PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - 12 year old interested in aviation
View Single Post
Old 20th Mar 2014, 00:27
  #18 (permalink)  
mseyfang
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: LAX
Posts: 68
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
One thing I always emphasise to parents of youngsters keen on flying is that to be able to have the best career choices later in life they have to concentrate on SCHOOL now...maths, physics, English! This advice is usually met with a teenage screwed up face and enthusiastic parental nod.

Hopefully Part 61 will actually come in next year and they will be able to solo at 15. Some 15 year olds are more mature than others in their 30s

Meanwhile cadets sounds like a good idea.


Based on my own experience, nothing focused my mind on math more than the realization that it was necessary for flying and had a practical application in life, which is something a lot of kids don't appreciate at that age. Algebra and trigonometry became subjects of interest rather than something to be endured. To that end, assuming the kid is fairly bright, there's nothing wrong with studying meteorology, geography and aerodynamics as well as the standard bookwork for PPL, instrument rating and CPL. There was a financial benefit from all that self-study, too -- allowed me to skip ground school and simply take the exam. I don't know whether that's an option down there, but it's still worthwhile.

Flight sim software is a mixed bag; great for learning navigation and the basics of controlling an airplane, but not the real thing by any stretch. Still, though, on balance, I wish it were around in my day.
mseyfang is offline