Flight Training at 15?

My son is 15. He'll be turning 16 in August, and starting his Junior year
of high school.

He's been flying since he can remember, and has many hours in the right
seat. (He's got over 1500 hours as a passenger with Mary and me.) His first
dozen or so hours behind the yoke were "IFR" -- because he couldn't see over
the panel! He can do everything except land the plane -- and I'm fairly
certain he could do that, but I'm not about to risk our lives (or my plane)
to find out.

We both agree that he's ready to learn to fly "for real". So, last week we
sat down with a local flight instructor to check out his options on learning
to fly.

Our options are simple.

1. He can take flight training this summer, and solo before school starts in
the fall. Unfortunately, he is then stuck for an entire year before he can
take the check-ride.

2. He can hold off until next summer, 2007.

Prior to age 37, I could only walk around on the ground looking up enviously
at aircraft flying overhead -- so I have no frame of reference on this
issue. For those of you who were lucky enough to train as teenagers, did it
work for you? Should my son wait a year, so he can go at it full-steam and
get the ticket?

Or should we strike while the iron is hot?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:3fUig.26692$1i1.20490@attbi_s72...
My son is 15. He'll be turning 16 in August, and starting his Junior year
of high school.

1. He can take flight training this summer, and solo before school starts
in the fall. Unfortunately, he is then stuck for an entire year before he
can take the check-ride.

Being able to fly solo for a year is hardly being "stuck".

2. He can hold off until next summer, 2007.

Should my son wait a year, so he can go at it full-steam and get the
ticket?

Or should we strike while the iron is hot?

Which does he prefer?

--Gary

"Gary Drescher" wrote in message
. ..
"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:3fUig.26692$1i1.20490@attbi_s72...
My son is 15. He'll be turning 16 in August, and starting his Junior
year of high school.

1. He can take flight training this summer, and solo before school starts
in the fall. Unfortunately, he is then stuck for an entire year before
he can take the check-ride.

Being able to fly solo for a year is hardly being "stuck".

Agreed! Beyond that, he can do all of the flying while you and Mary are
aboard, as long as you are willing to accept the responsibility as PIC.

That would probably mean at least one of the certificated pilots would need
to be comfortable doing everything (including landing) from the right seat.

KB

In article ,
Kyle Boatright wrote:

That would probably mean at least one of the certificated pilots would need
to be comfortable doing everything (including landing) from the right seat.


A good way to get Jay to practice for the CFI ticket



--
Eduardo K. | Darwin pone las reglas.
http://www.carfun.cl | Murphy, la oportunidad.
http://e.nn.cl |
| Yo.

In article 3fUig.26692$1i1.20490@attbi_s72,
"Jay Honeck" wrote:

Our options are simple.

1. He can take flight training this summer, and solo before school starts in
the fall. Unfortunately, he is then stuck for an entire year before he can
take the check-ride.

2. He can hold off until next summer, 2007.

Prior to age 37, I could only walk around on the ground looking up enviously
at aircraft flying overhead -- so I have no frame of reference on this
issue. For those of you who were lucky enough to train as teenagers, did it
work for you? Should my son wait a year, so he can go at it full-steam and
get the ticket?

I don't have kids, so...

While the objective isn't merely to solo, I find myself asking why not go
ahead and do a lot of training this summer? Why should your son wait next year
to experience solo flight?

--
Bob Noel
Looking for a sig the
lawyers will hate

Bob Noel wrote:
In article 3fUig.26692$1i1.20490@attbi_s72,
"Jay Honeck" wrote:

Our options are simple.

1. He can take flight training this summer, and solo before school starts in
the fall. Unfortunately, he is then stuck for an entire year before he can
take the check-ride.

2. He can hold off until next summer, 2007.

Prior to age 37, I could only walk around on the ground looking up enviously
at aircraft flying overhead -- so I have no frame of reference on this
issue. For those of you who were lucky enough to train as teenagers, did it
work for you? Should my son wait a year, so he can go at it full-steam and
get the ticket?


I started ground school while I was 16 and in high school (our tiny
high school had the insight to host a ground school through the local
airport manager and have it count as credit, what a great idea), and
got my private about six months after I turned 17, so I wasn't quite as
far ahead of the curve as your son. But I'd say go for it, that way in
case any sort of hinderances arise (airplane availability became an
issue during my training, and I had to go to a neighboring town for a
while to rent) during the course, he'll have plenty of time to dodge
them.

While the objective isn't merely to solo, I find myself asking why not go
ahead and do a lot of training this summer? Why should your son wait next
year
to experience solo flight?

How many guys do you know that tell you "I soloed a plane back in 19xx" --
but never got their ticket?

I have met a whole bunch of them. I don't want my son to solo, get "stuck"
in a rut waiting, and then never finish up.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

There has got to be a glider group near by, go to www.ssa.org and search the
"Where to Fly" section.
He can solo now have a glider rating long before he can in power.

BT

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:5w0jg.27259$No1.21289@attbi_s71...
While the objective isn't merely to solo, I find myself asking why not go
ahead and do a lot of training this summer? Why should your son wait
next year
to experience solo flight?

How many guys do you know that tell you "I soloed a plane back in 19xx" --
but never got their ticket?

I have met a whole bunch of them. I don't want my son to solo, get
"stuck" in a rut waiting, and then never finish up.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

There has got to be a glider group near by, go to www.ssa.org and search
the "Where to Fly" section.
He can solo now have a glider rating long before he can in power.

The nearest glider ops are in Muscatine (MUT) -- about a 45 minute
round-trip (by air), and about a 2 hour round trip by car. And their "ops"
are FAR from consistent.

It's a shame -- he really enjoyed flying the CAP gliders.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:5w0jg.27259$No1.21289@attbi_s71...
How many guys do you know that tell you "I soloed a plane back in 19xx" --
but never got their ticket?

I have met a whole bunch of them. I don't want my son to solo, get
"stuck" in a rut waiting, and then never finish up.

Get over it. There's nothing wrong with him deciding he doesn't want to
pursue aviation, and it's pointless for you to attempt to arrange things to
"ensure" that he does.

He is his own person, and he needs to be allowed succeed, fail, or lose
interest as he likes. It's highly unlikely that the exact sequence of his
flight training will affect his interest, but even if it does, it's not your
job to take advantage of that. If anything, it's a bit creepy to be that
interested in forcing your kid onto a certain path.

Pete