Have a slightly unusual situation here. Thinking about taking a couple friends and their toddler flying.
Awesome! I think all kids should get an opportunity to fly. They won't all like it, but SO many will.
What type aircraft, and what sort of flight? (Going somewhere, or just going up for a short sightseeing flight?)
We've looked at attaching the car seat with the lap belts in the back seat, and it seems feasible. But the kid won't be able to see much and enjoy the ride, plus we're not 100% sure this is the best way.
Any first-hand experiences you'd like to share? Is there a harness that a parent could wear, with the child safely secured in it? That way the child could face forward and enjoy the view.
Harnesses exist, but they are not a good idea unless there is no other option. They're mainly there to prevent kids from escaping from parents' laps on airline flights, and of course that's only legal before age 2. Pretty much, if there's an accident, plan on the kid in the harness or on the lap dying.
A car seat is a much better option. Some are easier than others to attach using the seat belts, and it'll take a bit to figure that out. You might want to have one of the parents come to the plane with the seat so you can get that figured out in advance, because if you figure that out on the day of, chances are that said toddler will remember the eternally long wait instead of the flight.
Also, think through egress for both adults and kids in an emergency. In the Mooney, with one door, the only place I'll allow a car seat is right behind me in the left rear seat. Mama sits in the right rear and the older kid sits on an un-attached soft booster seat that my aunt used to use and can be easily shoved out the door. In an emergency egress, the older kid or I can open the door, he bails out, I go next and mama hands me the kid, and then she gets out.
use a child seat and face it backwards if you have a rear facing seats.
I misread this at first. *IF* you have an *airplane with rear facing seats* like the Lances that
@Jim K and
@cowman fly, I'd buy that.
I would not put toddlers in a rear facing car seat in a forward facing airplane seat if you want them to enjoy it; most airplanes have a very bad view, if any, to the rear from the rear seats and the kid will simply be looking at the back of the baggage compartment and experiencing motion and loud noises and probably hate it. Make sure they can get as good of a view as possible. Middle (rear facing) row seats on the Lance still allow for lots of view out the side windows, but otherwise I'd face the kids forward.
Sounds - just use a good sound attenuating headset like the alpine kids one. A20's are generally too big for any toddler less than 4. Ours startted flying with us from 2months on, and he's current 2.
How about hearing protection? I have Bose A20s, but they're too big for a child. If it even happens, the flight will be short, a couple laps in the pattern, but I still think hearing protection is a must.
Our older son used "
Em's for Bubs" from his first flight at 3 months until he was a year old, then "
Em's for Kids" from 1 to 2 years old.
Since he turned 2, he's worn an adult headset, and being able to communicate with us in flight has helped him to keep them on. The Mooney is quite loud, which also helps!
Our younger son is 2 now and not quite as keen on keeping them on as his big brother, but not too bad either. I probably need to get another set of Sierras for the back seat soon!
If flight is sight-seeing or not a destination-flight, and if friends can find a babysitter, consider no-toddler for (first) flight.
- Infant may not get much from flight in g.a. aircraft, and there is potential for a negative experience.
- If distracted by an upset/distressed child, parents won't enjoy flight.
- If this will be friends' first flight in genl aviation aircraft, better without toddler
(thereafter, parents will have a better understanding, and some experience to judge when suitable for toddler to come along)
This is excellent advice, especially if parents haven't flown GA before.
If it's sightseeing, could take one parent at a time while the kid stays on the ground, or do a third flight with parents and kid.
Where toddler must travel (for example compassion/angel flight), a few tips:
- Keep climb/descents at comfortable rate
Yes! Absolutely no more than 500 fpm in the descent. A younger kid should be fed (infant) or given something to drink (toddler) for the duration of the descent so they're swallowing to help with pressure equalization. An older kid could maybe have a stick of gum.
The first time I flew with my older son at 3 months, I put "Baby on board, no fast descents please!" into the (IFR) flight plan remarks. A KC approach controller did something I wouldn't have even thought of: She stepped me down a thousand feet, waited a few minutes, stepped me down another thousand, waited a few more, etc... It was perfect. Mama nursed him down to 1000 AGL and then buckled him back into the car seat and it worked out great.
Older son went on 5 out-of-state trips with us before he turned 1 year old. Not nearly so much flying as a family of four, but both of them like airplanes!
The unattached booster seat cushion I mentioned is visible in the 2nd and 4th pictures. The bottom of it is maybe 6-8" thick so it really improves his view from the front seat.
