What age is appropriate to start flight lessons?

CJones

CJones

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Beyond the legal requirements on age for getting specific certifications, what do you think is an appropriate age to start 'formal' flight training?

Backstory: My 10 y/o is officially hooked on airplanes/jets right now. After his first trip to OSH with me, his older brother, and my dad in '22, the bait was set. After trip to OSH with my dad this year, he's swallowed it hook, line, and sinker. He's constantly talking and asking about airplanes. He has 'decided' that he wants to fly jets in the Air Force (my 25-year Navy veteran father-in-law has made it clear that Navy has jets, too). We fly an RV-10, which is obviously too much airplane for initial training for a kid, but just thinking ahead, there are a couple of glider operations within reach of here and the pilot community is big enough around here, we could start planning ahead a bit if this idea of him flying (in any capacity, even a lowly "I just fly for fun" like I tell the airline guys around here) seems to have legs.
 
We have an excellent youth program at Sugarbush, Vermont, which is probably too far out of the way for most people, although it's a 7 day overnight camp. I've been towing there for the past 10 years and am amazed to see some of the kids solo at age 14 and get certified at 15, many starting as line crew and moving on to counselors then many on to instructor shortly after. Besides the piloting experience, I've watched kids grow and mature in very impressive ways, often at the astonishment of their parents.

See Flight Experience for Youth if of any interest to you. I had to give up towing last year due to a brain tumor but the camps are one of my fondest memories.
 
I'd time it so they get their private on 17th birthday.
 
CJones said:
Beyond the legal requirements on age for getting specific certifications, what do you think is an appropriate age to start 'formal' flight training?

Backstory: My 10 y/o is officially hooked on airplanes/jets right now. After his first trip to OSH with me, his older brother, and my dad in '22, the bait was set. After trip to OSH with my dad this year, he's swallowed it hook, line, and sinker. He's constantly talking and asking about airplanes. He has 'decided' that he wants to fly jets in the Air Force (my 25-year Navy veteran father-in-law has made it clear that Navy has jets, too). We fly an RV-10, which is obviously too much airplane for initial training for a kid, but just thinking ahead, there are a couple of glider operations within reach of here and the pilot community is big enough around here, we could start planning ahead a bit if this idea of him flying (in any capacity, even a lowly "I just fly for fun" like I tell the airline guys around here) seems to have legs.
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Wow, I could have written that. My son is 9, he attended Oshkosh for the first time with my dad too (I was working the whole week at OSH so he needed someone to come up with him and wander with him while I was busy), and he wants to attend the USAFA so he can fly transport category jets.

We fly a C182, which is a little better as a trainer, but he still needs a couple more years of growth to really fly it. The plane is down for a new engine right now but the plan is to put him in the pilots and start delegating some duties to him (navigation, non towered position reports, etc.) I plannned to get him a logbook for his 10th birthday and start logging as soon as he can reach all the flight controls and see over the glare shield.
 
Brad Z said:
Wow, I could have written that. My son is 9, he attended Oshkosh for the first time with my dad too (I was working the whole week at OSH so he needed someone to come up with him and wander with him while I was busy), and he wants to attend the USAFA so he can fly transport category jets.

We fly a C182, which is a little better as a trainer, but he still needs a couple more years of growth to really fly it. The plane is down for a new engine right now but the plan is to put him in the pilots and start delegating some duties to him (navigation, non towered position reports, etc.) I plannned to get him a logbook for his 10th birthday and start logging as soon as he can reach all the flight controls and see over the glare shield.
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He does pretty well when we give him the control of the -10 and say 'Follow the road'. We have extra cushions for the front seats, but it's still way too much for him at this point. At least he's getting the feel for it, though. He's also a backseat observer of all things front-seat (even in the truck/car). We'll drive or fly for hours he'll randomly pop up with a question about why a specific number changes a certain way at certain times, so he's pretty observant and understands the concepts of how the numbers mean 'something', which is good - he's not just looking at the blinky lights and dials and whatnot. I hope he stays engaged with it and I'll try to spoon feed him as we go so he doesn't get overwhelmed and suck the fun out of it.
 
As soon as he can reach the rudder pedals.
EdFred said:
I'd time it so they get their [glider] private on [16th] birthday.
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I wouldn't wait that long though. Since he can solo a glider at 14, and most gliders are single-seat, there's a lot of experience that can be had from 14 to 16.
 
Lindberg said:
As soon as he can reach the rudder pedals.

I wouldn't wait that long though. Since he can solo a glider at 14, and most gliders are single-seat, there's a lot of experience that can be had from 14 to 16.
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And sailplanes (glider is a terrible name) are an excellent way to start giving a better understanding of how airplanes actually fly with adverse yaw, the importance of angle of attack, and no distractions with electronic gadgets.
 
CJones said:
Beyond the legal requirements on age for getting specific certifications, what do you think is an appropriate age to start 'formal' flight training?

