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Flying with young children

1piece@atime

1piece@atime

Registered User
Northern Vermont
Our child was born on 10/28 and I was wondering what everyone’s experience was when flying with young children. How long do you wait till there first flight? What kind of hearing protection do you use? Does the change in altitude bother there ears more than ours? We own a older Maule m/4-210 and would rather fly 45 mins to visit family than drive 4hrs. What’s your thoughts?
 
I bought a 182 5 months after my son was born and we started flying immediately with no issues. I tried to get him up earlier than that in the Cub but couldn’t get his car seat to fit. For the first couple years I stayed below 1,000 ft, climbing and descending slowly in case the pressure change would hurt. He’s now 3 and seems fine cruising at 7,500. He wears some kids shooting earmuffs and seems to do fine with them.
 
We got a pair of small earmuffs at the baby shower. figured as soon as they fit good and stay on his head we’ll take him up. I look forward to bringing him up around aviation. His grandparents already gave him his first plane to cruise around the hanger. Image1541283178.465598.jpg


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Sweet ride! You might start the ear protection earlier than I did. My daughter first rode in a Cub at 6 months and hated the kids ear muffs. Still does at 18 months.

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Anyone ever try mutt muffs on kids. Looks they would stay on better


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Congrats on your first born, exciting and scary. I have flown over 200 kids and in my opinion it's a waste of time flying anyone under 5 years old. Whatever you think your just boosting your ego flying anyone under that age. And your risking scaring younger ones who just don't understand what's happening when you take them flying. My kids and grandkids don't get to go till about 7 years old.

Glenn
 
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I think it depends on the kid. Since my daughter has been 5 she has flown in the front seat, with me in the back. She holds the stick and does an amazing job. All of my friends who have kids that sit in the back while Dad climbs the airplane to 4000 feet and plays with the buttons; have kids that hate flying. I always try to make it fun and never, fly more than 1/2 hour with out landing on a gravel bar to fish or make sand castles. I committed heresy and cut down a nearly new Lightspeed noise attenuating headset and tig welded up a kid sized head clamp. She loves them, especially after I painted them PINK. Her ears are just as important as mine. A kids hockey helmet from Value Village that I hogged out and added a little carbon fiber reinforcement to is bombproof, crazy light and sized for a kid. I put a shortened, 5 strap harness from Hooker Harnesses in to lock her in place. It ties to the frame, not the phony seat attach that is stock, from Piper. Next time you pull the seat look at how minimally the seat is attached to the frame. The bottom line is make it fun and safe and never talk about your silly fuel flow per hour.

Jonny O
 
My nephew had his first ride in the 185 at three months. He had his first flight lesson at age 3-1/2 in a 172 on floats, when he also made his first perfect landing on the water. The only assistance which he had was that I trimmed the elevator for him. He took formal lessons in a J-3 while in college, now has a private license and has helped in starting a flying cub with a PA-28. Flying at a young age did no harm.
 
One way to look at, his mom was flying right up till the birth. If anyone is trying to induce labor take them up flying. Friday evening we did some steep lazy 8s and some 0g nose overs and by that night she was in labor. This coming spring we’ll get him started with short local flights. I’m thinking of ways of modifying my rear bench seat to make it a half seat so i could still fit the ice auger and shanty in. The kid will be staying home this winter but next winter we’ll hopefully be flying into our fishing spots.


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1piece@atime said:
One way to look at, his mom was flying right up till the birth. If anyone is trying to induce labor take them up flying. Friday evening we did some steep lazy 8s and some 0g nose overs and by that night she was in labor. This coming spring we’ll get him started with short local flights. I’m thinking of ways of modifying my rear bench seat to make it a half seat so i could still fit the ice auger and shanty in. The kid will be staying home this winter but next winter we’ll hopefully be flying into our fishing spots.


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Maybe a pod. ;-)

Glenn
 
my kids flew as babies starting before their 1st birthday because it was the best option or only option. Rides for fun started when they could tell me how they were doing. It was always their choice to come on the fun flights. We keep fun flights short and we stop and throw rocks or snowballs often. Kid sized ear muffs and kid headsets worked well for us. I build the seat up tall with boat cushions so they have a good view.
 
