first flight with my son

[Keith Smith]

I had the rather special honor of taking my son for his first GA flight this weekend. It turns out I picked the wrong day, it ended up being more bumpy than expected but it was still a good result. He understands the circumstance and is willing to give it one more try. I just had to give him 24 hours to get over the first flight

It's been a long road to this point. I have no pushed flying on either of my kids at all. I've waited for them to come to me...and now it's happening.

Here's the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdxkRatQ22o

A lot of his comments are cut off because I failed to set the squelch properly for his awful mic position and quieter voice. I'll get it right next time. I work it out at the end during the taxi and then after the engine is shut down. Most of this will mean more to me, obviously, than anyone else, but I'm so happy to have a record of this, especially at this level of quality.

[ChrisS]

Great stuff Keith.

[Keith Smith]

We're watching the finished video with my wife and daughter this evening. We get to 3:41 in the video where I'm cleaning up the gear, flaps, pulling back the prop and engaging the ram air. I then say, "outta here." (ie, we're on our way, the plane's cleaned up)

Completely serious, Trey says, "wait...where's the 'outta here' button?"

A few minutes later, he begins singing the praises of "Daddy's great radios" to his mother and sister, explaining how it's great that I can tell other planes that I'm turning RIGHT (he does this while turning an imaginary steering wheel hard LEFT), so that when I turn RIGHT (motions left), we won't bump into them.

Does it really get any better than this?

[Pieces]

Pretty great Keith. I'm glad that he is up for another try.

We took our little guy up for the first time a few weeks ago. He mostly slept, though. http://imgur.com/RkBwVoI

[TimAbbott]

I watched this last night and it was great, too bad it was that bumpy. I could relate to how he felt on my first flights! My wife was remarking at how adorable your son is, especially the end where he said he didn't feel well but then perked up for a snack from the airport cafe

-Tim

[criley]

That's fantastic! I took my daughter up when she was younger and even had her go out with an instructor at 10 y/o. At 14, she still shows no interest in aviation.....YET...One can hope, right?

[twharrell]

Priceless memories are being recorded, Keith. I love it.

[Cyrus]

Keith, that was wonderful to watch. Thanks for sharing something so personal.

I feel your heart may have been momentarily broken and/or you were internally cursing mother nature. This is actually one of my biggest fears if I ever get back in the saddle, i.e. that my wife and kids will have one bad experience and then never go up again (...until I'm piloting a Learjet). My kids might be ok, as they love roller coasters, but my wife... she has zero tolerance for anything .00001 above or below 1 G. I'm also a little worried about myself, to be honest. Nausea is one of the things I remember having an issue with on those first few hours in a C172. Feeling hot and sweaty and almost faint. I remember the CFI saying that my body will adapt, but that was little comfort at the time. It's also not a stragety that will work for anyone like my wife, where there's really only one shot to get it right or they'll probably never go up again.

Anyway, your son will have a great memory, as will you. I'm positive that you'll get him up again in the not to distant future.

Lesson learned: "Emergency cheese".... don't leave home without it.

P.S. I miss those exciting trees just before the landing end of rwy 1... although I'll wager that you don't.

[jasonlee]

Happy to know that your son done his first try under the umbrella of you and also he is willing to give another try, but let me know what is the age of your son? Is he really interest in flying or you want to engage him in flying.

[Keith Smith]

He's 5, sorry I didn't see that question earlier.

Here's the video of his second flight which took place a couple of weeks later. It went much better. I even did some engine out practice on the way back. He's a lot more talkative on the return leg, it's good stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAsni1IBJTw

And here's the most recent flight with my daughter (7): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asl12Hx-6hM. She's on the fence about it. She really wants to love it, but has some anxiety about getting sick. You can see glimmers of excitement when she spots the airport, New York City, her school, etc.