Minimum passenger age - children?
 

Hi,

Is there a minimum passenger age I can take under my UK PPL(A) SEP?

Thanks

Certainly hope not!

Regardless, my heir and spare both enjoy flying (seem to recall taking one up when he was 2 but I know of others who have taken their children up much younger) but I've gone to some lengths to get proper seats - Britax did a good seat that secured with just a lap belt but provided shoulder belts for the small occupant and, when they grow, booster seats work well too.

I've always tried to seat an adult next to a child in such a seat to ensure a quicker exit if necessary.

Most headsets will adjust to fit small children but you may have trouble with hearing protection for really small children - I didn't take mine up until I was comfortable that a headset would fit.

It has been great to share flying with my kids and I'd recommend doing so.

They can also reach the chocks more easily than me which saves me having to scramble under the wings before/after flying.

Great many thanks!

My two girls were 8 and 3 (weeks)
when they first flew.

Why on earth should there be? I certainly hope that there is not a maximum passenger age...

My son flies with me regularly and has done since he was two. You do occasionally come across some grumpy people who think you are in some way irresponsible for allowing children near aeroplanes but ignore them, just keep the kids safe and enjoy.

The only consideration is that of distraction. If you have a multi seat plane, then the small person's (other?) parent guardian can manage the little 'un. If you are in a 2 seater, clearly you have to be prepared to manage a young person that may be frightened, unsure of the angles/attitudes/g forces, or quite simply dislike the noise.

I've never had a puker in the plane. The nearest was when it was me, and I was the pilot. That was a turbulent ride. But you may have to factor in such considerations. Remember the golden rule.

Aviate
Navigate
Communicate

And don't be afraid to abort after one circuit, even if you planned a long trip.

I didn't let my kid fly with me until he was 16 and old enough to make his own decisions as an adult. I don't take kids up and politely explain to friends and families who ask me to take their kids for a flight that the cargo is just to precious, and it may may be best to wait for the kid to get to an age where they are able to make there own informed decisions about what hobbies and associated risk levels they are comfortable with.

Flying is my hobby, not a child's. Flying is not a team sport, flying as a private pilot in a non commercially regulated aircraft has a good degree of risk and is very unforgiving when things go wrong unlike a lot of other hobbies parents/adults can involve their minor children in.

I took my son camping, fishing, hiking, shooting, swimming cycling and dirt bike riding, but not flying.

Probably get slaughtered for my view on the matter but that's the way I roll. Each to their own !

Anyone who takes a baby in any aeroplane is, imo in gross dereliction of parental care as the poor mite has no way of understanding or dealing with the barotrauma that is almost certain to ensue and can cause irreperable damage to infant ears. This is why babies so often shriek and shriek and shriek in airliners esp on descent - they are being subjected to agonising ear pain. (as are the unfortunate and long-suffering pax around them)
The noise in a light aircraft must add to the questionability of this too.

The minimum age is approximately minus nine months.

Rubbish! On most light a/c flights you don't go above 2,000 feet and as pilot you can control the rate of descent. Cabin altitudes in airlines are in the order of 6 to 7,000 feet.

We took our kids flying from infancy and they never shrieked on descent - quite the reverse in fact. Much also depends on emotional state of the parents which communicates to the children.

The noise issue (if a factor) can easily be dealt with using modern ear defenders.

When I see some of the comments here I wonder how our kids survived!

Also you should always give a baby something to drink during climb and descent. I'm guessing Wageslave doesn't have kids?..

My son was 7. I felt that was an age where he would enjoy it and I could explain how things worked and that he would do as he was told. And for him the procedure of it is just as interesting as the flying.

But I do agree with Piper boy. 1st time I took the boy up I was more nervous than I have been at any time before and I certainly wouldn't take friends children. have yet to take my 6 year old daughter.

A few tips:

- Up to about eight years of age kids don't appreciate the uniqueness of flying. They'll not be impressed - it's just one of the million things that are trying to make an impression on them in this weird and wonderful adult world. So if you fly to get somewhere, then by all means take them. But if you fly just to have fun and enjoy the scenery, and hope the kids appreciate this too, then you may want to hold off 'till that age.

- From about ten years onwards you can explain a kid how an airplane flies, and a lot of these kids are wonderful at keeping heading and in some cases even altitude. So you can use them as your cruise autopilot, with the added benefit that the concentration required means they're not doing something else that may distract you. However, this only works if the kid can see the horizon all around. In most aircraft the coaming is too high to look over until they're about 1.60m in size - a height that's typically not reached until they're well into their puberty/growth spurt. So even kids that are way past the "booster seat" stage in cars, benefit greatly from a cushion or booster seat in an aircraft.

- Unless going somewhere, limit the flight duration initially to about 20-30 minutes. After this the novelty factor wears off, the kid gets bored and starts to distract you. And they start to look around or do other stuff that may induce nausea.

- Don't do this straight after obtaining your PPL. At the charity I volunteer for, we require a minimum of 150 hours PIC after license issue. This is so that you can fly the plane (+navigate, communicate) with maybe 10% of your mental capacity. The rest is needed to deal with passengers.

- Especially on the first flight, it is a good idea to have an adult (typically a parent) seated directly behind the kid. This gives the kid a secure feeling, and means you have an extra pair of hands on board to calm, or even restrain, the kid if something goes wrong.

- Skylight makes kids headsets. They're about 30% smaller than regular headsets. Decent quality, funky colours. And they will even fit most adults.
SkyLite SL-900C Children / Youth Aviation Headset
SkyLite SL-900MC Children / Youth Aviation MP3 Headset
The -MC variant has MP3/music input.

+1 for the booster seat. My 12 year old still uses one in the PA28 so he can see over the coaming, even though he's long past needing one in the car.

We used to like the DR400 when the club had one, because the seat goes up when it goes forwards.

Why should there be any minimum age? Enough babies are "airborn" and it is just a natural wonder. Yes, if they are very little, you have to place a caring person direct next to it and you should avoid rapid climb and descent if you find out the little one has a problem with it, but then - no problem.

My youngest passenger was 35 minutes old and we flew the little one born a bit too early out of the Canadian wilderness to the next doctor to let her check ok. Not really a problem, even with mountain flying and rapid descent for this one.

Drivel, my grandson has been flying with me since he was 6 months old. He goes to sleep on take off and wakes up on landing, he does much the same in cars!

piperboy84

I agree 100%. Very responsible !

On a related note: can we take a cat or a dog to fly with us?

And mine were still doing that when they were teenagers.


What kept one of them awake for a flight was being able to say to some girl "hey, you wanna fly to Brighton for lunch on Saturday?" - then he had someone more interesting than me to talk to. (Once she'd got over her initial disbelief that such a thing could really be on offer - her first reaction was that he must be winding her up.)