Just got this text from my best buddy...

timwinters

timwinters

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... And I'm lmao!

So.... Steven got his pilot's license Monday. Great. Now Sherri just informed me he plans to take Taylor up tonight. Not great. Am I wrong or should he not have a lot more hours before he takes passengers? Especially my daughter.
 
timwinters said:
... And I'm lmao!

So.... Steven got his pilot's license Monday. Great. Now Sherri just informed me he plans to take Taylor up tonight. Not great. Am I wrong or should he not have a lot more hours before he takes passengers? Especially my daughter.
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Tough call ... but if he just got the certificate, he probably isn't night current anyway. I took my son up fairly fast, but training in my area is pretty intense, especially for wind (we don't get much rain;)).
 
One could argue that you're safest right after you pass a checkride, everything is fresh and recent.. granted, if I had a daughter and a pilot friend wanted to take her up I'd want to fly with him first as a "check out" of sorts
 
danhagan said:
...but if he just got the certificate, he probably isn't night current anyway.
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During my primary training, the night work was done near the end of the syllabus. When I got my ppasel ticket, I was night current, So I question your statement above.

-Skip
 
I'm reluctant to take kids up. My daughter flew with me only once, when we visited Mustang Island and didn't even drop by Jay :). Also on that flight, she factory-reset my primary navigation tablet and we made an unscheduled stop in order to obtain WiFi and recover it. Wife -- sure, that's not a problem. She's stuck with me until death anyway. But kids deserve better than a single engine piston with no chute. I might consider it more favourably if I were flying a King Air.
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
When my brother got his ticket, his first passenger was his then girlfriend. Now wife. You might want to let Steven know of the risks involved.
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They're already married! Took care of that last fall. And they're 25ish, he's military, so I have a feeling he approached this with a lot more discipline than the average. I told my buddy not to worry about it. I did tell him I wouldn't be taking somebody up for their first ride in the early evening on a 90° day in Kansas City! Good way to bump the **** out of them. Well unless you're wanting to join the mile high club without having to do much work that is.
 
Heck, I was a 17yr old kid in high school flying my peers around with a whopping 50 some hours under my belt.

One chick I was into at the time came along a few times and her mom told me she was nervous about a teenager taking her daughter up in a small plane - but she let her go anyway...way to go mom! Can’t believe that actually, looking back on it, but it was a blast!

Nonetheless I feel your concern, but I’d also feel pretty good about someone right after a check ride.
 
zaitcev said:
I'm reluctant to take kids up. My daughter flew with me only once, when we visited Mustang Island and didn't even drop by Jay :). Also on that flight, she factory-reset my primary navigation tablet and we made an unscheduled stop in order to obtain WiFi and recover it. Wife -- sure, that's not a problem. She's stuck with me until death anyway. But kids deserve better than a single engine piston with no chute. I might consider it more favourably if I were flying a King Air.
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The vast majority of Young Eagles flights occur using single engine planes with no chutes. They can be very rewarding both for the kids and the pilots. Some of the kids go on to become pilots themselves. One young man I took up several years ago is now a commercial pilot and flies Young Eagles himself. He also was/is the local EAA chapter president.

I’ve given Young Eagles rides to 169 young people since I bought my plane. Not trying to change your mind, but I did want to put another perspective out there.
 
timwinters said:
They're already married! Took care of that last fall. And they're 25ish, he's military, so I have a feeling he approached this with a lot more discipline than the average. I told my buddy not to worry about it. I did tell him I wouldn't be taking somebody up for their first ride in the early evening on a 90° day in Kansas City! Good way to bump the **** out of them. Well unless you're wanting to join the mile high club without having to do much work that is.
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They’re already married, and 25?!

Dad needs to learn that he’s not got a vote in the matter and to keep his trap shut. Yes, the girl is his daughter, but more importantly, she’s the new pilot’s wife. Sorry, but that trumps any residual dad privilages.

My opinion only, of course, and worth exactly what you paid for it.
 
jimhorner said:
The vast majority of Young Eagles flights occur using single engine planes with no chutes.
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I thought it was implied that we discussed own kids. I don't care about other children, they have their own parents with their own risk evaluation. Also, Young Eagles are statistically very safe. There was only one fatal over the whole program's existence. Making a lap around a pattern is not the same as flying somewhere and if a passenger kid kills all the avionics, nothing will happen.
 
My wife, mom, dad, and little sister were waiting for me on the ground... as soon as the examiner signed me off I took them up one at a time before the engine was cool (And this was in Plattsburgh NY in February, so that’s sayin something!)
 
Tantalum said:
One could argue that you're safest right after you pass a checkride, everything is fresh and recent..
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My thoughts exactly. It's the pilots that fly sporadically after getting the license you have to worry about...
 
zaitcev said:
I thought it was implied that we discussed own kids. I don't care about other children, they have their own parents with their own risk evaluation. Also, Young Eagles are statistically very safe. There was only one fatal over the whole program's existence. Making a lap around a pattern is not the same as flying somewhere and if a passenger kid kills all the avionics, nothing will happen.
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Oh, didn’t realize that you were referring to your own children. For me, that is even less of a concern. We bought our plane to travel, and we flew lots of places with our son. Still do, now that he”s home from college for the summer. I guess my feelings are colored by the fact that I was flying with my father from a very early age. One early memory is being on a booster seat in the front of a J-3 cub at 2 years old, with the door open and window up, flying and handling the controls. My dad introduced me to a loop when I was three. To each his own, of course. As you say, each parent makes their own assessment of risk.
 
