Parent of Teen wanting to Fly

N801BH said:
Then get a paper route, or open a kool aide stand, or any other money making job.........

WE did it when we were kids......

This generation of kids are getting flat out SPOILED.... IMHO...
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Your generation broke the country. There are kids that have been 'busted' for opening kool aide stands without a permit. That is the fault of your age group. You destroyed the empire.
 
ClimbnSink said:
Your generation broke the country. There are kids that have been 'busted' for opening kool aide stands without a permit. That is the fault of your age group. You destroyed the empire.
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OK........ :wink2:
 
mattnday said:
I have been scouring around the web researching every school in Northern California trying to determine if there is a flight school near Sacramento California for my 13.5 year old teenager to begin flight training.
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Try to Google 'flight schools sacramento' or 'flight schools northern california'. You ought to find several.

Also, look on https://www.airnav.com/airports/us/CA to find airports in your surrounding neighborhood. You should be able to find several more flight schools at airports you never knew existed.

Try https://www.eaa.org/en/eaa/eaa-chapters/find-an-eaa-chapter to find an EAA chapter and research Eagle flights starting at http://www.eaa.org/eaa/aviation-com...ry-flights-for-free/eaa-eagle-flights-program

Instructors and instruction information is available at http://www.aopa.org/Pilot-Resources. AOPA has a special program for kids, too.

The FAA also has a listing of schools at http://av-info.faa.gov/PilotSchool.asp or a phone call to your local FSDO might be helpful http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/field_offices/fsdo/?state=CA .

http://www.safepilots.org/ and http://www.nafinet.org/ are organizations of flight instructors and could possibly help you find and evaluate instructors.

Check out Civil Air Patrol http://www.capmembers.com/cadet_programs/library/scholarships/flight-scholarships/

A bit of background on my son is that he is a bright child who is obsessed with everything plane and military oriented. He has built(with help) his own 3 monitor cockpit for his room and spends several hours every weekend flying on his simulator.
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I don't know how much money is a consideration. If possible, he might want to redirect his interest into flying drones. You can purchase a small one at many stores. That could lead to an amazing emerging possibility.
http://nypost.com/2014/11/25/get-a-degree-in-drones-and-earn-100000-a-year/
When he is not flying his simulator he is studying flight videos or flying RC planes.

He is even studying ground school manuals he found on the web to understand more about terminology and procedures.
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He should reading the material available from the FAA. It is well written and up-to-date. It includes the information that the FAA wants him to know. https://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals/ I suggest starting with 'Airplane Flying Handbook' and 'Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge' followed by 'Student Pilot Guide' and 'Aeronautical Information Manual'.
I realize he is only 13 and his first solo/licence are several years away.

I am seriously considering the several thousand dollars a summer we use for various summer camps to allow him to start taking flight lessons. He is begging to go on his first flight and we think that some sort of "deal" rewarding him for good grades and citizenship in return for flight lessons might be rewarding and motivating for him. Flying is his passion.
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You might want to consider a visit to the annual AirVenture in Oshkosh as part of your vacation. https://www.eaa.org/en/airventure/plan-your-eaa-airventure-trip

BTW, most of the organizations mentioned above have scholarship programs, too.
He will essentially be 14 by the end of summer. Is a lesson a month with a lesson a week during summer a good idea when they are this young or is it just too much for them to take in at this age.
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One lesson a month is considered fine for younger students. Your CFI (instructor) would know best what your son should be doing. Also, your finances will dictate some decisions.
I see a decent number of teens who get there licenses and solo close to the 16/17year old minimums.

If anyone has feedback on schools/instructors near Sacramento that would be good ber a young pilot or even feedback that I am just crazy and he would be better off waiting until he was closer to 16 I would appreciate any and all feedback.
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You are not crazy. This is a great idea. There is no minimum age for flight instruction. Hubby has taken several grandchildren for flight training as soon as their feet can reach the rudders. Even the most serious spends the entire flight with a non-stop grin.

