Son not interested!!

[Bandit650]

Hi All,

Another question for the community of pprune..

My 5yr old son is showing zilch interest in things aeronautical :(, and I must admit I feel slightly dissapointed. I mean, how can PowerRangers be more interesting???:confused::{

I haven't pushed it all, apart from pointing out airliners in/out of Heathrow as they pass over and asking him if wants "to drive an aeroplane when he's grown-up" (the answer was no of course...train "captain" is the job to have of course)...

I know its early days, but at 5 I had a very strong interest, as perhaps many pilots did.

Should I take hm up? perhaps look for that spark of interest and carefully kindle it?? If so how? My approach at the moment is leave well alone and if he becomes interested then I know its for the right reasons....

Has anyone else been here?!

Anyway back to yet another game of football in the garden.....England V Italy we are today apparently....

Cheers...

[Dysonsphere]

to drive an aeroplane when he's grown-up


Wasnt aware pilots ever grew up:E :E

[Deano777]

Bandit

I guess the phrase "you can draw a horse to his water, but you can't make him drink it" comes to mind.
It must be a tad disappointing, but I wouldn't force the issue, you have the right idea by leaving it alone, I guess you could try and get him more actively involved, rather than pointing at the ones in the sky, take him to Heathrow and show him how big and powerful they are etc.
About taking him up, this is a difficult one and probably only you can judge, I asked my 2½yr old if she wanted to come to the airport with daddy to see the plane he flies, she jumped at the chance and was very excited, as soon as I wanted to sit her in the seat for a closer look she turned into a jibbering wreck.
I'd say just keep going as you are, if he likes them great, if not, so be it :ok:

[kevmusic]

My son was in the RAF section of the CCF at school: did aeros at Wyton on a number of occasions. He loved it, but prefers football! :ugh: :hmm:

[S-Works]

Got the same problem, neither my son or daughter both 16 shortly have any interest in aviation at all. Very dissapointing! I have tried to get them interested even offered to teach them to fly but zilch.

:{

[bingoboy]

The odd airshow visit plus seeking out an enthusiastic ATC squadron might work. My daughter loves aeros in AEF Grobs and winchlaunches at the Mynd.
Adrenalin junky or what.

[Miserlou]

I told my boys that if either of them ever found the sound of the local DC-3 passing by, on final or climb-out, that they'd be out on their ear.

They actually have a healthy interest in aeroplanes without any pressure (other than the above) from me.

The industry is such that I wouldn't want them to follow my path. Most important for them to find their own way.

Of course, if I can't stop them then I will offer them my advice. Even then, they'll have to make it on their own or they won't appreciate their achievements.

[Whirlybird]

Let him do what HE wants to do. It's his life, not yours. Did you do what your parents wanted, or become interested in what interested them?

It sounds like your kid's got a mind of his own, which at the age of five is great. I'd be far more worried if he just followed what his parents did, without question. Do you want to produce a well-rounded person who can think for himself, or a carbon copy of you? I'd say leave him be, and only take him flying if that's what he really, really wants.

[Artificial Horizon]

I often see this when parents bring their kiddies up to the flightdeck after landing because the 'kids' want to have a look. Usually the child looks thoroughly un-interested whilst the father is like a giddy kid asking all of the questions. The other day when this happened I asked the child (about 5-6 years old) what he wanted to be when he grew up and he replied 'a red double decker bus driver', made me laugh especially since the father was obviously the one who wanted to see the flight deck. I guess if kids aren't interested then no point in pushing it.

[G-Dawg]

I'd trade him in for a new one......just kidding......:} ....yeah i have to say that I am the only one in my family that loves flying in fact my sister is terrified to fly and although I'm an airline pilot I'm still yet to persuade her to come on one of my flights, probably says something about my flying....:p

[sir.pratt]

it sure is hard to drag them away from eating worms and watching the wiggles to start them on their (your) chosen career path.....

[Anywings]

Umm, looking at it another way -- I've loved all things aviation since age of 5-ish although my ground-hog parents have never understood my passion for flying and aircraft or why they have rarely seen me in spring and summer. Step-father is now 82 and learning to fly -- they get there in the end :)

[tmmorris]

You can't make them - I'm lucky, in that my 3-year-old loves flying and can't get enough. Recently he made his first trip with just me, so he sat in the front, and was as good as gold.

I have, though, following that trip, made a vow not to attempt single-pilot IFR with just him - trying to monitor two radio frequencies simultaneously*, plus his constant questions and 'look, daddy, there's the top of that cloud. Whee!!!!' (as we bump through it) was just a little more than I could manage comfortably! (Also, he loves the sound of his voice through the intercom and sings himself songs as we go along...)

*serves me right - when the nice lady from Brize said 'are you able to contact Gloucester on box 2, they appear to have instrument traffic in their overhead' I should have said no, but I wanted to show off that I had a fancy audio panel...

Tim

[FREDAcheck]

I know this is rather baffling, but there are people out there - perfectly balanced and otherwise rational people - that don't especially like flying, and don't want to be pilots. My two sons - now in their twenties - quite like a jolly, so long as it's not too long, but find the idea of flying as a hobby about as interesting as knitting, stamp collecting or train spotting (as challenging and fulfilling as I'm sure they all are).

I know it's hard, but I suggest trying to come to terms with the personal insult and humiliation involved when the fruits of one's loins don't want to fly planes.

