A Scary Prospect -- What to do?

Hmmm... which is safer.... flying Atlas or driving the Grape?

I wish I had your problems Jay! My daughter won't fly unless it's to somewhere
fun. My son can't get a medical. I will tell you I know one guy who solo'd
when he was 16 and his parents would let him fly anywhere, but he couldn't have
the car on Saturday night! Another friend got a call from the school principal
(this was probably 30 years ago) that their child had endangered the lives of a
number of students by going off and stealing a plane and .... it went on for
quite a while. The parents informed the principal that their child was a
certificated pilot and didn't steal anything as he was allowed to use the plane
whenever he wanted and that no one was in any danger at any time. When the kid
got home his parents informed him if he ever cut school to go to the beach again
in the plane he wasn't to be so stupid as to take along kids who would talk
about it.

Margy

Jay Honeck wrote:

Mary and I have tried very hard to treat flying as an uncommon -- but
perfectly normal -- family activity, and that's all my kids have ever known.
My 14-year-old son has 13 hours in his logbook, and can climb, descend and
hold altitude, track a heading, determine the proper runway to land on, and
(I suspect) probably land the plane -- although I've never let him get below
200 feet on final approach. To him, flying a light plane is no greater
challenge than beating the latest Playstation game, and going for a plane
ride is something he's done over 400 times in his short life...

Thus, we hope he'll be taking flight lessons this summer, assuming all goes
well with his grades. He thinks he's ready, and I hope he earns his glider
rating before next school year starts.

All well and good, but the magnitude of this endeavor had truly not sunk in
until he quite innocently said:

"Just think, Dad, in two years I'll be able to take a date out in the
plane!"

After I picked my jaw up off the floor, I just laughed -- but this brings up
a serious point that I've never seen addressed here. For those of you who
own aircraft, and have kids that have learned to fly, how did you handle
"borrowing the plane"? I mean, it's not quite the same as letting him take
the pickup down to the corner grocery...

Do you guys let your kids fly your plane?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Slick" wrote in message ...
Think about it, in a plane your flying for a passion, in a car you're
driving to get somewhere. That's one reason accidents happen. Another, in
a
plane we are thoroughly, very thoroughly trained, as to in a car you
receive
just 3 or 4 hours of formal driving training. Scary aint it.

Actually, I had a driving instructor who was telling us the opposite.
It was something like 36 hours in the car for driving school way back
when I "learned to drive". I had already been driving a lot with my
parents.

In that light, assuming it is still the same, it may be less time to
get a sport pilot certificate depending on the individual.

You have to ride a motorcycle to find out how many are really
out to get you.

Jay Honeck wrote:

"Just think, Dad, in two years I'll be able to take a date out in the
plane!"

Ok, I've given it some thought. Perhaps you could buy something cheaper and fun
to fly? Maybe a Champ? Then let him take that up when he gets ready.

George Patterson
I prefer Heaven for climate but Hell for company.

I believe the correct saying is: "Here, hold my beer and watch this!"

Casey Wilson wrote:
Wow! What a conundrum. I doubt any of else can help much with
something as subjective as this. I'm not qualified to cite experiences. My
youngest is 38 and none of the four fly
I'm pretty sure you are level-headed enough to know whether your son is
or isn't the type that would say, "Hey! Watch this!" in order to impress a
peer. That's probably all you need to know. With as much stick time as he
has, I'm also pretty sure he doesn't relate Atlas to an X-Box.
Heeheehee, ain't daddying fun?

Sounds like a job for Rick Durden.

Jim Burns wrote:
Breathe easy Jay, he'll have to be 17 before he can take his date in Atlas,
so that will give you a little more time to worry. He and his date will
have to practice in the glider for a year. Unless of course, his date is
his instructor!

Jay's worried he is going to get even less PIC time.

Mike Rapoport wrote:
Are you afraid for your airplane or your child or the cost? Or all three?

Ok, I've given it some thought. Perhaps you could buy something cheaper
and fun
to fly? Maybe a Champ? Then let him take that up when he gets ready.

Actually, an Ercoupe comes to mind. Cheap, fun, and stall-proof.

AND you can fly with the "top down"...

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

Jay's worried he is going to get even less PIC time.

Augh! I hadn't even *thought* of that...

:-(

Oh, well. The bright side is that when I'm old and fat and my blood
pressure is off the scale, and my medical is a distant memory, I'll still be
flying around in the right seat...

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

The Grape carries more gas. Bigger explosive potential.

Nope. The Grape carries 55 gallons in the transfer tank, and 15 in the
vehicle's gas tank.

Atlas carries 84 gallons...

Of course, the odds of something hitting the plane are probably less.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"