Becoming a pilot is an advantage in other ways, too. There are strict entry requirements for a medical certificate to fly. Drugs (even ones you might not expect) and alcohol-related offenses are severely restrictive. If your son has ever been diagnosed with depression or treated for ADHD, he might have some difficult hurdles to overcome.

Welcome to PoA.
 
I'm in Rocklin, CA near sacramento. I am learning to fly at Mach5 in Auburn, CA. I see a lot of teenagers learning there also. One good thing about learning in Auburn is you get above the fog during these months.
 
Sam D said:
It's a good thing the local kid at our airport didn't get that advice. He's been working there a couple of years, working on his ppl and getting stick time in about every plane on the field. The local pilots group just awarded him their annual scholarship.
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How many of those opportunities do you think exist across the country? How many kids per each of those opportunities do you believe there are? I in no way discourage any kid from seeking those opportunities, quite the opposite, seek out what you can. But by no means solicit funds on this board!:rofl::rofl::rofl:

My point is that as an expectation for a kid to be able to earn a PPL on their own labor nearly assures failure, maybe 1:100 aspirants will have a chance. In a Glider Club though, his chances of flying for his labor go up dramatically because of the extra human effort glider flying requires. He will also build time towing gliders.

Then there is also thinking of others. Does this kid need to take the prime opportunities from kids whose families can't afford anything related to flying? Dads typically take pride in providing for their kids, it's part of why they got caught in the money trap. Glider club costs and flying won't be free, but it won't be bad either, especially as the kid starts earning time.
 
Wow - I thought I might get 5 or 6 responses but over 40 in less than a day is amazing.

To clarify a few things :

Our desire for him to "earn" flight time is based on the fact we currently spend significant dollars already to support him other hobby/sports like snowboarding and wakeboarding. We are looking at possibly tranisitioning these camp/coaching dollars towards flight. The camps and programs are earned through continued excellence in school and overall just learning to be a good person. We are not looking for him to get a job at this point. Although a few more chores wouldn't be horrible:yesnod:

We have used all available websites to identify every flight school and airport within 90 miles of us. Ideally we would like to train at KSAC or in Davis but will not excude other farther options if we find the right situation. FLight schools we have emailed include Cal Aggie Flying Farmers, JetExe and Skywalk in Sacramento, and Bravo Mike.

We reached out to the local EAA organization in Sacramento several weeks ago but it looks like their website is no longer being monitored and emails have gone unanswered. It looks like they may not be in existence anymore. http://www.eaa52.org/. I probably should look towards the bay area.

There is a local Civil Air Patrol near us. This is a program I am not familiar with. I will need to look in to it further.

Glider Training is also something I hadn't thought about. Although earlier solo opportunities make this interesting we are in no rush for him to solo anything at this point. I will need to learn more about gliders and how they work. Honestly flying without an engine seems a little crazy to me but obviously my perspective is one not based on experience or knowledge at this pint. It seems a little counterproductive to get training in gliders that wouldn't help him towards his ppl or sport license later unless I am missing something.

If anyone knows other parents of young pilots, young pilots themselves, or CFI's who have worked with young pilots I would love to talk to them.
 
N801BH said:
I ain't buyin it...

If the kids want something bad enough, they will work their asses off to achieve it...

Mc Donalds pays 10 bucks an hour to flip burgers....

One day at work will buy them 1 hour of flight time..

40 days at work should get them their glider ticket... IMHO...

If there is a will.... there is a way....:yes:
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And you can't work at mcdonalds at 14.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
 
In most places you need to be 16 to "work" on the books. Hennings right that opportunities have ben limited for youngsters. Kids can't have a paper route where i live. Have to be 18.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
 
N801BH said:
Really ????

I didn't know that...:redface:
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The mommy lobby has made having real jobs under 16 very difficult to find because of all the restrictions tied to them. You have to know someone with a small business who does not care and pays cash, and that is rare now as well. Remember as well that $10hr is about $7hr take home, and illegals will work for less with less hassles than kids.
 
TMetzinger said:
In most places you need to be 16 to "work" on the books. Hennings right that opportunities have ben limited for youngsters. Kids can't have a paper route where i live. Have to be 18.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
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Geez....

