The Thrill of Flight 110 Years Later: Share It With a Child!

Six months ago, I took my five-year-old daughter flying for the first time in a Cessna 172. A few months following her first flight, we took a quick trip to the West coast marking this as her first flight via the airlines. A few days before our trip, she asked me if she was going to be able to, “sit up front.”  To date, her only experience was sitting, “up front” in an airplane next to the pilot, which is also known as “Mom.” I explained that we would have to sit in back but she’d have plenty to do thanks to in-flight movies and coloring books. In a concerning tone, she asked, “What about the other kids? They won’t get to sit up front.” Followed by a brief moment of confusion and then understanding, I thought to myself, “What about the other kids?”

What about the other children that don’t get to, “sit up front”? Aviation is not as accessible as it used to be. I am fortunate enough to live between two busy airports: one airport has an eight-foot fence surrounding the perimeter and the second airport has a playground 30 yards from the runway, also appropriately known as the “airport park” by my daughter – hey, whatever gets her excited about going to the airport, right?

I bet if you ask most pilots, “What is the best part about flying for you?” Some might say flying to minimums in IMC on a LOC BC approach, others may say landing in a stiff, 17-knot crosswind, but for many pilots nothing compares to taking a child flying.

As demand for air travel increases, the number of pilots needed to fly between city pairs unquestionably increases. In an industry that is not as accessible as others, getting kids interested in flying proves to be not as common or easy as it once was when Top Gun made its debut in the theaters. Getting children excited about aviation doesn’t always involve taking them flying, either. It’s as simple as taking them to the airport (or to the “airport park”!) or speaking to a middle school class about aerodynamics. You don’t have to be a pilot to go to a viewing area at the airport to sit with a neighbor, granddaughter, or friend to watch airplanes take off and land. Sometimes that’s all it takes.

110 years ago today, Wilbur and Orville Wright took to the skies and made the first powered and controlled flight in a heavier-than-air, aircraft in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. We owe it to the future of air travel and the past 110 years to get our future generations excited about aviation. Let’s make sure as many kids as possible get the chance to “sit up front” – how else are they going to see how all of that cool Garmin equipment works, anyway?

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