he
wakes up and needs to suck on something to equalize the pressure in
his ears.

We haven't had the slighest problem with him. I just wish all my
passengers were as well behaved as Alex. All my other passengers are
constantly complaining: "What's that F-16 doing off your wing?", "Are
we supposed to be upside down?", "Why did the tower tell you to
prepare to copy a phone number down?", "What do you mean you landed at
the wrong airport?"...whine, whine, whine...Alex just sits there and
sleeps. I'm sure your little one will do great

Cheers,

Cap


Dave *m wrote in message . ..
Howdy all,

I have a young daughter (currently 17 months old) who I am looking
forward to taking up in a plane some day. I have a private pilot's
license and typically fly C172s, Pipers, etc.

I feel she's too young right now, but as soon as she's old enough to
understand most anything we (my wife and I) say to her, we will
consider taking her for a ride.

Has anyone else taking their youngin' for their first flight? What
about seating (carseat compatibility in abovementioned planes)? Are
there headsets for smaller heads? (I didn't see any at Sporty's, at
first look). What else did you do to make the flight as enjoyable as
possible?

Thanks in advance!
Dave M.

"Dave" *m wrote in message
...
I feel she's too young right now, but as soon as she's old enough to
understand most anything we (my wife and I) say to her, we will
consider taking her for a ride.

There is no problem to bring small kids/infants. My boy was 3 months
the first time (2 hours cross country), Oslo to Stockholm. It is
important to use a proper car seat, and to test it before the flight
(to be sure that you are able to use the planes seatbelts).



Use ear-protection!! You can not be absolutely sure about their
hearing, so I recommend the Peltor Kid Eardefender or the Pilot P51C
headset if he/she can talk. Do not use ear-plugs on infants; at least
discuss it with your doctor. If your kid refuses to use any ear
protection, put it on when he/she falls asleep (if you are to adults,
or have an autopilot.).



Happy flying,





-Jorn

On Wed, 08 Sep 2004 00:50:05 -0400, Dave wrote:

Howdy all,

I have a young daughter (currently 17 months old) who I am looking
forward to taking up in a plane some day. I have a private pilot's
license and typically fly C172s, Pipers, etc.

I feel she's too young right now, but as soon as she's old enough to
understand most anything we (my wife and I) say to her, we will
consider taking her for a ride.

Hey Dave,

Never too young! Took my nephew up when he was 1 1/2 years old. All he
does now is walk and talks airplanes much to my sisters chagrin. I think
he has been smitten by the aviation bug.

Car seat should fit the bill. I had bought him a child size headset which
he wears without any problems.

His first "cross country" was when he turned two years old. His father
remembered everything except for something to drink. Kids I think will
dehydrate quicker.

We put him in the back seat and toward the end of his first cross country,
he did get figity, but we just pulled the microphone plug out so he was no
longer a distraction for listening to ATC.

So, in a nutshell, if flight is longer then 1/2 hour, food, drink and maybe
a hand held toy. My newphew was happy looking out the window at the clouds
go by so he didn't need a toy.

Allen

Dave wrote:

Howdy all,

I have a young daughter (currently 17 months old) who I am looking
forward to taking up in a plane some day. I have a private pilot's
license and typically fly C172s, Pipers, etc.

I feel she's too young right now, but as soon as she's old enough to
understand most anything we (my wife and I) say to her, we will
consider taking her for a ride.

Has anyone else taking their youngin' for their first flight? What
about seating (carseat compatibility in abovementioned planes)? Are
there headsets for smaller heads? (I didn't see any at Sporty's, at
first look). What else did you do to make the flight as enjoyable as
possible?


Put her in a car seat and you have a 90% chance the kid will fall right
asleep immediately aftert takeoff.