Times have sure changed..

I delivered the Miami News and the Miami Herald when I was 11 or so... Was a bag boy / stocking shelves at Publix and Winn Dixie grocery stores at 14....
 
N801BH said:
Geez....

Times have sure changed..

I delivered the Miami News and the Miami Herald when I was 11 or so... Was a bag boy / stocking shelves at Publix and Winn Dixie grocery stores at 14....
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Yeah, see, reality has changed but opinions haven't. It's pretty disconcerting when you are expected to conform to conditions that are no longer part of reality. The opportunities I had as a kid in the 70s are pretty much impossible these days. Everyone involved in my upbringing, including my parents and school board (can you imagine we had a smoking area for students at our school?:eek:) would be in prison for my endangerment today, and Honda would have paid $10MM for my knee injury.
 
Kids can't even get a paper route anymore, most of the time its someone is there 30's or later in a car and delivers more papers than half a dozen paper boys.
 
Seanaldinho said:
Kids can't even get a paper route anymore, most of the time its someone is there 30's or later in a car and delivers more papers than half a dozen paper boys.
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Someone will blame unions in a minute.:rofl: What's a paper route anymore? :dunno: Internet has severely reduced print.
 
I took my first flight at age 15, I believe. I'm thankful that my parents were supportive of my interest in aviation and allowed me to explore this. Flying once a week is great and is a parallel to taking a weekly music lesson.

A word of warning: Some flight schools might humor your son's interest in flying but after the discovery flight, your son should figure out if he really wants to pursue the license. If so, they should have a clear syllabus and plan of action to get him moving towards the certificate when he's old enough. Without the structure, a flight school could end up giving him a weekly discovery type lesson that leads nowhere except you losing money. This happened to me when I was younger and looking back, I wish they would have focused on getting my skills developed rather than just letting me fly around with a CFI baby sitter.
 
jcepiano said:
I took my first flight at age 15, I believe. I'm thankful that my parents were supportive of my interest in aviation and allowed me to explore this. Flying once a week is great and is a parallel to taking a weekly music lesson.

A word of warning: Some flight schools might humor your son's interest in flying but after the discovery flight, your son should figure out if he really wants to pursue the license. If so, they should have a clear syllabus and plan of action to get him moving towards the certificate when he's old enough. Without the structure, a flight school could end up giving him a weekly discovery type lesson that leads nowhere except you losing money. This happened to me when I was younger and looking back, I wish they would have focused on getting my skills developed rather than just letting me fly around with a CFI baby sitter.
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Very good point raised here. You need to control the direction of your kid's training to keep it on the right track and in an economically effective manner. The best thing you can do is help them find a good mentor.

Again, I think the best opportunity here is at a glider club. There's no real shortage of retired airline pilots at them who no longer have a medical.
 
Glider clubs the direction is on performing better not checking boxes. Example if he solos a glider at 14 he can go on and fly single seat gliders for the next two years. Lack of license will not prevent improving skills. Simply won't be able to carry a passenger, since most of the cool gliders are single seaters it doesn't matter.
 
jcepiano said:
Without the structure, a flight school could end up giving him a weekly discovery type lesson that leads nowhere except you losing money. This happened to me when I was younger and looking back, I wish they would have focused on getting my skills developed rather than just letting me fly around with a CFI baby sitter.
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This happens way too often anyway.:yes:
 
I'm with the glider crowd on this one. The kid is a couple years too young to have them doing much at a traditional powered flight FBO because they'll be stalling until six months prior to 16, wasting your money. In gliders, they'll be solo'd and flying themselves until they're old enough to go start working on the powered flight rating.

Most of the kids that start at 13 usually are kids of aircraft owners who let the smart kid fly them around for three years while mom or dad acts as PIC while really just taking a nap.