That’s funny. I’m sure they’ll work it out. I took my wife up the day after getting my license. I do tend to agree that a pilot ought to be as safe as they will be right after a checkride. But, mommas do get the final say. Don’t want to start your pilot journey in turbulent conditions before even leaving the house.
 
Weather - weather - weather..... If he's smart, he'll pick an evening (or early morning) of smooth clear air and sell the kid on flying in a private airplane. Don't do nothin' dumb or he'll turn the kid (and you) off forevermore. There's plenty of time for future non-idealities............
 
Ryanb said:
Heck, I was a 17yr old kid in high school flying my peers around with a whopping 50 some hours under my belt.

One chick I was into at the time came along a few times and her mom told me she was nervous about a teenager taking her daughter up in a small plane - but she let her go anyway...way to go mom! Can’t believe that actually, looking back on it, but it was a blast!

Nonetheless I feel your concern, but I’d also feel pretty good about someone right after a check ride.
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Looking you your pic, I thought you ARE 17 yr old
 
Tantalum said:
One could argue that you're safest right after you pass a checkride, everything is fresh and recent..
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That's true for IFR, no reason it wouldn't be for PP. before bad habits set in.
 
I've been flying for about 20 years. I still look for smooth days to take my wife flying somewhere. She isn't interested in going with me to the airport just to do T&Gs. And again, I make sure it will be a good day. I don't want to have her decide that she isn't interested in flying anywhere with me.
 
I got my PPL at 18 years old. No parent in their right mind should have let me take their kids up. But, that was 38 years ago back when kids left the house there was no way to know where they were. No tracking devices. Great time to grow up.
 
One of my first passengers after I got my ticket (freshman in college at the time) was my then-girlfriend, who happened to be the daughter of the vice-commander of the Strategic Air Command. He was not amused, and I had some serious 'splainin to do to a Lieutenant General.
 
I suspect the first few hours after the ppl checkride are a lot safer than the 50th through the 300th. And, perhaps many more if they're only weekend warriors, flying 30-40 hours a year.
 
Back when I was working on my CFI years go, my instructor/mentor told me that one of the criteria for signing off a PPL candidate for a checkride should be, that they were good enough that you'd let your kids go for a ride with that person, because that's exactly what most newly minted PPLs do, want to take loved ones along for a flight. I thought that was a pretty good standard, and I've held to that philosophy as a CFI. Of course, there are weather caveats, gusting crosswinds, etc., hopefully as instructor you've managed to instill some good judgement habits for your student. Don't know, but I hope others think along those lines. (Disclaimer, I don't have kids, but the philosophy still applies.)
 
Stephen Shore said:
when kids left the house there was no way to know where they were. No tracking devices. Great time to grow up.
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Yes it was.!!

As I tell my wife some of the things I did as a teenager, my mom looks at me and says she had no idea that was going on.
 
Back in high school, I used to fly girls to Santa Barbara for dinner at the Elephant Bar. Thought nothing of it at the time. But now that I have a daughter on the way, I’ve had a change in attitude. When she gets to high school age there is NO WAY she’s getting into a little airplane flown by some 17 year old putz like I was. Nope. Noooooope. :p :p
 
Skip Miller said:
During my primary training, the night work was done near the end of the syllabus. When I got my ppasel ticket, I was night current, So I question your statement above.
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Depends on how weather and training were setup. We're extremely windy in west Texas, so the night currency was one way to void the 50mph stuff that happens in spring and knock out an additional flight.

Bill Jennings said:
Agree, one should be super sharp and comfortable right after the checkride.
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Should be ... but I'm sure you had several "experience" flights after PPL checkride that you may have discussed with the CFI, but got to expereince solo including: dust devils over pavement during the flare, wind shear during takeoff, massive mechanical/upset TB , flat tire during landing. complete electrical power loss with smoke in the cockpit ... these are just off the top of my head.

Ryanb said:
Heck, I was a 17yr old kid in high school flying my peers around with a whopping 50 some hours under my belt.

One chick I was into at the time came along a few times and her mom told me she was nervous about a teenager taking her daughter up in a small plane - but she let her go anyway...way to go mom! Can’t believe that actually, looking back on it, but it was a blast!
Click to expand...

Dang Ryan! You'd think her mom would be more worried about her daughter joining the "mile high club":eek::confused:;)
 
A guy at our airport was determined to take his son up on his birthday in the FBO's 152. Good plan except the winds were blowing hard and by the time he came in to land he couldn't handle the crosswind. He ended up landing on a closed runway and we had to hold the wings down as he taxied back in. He got his ass chewed by the chief pilot.
 
Check ride in the morning flew my wife for a short flight that afternoon. She flew in the backseat on several lessons and still loves to fly.
 
He earned that license.
It didn't come from a CrackerJack box.
He was deemed safe and competent, and sent on his way.

He's as safe now as he'll ever be.

I assume you have your blessing on the wedding...

Not your circus anymore.

But, I feel your angst.

fly to the scene of the incident, or be recovered at the scene of the tragedy
 
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