Are there any safety Rules or general advice regarding flying as the solo parent- pilot with two middle-aged kids (10-13)?
They don’t get along so one sits in front and one alone in the back. Should one of them be trained in pulling the parachute in case something happens to me?
Also, we fly from Chicago to Orlando quite often and sometimes I try to make it the entire distance, which is about five hours. Any concerns with that I am SR22 with full weight in luggage in back?
Sounds pretty easy compared to flying around with just my 2 year old in the back. Keeping his headset on is a battle.
Mine too. I have a 2 & 4 yo. It gets easier around 3 with cartoons downloaded on the ipad
I have a 9 and 7 year old and have briefed both on the parachute. The briefing unnerved my 7yo but I think if I had it to do again, I would do it again.
I fly alone with my 6 year old. We have discussed Blue (level), Red (CAPS handle), Red (mixture) in the event of incapacitation.
Welcome to COPA! My son has grown up in the Cirrus. No issues.
I’ve probably made hundreds of flights with my “Cirrus Life Kids” - from the time my twins were 6 weeks old and now just turned two. The 10-13 year age range is an easy one in my opinion. At those ages they were mostly entertained just playing on their devices. Same seating configuration as you noted.
We’ve done the ORL-MDW run many times as well (I’m based in Orlando). Admittedly, they preferred to have a nice stop and grab a pizza or sandwich along the way, just seemed to make the trip easier for them to have an interim break. I don’t mind flying 5 hours straight, but gets to be a bit too long for most passengers including my kids.
Despite all the recent chaos regarding Starlink pricing, adding/using that with those age kids and the time flies by - literally - my kids used to really be comfortable for 2.5-3 hour runs and now even when we run Florida to Colorado (like we’ll do next week) they don’t mind it at all. Money very well spent.
In terms of emergency procedures, it’s smart that they become familiar with what to do should a worst case scenario occur. Aside from CAPS, consider radio comms - how to set 121.5 - how to transit - how to get out of pilot isolation mode if that happens to be active. A good primer is simply teaching them what you’re doing along the way. Kids pick up on things pretty quickly, they probably already know more than they even realize just from observing you operating the aircraft.
Hope you make many incredible memories with your kids flying, there’s nothing quite like it!
He hasn’t joined COPA yet.
Could a 10 year old girl pull the chute handle? Do they have the strength?
Indeed. Just because you can fly for 5hrs, doesn’t mean you should. I’ve learned that if I make flying enjoyable for my kids, they’ll be more likely to return the favor.
Also, kudos to anyone who can hold their bladder for that long. My occupants refuse to use porta-john bags in flight.
At least for the SF50 it takes about 45 lbs of pull. I believe it may be the same for the SRs.
When I took my son flying aerobatics wearing parachutes, he thought it would be cool if we actually used them during the flight when I briefed him on the deployment. I told him that wasn’t exactly the goal of our flights.