meowy84

Well, the fruit of my loins is 5 years old and he really enjoys 'admiring' dad's toys so I'm wondering when would it be appropriate to introduce the little guy to the world of Cox and Norvel? And how do I do it with safety as the first priority? I just know that if he so much as sees me start a Cox he's gonna wanna do it himself. What I'm afraid of it that he'll try it while I'm not watching and reduce his finger count. So come on guys, give me some parenting suggestions here.

ronrange

My Feedback: (20)

Probably 10-12 years. But in the meantime you could introduce him to the fun of building rubber powered models and gliders. He could learn a lot from that and work his way to nitro or elelctric at a later time. Cheaper too for the learning process.

Ron
(I built my first rubber plane and 7 and was proud of it. Did not fly!!!!!)

flyinrog

My Feedback: (1)

I thought I read that Chip Hyde started at 5, but I could be wrong and would hardly uses that as a basis, make sure he cant reach any of your stuff that could hurt him,,at a very young age I watched my father feed his fish,,thinking I would do him a favor I fed the fish too ,except not knowing what food was I fed them sawdust, with really bad results, Hey I was like 3, but the monkey see monkey do really comes out in a toddler...Rog
and the good news is ,,I dont have any kids

mclintock

My Feedback: (3)

I think five is old enough to do a control line platter or similar indestructible- by do I mean stooge for dad and then run into the circle then have the handle handed to him, with dad's hand on kid's hand for a while till kid gets the feel of things. It's a bit early to be cranking a glow engine i think, since they can catch fire, and the flames from glow fuel are quite clear in daylight.. Fire bad.

I agree that rubber and gliders were way fun back then. I remember a 'chuck glider' i built when I was six that was awesome. The loud cox engines the big kids had at recess were scary. I remember when I was in third grade some fifth graders were firing up a pt-19 on the infield during recess and the rubber band broke that held the engine in while it was leaned to a scream and the firewall/engine/landing gear flew out of the fuse like a missile and zoomed about 80 yards into the next field. That was way cool. The prop cut up the kids arm who was holding the plane, but he was too busy laughing to notice.

BobHH

My Feedback: (18)

Well, I believe I was 3 to 4 when I found out glow fuel burns your eyes as I walked under my Dad's model coming back from the field. I was 6 when my brother and I soloed a Goldberg Stuntman with a Pee Wee .020. I flew controline Cox power up to about 9 when Dad gave me some stick time with an old trainer. Got very proficient with my first single channel system at 10 or 11 and Dad and me flew quite a bit together playing dog fight. Me with my Little Esquire and Dad with his big Fokker DVII. We even had a mid air of which the Fokker took the Esquire out!! Never got really hurt by the Cox engines except a few cut fingers. I would suggest a balsa controline trainer with a Cox .020 with spring start. Maybe on 15 to 20 ft lines. He will learn from watching you but do tell him not to put fingers in prop and such. Kids these days pick up stuff so fast you will be amazed. My daughter was flying a Wizard controline with .049 when she was 6. Then she found horses!!!. Now that's another story!!

Bob Harris
Early RC Models
www.earlyrcmodels.com

ZAGNUT

My Feedback: (1)

depends how responsible/mature your son is, not how old.

i was five when my dad bought me a cox cl plane and it only took about a week for me to start sneaking it out to run the engine by myself....when he found out i just got the usual "be careful and make sure it's clean before you bring it back in the house". same story for my young brother when i got him a cox helicopter for his 8th birthday.


but then i won't let my seven year old nephew come within 100 yards of me when i'm running an engine, just too rowdy and unpredictable. maybe when he's about 15


dave

flying poodle

I am facing the same dilemma and have no informative answer, but I just had to tell y'all about this. My son is almost 3. He goes to the flying Field with dad, and when there are only 2 or 3 people there, stirs the sticks on the transmitter. He stands on the starting table and places his arms around my neck to reach the transmitter. He moves the sticks and watches the airplane. Obviously he does not know what the movement of the stick will make the airplane do, but I think he is learning.

I had not been flying for about 3 weeks, and each day when I came home my son asked if we were going flying. I had to say it was too cold or too dark. Well, its Christmas eve and the family is preparing for the holidays. My mom tells me to come into the computer room. My son has turned on the computer, clicked on the simulator icon, and is !QUOT!flying!QUOT! a pitts biplane. He crashed often, but he probably stayed in the air longer than I did when I was teaching myself to fly 12 years ago.

Pardon me for this moment of fatherhood pride

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

Readiness to get started depends alot on the level of desire. The other thing to consider is all the "behind the scenes" type chores that need to be done, a kid with lots of desire will clean the planes and want to be helpful in the work shop. A kid with lots of desire will also want to learn the principles of what makes a plane go up and down, stall, turn, etc. I think the best gauge of a kids' readiness is how well they perform "behind the scenes". My son showed very little interest until he was 16. If the child in question displays a passion for the sport, then the answer to your question is a no brainer. The mistake that I see most is where too much is pushed upon the child too soon.

vicman

My Feedback: (10)

CP, you are 100% on the money. My son (now 5) spent many Saturday and Sunday afternoons watching me learn how to fly, he has been an AMA and club member since he was 6 mo old. At a year he liked flying a sim more than playing with toys, his second or third word was "airmane". At 18 mo one of his older clubmates said "Spence today is the day!" and gave him the sticks of a HOB .25 trainer. He proudly flew two of the finest patterns you ever saw followed by a smirk meaning he was ready to spear the ground, where we promply grabbed the tranny. Since then he goes hot and cold with flying but consistently enjoys coming down into the shop along with flying rockets. It is important to mix things up, RC, rockets, plastic models, and cars, in order to keep the intrest high.
Now he flys a Litestick and a World Models Super Stunts with a Saito .65. Both of which are assisted by dad on a buddy box. As long as they follow instructions and show responsability in other areas let them be rewarded with other things. We all learn the same way.

