Flying with Children

[Roundouthigh]

I would like to take my son up flying, he is eleven weeks old. What is the youngest any of you have taken your kids up. As you can iamgine he will be in his car seat and will probably go straight to sleep. My wife will be with him in the back and it will only be a short flight.

[QDMQDMQDM]

Make sure you protect his ears adequately.

Best,

QDM

[rustle]

Spot on QDM :)

Best things I ever bought - kids ear defenders.

My two (4&2) have been flying since they were < 1yr, and as long as their ears are "defended" they're fine...

Daughter, 4, sleeps immediately engine starts (same as in car)

Son, 2, doesn't - he wants to sit up front and "help" :)

[Roundouthigh]

Thanks for your suggestions. I have bought him some ear defenders. My thoughts were the earlier we start by the time he knows whats going on he will really enjoy it, hopefully!!! I can't wait to go now.

[EI_Sparks]

Roundout,
Can't tell you about taking my kids up, since that's ooooh, about 20 years off ;), but I can tell you I was taken up very early (about 2 weeks old) and didn't have ear defenders or anything special - mom held me on her lap, dad flew, and it's entered in the aircraft log as 2.5 passengers in a 150 :)
No ill-effects either, if you don't count the truely awful sense of humour :)

[2Donkeys]

Both my two have been flying since they were around 6 weeks old. The Peltor Kids' Ear defenders are superb, and a must. As they get older, something to colour in/listen to/read becomes even more important.

Make sure you go somewhere that's fun too. You wouldn't want them to associate flying with boring old blokes standing around in muddy fields with nowt but a portakabin and kettle for company:D

[formationfoto]

ear defenders is great advice. Mine went up at two weeks old but now he is getting to two years is becoming rathet independent and choosy. Only wants to go in a helicopter which is somewhat more expensive than the jodel I keep trying to persuade him into.

[Monocock]

I also have a girl (4) and boy (2). They both fly regularly and both sleep as soon as the engine starts.

In fact, my daughter has over 40 hours as passenger. I'm sure they just see it as a perfectly normal method of transport after a few times and think nothing of it.:cool:

[BRL]

Hi there. A quick search found THIS (http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=53801)

Have fun, good luck... :)

[Keef]

My two are 33 and 31 and have no interest whatever in flying with Dad. They've done the UK, France, Belgium etc and now want to go places I don't. Off to Berlin with number 2 next week. Number one wants to go to California with Dad (read: Dad to buy the tickets to California) next Spring.

Enjoy it while you can, say I.

[Julian]

Tie them to the retracts, they then fit nicely into the space provided.

[FlyingForFun]

Roundout, what type will you be in, and will you have anyone else in the front seat?

I suggest you do a weight+balance check - some designers assume that if you've got less than 4 people in their 4-place aircraft, you'll have two people in the front. You may find that, with two in the back and only one in the front, you're out of the centre of gravity limits, in which case put some luggage or ballast up front. Make sure you secure it properly, so that it can't slide forward and get in the way of the rudder pedals.

That's apart from any considerations about your son, of course.

FFF
---------------

[Roundouthigh]

Thanks everybody, young Edward will be gaining his wings this weekend, weather permitting.

[jonathang]

Is there not a possibility of pain if the child has a cold at the time ?

Obviously not going to be able to tell you.

[Flyin'Dutch']

They will tell you PDQ when they have earache.

You obviously never heard a kid with earache; I tell you it is a very unpleasant noise.

Kids under the age of one are a sort of permanent Snotsville; so either give some nosedrops and adjust rate of descend (climbing is not such a problem) or raid the piggy bank a buy a pressurised mount! :eek:

Have fun.

FD

[MLS-12D]

Three helpful links:

http://www.avweb.com/news/columns/182653-1.html

http://www.avweb.com/news/columns/182673-1.html

http://www.avweb.com/news/columns/182256-1.html

[Rod1]

Am I the only person with a child who gets airsick? I have taken both mine up for some years (they are 11 and 7), one is sick about 1/3 of the time but still loves to come. The younger one will stand aerobatics no problem, except for the cries of more, more! (He is so like his mother...)

Any suggestions (on the airsick child);)

[khorne]

Babies can't equalise the pressure very well and so they need something to suck on during the ups and (particularly) during the downs if you get to any altitude. Otherwise they don't know that it is unusual. They get to be a bit of pain when they can take off the headsets which is usually at about 1 year. At that age they may make a fuss but then the noise or the vibration puts them to sleep.

[Doghouse]

Rod 1 - you're not alone. I'm an FI often taking kids up in the back when Dad's doing his trial lesson and they're nearly always sick.

But, I'm all for kids in the back - I've seen quite a few dogs and cats in the backs of planes too and they all seem to love it. Just take a bag - I once had generously to donate my headset case to the cause!

On a serious note though, make sure your PFLs are up to scratch and you've worked out how you're gonna get the bairn out in an emergency evac. Allocate roles and order of evac, etc.