As far as the "they need to pay their own way" tangent goes, there are less opportunities than there once were, but the kid can still pay PART of it. Everyone arguing that tangent makes it sound like it's an all or nothing proposition. Dad and mom can discuss privately what hoops the kid must jump through to earn the privilege. Just like real bosses do in real life. And offer the proposal to the kid. If the kid maintains their portion of the bargain (grades, a job, a certain dollar amount, whatever) it's good training for real life.
 
denverpilot said:
I'm with the glider crowd on this one. The kid is a couple years too young to have them doing much at a traditional powered flight FBO because they'll be stalling until six months prior to 16, wasting your money. In gliders, they'll be solo'd and flying themselves until they're old enough to go start working on the powered flight rating.

Most of the kids that start at 13 usually are kids of aircraft owners who let the smart kid fly them around for three years while mom or dad acts as PIC while really just taking a nap.

As far as the "they need to pay their own way" tangent goes, there are less opportunities than there once were, but the kid can still pay PART of it. Everyone arguing that tangent makes it sound like it's an all or nothing proposition. Dad and mom can discuss privately what hoops the kid must jump through to earn the privilege. Just like real bosses do in real life. And offer the proposal to the kid. If the kid maintains their portion of the bargain (grades, a job, a certain dollar amount, whatever) it's good training for real life.
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Yup....

It worked for most of us old timers....:yes:..

Also..Most kids nowadays have 500 dollar smart phones. 2 grand computers, hundreds or more in video games, etc etc......

If they want it bad enough ( flight that is).. they will figure out a way to make it happen...
 
N801BH said:
Yup....

It worked for most of us old timers....:yes:..

Also..Most kids nowadays have 500 dollar smart phones. 2 grand computers, hundreds or more in video games, etc etc......

If they want it bad enough ( flight that is).. they will figure out a way to make it happen...
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You want it to be hard on this kid and easier for women to fly. Why do you hate yourself?
 
ClimbnSink said:
You want it to be hard on this kid and easier for women to fly. Why do you hate yourself?
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Because the deck is stacked against females, and it my my option to try and correct that problem.......

Go out, bust your ass and build a decent portfolio and you too can gift it how you feel fit....
 
N801BH said:
Because the deck is stacked against females, and it my my option to try and correct that problem.......

Go out, bust your ass and build a decent portfolio and you too can gift it how you feel fit....
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If it were 40 yrs ago I'd agree that the deck was stacked against female pilots. These days they have as much of an opportunity of succeeding in aviation as men. Even in the military where you'd think the machismo and sexist attitudes would rule, those attitudes disappeared decades ago. If anything, I've seen women getting into positions they probably shouldn't have been in because of an agenda.

The world of aviation is open to any sex or any race for that matter. You just have to have the desire and a plan in place.
 
N801BH said:
Because the deck is stacked against females, and it my my option to try and correct that problem.......

Go out, bust your ass and build a decent portfolio and you too can gift it how you feel fit....
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Women stack the deck against themselves by playing by men's rules. If I was a woman I'd rule the world by now.:rofl:
 
ClimbnSink said:
Jealousy? Why make suggestions that make it harder for the kid to fly? Dad is hooking him up with flying at a young age, it is awesome that his dad is willing and able to do so.
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Damn right!

The OP's post brought a huge smile to my face and reminded me of my aviation-crazy childhood, even though I waited until 36 to get my certificate.

If I ever have a kid, and he's got any inkling of interest in learning to fly, here's my wallet. Slack off, and it closes.

docmirror said:
Let me get the bad news out of the way first. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessica_Dubroff
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Not sure what the point of that is:dunno:

I'm sure the OP knows there is a risk in anything, including getting out of bed every morning.
 
fiveoboy01 said:
Damn right!

....

Originally Posted by docmirror
Let me get the bad news out of the way first. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessica_Dubroff

Not sure what the point of that is:dunno:

I'm sure the OP knows there is a risk in anything, including getting out of bed every morning.
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Yup.. Jessica didn't want to learn to fly..... That was just a publicity stunt pulled off by her dad and the instructor......:sad::sad::sad::sad::sad::sad:..

Poor little girl... and plane too...

