Originally Posted by
Olympia 463
PDR1
I think you are confusing the age at which flying lessons could begin with the age you had to be to go solo.
I did all my gliding in civilian clubs. I took my children flying from quite an early age -10 years onwards. They got used to gliding very quickly, and as soon as they could reach the rudder pedals I began to let them learn to fly. I don't recall any limitations on the age at which you could do this, The ATC probably picked 'nearly fourteen' as a good time to start introducing youngsters to flying. Did anyone ever go solo before sixteen?
When the civilian solo at was 16 my club used to discourage children starting learning to fly until they were over 15, otherwise they would reach the standard and then have a long wait.
Now they can go solo at 14 (obviously only if they reach the standard) they start younger and we more often have to put weights in the glider. Of course they have to be tall enough to reach the pedals whilst also being able to sit where they can get the stick all the way back.