A Daughter's First Aerobatic Flight

encore ... encore... cest tout elle a dit!

 

What a rad little kid!!

 

That was awesome!

 

Our little great grand daughter is cut from the same cloth, the faster and wilder the ride, the better she likes it and yells the same thing, "Again again again". Her mother has something to do with it. She has free climbed Devil's Tower several times.

 

Philistine!!!

 

The problem with doing this for a four year old is that many people (even many pilots) do not like it. She should have been allowed to wait until being old enough to decide for herself.

Having said that, I did like it.

 

Reminds me of my first time. Brings a smile to my face and fond memories.

 

She did have a choice and could easily decide..

It's obvious she has spent time in this airplane by her relaxed happy nature on climb out.

He started out slow with some attitude changes and she reacted favorably.
He tried a little more and she laughed.
From there it was game on.

If she didn't like the mild introduction to the positive and negative G's she would have screamed bloody murder and her Dad would have given her the smoothest ride possible.

 

A potential problem/risk with children in a tandem aircraft is the inability to help them if they become distressed. In addition there are other things that can happen. Case in point is a neighbor who took a young boy, 7-8yo at the time, for a ride in a Christian Eagle. This was just a ride, no aerobatics. Kid fell asleep and was restricting the movement of the stick.

However, this kid seems like a natural. You can also tell she likely has a lot of time in an airplane based on the headset she is wearing.

 

Very good points Jim.

 

Every little kid is different. I was flying with my step son, who was maybe four or five, in the back of the L-3. He wanted to do a loop. By the time I found a place and altitude to perform it ,I did what he wished. When I looked back at him he was sound asleep and had been so all through the loop. One must assess the personality of the kid before you do anything startling. Some love it , some are frightened by it. My number three son was subjected to some very extreme maneuvers , like facing backwards in a snap roll, when he was 10 or 11 and he tolerated them but a pilot MUST use discretion when he subjects a passenger to unusual maneuvers no matter what the age.