The dad and instructor were fed a deadly humble pie...:mad:
 
rvpjuv20 said:
I'm in Rocklin, CA near sacramento. I am learning to fly at Mach5 in Auburn, CA. I see a lot of teenagers learning there also. One good thing about learning in Auburn is you get above the fog during these months.
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When the weather warms up, take him up to Truckee for some amazing soaring.

As for the CAP thing, we'll be at Byron tomorrow giving three cadets free glider rides.

He's not the only 14 year old to want to fly, but it's too early for that process to work. It will SUCK waiting two years for solo when he's ready in a few months.
 
Thanks Everyone - I am in shock there are 50 plus replies so quickly.

First off I want to say this isn't a post like many other about how expensive flight training is and how difficult it is to come up with the money. We work hard for what little "extra" money we have and allocate a majority of that to my sons endeavors. We generally spend about $4-5k every year on snowboard coaching and summer camps as a reward for him continuing to have excellent grades and being a standount young man who participates in numerous volunteer opportunities. My son really wants to learn to fly and we are considering paying for it using the already allocated funds. He will not need to find a job to pay for it at this point. We want him to be the first college graduate in our immediate family and these "rewards" have been part of our incentive plan to encourage him to continue to do well in school.

Great advice on several of the websites. I probably should have stated that I have found every school in Northern Califonria and am familiar with every airport in Northern California. We have already called or emailed several schools to discuss possible training. Only 2 showed much interest in a teen. Several didn't even return an email or return a call. Ideally we would like for him to train in Sacramento or Davis but if the right situation comes up we might be willing to go a little farther.

We had not looked in to civil air patrol. I showed my son the website today and he is interested in it. We emailed for more info and well see how it goes. The only issue might be the time commitment as he is already quite busy at this point.

We also had not considered glider lessons. I will look in to it further as it sounds great. However, with money not growing on trees I am not sure I would spend money on something that wouldn't help him to ultimately achieve his ppl. If I understand correctly glider lessons would not counts as hours towards what he ultimately needs for a ppl and he would essentially be starting from scratch if we went that route.

We did reach out to the local EAA a couple of weeks ago. It looks like our chapter in Sacramento might have got shut down. http://www.eaa52.org/ There info is 2 plus years out fo date at this point and emails have been ignored.

I will continue to monitor the forums and post about his journey.

Thanks for the help
 
I was exactly like your son when I was his age. My parents bought me an introductory flight lesson when I was 14. I knew soloing the airplane would happen fast in flight training. The problem with starting as early as 13, is he may be sitting around twiddling his thumbs and wasting your money waiting to solo. During my training I flew once a month when I was 15. Soloed at 16 at around 9 hours and finished a little after my 17th birthday at 40 hours. The fact he is reading ground school manuals now...he will no doubt pick it up really fast. My parents agreed to let me continue flying and would pay $0.50 for every $1.00 I spent on flying if I stayed out of trouble and got good grades. I ended up getting a job at the airport to pay for the training and refused my parents offer to help pay(wanted to do it all on my own). My dad was even the one that suggested I try to fly for the military which is what I do now.
Catalo said:
You should consider sending him on an introductory flight just to make sure he would like real flying. Then maybe save up for a year or two so you can pay everything no problem and he won't have to wait as long to get his license if he is interested.
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I agree with this 100%. It's not that he is too young, it's just that he would spend a lot of time sitting around just because he hasn't hit the age limit.

The Jessica Dubroff card is a bunch of bull crap. He isn't gonna be by himself at 13 and he will learn real fast that an airplane isnt a 4 wheeler or a dirt bike and and flying one comes with a big responsibility and maturity(but only in the cockpit, walk around my squadron and you'd see we are a pretty immature bunch lol). If you or your son have any further questions about flying at a young age, or military flying(you said he enjoyed military stuff too) feel free to PM me and I'll give you my contact info.
 
MAKG1 said:
When the weather warms up, take him up to Truckee for some amazing soaring.

As for the CAP thing, we'll be at Byron tomorrow giving three cadets free glider rides.

