My New Pinch-Hitter

Abram

Abram

Pre-takeoff checklist
Joined
Feb 4, 2011
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247
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Fort Lauderdale
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Abram
This weekend, my fifteen year old son got to take a Pinch Hitter Course to learn how to land the airplane in the event of an emergency that incapacitates me.

He spent about an hour in the classroom to go through a PowerPoint presentation that was designed to teach some basic aerodynamics and the flight controls and flight management system. The he and the instructor went into the airplane, turned on the electrical system and went through all of the steps to set up and shoot an ILS approach. Then, we started the engines and took off. He got to fly the airplane a bit, on the autopilot, took vectors to intercept the ILS and he disengaged the autopilot and landed the airplane.

He absolutely loved the experience! He was even talking about getting his pilot's license! In addition, it was a really cool thing for me to watch him do such a great job and enjoy it so much. Plus, now I have a co-pilot!

I definitely think it is a great thing for our loved ones to do to get a little bit of confidence and experience in the airplane.

Abram Finkelstein
N48KY

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Thats awesome man, cant wait till mine are old enough to be my co-pilot.
 
Awesome! My favorite plane to fly on x-plane. If you ever want another son to fly around in the right seat let me know.
 
Congrats to your son. My wife will be taking a pinch hitter course sometime in the fall
 
JCranford said:
Congrats to your son. My wife will be taking a pinch hitter course sometime in the fall
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I have tried for years to get my wife to take a pinch hitter course, but she has less than no desire to do it. I was thrilled that someone in my family was interested!

Abram Finkelstein
N48KY
 
Mike5250 said:
Awesome! My favorite plane to fly on x-plane. If you ever want another son to fly around in the right seat let me know.
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If you ever find yourself down in South Florida, let me know. We will try to schedule a ride.

Abram Finkelstein
N48KY
 
Very cool. Had he ever flown and landed another plane, or was the Eclipse his first landing? Because screw "hours-to-solo" bragging rights, if his first ever landing was an Eclipse, he wins.
 
If my dad had an Eclipse, I'd be getting my license ASAP, and asking to borrow it. ;)
 
I like touching the patch on the nose with dirty ramp hands. It leaves a black handprint that's hard to remove.
 
Great start. At 15 he could be taking lessons and be ready to solo at 16.
Find a glider club, 14 yr olds flying solo, check ride at 16.
 
How cool. Cool plane and cool son! I started flying at 15... and 23 years later I'm stilling working on upgrading my Lance to a 500. One of these days... ;)
 
Auburn2002 said:
Very cool. Had he ever flown and landed another plane, or was the Eclipse his first landing? Because screw "hours-to-solo" bragging rights, if his first ever landing was an Eclipse, he wins.
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I let him fly a little bit in our prior aircraft, but that was just doing some hand flying en route until his mom complained about the ride. This was his first time really controlling the airplane and definitely his first landing!

Abram Finkelstein
N48KY
 
Ken Ibold said:
Dang, he's 15 already? Time flies.
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Yeah, it's pretty crazy, but look who's talking!

It was pretty funny: On the ground he said "Hey, dad, I just landed a plane. Will you let me drive on the highway now?"

Abram Finkelstein
N48KY
 
Man I picked the wrong field....... Should turned left not right outa high school. Kid is rocking a jet for his first landing? I'm beside myself jealous...
 
Considering the thread title...am I the only one who thought I would see a photo like this...?????

:goofy:

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Abram said:
Yeah, it's pretty crazy, but look who's talking!

It was pretty funny: On the ground he said "Hey, dad, I just landed a plane. Will you let me drive on the highway now?"

Abram Finkelstein
N48KY
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Sure, 'cause driving on I-95 in So. Fla is a real safe experience...
 
Lucky kid! And congratulations to him too.
 
Excellent! Plus I'm sure it gives you extra peace of mind to know he has the ability to land the plane if need be. I'll admit that's one part about single pilot flying I don't care for.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Excellent! Plus I'm sure it gives you extra peace of mind to know he has the ability to land the plane if need be. I'll admit that's one part about single pilot flying I don't care for.
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Absolutely correct!

I don't fly with the family often, but when I do, I am definitely conscious of the fact that I am the only one in the plane that can fly, so it is a great relief to have him comfortable with the plane. I also know that I need to keep it going by incorporating him into normal flight ops so he gets more familiar with radio communications and the FMS.

Abram Finkelstein
N48KY
 
Abram said:
Yeah, it's pretty crazy, but look who's talking!

It was pretty funny: On the ground he said "Hey, dad, I just landed a plane. Will you let me drive on the highway now?"

Abram Finkelstein
N48KY
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So true. My youngest (just turned 17) got his first paycheck from his summer job a couple weeks ago and asked if he could get a motorcycle. I gave him the only answer that made sense: "But of course."
 
Ken Ibold said:
So true. My youngest (just turned 17) got his first paycheck from his summer job a couple weeks ago and asked if he could get a motorcycle. I gave him the only answer that made sense: "But of course."
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That is awesome! What did Kathy have to say about it?

Abram Finkelstein
N48KY
 
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