Nervous Dad

Lance F

Lance F

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Lance F
My son (Vanderbilt alumnus) walked into my office this morning and said he wanted to go to the Vanderbilt -South Carolina game in Nashville tonight. And by the way could he take the Mooney:hairraise:. It's about an hour and 1/2 flight from here vs. 5 driving.

He's a good PP, with probably 50 XC miles with me in the plane, but he has never taken it solo or with a passenger (he had one planned for this trip.)

The leftovers of Gustav were leaving strong and gusty winds there, but VFR.

What's a dad to do? (He is a named pilot on the insurance.) I gave him the keys, and of course he did a great job. In his words (text these days) the landing at JWN was "a greaser."

Whew, now I gotta sweat tomorrow morning when he fly back.:D
 
Well, at least you didn't loan him the 'vette..... Or, the Lear! Heaven forbid those get dinged up rather than the Mooney. :D

That is kinda different... "Dad, can I have the keys to the plane?" I'm glad the flight up went well. Wishes for a safe return!
 
Oh lord... I never thought about "what if my daughter wants to borrow the airplane". Hell, I've got a shotgun for BOYS already (she's five), I don't know WHAT to get for this....

Make sure she's got a good CFI, I guess.

Thanks, Lance for giving me something ELSE to look forward to and worry about.
 
Hey, on a positive note, if he can fly a plane, he can most definitely drive a car safely. So no need to worry about him driving, at least :)

-Felix
 
It's harder being the parent. I still recall the first time my dad realized I had flown across the state, interviewed for a college coaching job and returned the same day--in an airplane. I had told him at breakfast I was going, but I guess he thought I was driving. When I stopped by his office on the way home from the airport to tell him I got the job, it took a while for him to process the events and work through all the emotions. It wasn't our plane, and he knew I had a PPL, but I guess it hadn't occurred to him that I would actually go anywhere in a plane.

Lance F said:
My son (Vanderbilt alumnus) walked into my office this morning and said he wanted to go to the Vanderbilt -South Carolina game in Nashville tonight. And by the way could he take the Mooney:hairraise:. It's about an hour and 1/2 flight from here vs. 5 driving.

He's a good PP, with probably 50 XC miles with me in the plane, but he has never taken it solo or with a passenger (he had one planned for this trip.)

The leftovers of Gustav were leaving strong and gusty winds there, but VFR.

What's a dad to do? (He is a named pilot on the insurance.) I gave him the keys, and of course he did a great job. In his words (text these days) the landing at JWN was "a greaser."

Whew, now I gotta sweat tomorrow morning when he fly back.:D
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Lance F said:
My son (Vanderbilt alumnus) walked into my office this morning and said he wanted to go to the Vanderbilt -South Carolina game in Nashville tonight. And by the way could he take the Mooney:hairraise:. It's about an hour and 1/2 flight from here vs. 5 driving.

He's a good PP, with probably 50 XC miles with me in the plane, but he has never taken it solo or with a passenger (he had one planned for this trip.)

The leftovers of Gustav were leaving strong and gusty winds there, but VFR.

What's a dad to do? (He is a named pilot on the insurance.) I gave him the keys, and of course he did a great job. In his words (text these days) the landing at JWN was "a greaser."

Whew, now I gotta sweat tomorrow morning when he fly back.:D
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Lance - we have a little wx coming in from the west. As JWN is my home drome, if you want to put the plane in a hanger give me a call and I'll call Adam or who ever is working tonight. I'll PM you my number.
 
Ahh Lance, I have no doubts you've raised a fine son and ensured he has good training in how to fly.

Last night I finished my check-out in the Mooney. Then I went flying with the actual owner of it to get the real sign-off. I'm sure those first few trips I take with it will make him a bit nervous, but I think you get used to it.
 
Now that is DEFINITELY a new one -- "My son wants the keys to the plane." Sucks to be your son! :no:

Dunno. I'd consider it, if he filled the tanks and washed/waxed it when he was done.
 
bbchien said:
Instrument rated?
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No, and that may be an issue for him getting out of Nashville today. However, he knows the VFRs, and I believe is mature enough to follow them (as opposed to several years ago when he put a Porsche I had just bought two days earlier into a tree). He takes a very serious approach to flying which I hope he picked up from me.
If in spite of due diligence, he got himself in IMC, he has hand flown from the right seat with me in the left many, many hard IMC hours. He is very precise on the gauges, and I hope he can get his IR in the near future.

I know he's good for the fuel. I am not so optimistic about the plane wash/wax:p.
 
gibbons said:
My god, you let a Vanderbilt grad take the airplane? :no:
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Shoot, if I had the money I sent to Vanderbilt, I'd have a twin for him to borrow:D. What we do for our kids............
 
My wife has a nice new little red turbocharged Pontiac Solstice. My son has been home for the summer and just a few days before he was to go back to school in New York, he asked his mom if he could take her car for a ride. Now he is a moma's boy, and as far as she is concerned the sun rises and sets on him. Without even looking up from what she was doing, she said, "no way." Just telling you what my wife would say. I would have let him take it.
 
