Flying with Kids
 

I have two kids, the girl is nearly three and loves "hairyplanes", I took her to Kenley on Saturday for the BoB fly-past and she loved it. My Boy is just one but points up to the sky whenever he hears a plane go over.

The question is, when do I consider putting a child seat in the back and taking them up. Whenever my Wife and I go somewhere for the day we have to get baby sitters and miss not having the kids with us (well sometimes it's nice to be without them but sometimes it would be nice if they came along).

I have a share of a 4 seater so I am really looking forward to going somewhere with them. Have any other parents been in this position and if so, at what age did you start them off.

I have a 2 year old daughter who has been flying with me since she was only 2. Her Britax car seat is approved for aircraft and we bought her a set of Child Ear Defenders at Transair, so off we went. We've never looked back.

I fly a Baron 58, so that we've found the most convenient place for her is forward facing in the rear compartment.

Drop me a line if you want more details.



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2Donkeys

2donkeys,

Is that ear defenders or the child headset?

My three were between 2 and 4 when they first went up in our C-150. They rapidly discovered 'ups and downs' when I showed them a gentle pull up followed by a pushover - rather like the car going over a hump-back bridge.
As they got older, cries of 'more ups and downs Daddy..' pushed the airframe to its legal limits and my stomach to surrender on virtually every flight.

Lessons learned the hard way:

1. Don't let them have breakfast at the airport.

2. Bring bags.

3. Keep each segment less than an hour.

One of my mini-pax tossed on short final, by the time I was at the taxiway was demanding to know when we'd be going up again! I'm always amazed at the indestructibility of munchkins.

No kids... but have a 5 year old Manchester Terrier...has been travelling with me in my car very regularly since he was 7 weeks and I keep wondering about flying him... he is a tie when we want to go out in the aeroplane... understand that we can't go to Europe though.
What do you think?

Heh Beagler - collected my 8 week old pup in a C210 ten years ago from Rand Airport, arrived home in another African country and the pup (8kilos of Ridgeback) terrorised the ground crew.


Since then we've flown a lot together!

sNr

Well if a ridgeback wanted to go flying with me I'd let him, have you seen those things???

Mine started at about 6 but that was due to lack of funds on my part rather than their age.

Make sure you've locked the doors! My inquisitive son decided to undo his belt and lean over from the back seat onto the door handle of a c172 whilst I was in a steep bank. I would have hated to explain how he had fallen out if the door wasn't locked. If they are in the front and not old enough to appreciate the consequences of their actions make sure their seats are too far back to allow them to grab the controls. Took me by surprise when a friend's son (who I thought was sensible) grabbed at the yoke when I was climbing out....

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When the wheels stop turning you're high enuff. CubTrek. To slowly go...

I have two Kids, The oldest Three the youngest 16 months.

I would guess it really depends on the Child and I would never begin to tell any parent how to look after their kids but I have told myself (and the wife) that neither will fly until they are old enough to understand what to do if it goes wrong. I.E What to do in an emergency.

I think it's important for any passenger to be able to understand the need to be sensible and what to do in an emergency. E.G forced landing, are they old and wise enough to get out on their own and stand well clear?

If they are too young it could Turn an accident into a tragedy.

Sorry to be so sober, but they are my thoughts.

Toebrake,

Food for thought. The only thing I would say is do you take then in a car? Would you think twice about driving to the South of France with them? I am trying to take nothing away from your argument, we all love our kids dearly, but if we are really doing a "risk analysis", is one flying hour any less safe than one driving hour?

Just a question.

I agree,

I don't really have a valid answer to that, as I said this is just the way we (me and the missis) have decided to go.



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Backtrack if required

Keep the legs short to start with. When my youngest was probably around 6, we were chugging up the north coast of France, at all of 80 KIAS, about 11 miles offshore. Sitting in the P2 seat, he suddenly decides (this is after 20 minutes of flight) that he wants a pee. P1 anguish. I had to quickly consume the rest of a 2 litre bottle of coke, and pass it in his direction!

I took a friend and his 6 year old daughter flying a while back in a PA28.

Helen wanted to sit in the front next to me, but we decided that they should both sit in the back. A wise move, because within 15 minutes Helen was feeling queasy - she'd a history of being car sick, so we weren't too surprised. Her dad was able to deal with her OK while I concentrated on flying the plane.

But it would have been a problem if I'd had to deal with her, fly the plane and work out whether to continue as planned or divert/turn back. The stress levels can go up very quickly!

Maybe the younger they start, the better chance you have of a trouble free trip! Good luck!

I once witnesed a tomahawk P.A.38 land at my base airfield, mum and dad occupied the aircraft seats when they parked up three children vacated the rear baggage area.This was clearly unsafe,so it just boils down to common sense dont it.?

Skua, What you need are "Jingle Bags" ! In Manila, the pharmacies sell pee-bags specifically made for difficult times in the horrendous traffic jams that turn liquid into a gel. "Simply cover yourself with a newspaper and presto! You have your own personal comfort room right there in the privacy of your own car..." . Dont know if the pilot shops have these or not...may be an opportunity!

Newbloke

Sorry for the long pause. They are indeed Ear Defenders. They are marketed as Peltor Kids by Transair (amongst others)

Who wears them? The pilots to cut out the racket from the rugrats - or the kids themselves?

Mine (now aged 5 & 3) were introduced to flying at about 6 months. Don't forget to take a dummy. Sucking on it helps to clear their ears.

A couple of years ago I had cause to do a few night circuits in a C402 and took the family. The most exciting part for them was the fact that they could see McDonalds.

They would also collect me from work and ride up front when I took the aircraft round to the hangars. They were convinced that they were steering by turning the yoke. Once I let them kneel on the left seat while I slid down in the right (onviously I could still see over the panel). Should have seen the engineer's face when we taxied up to the hangar!



[This message has been edited by Flintstone (edited 04 September 2000).]

Re. airwaves' "Jingle Bags". You can get something similar "as used by USAF" from the Transair catalogue. There's also the "Little John" sealable urinal, which would also do the trick.