Backstory: My 10 y/o is officially hooked on airplanes/jets right now. After his first trip to OSH with me, his older brother, and my dad in '22, the bait was set. After trip to OSH with my dad this year, he's swallowed it hook, line, and sinker. He's constantly talking and asking about airplanes. He has 'decided' that he wants to fly jets in the Air Force (my 25-year Navy veteran father-in-law has made it clear that Navy has jets, too). We fly an RV-10, which is obviously too much airplane for initial training for a kid, but just thinking ahead, there are a couple of glider operations within reach of here and the pilot community is big enough around here, we could start planning ahead a bit if this idea of him flying (in any capacity, even a lowly "I just fly for fun" like I tell the airline guys around here) seems to have legs.
Click to expand...
How exciting! Watching a kid develop a passion - well, watching anyone develop a passion - is special. My suggestion is to research the Civil Air Patrol in your area. The min age for that is 12, but he can meet older cadets at OSH (they help park aircraft) and they have a recruitment booth every year. Nice thing about CAP is that it is a leadership program that also offers access to flying and aviation content. I suspect the actual opportunities vary a bit by chapter as it requires adult member/volunteers to provide discovery flights etc. But its a great program, whether pre-military or not.
 
Lindberg said:
As soon as he can reach the rudder pedals.

I wouldn't wait that long though. Since he can solo a glider at 14, and most gliders are single-seat, there's a lot of experience that can be had from 14 to 16.
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Yeah, but the OP has a plane already. They don't have a glider. If they had a glider, sure.
 
I started giving a little informal yoke time (straight and level to very shallow turns) to one of my kids who loves flying when he was about 7 years old. He's since had one "official" logged intro when he was 15, and I suspect he'll go for his cert while he's in college. He definitely flies a better straight line than our 47 year old autopilot...
 
They are never too young to give informal lessons or let them have stick time when you are flying but being a parent of a current teenager and seeing how she and others her age see the world and assess risk I would wait until 16 or 17 at the very least before you or they start paying for formal lessons. We would all like to think our own kids are different but the reality is that it takes time and experiences for kids brains to mature and be able to realize when something may be dangerous and how to appropriately react. Being in school you already know that kids can learn how to do just about anything through rote practice so they can physically learn to fly pretty young but until they are old enough to start understanding that they don't know what they don't know and can demonstrate that they know what to do and how to react when they come up against something they don't know then they are still too young.

Aviation is an unforgiving hobby with not many chances of a do-over when things go wrong. There is no reason to rush straight to formal lessons as you and they can still have alot of fun in the mean time. When they are old enough that you are comfortable leaving them alone at home by themselves and unsupervised for a weekend they are probably mature enough to start working towards their license. If you don't trust them to be mature enough to handle a weekend alone then they are not yet ready to handle an aircraft alone.
 
EdFred said:
Yeah, but the OP has a plane already. They don't have a glider. If they had a glider, sure.
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Indeed, one that the OP doesn't want to use for initial training. I'm just saying the kid could be a rated glider pilot with years of experience by the time he can legally solo an airplane. And because all that experience will translate over, he might even be ready to fly that RV.
 
Hmmmm…. Never too early. Instructed time is instructed time.

Most important is to see what HE needs to maintain interest. I literally BEGGED my father to take me to the airport with him when I was 11 to just sit by the runway and take pictures as he soloed with his student license. That’s all I required, YMMV.
 
Look for an EAA chapter that has a youth program. CAP worked for me when I was a young Lad
 
Right now we’re planning on gliders for our kids to time with that 14 year old solo limitation, and somewhere approaching 16 start on powered so they can solo at 16, and work towards private at 17.
 
Never too early really. My kid (the guy in my avatar) started formal instruction at 15, soloed at 16 and got his ticket at 17. Worked well.

I love the glider path if there is availability nearby.
 
My brothers son started by learning to fly on instruments in his dad's T-18 because he was too small to see over the glare shield.
He got his instruction in the T-18 - I wouldn't think an RV-10 would be any harder.
He was flying King Airs carrying organs for transplant for quite a while.
Not sure what he is flying for a living now, but he does have a Bonanza that he lets his dad use.
 
my local flight school has a Redbird simulator with the motion. That and the wraparound screen made it fun for my 13-year-old. We’d go out there once sometimes twice a week and have a real flight lesson using John and Martha’s private pilot syllabus. Then I’d reserve five or 10 minutes at the end to do something interesting like land in Red Square, zoom around the pyramids, fly through the Eiffel Tower, etc.
Keeping it serious with a little lighthearted fun… You know, for the kids.
 