[ChrisVJ]

My father and step father were both pilots. I failed on colour blindness but I still went PPL. I have always been especially careful not to push my personal ambitions on my children, never said how great, no big family history thing. When I built Jemima in the garage I was mildly upset that my children (not one of the five boys at home) took the slightest interest, never held a bolt, bucked a rivet, din't even come in and watch.
Number one son graduated last year. Joined the Canadian Airforce, now waiting pilot training. Number two son busy trying to sort out his medical etc during his last year at college, will not countenance being anything but a pilot.
Funny old world.

(Edited to say)
(And I am just the proudest dad ever.)

[CPilotUK]

When my son was 5 years old, I bought him the full Tottenham Hotspurs football kit. Now at the age of 11, he is an avid Arsenal supporter. :{

[Wessex Boy]

Both my kids (age 6 and 4) love coming to the flying club for lunch and can't wait for me to get my PPL back so that they can come flying (Mum is not so sure...)
My son got an official Red Arrows flying suit for his 4th birthday on Saturday, and wants to wear it with his 'Tom Cruise' flying jacket next time we go for lunch.....:)

I don't ram it down their throats (especially my Daughter) but they enjoy the 1:1 time, they also like coming out to my workshop to do projects, both avaiation related and otherwise. My Daughter has just finished a 1:72 Sea King and is currently painting a 'Bug Thermometer'

[javelin]

You either have the bug or you don't - it can't be forced upon someone.

My lad was very interested up to about age 14, then he developed a passion for music and is now studying music at Uni and wants to become an orchestra conductor.

Whatever our offspring develop a passion for, I think they should be supported because how many of us are lucky enough to be working in a job that we actually really enjoy. I am and I feel very, very fortunate :ok:

The opposite is apparent sometimes in our job. We get cadets who have left University, saw the pilot thing offered, either had the money or got the money and now sit in the right hand seat bored or totally uninterested in what they are doing.

What a waste - I blame the HR/PC brigade that do the selection, they may have an ology or score high in tests, but did they ever have their fingers chopped up starting a DC Sabre on a cold and wet field only to watch the control line aeroplane perform a beautiful arc into the ground before smashing to pieces on it's first flight - Eh ? :sad:

[Wessex Boy]

"but did they ever have their fingers chopped up starting a DC Sabre on a cold and wet field only to watch the control line aeroplane perform a beautiful arc into the ground before smashing to pieces on it's first flight - Eh ? "


Yep, Cox .049, C/L Cosmic Wind, fingers chopped whilst running engine in, 1 flight of half a circle, up, stall, vertically down....

go forward over 25 years....setting up new RC heli, holding it by the tail, Gyro twitches and tailrotor takes 3 gouges out of knuckles..:eek:

[tiggermoth]

Bandit,

I had no interest in aviation either at the age of five (but by the age of about ten I did), so things might change. I was more interested at the time in taking Granny's television to bits and then putting it back together again...

Thinking about it, I didn't end up doing much that my parents were interested in - your lad will find his own thing to entertain himself, so it will be fun for you to discover what he does!

T.

[Bandit650]

Very interesting responses - thanks all so far.:ok: We have had a development this very weekend:):)...son asked me to have a go on my X-plane setup:eek:, although he's rejected flying the C172 as "boring" and wanted to me to load up something bigger....so we went for the B-1, which seemed a reasonable choice to me for lesson one......effects of controls!!:E

[Wessex Boy]

My Kids prefer Combat Flight Simulator, but in a similar vein prefer using Airwolf, EE Lightning, Tornado or Warthog rather than Spitfire/Mustang et al against the Luftwaffe:}

[kms901]

My niece lives under the approach for Heathrow and has been fascinated since she was 18 months old. Looks avidly at flying magazines and demands aviation videos from You Tube.

She is 5 soon, and she is coming flying whether her mother likes it or not !

[Jimmy Macintosh]

I agree you can't force it, but the interesting stuff at that age for me was the fast pointy military aircraft. Wouldn't look twice at an airliner - with the exception of concorde, and GA was just boring. It needed to be loud, fast with flames coming out the back.
Took my nephew to Waddington Airshow a couple of years ago. When the reds came on all he could do was cheer and clap! Other than that the Typhoon, harrier and Tonka is what held his attention, nothing else interested him.

Don't push it but have a family day out at a good airshow. Lots of people on here can recommend some of the better ones. Lot's to do, a lot of fun and aviation themed. Try and get to one where the Vulcan is going to fly again!!

[Pablo Martin]

My father was in the RAF for a number of years and then a commercial airline captain. My mother, aunty and grandmother were all cabin crew. Aviation has been a big part of my life from a very young age but it was never forced on me, more something that is just there in the background.

Anyway, I went on a number of jump-seat flights and did a couple of sim rides. I must admit I was vaguely tempted but never really desperately wanted it as a future career. Then all of a sudden one day, at the age of about 16-17, it clicked that I couldn't live without it and it was THE thing I wanted to spend the rest of my life doing. Sadly this was the point my father told me that he thought the airline industry was going downhill and that I shouldn't join... that meant I definately had to do it! Typical! I'm now in commercial pilot training and loving every moment of it, without a doubt in my mind that this was what I was destined to do.

My thoughts: that it shouldn't be forced upon t'young ones, but give them the opportunity (if possible) to experience it, because after all it might just not be for them. Having said all that, 5yo is very young, give it a chance, I wasn't that into aviation at that age, all is not lost! You never know, they might just turn around one day and suprise you.

Good luck :ok: