How to fan the passion at a young age

[Cralis]

I have a young daughter who, from an early age, has been extremely inquisitive about engineering areas. She’s shown more interest than my older kids in strange things. How does the car drive. How did they build that bridge. How does an aeroplane fly.

I’m not a pilot. I do have a keen interest in aviation. (I’m not forcing anything on her though - just to be clear) She sees me on the PC simulator a lot and sits and watches. She has a shot and enjoys the basics. Trying stable flight. Working out what the control surfaces do.

She loves travel and is always asking questions while flying. I’ve been lucky enough that a flight deck crew has allowed her a visit (on the ground). She’s only 8. But as a father if two other older kids - her interest has been high.

Im not sure if it’s the best thing, but she just joined the Australian Air League and loves it. It’s like the scouts but aviation oriented. I’m not so keen on the marching. And the fact that the leaders keep says “Ok, boys ... now we will ...”. She’s the only girl. But still. I fear statements like that will make her start thinking “should I be here?”

So my question is, at such a young age, is there a way to keep the keenness going? Is the Australian Air League worth keeping up? Are there options where that u can take to help her see that aviation is an option to her?

Shes young, but I’ve seen a lot of stories about how people got the bite - and it seems it happens at a young age. Should I just leave it and see how she goes by herself? Maybe she’s too young? Or are there options? Taking her to air fields and seeing them up close? Visit ATC?

any ideas or advice would be great.

[AndoniP]

I'd just leave it to see whether her interest stays as is. At her age there's not a lot you can do, kids' interests change all the time. I guess it's up to you to decide as you know your kid better than anyone else.

My son (7) goes from interest to interest frequently so i'm not going to concentrate on any particular thing, he'll find his calling unless he expresses an interest in something in his early teenage years.

[dogsridewith]

Have books and magazines around...about airplanes and flying if you'd like to maintain/encourage interest in that direction.
A set of Encyclopedia Britannica was there for all my questions on anything. Now there's Wikipedia through the monitor.
Unless you or she think the use of "boys" is a conscious attempt to discourage her from the group, ignore it. Maybe discuss ingrained habit and the way language evolves...the painful-to-old-folks "Each person packs their own parachute." Note that female groups now sometimes use "you guys" with each other.

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

Our grandson was heavily into engines and the like when he was 4. Around that time the lady who was to be his first school teacher visited he future pupils. After having a long chat with Daniel she asked if he had any questions, "Yes", said Dan: "How do the pneumatic brakes work in a car?"

[hiflymk3]

Take her to science museums, Get her to join a local library. Buy her Mecanno or Lego sets. But don't force anything on her.

[Cralis]

Thanks guys... Books and science museums sounds like a plan. She is quite young, and as a child, her ideas of what she enjoys will change. She's just being going at planes for a while now. And I'd hate to be seen as not assisting or guiding.

She's attending that Australian Air League again this evening and has been talking about it all week. Her first day was last week, and during the "classroom" part, the chap who runs it had a model aircraft in his hand, and was asking, "Who can name this part?". Amy was the 8 year old girl, surrounded by boys from maybe 9 or 10, to 13. When he pointed to the vertical stabiliser, her hand shot up. I expected her to say "Tail" or something, but she quickly glanced at me before answering looking for my approval, when the guy asked her for her answer, and I just nodded, and out she went with "Vertical Stabilser". Not "tail"... not "back". I was well pleased, and the chap seemed surprised too. The little one nailed it. Her hand went up for a lot of others, but she was over powered. Ah well, good start. :)

A chap in the office told me yesterday, "If it were my kids, I'd probably suggest a different career path". I asked why that was, and it the answer was, "In 15 years, the job of a pilot will be redundant, and they'd just by there to keep people happy".

I'm not sure if that's a valid point or not. Should we be backing young kids into that career? I hope so.

[cavuman1]

Good on You and Your Lovely Little One, Cralis! As Mr. Chevalier said: "Sank Heav'n fer little girls!"

I am the fortunate father of two daughters who were only eight years old last week. The elder is a 39-year-old attorney in Richmond, Virginia, where she helps the homeless. My younger daughter, who is achingly beautiful and a graduate of UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) Summa Cum Laude, is a 29-year-old who lives in Beverly Hills, California. She longs to be - wait for it - a movie star! (She and the other 50,000 beauties in L.A.!) She has gotten a few bit parts, but in the jaundiced eye of Hollywood, has begun to get old. Youth is wasted on the young, right?

Now for my advice, which is worth precisely what you have paid for it, but true all the same. Nobody, but nobody, loves, needs, and admires her Daddy like a little girl! I firmly believe that the female of our species is possessed of a greater global intelligence than her male counterparts, and that her innate curiosity begins early on in life. It is incumbent upon you to provide her with every stimulus you can. Her interests will metamorphose; so will she. Read to her - let her read to you. Travel continents and dreams together. Share adventures. Tuck her in at night with a hug and a kiss and a pat on the back. Before you know it, you shall be walking down an aisle with your daughter - now a woman, but still the little girl who loves her Dad as much as the man she is going to join in wedlock.

She shall embrace you, silently saying Thank You to the man who is sufficiently fortunate to be her father! All the better if she knows how to fly....

- Ed :ok:

[jonkster]

I have a young daughter who, from an early age, has been extremely inquisitive about engineering areas. She’s shown more interest than my older kids in strange things. How does the car drive. How did they build that bridge. How does an aeroplane fly.

