Aviation family?

[oldShar]

My dad was first -- B-17s then J-3s
My kids and brother have shown interest, but it stops there
(interest never acted upon)

 

[Gucci Pilot]

First and only in my family, both immediate and distant to fly. Think I had an influence on my older brother deciding to be an ATC. Now he works as a center controller and is planning on buying a 1/4 share of a Mooney or Cirrus and taking lessons.

 

[Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe]

The old man was an Army Air Corps crew chief. Went to B-29 school during the war, but ended up in Germany maintaining A-26s (One of the pilots used to let him fly.)

He owned a share of a series of Navions and I got to sit in the right seat as a kid.

Somewhere around high school, the decision was made to build a T-18 (now owned by my brother). But years before it was finished, my brother got his private ticket in a Champ flying out of the now long gone Big Beaver airport in Troy Mi. That lead to the old man getting a Cessna 120 and I learned to fly in that.

Other airplanes came and went.

The T-18 has a quite a few hours on it but is currently in my brothers basement because he is flying his second homebuilt (A Pitts clone - the old man got to ride in it before he died.)

I have a rag and tube LSA that I bought a few years ago to get back in the game.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

Two uncles on my mom's side are/were GA pilots, one distant cousin on my dad's side who I met once when I was 10 is/was an airline pilot.

One of my uncles gave me my first ride in a small airplane, also when I was about 10. Now I'm flying my other uncle's Mooney.

My wife's grandfather was a pilot, beginning in 1939 in an Aeronca Champ that he bought with some FFA prize money and a loan from his dad, continuing through WWII in B-25's and B-17's and about 20 other types, owning several more GA aircraft and being president of the Iowa Flying Farmers, instructing, and flew until just a few months before his death in 2007. Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award.

I also didn't find out until after I was already a pilot that my great-grandfather was a pilot - He owned a Stinson 105, NC26256, and we found some pictures and a bill of sale for it. More recently, I discovered some of his old correspondence and some other pictures from when he had a complete engine failure on a solo flight prior to getting his ticket and put the plane down in a short field, stopping it when it (gently) hit the tree line. Really neat stuff.

 

[Snaproll]

I grew up in an aviation family. Dad, still flying at 93, started designing and building airplanes in 1948 and continued for a total of 15 (second one above). I grew up building, testing, designing, and having a great time at fly-ins and airshows. Dad also did quite a bit of airshow work. Both of us have aircraft in museums and both have settled in to LSAs for pleasure flying, he owns a Skycatcher and I own a Remos GX.

 

[Bill]

I share none of my hobbies with past kin. Will my daughter follow? History says no.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

Loving all the cool stories in this thread!

 

[brian]]

Cool stories...

... My "crazy uncle" got me thinking about flying, but I didn't pull the trigger until I was nearly 40 ...

... I guess I'm the crazy uncle now ...

... So much for getting new aviators through the "crazy uncle method" ...

 

[jimhorner]

2nd Generation here.

My Dad used to say that his four priorities while growing up were "Airplanes, Girls, Cameras, and Cars," although I'm pretty sure that the relative weights changed over time. He grew up building stick and tissue model airplanes, and got his PPL after Korea using the GI Bill.

Here's a list of his certificates:

Airman Certificates

• Comercial Pilot
• Airplane Single and Multi Engine Land and Sea
• Rotorcraft Helicopter
• Glider
• Instrument Airplane
• DC-3 Type Rating

Flight Instructor (exp: 31-Mar-2016)

• Airplane Single and Multi Engine
• Rotorcraft Helicopter
• Instrument Airplane
• Glider

Flying and flight instructing was his hobby; he never made a living from it. He taught many people to fly, including my sister and me, his last students. He's stopped active instructing now, but he still keeps the CFI current.

My sister doesn't fly anymore, and I took a 23 year hiatus. But I'm now back into it. Maybe someday she will take it up again also. I took each of her kids up for some acro, and I wouldn't be surprised if her daughter doesn't learn someday, maybe after she finishes her degree.

My son, so far, hasn't exhibited any interest in flying. He just sees it as a convenient way to get from place to place. Maybe someday...

My mom's father's brother flew 65 missions in the Pacific as a B-25 pilot in the marines in WW2. He passed away when I was 5, and I can only remember meeting him once. I do remember him showing me a photo of his plane crashed off to the side of the runway on some Pacific island somewhere. I remember asking him what happened, and he told me something about his co-pilot wanting to go one way and he another. I'm sure that wasn't the real story, but I guess he didn't think a 5 year old was ready to hear the details about war. Wish I could have talked with him more. I don't think he ever flew at all after the war.

 

[FredFenster]

Only one in the family here. Wife shows no interest. I have hope for our 2 year old, she loves to sit in the front (on the ground) and yank on the yoke. Also asks for me to put the skinny pedal to the floor in the truck to hear it go vroom.

 

[NickC99]

I'm the first and only so far.

