Little Kid's First Flying Lesson

RJM62

RJM62

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Jun 15, 2007
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Upstate New York
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Geek on the Hill
During the summer, I dropped my lady friend's son and granddaughter off at the beach a few miles south of the airport, and then went and took a lesson while they swam. My instructor thought it would be nice if we gave them a bit of a show (our practice area is right there), so we did some maneuvers.

I guess it looked pretty impressive to an 8-year-old, because ever since then she's been telling everyone that she wants to be a pilot. So the last time they were in town, I bought Kimberly an intro lesson. Here's the video.

http://www.flysportusa.com/Media/kim_lesson1.html

-Rich
 
I love the screams... lol :)
 
Yeah, those squeals of glee were funny. :p Mike (the CFI) got a kick out of them, too.

I also liked the part when Mike had her turn over the inlet. She got scared when she looked down and saw water, so she cried, "Your airplane!" and released the controls. But she overcame her fears by the end of the flight, the little trooper.

-Rich
 
That's awesome Rich!
 
What a great video and what a wonderful experience you gave her. :yes: Thanks for sharing that...you started my day with a smile. :)

RJM62 said:
But she overcame her fears by the end of the flight, the little trooper.
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That was another positive outcome of her flight...learning to overcome a fear. Your CFI was very good with her.
 
Diana said:
What a great video and what a wonderful experience you gave her. :yes: Thanks for sharing that...you started my day with a smile. :)


That was another positive outcome of her flight...learning to overcome a fear. Your CFI was very good with her.
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Yeah, Mike was great with her. She couldn't reach the rudder pedals (she was sitting on a stack of pillows), but he let her handle the yoke for most of the flight and explained what she was doing. Apparently she caught on because I would have needed a crowbar to pry her away from FlightGear (a flight simulator I have running on one of my Linux machines) when we got back home.

-Rich
 
As a former elementary/middle school teacher, that was certainly a joy to watch. You provided a truly wonderful experience for that young lady. Bravo. :thumbsup:
 
That was terrific. Thanks for posting this!

Since CFIs usually don't get paid for discovery flights, your only reward is whether or not you manage to gain a new student from the flight. Out of some two dozen flights I've gained three students. But some make the flights without ever becoming a student or are capable of becoming a student. So for myself as the CFI the only reward is how well I'm able to bring a smile to their face. I get just much of a kick out of that. This was one of those flights I would remember as a CFI.

But then, after the screams, my ears might remember the flight even better. :)
 
Great job! Thanks for sharing!
I'm the Young Eagles coordinator for my EAA chapter and we see that kind of reaction all the time, even from teenagers who try to be 'cool' about it. Makes it all worthwhile.
 
Glad everyone liked it, and thanks for the comments.

-Rich
 
RJM62 said:
Yeah, Mike was great with her. She couldn't reach the rudder pedals (she was sitting on a stack of pillows), but he let her handle the yoke for most of the flight and explained what she was doing. Apparently she caught on because I would have needed a crowbar to pry her away from FlightGear (a flight simulator I have running on one of my Linux machines) when we got back home.

-Rich
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Nice.

Someone needs to find a booster seat and a better fitting headset...

She sure was trying to steer with the yoke on the ground - but she's hardly the first to do that, eh?

Make sure she gets her ticket - you might need her to fly you around when you lose your medical ;)
 
Thats awesome! I like the screams too. It's amazing how much you forget what it feels like the first time. Reminds me of Young Eagle flights! :)
 
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Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
Nice.

Someone needs to find a booster seat and a better fitting headset...

She sure was trying to steer with the yoke on the ground - but she's hardly the first to do that, eh?

Make sure she gets her ticket - you might need her to fly you around when you lose your medical ;)
Click to expand...

Actually, I told Kimberly that if she really wants to learn to fly, I'll get my CFI and teach her -- for free. The catch is that when I get too old to safely fly anymore, she has to be the one to tell me it's time to hang up the keys; and then she can be my pilot.

-Rich
 
Boy, did that bring back some memories. I was sixty one years old when I took my first introductory flight. I did the same thing on take off, screamed as loud as I could, leaned away from the turns, what an experience:)

Kimberly appears she will be a great student. She even gave some very knowledgeable insight into fuel management. This video is a keeper!

John
 
Awsome video. I watched it a second time with my 4 year old daughters (twins) on my lap. One said she wan't to go flying with me, but she can't if mommy goes because there is only two seats (she's been at the airport with me when I trained in the 152). The other said, "I want to fly too daddy,.. so I can scream like this.... AAAAAHHHHH " It was cute.

I hope to get them up sometime this summer in the C172 with my wife.

Thanks for sharing the video,...
 
What actually impresses me the most about Kim is how observant and attentive she is. Although the video only shows it a few times, she was constantly looking for traffic and pointing out other aircraft.

She does that when we drive places, too: She looks up and points out every airplane in the sky to me. She's even starting to be able to tell what leg of the pattern they're in when we drive past airports along familiar routes.

-Rich
 
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