Bipe Flyer

I think I was about five to seven when I got my first C/L. I remember thinking my dad was so brave to start an engine with his fingers.

My daughter isn't even two yet, but she's seen slow/park flyers and I was surprised at how excited she got. I mean screams of delight and wanting to run out to the plane. She has an R/C ladybug that she drives around the living room so, assuming she's interested, as soon as she can hold a TX she'll have a plane. I wouldn't allow a young child to start a plane simply because the amount of damage to small hands would be much greater, but I'd sure let the child fly the plane on a buddy box. I start my wifes planes for her anyways. My biggest fear would be other pilots.

vicman

My Feedback: (10)

Dad always starts the plane but Spence is the "feild support guy". He is quick to get a hot shot or starter for anyone on the line. We are thinking about SAT 5 T-6 racing this summer which has him very excited, after watching all those speed racer episodes on DVD he really wants to race. When we brought the kit home and were talking about it he asked what his job was. I then explained what a crew chief did and that was his job. Needless to say I will have an outstanding crew.

Deadstik

My Feedback: (8)

There really isn't a hard line on this one. I have to agree with all of the other father's represented here that you have to wait till the child shows the excited interest in learning all that there is to know. My Dad helped me w/a 1/2 A Lil Jumpin Bean that I built/doped/flew/crashed when I was 8. That was far before electric starters or even spring starters but the idea was that since I was that interested... Dad taught me. My son had little interest in planes from age 6 to about 15 when it was all motorcycles and ATVs... but..he caught the flying bug (full scale and model) and learned to fly on a Miss Martha....and has gone thru a progression of planes. He is now in college training to be a Professional Pilot and is flying a Piper Archer. Long and short is that you can't push one in... just point them in the right direction. As the proud Dad.. I've attached a couple of pics....

meowy84

Sounds good guys. I'm gonna try to guage my little guys proficiency and hunger to learn and we'll see what happens.

vicman

My Feedback: (10)

Get him an estes rocket. Build it togeather and let him paint it. Remember it isn't how high it goes, it's the fun you have in the process. I used to send them as high as I could but after having to explain that sometimes they end up in orbit I decided it was more fun for him to be able to watch the entire flight and maybe even catch the recovery. I use big chutes so they land slow.[sm=idea.gif]

Bipe Flyer

When I played with rockets, I liked to use streamers instead of a chute so that the rocket didn't fly away in the wind.

vicman

My Feedback: (10)

Aint it great how we have so many ways to have fun!

jessiej

I think the key is desire. If the child has a keen interest in the hobby that will be apparent. If not any efforts to introduce the youngster are doomed to failure, and we need to accept that fact early on.

I introduced my son to modeling via HLG, P-30, etc at an early age, but he never developed the "fire" of interest in model airplanes. OTOH, he is very interested in the history of armored vehicles (he has a Masters in history) and builds incredibly detailed models of armored vehicles, dioramas, etc.

Young people are often said to have "no patience" when we discuss the lack of youngsters in our hobby. I doubt this due to the number of young people who build the marvelously detailed scale models.

I began building model airplanes at around 6 or so, with no influence to do so other than having seen people flying controlliners. One of my great breakthroughs was learning that tissue could be shrunk by spraying with water.

I will say, however, that once I started my modeling "career" my parents were supportive in every way. While I had to work to provide funds for materials, my father provided transportation to contests, encouragement , and enthusiasm. (He also supported my competitive shooting.)

In summary, I would say that we can support the interests of our children, and perhaps steer them toward our own interests, but the final choice is their own, and any attempt to force them is a mistake.

jess

MikeSell

My Feedback: (2)

I was seven when my father quite unexpectedly arrived with a small control line "gas" airplane. He had almost as much problem starting it as I did. Although it scared me at first I very quickly learned to start and tune it. I would go to the closest cul-de-sac and fly without adult help. I would start and tune all the neighborhood kids planes. If they had problems flying I would fly their planes for them. The majority of my childhood flying was done before 10 years old.
My son decided that he wanted to pilot "real air planes" when he was about 12. I bought him a control line craft and tried to put it in the air. By 13 he had a .40 size high wing. By 14 he built his first balsa four channel R/C plane and started his flight training in a 1947 Tailorcraft. By 15 he was flying weekly at the local airport and was paid by adults to build their models. By 16 he had soloed the Tailorcraft and was scratch building models for competetion. He has passed all the flying and written flying tests for his licence, been the lead builder and Pilot on an SAE aerodesign competetion team and is a sophomore college engineering student.
I started flying models again with my son. My love of the hobby was revived and I will continue on. Our relationship and conversations revolve around our trips to the field and information we learn. I hope it turns out as well for you.

blackbaron

My Feedback: (92)

My son is 4 years old and is absolutely bananas over my airplanes. I talks about them constantly and loves to be around them. I have Real Flight G2 and he loves to play on it. He's not cordinated enough to fly anything for more than 10 seconds but he will play for hour on that thing. I would suggest starting there until proficiency has gained then try him out on the real thing.
That is my plan. I still have my trainer just a battery charge away from going back into service.

meowy84

Hey Vicman, I swear you kidnapped my kid 'cause my little guy looks almost exactly like that blond rascal in your pics. lol

vicman

My Feedback: (10)

Meyow, you and I must look alike then cause my guy is a "Mini Me" I get the craziest looks when I tell people we got lucky when we adopted him from asia and he looked so much like me.[sm=bananahead.gif]

Blackbaron, two words. Buddy Box.

meowy84

LOL Vicman, that's good, I should try that.