Vintage Instructor THE
BY Steve Krog, CFI
Flying is a family affair I recently had the distinct pleasure of flying with two individuals who have truly inspired me. They are a father and son who began taking flight lessons together about a month ago. Jordan, the 16-year-old son, approached his father, Ben, early in the summer and mentioned that he would really like to learn to fly. No one else on either side of the family is a pilot nor has a career in anything aviationrelated. The interest in and urge to fly is something Jordan developed on his own. When Jordan made his father aware of his interests, his father gave it some thought before responding. It got him thinking about flying airplanes. Then he realized that he, too, had a passion for learning to fly but had always put the thought out of his mind, as no one around him expressed an interest in aviation. Now that he had a 16-year-old son showing interest, he let his imagination take over, allowing the desire to rise to the surface. After some thought Ben talked with Jordan, and they agreed on a plan. If Jordan was going to learn to fly, so was Dad! He feared that his son might change his mind. We all know (and most of us have experienced) that from the age of 14 to about 25, we think of our dad as “dumber than a box of rocks.” I know I went through that phase, but about the time I reached my mid-20s I realized my dad was a lot smarter than I had ever given him credit for. In later years before my dad passed, I used to kid him a lot about having gone to night school while I was away seeking fame and fortune, because he was so much smarter than when I had left home at age 17. Ben and Jordan’s relationship was on much better footing, but still Ben didn’t want his son to either feel like he was competing with him or trying to be a good buddy rather than a father. Jordan had no problem with his father wanting to learn to fly. In fact, it is working quite well. When Ben and Jordan came to me and expressed their interest in learning to fly, it brought a smile to my face. After spending a little time one-on-one with each of them, it was apparent that both had a strong desire to master flight. Flight lessons began. Jordan would fly in the late afternoon, and Ben would fly after work. I’m not sure who 4 OCTOBER 2012
was enjoying the challenges of flight more. The weather was cooperative, and the flight schedule allowed them to progress at about the same rate. Each and every flight was sheer pleasure for me as both were eager to learn, but Ben was a bit more talkative. He would frequently comment during a lesson about the beauty and wonderment of flying an airplane. Ben has stated a number of times that he wished he had pursued his dream of learning to fly 20 years earlier.