A childhood friend got me interested, and for a few years I was determined to go into aviation. As kids, we decided we wanted to run our own corporate/private charter company (lol). My dad used to take me to LAX to watch planes takeoff and land. I had a birthday party at KSMO's Museum of Flight. My mom, though, wasn't too keen on me (at 12) punching holes in the sky. Nonetheless, she did order Flying, Plane & Pilot and Private Pilot subscriptions for me to read to my heart's content. For some reason or another, I never started lessons. My interest dropped off to nil for years.

Fast forward several years (graduated and been in the workforce for a few years) and I'm now scheduling my checkride.

Mom: "Oh, that's cool. Have fun, but don't ask me to ride with you unless it's in one of those nice cushy jets with two engines."
Dad: "Do you have life insurance? I don't want to be stuck with your bills if something happens."
Grandmother: "Let me know when you come down, not before you go up."
Grandfather: After explaining the first time my CFI pulled the power "That's right! You need to be prepared for those things!" I have a feeling had times been different back in the day he might have learned to fly. He said back in those days no one really encouraged those of his color to fly.

 

[petrolero]

Did you come from an aviation family or were you the first? This doesn't only pertain to pilots, A&P's, ATC's etc. are welcome as well. As for me my dad is an A&P and my cousin and I are private pilots.

In all my extended family (at least the large portion with which I'm acquainted) I'm the only certificated pilot.

 

[Cykoguy]

I am a proud third generation pilot. My grandfather started it all, sadly he won't be with us much longer. During college dad went as far to get his CFI and taught some during and after college before quitting after getting married and having kids. I never flew with him but he certainly passed on the bug as we were always around aviation. He stayed active as possible in aviation through work (Rockwell) and we started building and flying R/C's. I will always remember him taking my sister and I to a young eagles rally and getting a ride in a Cub. My aunt ended up marrying a pilot and they now own three planes one of which is a 172 in which her and I have got our PPL in.

This past March I was able to take my dad up for the first time...it was an awesome feeling taking up the man who started this all for me and encouraged me to follow my dreams.

 

[catmandu]

My Dad left the farm in Kansas, flew the plane that is my avatar. I took lessons as as teen, then followed him into Naval Aviation. My wife flew in the USAF (no particular aviation influence from the family), now part 121. Our daughter wants nothing to do with planes other than transportation, small planes only in extreme circumstances. I am currently instructing our son, he plans to try the Henning method of time building, hopefully leading to a USAFR / Air Guard UPT slot, then eventually part 121.

 

[Circuit Flyer]

First and only in my family to fly at all. My Dad worked for NASA during the Apollo program, which may have had something to do with my interest in aviation. But maybe not, because I've always been more interested in small vintage-y planes when it came to flying them myself.

 

[skynewbie]

I'm the first and only pilot in my family. My dad loves to go flying with me.

 

[madtrader]

My dad was a pilot and owned a Cherokee 140, but stopped flying about the time I was born. Later we built/flew R/C planes. Lots of fun. I got my PPL in college, but dad had already passed. My sister just got her PPL this year too. I've got a great uncle on my Mom's side that used to fly, but really don't know him. I've got high hopes for my infant daughter, but I won't push her into it ... much. It's too expensive to do without a passion for it.

 

[Approach_controller]

Dad enlisted in the US Navy in 1957. Served as a sensor operator on the last of the Navy airships before transferring to the Connie and hurricane penetration flights. Re upped as a controller. Still has his CTO from the CAA out of Naval Air Station JAX. Did 4 tours in Vietnam, 2 on the ground serving as a ground based FAC with Marine platoons along trunk roads of the Ho Chi Minh trail. The second tour was cut short when shrapnel took out hearing in his left ear. He doesn't really talk about it much.

I wanted to fly after hearing his stories about F-4's and Connies. He and my mom went with me when I bought my Cessna 150. Mom drove the car back, dad flew back with a 19 year old 100 hour PPL. To this date, the most relaxed passenger I've had. I offered him the controls in cruise and he let me know he'd been offered the same from the RIO seat of an F-4 on an incentive flight and didn't take it then so he wouldn't now.

 

[TheTraveler]

Here are some of the pics I've got.

-My grandfather as a boy, somewhere near Muncie, IN at the flying field
-A newspaper article with him and his RC friends
-His first real plane, after returning from the service
-An ad for an air show including him in his Citabria
-Great Lakes scratch built
-Christen Eagle scratch built
-Citabria scratch built
-Mosquito scratch built, getting finished up
-Odds and ends
-Plans
-Plans

 

[Bill]

Here are some of the pics I've got.

Great stuff, thanks for sharing!

 

[TheTraveler]

Great stuff, thanks for sharing!

Happy to share. Hope the OP and MauleDriver get a look, they were asking or else I wouldn't have posted.

I've got quite a few, but it's so much better listening to him talk. The experiences good and bad, military and GA, of a lifetime of full scale and RC. Good stuff. A few of my personal favorites...