I’m not a pilot. I do have a keen interest in aviation. (I’m not forcing anything on her though - just to be clear) She sees me on the PC simulator a lot and sits and watches. She has a shot and enjoys the basics. Trying stable flight. Working out what the control surfaces do.

She loves travel and is always asking questions while flying. I’ve been lucky enough that a flight deck crew has allowed her a visit (on the ground). She’s only 8. But as a father if two other older kids - her interest has been high.

Im not sure if it’s the best thing, but she just joined the Australian Air League and loves it. It’s like the scouts but aviation oriented. I’m not so keen on the marching. And the fact that the leaders keep says “Ok, boys ... now we will ...”. She’s the only girl. But still. I fear statements like that will make her start thinking “should I be here?”

So my question is, at such a young age, is there a way to keep the keenness going? Is the Australian Air League worth keeping up? Are there options where that u can take to help her see that aviation is an option to her?

Shes young, but I’ve seen a lot of stories about how people got the bite - and it seems it happens at a young age. Should I just leave it and see how she goes by herself? Maybe she’s too young? Or are there options? Taking her to air fields and seeing them up close? Visit ATC?

any ideas or advice would be great.

Not sure where in Oz you are but at the aerodrome I work at there is an active Air League operation that includes flight training and also air experience camps for their members.

One thing you could sus out is maybe getting her some air experience for her - many schools would be happy to do a trial instructional flight with a youngster keen to fly - there is no actual minimum age in Oz to do flying training (although if you do start too early the problem is you may get overcooked as you cannot go solo until 15). Many pilots can trace the start of their passion to a flight in a light aircraft as a child.

The next generation of people in aviation always needs to be encouraged, potentially as future pilots, engineers, designers or whatever. If she has a passion, indulge it!

[Cralis]

Good on You and Your Lovely Little One, Cralis!
- Ed :ok:

Thanks Ed! Amazing post, from someone who has clearly walked the path up ahead of me. You almost (And when I say almost, I'm acting manly here!) drew a tear!
Thanks for that. Copied and pasted to me wife.
Thanks.

[Cralis]

Not sure where in Oz you are but at the aerodrome I work at there is an active Air League operation that includes flight training and also air experience camps for their members.

One thing you could sus out is maybe getting her some air experience for her - many schools would be happy to do a trial instructional flight with a youngster keen to fly - there is no actual minimum age in Oz to do flying training (although if you do start too early the problem is you may get overcooked as you cannot go solo until 15). Many pilots can trace the start of their passion to a flight in a light aircraft as a child.

The next generation of people in aviation always needs to be encouraged, potentially as future pilots, engineers, designers or whatever. If she has a passion, indulge it!

Thanks jonkster. We're up in Brisbane, and it seems like the same thing, the Air League. I'll keep that up. She actually turns 9 in a few days, but way to early for anything serious.
I might take her to a few fields around Brisbane throughout the year - see things up close. If she enjoyed an outing, I'd do it again, until she shows signs of not enjoying it. If she continues, then .. I'll continue. :)

Here she is playing about:
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/960x719/54401874_10156851882017279_2609219780808278016_n_cccc8927386 6be9871cd56d8f47af6679948aa29.jpg

[ShyTorque]

I was inquisitive like this as a child. My father took me to the Farnborough Airshow in 1961 where I watched a Lightning take off, stand on its tail over the runway and disappear vertically. I was so impressed my only ambition was to join the RAF (which I later did). My daughter (who wasn't born until I'd left the RAF) was similarly inquisitive like this. She often asked about engineering and aviation things and I used to explain in as much detail as I could. How much she took in I don't know but she later gave up dancing, gymnastics, trampolining and joined the Air Cadets and eventually became the senior cadet of her squadron. She went on to join a University Air Squadron and latterly was kept on for a summer placement. She decided that if she flies in future she wants to sit in the expensive seats down the back. She's now a sports psychologist and probably thinks I'm a nutcase.

.

[Atlas Shrugged]

In 15 years, the job of a pilot will be redundant, and they'd just by there to keep people happy".

Very wrong. Very, very wrong. Might I suggest that the person who made this comment to you is not in anyway involved in the aviation industry...

Until things improve massively over where they are now, or we decide to accept airliners biting the dust with a lot more regularity than they do at the moment, we're a long, long, long, long way from a pilotless airliner. Actually, there will only ever be ONE crash of an pilotless airliner...because after that who in their right mind would get on board one.

Things go wrong MUCH, MUCH more often than you might imagine. You only hear about it when we fail to make the problem go away. I, for one, will never set foot on an pilotless airliner (or in a driverless care for that matter)...though I must admit that if they continue to put minimally qualified pilots into some aircraft I might be better off in one!

[Buster11]

I'd strongly suggest that she builds a free-flight model aircraft. That for sure will give her the feel of personally making something that works, and of adjusting it till it works as she wants it to. I don't know if the Australian schools system has gone so far in the over-protection direction as ours has in the UK, but if it has, then she won't be allowed near any sort of tool that just might conceivably cut her if mishandled or adhesive that might harm her if eaten or inhaled in huge quantities; in that case mum or dad may need to show her how to use blades and glues, but seeing something she has made actually flying by itself could launch her into the most truly creative career, - engineering.

[B2N2]

Build model airplanes with her.
As an intro flight may I suggest a microlight or a very simple airplane like a J-3 cub?
A large amount of instruments is overwhelming especially if you can’t see that well over the panel and honestly instruments distract from the magic of flight.
An ultralight or a hangglider or a glider flight.
Glider can solo at 14 I believe.