As a CFI I find teaching them to fly is the easy part. The harder part is getting them through the knowledge test and the Oral test. Many just don't have the life experience to already have a basic knowledge base to build on, so it is all new and foreign to them.
I would start working with them on the knowledge test information as soon as they have enough interest to do so. Can reward them with completing parts of it with a occasional flying lesson. Ideally they would be pretty much ready to take the knowledge test when they solo. I have in fact made that a requirement for some before I would solo them.

Interested what other CFI's experience recommendations are?

Brian
CFIIG/ASEL
 
Lance F said:
My son’s first logged lesson was at 5½ in the front of a Blanik L13 glider. As a CFIG I could do stuff like that. Fun memories.
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My son had many hours riding in the back while I provided instruction. It was fun to a 6 year old flying and have him make better radio calls than the student pilots in the pattern, but in a six year old voice:)

Brian
 
CJones said:
Beyond the legal requirements on age for getting specific certifications, what do you think is an appropriate age to start 'formal' flight training?

Backstory: My 10 y/o is officially hooked on airplanes/jets right now. After his first trip to OSH with me, his older brother, and my dad in '22, the bait was set. After trip to OSH with my dad this year, he's swallowed it hook, line, and sinker. He's constantly talking and asking about airplanes. He has 'decided' that he wants to fly jets in the Air Force (my 25-year Navy veteran father-in-law has made it clear that Navy has jets, too). We fly an RV-10, which is obviously too much airplane for initial training for a kid, but just thinking ahead, there are a couple of glider operations within reach of here and the pilot community is big enough around here, we could start planning ahead a bit if this idea of him flying (in any capacity, even a lowly "I just fly for fun" like I tell the airline guys around here) seems to have legs.
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The FAA establishes various ages for pilot certificates based on cognitive changes that occur in humans with age.

For “formal flight training, you are best to not rush the process. If you want to pay for fun flights, thats another issue,
 
brcase said:
As a CFI I find teaching them to fly is the easy part. The harder part is getting them through the knowledge test and the Oral test. Many just don't have the life experience to already have a basic knowledge base to build on, so it is all new and foreign to them.
I would start working with them on the knowledge test information as soon as they have enough interest to do so. Can reward them with completing parts of it with a occasional flying lesson. Ideally they would be pretty much ready to take the knowledge test when they solo. I have in fact made that a requirement for some before I would solo them.

Interested what other CFI's experience recommendations are?

Brian
CFIIG/ASEL
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I think there is a bit more than just the written knowledge, which is a challenge for kids under age 16. In today’s pilot training we want students to assess risk and apply risk management. Young kids aren’t mentally developed to do that.
 
I started my son at 14. I did not force him, just gave him opportunities. He would fly once or twice a month with a CFI.

When he soloed (the day he turned 16), he was all about flying at that point. Soloing did it for him.

He would have done his PP on his 17th birthday, but no DPE was available.

He just got his CFI in August at 19 with 450 hours. He would have done it last summer at 18, but again...DPE shortage (and then college taking up his time from August to May).
 
Michelle R said:
How exciting! Watching a kid develop a passion - well, watching anyone develop a passion - is special. My suggestion is to research the Civil Air Patrol in your area. The min age for that is 12, but he can meet older cadets at OSH (they help park aircraft) and they have a recruitment booth every year. Nice thing about CAP is that it is a leadership program that also offers access to flying and aviation content. I suspect the actual opportunities vary a bit by chapter as it requires adult member/volunteers to provide discovery flights etc. But its a great program, whether pre-military or not.
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I second that recommendation. I started with CAP and learned a lot. You do want to check out all your local squadrons, as they do differ.
 
I think I did my first discovery flight around 10, maybe 12. Starting getting flights for birthdays or Christmas after that. Think I had 5 or 6 hours by the time I finally started flight training at 20.
 
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Just because there are kid geniuses doesn’t mean every kid is a genius just like there are some kids cognitively mature enough at 10 or 12 to fly safely doesn’t mean most kids are. If yours is that’s awesome but if you are not sure is always better to be cautious and have them wait a little longer. Kids will only be kids for so long. Don’t rush them to grow up.
 
There are minimum ages for solo and for certification anyway. If someone has and wants to spend the money for someone younger to fly, not sure what the issue is.
 
kmacht said:
Just because there are kid geniuses doesn’t mean every kid is a genius just like there are some kids cognitively mature enough at 10 or 12 to fly safely doesn’t mean most kids are. If yours is that’s awesome but if you are not sure is always better to be cautious and have them wait a little longer. Kids will only be kids for so long. Don’t rush them to grow up.
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I wonder if maybe instructors are able to figure this stuff out.
 
Lindberg said:
I wonder if maybe instructors are able to figure this stuff out.
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Thet are kids. It's the parents job to understand their kid and set appropriate limits, not the flight instructors.
 
kmacht said:
Thet are kids. It's the parents job to understand their kid and set appropriate limits, not the flight instructors.
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@Tools can back me up on this one. Sometimes the parents are the problem more than the kids.
 
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