Flying with Children...Tips, Tricks and Things to Avoid

[WindOnHisNose]

My grandson, Jaxen, is changing a lot about how I look at things. I am now thinking of things I want to do with him, how to do those things safely and how to be a "Good Grandpa" and to stay on his mom and dad's good side. I am thinking there is some "field effect", also, with how to make flight more enjoyable and comfortable for those Young Eagle flights I enjoy providing.

This brings me to wanting an update on hearing protection for youngsters. I pulled up a thread on the subject and see that nothing new has been posted since 2012 (http://www.supercub.org/forum/showth...ldren+headsets). Do any of you have ideas on the subject?

Also, I know I am not the only grandpa on this site. Any suggestions you might have would be appreciated by me, and I am sure by others.

Thanks!

Randy

[WindOnHisNose]

I found this site, which was helpful...

http://www.avweb.com/news/pilotloung...l?redirected=1

Randy

[silflexer]

I have been debating the same thing. Best solution so far is a bose quiet comfort headset (the ones that airline passengers commonly use) and adding the Uflymike when they get old enough to understand that they can talk back using the intercom. With good parents this shouldn't happen until they are at least 2.

[WindOnHisNose]

I have been debating the same thing. Best solution so far is a bose quiet comfort headset (the ones that airline passengers commonly use) and adding the Uflymike when they get old enough to understand that they can talk back using the intercom. With good parents this shouldn't happen until they are at least 2.

Silflexer, thank you for your response. Would you elaborate on your last sentence? I ask you to do so because I am concerned, actually, about taking Jaxen up too early, from a medical/develpmental point of view.

Thank you.

Randy

[cubdriver2]

Get comfortable in the back seat. Kids have a better time sitting higher up front and you can keep an eye on them better.

Glenn

[silflexer]

My comment was really just a joke- kids talk back if they have an intercom or not. My boy has been flying several times a month for two years now- and he is only 2.5 years old. I asked the ENT about it and he was not concerned one bit. Have fun!

[WindOnHisNose]

My comment was really just a joke- kids talk back if they have an intercom or not. My boy has been flying several times a month for two years now- and he is only 2.5 years old. I asked the ENT about it and he was not concerned one bit. Have fun!

Thanks!

Randy

[nanook]

My kids use(d) DC 10-30 with extra thick ear pads. If they are small, they won't be able to turn their heads. The back of the seat takes the headset off their head. When they get a bit taller and their head sticks up above the seat back, they can look around and be a little more comfortable....

[C130jake]

Buy stuff for him you would have never bought for your own children like the Bose. my grand parents drove my mom nuts buying us stuff and feeding us junk. She thought aliens took them over. I guess they were stern and frugal during the depression as mom recollected. I miss them.

Jake


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[aktango58]

Make sure kids are awake for descents. That gives them the chance to clear their ears.

Take them out to the plane a few times before you fly. Put them inside, let them put on headsets and get comfortable. Then when the noise is on it is not scary.

Another solution would be for you bring your plane up here to me and learn more appropriate grandpa activities, like checkers.

[574cub]

David Clark's have a youth headset they've worked good with my 5 year old. They stay on her head good and when she gets older they have a full size band for it making it a regular size headset.

[N636P]

All four of my kids have been flying since they were hatched. I think the first flight for one was at 5 days (in a snugglie with mama). All are adults now and 3 of 4 are pilots.

I remember #1 son would ALWAYS fall asleep right after takeoff and not wake up until we landed....then he would say, "That was fun! Let's do it again!"

I remember taking a 3-4 year old cousin flying one evening and I didn't notice the almost full-moon. When we got back his parents asked him where we went. Without a moment's hesitation, "TO THE MOON!!!" New record for a SuperCub!

[flyby]

I've been in a car seat in the airplane since a few weeks old.. Started in a 310, then a 182. Not too loud of airplanes and well insulated but... We never had hearing protection that I remember. I am now 25, I think I am paying for that a little. Hard to hear high tones for me, and my wife says I cant pick up what she's saying at times (probably more attention span related than actual hearing). Me and my dad didn't start using headsets in the 182 until I was in high school and I started flight training.