The Cessna 195 and the Shaky Jake. He never had problems flying at night, but he always said there was something about that Shaky Jake that would get your heart going at night. That occasional miss for whatever reason was exponentially amplified. And if it was at night and over water, worse yet.

Jungle flying in South America in the service through rainstorms, fog, mist, and the like.

An AP in Ecuador just got done servicing a plane, and although the AP wasn't a pilot, decided he was going to take the plane for a spin. Gramps told the guy that he was crazy, but he didn't listen, took it anyway. Ground looped it, and totaled it. The guy took off before anybody with any authority showed up, and they never saw him again! (Photos attached)

 

[Xscaliber]

I came from an average working class background in England born in the late 40s, as a kid I was fascinated with airplanes, usually spent all my allowance buying and assembling model planes.

My father was ex WW2 Navy and had a love of all things boats/fishing....I used to go on fishing trips with my father but had no real interest in boats.

I used to say to him one day I'm going to fly airplanes, and he would roll his eye's and tell me Son it's a nice dream but people like us don't get to be pilots....

Sadly he didn't get to stay around long enough to see me achieve my goal of earning my wings, if he had he would have been so proud.

Now I fly mostly with my wife,and my daughter and grand daughter sometimes come along, I have a Son who will not go anywhere near a GA airplane, he reluctantly fly's commercial but it's always a nervous experience for him.

Strange really because he followed in my footsteps with a career of driving race cars, and shows no fear even after some very big wrecks... but mention coming flying and it's a positive NO WAY ... you're not getting me in one of those spam cans... !!

 

[Adamoh]

Happy to share. Hope the OP and MauleDriver get a look,

I did get to see them, that's really cool. Those plans looks very detailed and precise, its no wonder why they look so real. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks to everybody that shared their stories.

Now I have a question for those that who have children with no interest in aviation. Does it bother you? I ask because as a kid I was never interested in it. My dad was an A&P all my life and he opened his own shop when I was in elementary, I'm 18 years old now. It wasn't until this year when I would go to his shop everyday after school and help him. During the summer I asked if I can start taking lessons and towards the end of summer I got to it. He has several hundred hours on several different planes with several CFI's he's just never gotten around to getting his certificate, because he always gets busy. Once I passed my checkride and gave him the news he was so happy, his reaction was priceless and I felt so good because a big part of getting my certificate was for him. Now my cousin is showing interest hopefully we can become an aviation family!

 

[evapilotaz]

I have 3 boys and my youngest is the only one really has the bug. It doesn't bother me one bit my other 2 boys are not interested in becoming a pilot. I wont push them to fly.

 

[Code90]

Love the pictures. I feel like I need to put on a tie for my next flight.

 

[momalley]

Only one in my family that I know of. I have an older cousin who took a few lessons when she was younger but nothing more than a couple of hours

 

[Henning]

The only one in my family was my great uncle who gave me my first stick time, and my first boat helm time, when I was 4. One of his sons is also a pilot. That's pretty much it in my family.

 

[rtbayne01072]

My great grandfather was a pilot in WWII, flew C-47s. He had a old PA-28 Cherokee behind his house with an airfield. It needed to be rebuilt but the caner got him when I was 8 before that happened.

Aviation still lingered in my family, always going to airshows and checking out airplanes with my dad and grandpa. Now I'm working on my PPL with aspirations to make it a career. Hopefully training will pick up more in May when I graduate college.

 

[NoHeat]

My Dad. I was his passenger on cross country flights starting already when he still had a student certificate.

 

[talkingbob]

First and only for myself.
Actually got interested in flying aircraft in high school, when my brother found a National Geographic that talked about ultralights. My brother thought the idea of owning a cheap flying thing that you could land on a road and taxi to a gas station to fill up was awesome and I couldn't disagree.
I bought Flight Simulator 2002 off ebay and here I am today flying a Cessna 172. An interesting journey to say the least...

Oh, and my brother must have not gotten the flying bug, because he likes sailing now - go figure.

 

[kayoh190]

My grandfather flew in WWII, but he's the only other pilot in my family. My Dad never really understood why I wanted to fly airplanes (especially for a living), and hoped I'd grow out of it. I'm now in my 30s, and he's still hoping. Heh!

EDIT: Ummm...just remembered - my wife is a pilot too. Professionally as well. Probably shouldn't forget to mention that. Sorry honey!

 

[ateamer]

My dad was a private pilot, but lost his medical to diabetes before I was born. I have his glider logbook, but his regular logbook disappeared a long time ago. As far as I know, I am the only pilot in our extended family.

 

[bluerooster]

My GrandDad bought his first brand new airplane in 1932. and paid for it hopping rides, and flying the mail.
He taught my Dad to fly, and My Dad taught me. Also have uncle retired from United, and second cousin, retired heli pilot for TX state troopers.
So i guess you could say it's inherent.
That's my Granddad, along with his new eaglerock in my avatar.