We have a pacer. My girls have been flying since they were each a year old, and are now 3 and 5. The older one has been up front with me on occasion but I keep the 3 year old in back in a car seat. We play games like I spy and go on short flights most of the time. We’ve done a few long ones and they watch a movie on their iPad’s. (No we aren’t big time screen people, but flying in the Midwest can be fairly boring)

I never had luck with any type of hearing protection, and we tried different things.

Once we put on real headsets and they could talk to us (or, scream, which is why I made sure to get an intercom with a pilot isolate and a crew isolate) they keep their headsets on all the time. It can be a challenge adjust volumes but you’ll figure it out.

You could also try some regular Bose type headsets (like a QC15) and plug them into the intercom, play music, or a show on an iPad. You don’t have to have a headset with a microphone. (And sometimes it’s better)

When they are really young they tend to just let the vibration rock them to sleep. It’s the worlds most expensive vibrating baby chair lol.

You’ll figure it out. Nobody knows your kids better then you do. Some love it, some are just along for the ride.





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Congratulations on the new addition to your family. My son will be 2 next week. My wife and I took him on his first ride I'm our pacer in early October. He absolutely loved the flight. I have had him at the hangar with me while I worked on the plane since he was about 4 months old. For hearing protection we used a pair of ear muffs that were made for children however he pulled them off not long after we were airborne. I think i may try the kind that have the elastic headband the next time. I also have a child sized aviation headset that may work better now that he is bigger. As far as the flight goes, we planned a time that my wife could go along just incase he required attention once in the air. We made a short hop to a gathering about 15 minutes away.

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cozzmo81 said:
Congratulations on the new addition to your family. My son will be 2 next week. My wife and I took him on his first ride I'm our pacer in early October. He absolutely loved the flight. I have had him at the hangar with me while I worked on the plane since he was about 4 months old. For hearing protection we used a pair of ear muffs that were made for children however he pulled them off not long after we were airborne. I think i may try the kind that have the elastic headband the next time. I also have a child sized aviation headset that may work better now that he is bigger. As far as the flight goes, we planned a time that my wife could go along just incase he required attention once in the air. We made a short hop to a gathering about 15 minutes away.

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My son 1st flew home from ANC @ 1 week old. Been flying in everything since then. Flying is the only way to get around when there aren't any roads... Just bought his own plane, a Tcraft, a couple of months ago solo'ed in it 2 weeks ago. Hasn't seemed to adversely affected his childhood. He'll just be a little broker than his peers.
When our kids were little, before a headset would work, I'd cut foam earplugs in ½ lengthwise for them. But they love headsets, singing and all kinds of vocalizing seems to be a great thing to do with the audio feedback they get on the intercom.

Sent from north of 49°.
 
Youngest I have ever been able to keep hearing protection on to safely fly her. She is just 18 months now. Could not fit them all in my Cub at once so for their first ever GA aircraft ride, except mom, took them all together in the Jet Ranger the day after Thanksgiving.

I started a few days ahead playing a game with her with my electronic shooting muffs and it became fun for her to wear, and kept them on the whole time. IMG_0788.JPG
 

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We have 3 kids and have been flying with the younger kids since they were just a few weeks old. We initially used a soft puddy that you can gently place in the outer ear and will give your little one the protection they need. We used that until they were old enough to not remove the headset. See the orange puddy in the right ear of my youngest on the left.
 

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The meatball had his first real ride yesterday. He's flown before, but was much littler and slept in his carseat the whole time with his muffs on. He's 3 1/2 now and loves airport trips. Proud daddy moment for me. Mama managed to keep it together for the most part. Just a lap around the pattern. The intercom panel was helpful because he just LOVES to hear his own voice and chatted me up the entire lap.

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FWIW...

- No plane when kids were young:
- Different location from GK's until the oldest was 5 or so.
- She liked the spare headset ("Just like Grandpa") until she saw a pink set in NLA: after that, her reason for going flying changed ("Can I wear my headset")

-...until of course, she discovered comp hockey a few years later....

Young grandson's dad is a commercial freight pilot: the PA-12 can't compete with bootleg rides in the DC-3 or other big-uns.
 
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