Anyways, I remember Grandpa taking the rear stick out of the Cub and sitting my sister and I in there side x side, and going flying (here we had ear muffs or headsets since it was loud). I would just suggest finding a hearing protection method that works best for you and the kids, all else should work OK. I would think if the kids were able to hear you talk and could communicate back that would comfort them a little if they get nervous.

Great memories had in the Cub with Grandpa - you will enjoy that with your grand kids. Today, we still have the same fun, but switched seats:

[sierra bravo]

An old post that reports actual sound levels from a noise meter. Decide for yourself whether hearing protection is important. Flying for my kid was like riding in a car. It's how we traveled. DC headsets with some simple adjustments always served here well. We never did anything for all the exposure to outboard jets and snow machines. Those were probably as bad as an airplane.

FYI, I took my noise meter out in the plane tonight to identify my own noise levels. PA-12, 160hp w/8242 prop, and a Hot Rod muffler. 1200 rpm warm-up 85db. 2450 rpm cruise 98db. Full throttle 2700 rpm cruise 102db. Driving home in my Duramax pickup, 65db at neighborhood speeds. Turn on the amplified Alpine and turn it up to comfortably loud volume, 95db with peaks to 99db. My ANR Gallet helmet is supposed to have about 30db of total noise reduction. My stereo? no hearing protection there. I think I know why my ears ring.

I did not establish pre Hot Rod noise levels in my -12. I wish I did. Anyone at Hood with a stock muffler that wants to measure that exhaust's noise level can PM me to borrow the meter. I'll measure the 180 for noise next time out.

my 180 is 3-4db quieter than my -12 consistently throughout the operating range. in case anybody wonders how the two models compare.

FYI. Look in the right margin for hearing protection for kids- http://www.noisehelp.com/noise-dose.html

[cubpilot2]

The subject of flying with kids made me think of this classic video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8JU-1ZrRAg

It makes want to go find a kid to take flying...

[Tcraftbrando]

One tip that we used on our little one is Silly Putty for hearing protection. She's still young enough that she won't wear a headset without tearing it off her head instantly and the Silly Putty is cheap and easy to pop in her ears. She passes out almost instantly like most kids but I like to think she loves flying.

[fobjob]

Kids, especially small ones, tend to kick up when getting in and out, especially in the front seat. The radio frequency knob is waiting there for the first kick....so I don't let little ones sit in the front seat, even though I would like to...

[Scouter]

Randy;

We had a local guy here a few years back who lives to snowmobile, and than had kids. Always took his little boy with him when he was old enough to go. Problem is like most kids he would fall asleep. Dad invented some sort of a kid holder on the seat to hold junior upright when he fell asleep so he wouldnt fall over. The setup worked great until Dad drove across some weak ice and the sled went to the bottom of the lake 80 ft down with the poor little guy still strapped in. Dad survived and still lives with it today. My grandson is the same age as yours, and I have decided not to take him solo until he can get out by himself. I dont want him in the position of being strapped in a plane in the woods on fire with no way to get himself out. So far he is happy to sit in someones lap, and the kid lives for airplanes of any sort. I know some of you guys grew up in the backseat of a cub with a bottle in one hand and a cub throttle in the other and I understand all that. Anyone been thru a crash with a little one?

Jim

[WindOnHisNose]

Wow, these are some really great tips. Thanks very much...and keep them coming.

Randy the Grandpa

[slowmover]

My son is 4 and has been flying with me and my wife for a few years. I am extra careful when they are aboard... More cautious with weather, don't fly over water, etc.

We tried a couple of the kid's headsets but the only thing he would keep on is a Bose Aviator X... So I bought him a used one on eBay. My wife also found a car seat that fits in the back seat of our 180 and we keep him in it.

I worry about crash survivability too but I figure that if I keep myself sharp, keep my plane well maintained, and don't take unnecessary risk I've done all I can reasonably do.

[Snert]

I started taking my son Steve up when he was pretty young. It' hard to find a car seat rated for 4 negative.


Booster seats work ok. We had to find one narrow enough to not restrict rudder pedal movement.


I insist that the kids do their own preflight.