He's not the only 14 year old to want to fly, but it's too early for that process to work. It will SUCK waiting two years for solo when he's ready in a few months.
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The CAP does have it's great points.....:yes::yes:.....:).
 
mattnday said:
Wow - I thought I might get 5 or 6 responses but over 40 in less than a day is amazing.

To clarify a few things :

Our desire for him to "earn" flight time is based on the fact we currently spend significant dollars already to support him other hobby/sports like snowboarding and wakeboarding. We are looking at possibly tranisitioning these camp/coaching dollars towards flight. The camps and programs are earned through continued excellence in school and overall just learning to be a good person. We are not looking for him to get a job at this point. Although a few more chores wouldn't be horrible:yesnod:

We have used all available websites to identify every flight school and airport within 90 miles of us. Ideally we would like to train at KSAC or in Davis but will not excude other farther options if we find the right situation. FLight schools we have emailed include Cal Aggie Flying Farmers, JetExe and Skywalk in Sacramento, and Bravo Mike.

We reached out to the local EAA organization in Sacramento several weeks ago but it looks like their website is no longer being monitored and emails have gone unanswered. It looks like they may not be in existence anymore. http://www.eaa52.org/. I probably should look towards the bay area.

There is a local Civil Air Patrol near us. This is a program I am not familiar with. I will need to look in to it further.

Glider Training is also something I hadn't thought about. Although earlier solo opportunities make this interesting we are in no rush for him to solo anything at this point. I will need to learn more about gliders and how they work. Honestly flying without an engine seems a little crazy to me but obviously my perspective is one not based on experience or knowledge at this pint. It seems a little counterproductive to get training in gliders that wouldn't help him towards his ppl or sport license later unless I am missing something.

If anyone knows other parents of young pilots, young pilots themselves, or CFI's who have worked with young pilots I would love to talk to them.
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I just approved this post which was in moderation because you are a new member and you posted a link. Welcome to POA!
 
mattnday said:
Thanks Everyone - I am in shock there are 50 plus replies so quickly.

First off I want to say this isn't a post like many other about how expensive flight training is and how difficult it is to come up with the money. We work hard for what little "extra" money we have and allocate a majority of that to my sons endeavors. We generally spend about $4-5k every year on snowboard coaching and summer camps as a reward for him continuing to have excellent grades and being a standount young man who participates in numerous volunteer opportunities. My son really wants to learn to fly and we are considering paying for it using the already allocated funds. He will not need to find a job to pay for it at this point. We want him to be the first college graduate in our immediate family and these "rewards" have been part of our incentive plan to encourage him to continue to do well in school.

Great advice on several of the websites. I probably should have stated that I have found every school in Northern Califonria and am familiar with every airport in Northern California. We have already called or emailed several schools to discuss possible training. Only 2 showed much interest in a teen. Several didn't even return an email or return a call. Ideally we would like for him to train in Sacramento or Davis but if the right situation comes up we might be willing to go a little farther.

We had not looked in to civil air patrol. I showed my son the website today and he is interested in it. We emailed for more info and well see how it goes. The only issue might be the time commitment as he is already quite busy at this point.

We also had not considered glider lessons. I will look in to it further as it sounds great. However, with money not growing on trees I am not sure I would spend money on something that wouldn't help him to ultimately achieve his ppl. If I understand correctly glider lessons would not counts as hours towards what he ultimately needs for a ppl and he would essentially be starting from scratch if we went that route.

We did reach out to the local EAA a couple of weeks ago. It looks like our chapter in Sacramento might have got shut down. http://www.eaa52.org/ There info is 2 plus years out fo date at this point and emails have been ignored.

I will continue to monitor the forums and post about his journey.

Thanks for the help
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And this one too...
 
Best of luck to your son on his adventure! I was just like him, reading and learning everything I could about flying since I was able to read. Flew my first flying lesson at age 11, started seriously working towards a license at 16, and passed my checkride at 17.

Now I'm flying F/A-18's for Uncle Sam and haven't looked back since! Aviation is a great road, and is a great incentive for a young man to stay out of trouble, work hard, and stay in shape.

