A Scary Prospect -- What to do?

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"

I've heard of glider pilots who have no problems at all letting their kids
take the glider out. The only difference I see is that there might be an
issue with maintenance costs coming up a little quicker. One enormous
concern is that if he does take passengers that are his friends, he must
have their parents consent. Other than that if he's chipping in money for
it, why not? I'm sure with the cost of the plane and the wages of starter
jobs, it wouldn't be frequent. Not if he plans on keeping a girlfriend that
is.
"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:BSuUd.70922$tl3.52178@attbi_s02...
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"





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"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:BSuUd.70922$tl3.52178@attbi_s02...
[...]
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?

Not even close to being an issue. I've got a few years yet. However...

Know your child. By the time your child is old enough to fly an airplane
with passengers, you ought to know him well enough to know whether he has
the maturity to resist doing anything dumb. You cannot ever be completely
sure, of course, but IMHO being 100% sure isn't what raising a child is
about.

I don't know anyone who doesn't have at least one serious error in judgment
during their lifetime to report, but fortunately most of us lived through
our errors, and assuming your child can keep those errors to a minimum, it's
likely he will too. Of course, so much the better if you can emphasize
enough that errors in judgment while flying an airplane are much more likely
to result in death.

I believe that a child who is permitted to take flying lessons, and who has
been approved by the FAA to fly without an instructor, should be permitted
to do so. Otherwise, why allow the flying lessons in the first place? Once
that child has been permitted to carry passengers, again...they should be
allowed to by the parent. While there are certainly some activities for
which I think it's appropriate to provide *some* degree of training but not
to allow, I don't think flying falls into that category.

With respect to carrying passengers, I do think it's reasonable for a parent
to impose "supervised flight" requirements above and beyond what the FAA
requires before carrying passengers. Once a child is deemed qualified to
carry passengers, I think it would be wise to consider a recent study that
shows that children are MUCH more likely to engage in unsafe and reckless
driving practices with their friends in the car. The more of their friends,
the higher the risk (ironic, since that of course means that more people can
be hurt at once).

So, it might make sense to permit a teenager to carry only one passenger at
a time. Fine for dates, doesn't work very well for "partying" with multiple
friends in remote locations. Reducing the potential number of passengers to
one will go a long way to reducing the overall risk. Interestingly, the
Sport Pilot certificate now provides an FAA-approved way to codify this
policy, and as a bonus will allow a child to become a full-fledged pilot at
reduced expense.

Finally, of course, I think that any friends taken along flying should only
be permitted to go along if their parents have been consulted and approve.

Of course, some teenagers shouldn't ever be permitted alone in an airplane,
while others have been ready for that responsibility long before they are
old enough to qualify for the pilot certificate. All the above starts with
knowing the difference.

Pete

Jay Honeck wrote:

Do you guys let your kids fly your plane?

I think it's a question you should be asking your insurance agent. Just to get
some idea of the costs. If it's going to triple your insurance, you might want
to break the news gently (or postpone it as long as possible?).

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

I think it's a question you should be asking your insurance agent. Just to
get
some idea of the costs. If it's going to triple your insurance, you might
want
to break the news gently (or postpone it as long as possible?).

Mary already did. It will cost less to insure him in the plane than it will
in the car -- believe it or not.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

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.
"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:uDvUd.9505$Ze3.1148@attbi_s51...
I think it's a question you should be asking your insurance agent. Just
to
get
some idea of the costs. If it's going to triple your insurance, you
might
want
to break the news gently (or postpone it as long as possible?).

Mary already did. It will cost less to insure him in the plane than it
will
in the car -- believe it or not.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"





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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?
--

It all depends on the maturity and responsibility of the person, and so
nobody can answer this question for you. As with any responsibility and
freedom given to kids, you start small and expand, building trust in small
steps. But never underestimate the potential stupidity of a teenager.

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:BSuUd.70922$tl3.52178@attbi_s02...

"borrowing the plane"? I mean, it's not quite the same as letting him
take
the pickup down to the corner grocery...


Apparently the insurance companies think he's a bigger risk in the truck
than the plane.

-cwk.

"Doofus" wrote --

It all depends on the maturity and responsibility of the person, and so
nobody can answer this question for you. As with any responsibility and
freedom given to kids, you start small and expand, building trust in small
steps. But never underestimate the potential stupidity of a teenager.

I'll have to go with that. Add responsibility slowly, building trust.
Still, it is all your call. My kids have made good choices throughout their
lives, and I have to attribute that to the values they grew up with.

I really did read something lately, that the dangerous driving group of
males between 18 and 25, is in large part due to their brain development.
This study said that the part of the brain that assesses risk, is not fully
developed until the age of 25.

My theory is that to help get them through that, you have to spell out
acceptable and unacceptable risks, situation, by situation, so they will not
have to think about making a decision, as it has already been discussed, and
made. You can never anticipate all of the situations, but you can come
close. That is really all that training comes down to, right?
--
Jim in NC

what is there about your current situation that could possibly lead you
to believe you have not passed any possible option long ago?? unless
you can give him to the gypsies (they refused both of mine!) the boy is
just going to fly that plane and that's all there is to it. i'll bet
you still think of it as "your" airplane too, don't you? ha!

dan (congrats..sounds like you're doin fine)