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Well as I think we all know this isn't about flying its about being a parent the BEST and TOUGHEST job know to man ... and woman.
 
LOL - My brother and I took dads Cessna 120 from Detroit to Alaska and back (I was 22 and a STUDENT pilot, Tom was 20 and had a license)

The story is somewhere in the "places to fly" forum
 
sba55 said:
Hey, on a positive note, if he can fly a plane, he can most definitely drive a car safely. So no need to worry about him driving, at least :)
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Better than that: Like with Jason, we can be sure that Dad explained that if he wants to fly for a living there's no second chance for a DUI or drug offense, so it's one less kid that learns after getting the car wrapped around a telephone pole.

You gotta hope he has extra incentive to say, "None for me, guys." and "Let me out of the car."
 
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Hey Lance, the wx here sucks right now; 006 OVC but 10 vis (and has all morning). They're calling for clearing later in the day so I'll keep my fingers crossed for you and your boy! Have him give me a call if he needs anything while here.
 
A family of 7 on a motor-scooter in Hyderbad, India. Only mom & dad had helmets.

PS: Here's the paint job (by prior owner) on a 180 I owned for a while. People said they thought the clowns would come out when the door opened.


Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
That would have been a bit of a tight squeeze in a 120...

On the other hand, I once saw 5 (yes five) people get out of a two place Luscombe :hairraise:
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kevin47881 said:
Have him give me a call if he needs anything while here.
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Kevin, Thank you so much. Obviously I've been watching the weather there. Piece of cake with an IR. Sit on the ground without it. I'd like him to safely get out of there today (giving him all weekend to wash/wax the plane :rofl::rofl:), but if he can't, he can't. To be honest, I don't know if he's even out of bed yet. Me thinks a bit of celebrating went on last evening.
 
Well, the wx is improving, albeit slowly. As of 1814Z, 16005 10sm few 006, bkn 017 ovc 035.
 
As a guy that got his license young and the father of a 17 year old I'd give this advice and the weather seems to cooperating for this little test.

Have your son, when he gets out of bed, do a weather check and see if HE thinks it would be a could day for a flight.
 
You're REALLY screwed when the son gets a hangar at his local airport because when he borrows the plane, he usually keeps it for extended periods of time (which is what I do right now for the RV :)).
 
kevin47881 said:
Well, the wx is improving, albeit slowly. As of 1814Z, 16005 10sm few 006, bkn 017 ovc 035.
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And at 1855Z even better: bkn 2300, ovc 3000.
I'm suspicious that at this point the weather is conveniently a good reason to spend Friday night in Nashville and chase Vandy coeds.
 
Lance F said:
And at 1855Z even better: bkn 2300, ovc 3000.
I'm suspicious that at this point the weather is conveniently a good reason to spend Friday night in Nashville and chase Vandy coeds.
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Well, if he's willing to chase Vandy coeds, he most definitely does not fulfill the "8 hours bottle to throttle" requirement! :rofl::rofl::rofl:

... oh yeah.... Roll Tide!
 
Lance F said:
And at 1855Z even better: bkn 2300, ovc 3000.
I'm suspicious that at this point the weather is conveniently a good reason to spend Friday night in Nashville and chase Vandy coeds.
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Maybe I need to call your boy so he can show an old man how to chase coeds again. :rofl::yes::rofl:

On second thought, the wife probably wouldn't like that none too much.:redface:
 
Lance F said:
Shoot, if I had the money I sent to Vanderbilt, I'd have a twin for him to borrow:D. What we do for our kids............
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I'm just ****ed that Vandy sent a rejection letter to my daughter for basketball. Great school for sure, but I'll not likely be rooting for their women's basketball team next year. :D
 
This story is EXACTLY why a group of us "Dads" formed a little flying club, with a cute, little 1948 Ercoupe.

Now, when my son wants to "borrow the plane", we just tell him to sign up for it!

:goofy:
 
I think the kid learned a lot. He finally got back here at 5:30 this afternoon. Low ceilings plagued the Nashville area. He waited there from about 7:30 AM until about 1PM and then made an attempt. Had to land at Lewisburg, TN about 30 miles south of where he'd just left due to lowering ceilings. After a few hours there, they launched again and made it back fine.
He's "inspired" now for that IR.
 
Lance F said:
I think the kid learned a lot. He finally got back here at 5:30 this afternoon. Low ceilings plagued the Nashville area. He waited there from about 7:30 AM until about 1PM and then made an attempt. Had to land at Lewisburg, TN about 30 miles south of where he'd just left due to lowering ceilings. After a few hours there, they launched again and made it back fine.
He's "inspired" now for that IR.
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Thats great Lance. Glad he made it home safely and is "inspired" to start theh IR. :)
 
Excellent! Before long we'll have another IR pilot among us. :yes:
 
TMetzinger said:
Oh lord... I never thought about "what if my daughter wants to borrow the airplane". Hell, I've got a shotgun for BOYS already (she's five), I don't know WHAT to get for this....
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Easy, her own S2B....
 
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