I routinely take my 2 and 3 year olds flying. A few things to consider (many of which have been discussed already):
- Don't just assume the carseat will buckle in. Airplane seatbelts tend to buckle towards the middle, while car seat belts buckle at the side. In the plane this results in the buckle being in the middle of the car seat, which just doesn't work. In my plane I tried a some of the shortening loops (often included with the car seat) to get the buckle to the side. They work ok, but still hard to get it tight. I sometimes double it up with a ratcheting cargo strap.
- Most youth headsets are the same as adult headsets, except with fun colors and maybe a shorter mic boom. For one flight the adult ones will be fine.
- Having an adult dedicated to the kid is a must. You need to concentrate on flying. Preferably that person would be seated next to the child. The most common issue I face is them removing the hearing protection, followed by bright sun/sunglasses.
- The pilot isolate switch on the audio panel is your friend. If you don't have one, be sure you can reach their mic jack in a hurry as they will inevitably start singing songs from Frozen at the top of their lungs right as ATC is issuing traffic instructions. Flipping the mic boom up doesn't work as they like to hear themselves through the headset and will quickly figure out how to pull it back down.
- Kids under 2 will fall asleep in 10 minutes. Kids over 2 will not. Typical car ride behaviors apply. If the child gets bored/thirsty/hungry after 5 minutes in the car, they will in the airplane as well.
- Asleep or not, I would keep the first flight short. There is nothing worse than being stuck in an airplane with a toddler that suddenly decides he doesn't want to be there.
- For the adults Jr's first airplane ride will be a special moment, complete with selfies, facebook posts, etc... For the kids, however, it is a slightly noisier car ride. I'm not saying don't do it, but realize it's for you, not for them. I'll admit that when my daughter started repeating all my radio calls "Twee ate charwie 'conto!" (Three eight Charlie is 5 miles from Oconto), it was the cutest thing ever.
Good luck with the flight. It will be hassle, but the story itself will be worth it.
DEM