Looks like others have pretty much covered the highlights, but keep in mind, just because he is young, there is no reason he can't work towards both the PPL and Instrument Ratings, then take both checkrides once he's 17.
 
The glider rating IS a private pilot, just limited to gliders. He will be a transition pilot if/when he moves to an airplane. A CFI will jump in to explain what carries over.
 
mattnday said:
Wow - I thought I might get 5 or 6 responses but over 40 in less than a day is amazing.

To clarify a few things :

Our desire for him to "earn" flight time is based on the fact we currently spend significant dollars already to support him other hobby/sports like snowboarding and wakeboarding. We are looking at possibly tranisitioning these camp/coaching dollars towards flight. The camps and programs are earned through continued excellence in school and overall just learning to be a good person. We are not looking for him to get a job at this point. Although a few more chores wouldn't be horrible:yesnod:

We have used all available websites to identify every flight school and airport within 90 miles of us. Ideally we would like to train at KSAC or in Davis but will not excude other farther options if we find the right situation. FLight schools we have emailed include Cal Aggie Flying Farmers, JetExe and Skywalk in Sacramento, and Bravo Mike.

We reached out to the local EAA organization in Sacramento several weeks ago but it looks like their website is no longer being monitored and emails have gone unanswered. It looks like they may not be in existence anymore. http://www.eaa52.org/. I probably should look towards the bay area.

There is a local Civil Air Patrol near us. This is a program I am not familiar with. I will need to look in to it further.

Glider Training is also something I hadn't thought about. Although earlier solo opportunities make this interesting we are in no rush for him to solo anything at this point. I will need to learn more about gliders and how they work. Honestly flying without an engine seems a little crazy to me but obviously my perspective is one not based on experience or knowledge at this pint. It seems a little counterproductive to get training in gliders that wouldn't help him towards his ppl or sport license later unless I am missing something.

If anyone knows other parents of young pilots, young pilots themselves, or CFI's who have worked with young pilots I would love to talk to them.
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Learning to fly gliders first helps immensely. He'll learn to fly without concern with an engine or power levers. He'll learn energy management, aerodynamics, weather, how to read the air, how to use his mind, hands and feet all at once. Gain confidence in himself and maturity.

Maybe I'm prejudiced, I've been flying airplanes for 40yrs, gliders for the last 15 yrs and teaching teenagers to fly gliders for the last 12yrs. I noticed a difference in my power flying after I started flying gliders. Most of my students have gone on to fly powered aircraft. One is now a Lt in the USAF flying C-130s.
 
I sold Christmas cards and wrapping paper and a lot of other things starting at age 6. I pulled a wagon around and sold door to door. I am on the books at age 6. The IRS can send you a copy of what you have paid into the system all these years. Mine goes back to when I was 6 in the early 60's. I have been into almost every home in the town we lived in. The local Ministries purchased from me.

I went down to the river and would dig up little sapling tree's. I put them in my wagon and sold them around town for .10c each. I can drive around town today and can see the all tree's and how big they have grown.

I have a cousin who's dad started him selling seed corn at the age of 8. At the age of 8 he would do all the ordering and selling for all the local farmers. At the age of 16 he purchased his first car with cash. It was brand new off the show room floor.

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Great ideas you have here. CAP is a super organization, if you find a squadron with good leadership, not too much military drill sergeant stuff.
The EAA has a great summer camp at Oshkosh, and many active chapters earn points by flying Young Eagles, that go toward scholarships to give kids in their programs. That would be a heck of an adventure.
Gliders are as much fun as you can have in broad daylight, and the goal is close enough to be worth pursuing.

About the money: Not every kid's job involves working for The Man. I pay well for yard work, leaf-raking, pulling weeds, picking up debris, mowing, etc. In your part of the country, check out neighborhoods with lots of nut and fruit trees that need to be cleaned up after, slugs that need to be removed from vegetable gardens, and other odd jobs. Being your own boss pays cash, doesn't involve bureaucracy, and helps with the purchase of flying time. Babysitting, pet-walking, and other entrepreneurial jobs can help fill the piggy bank. Also look good on college apps, if successful.
 
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