Son wants to help...but with what?

ChiefPilot · #1 10-07-2006, 09:34 PM

Today, my oldest son (7 yrs) asked if he could help me work on my airplane. I'm happy, and confused as well. I think it'd be cool as beans to have him help, but on the other hand I'm not sure of any tasks he could manage without hurting himself or the plane or both.

What have some of you all done with children wanting to help? Any suggestions?

N941WR · #2 10-07-2006, 09:49 PM

Start him with the simple stuff, like deburing holes by hand.

How about installing and removing clecos? That would have been a big help back before everything was riveted together.

Having him there to help would be so cool. Time spent together now will pay off in a big way in the coming years.

jdmunzell · #3 10-07-2006, 10:05 PM

Funny you should ask about this. I have a 10 and a 6 yr old who both want to help with the airplane. I would love to include them, but like you not sure exactly where. My 6 yr. old daughter likes working with the deburring tools, so I have let her work on some scrap aluminum. I clip the sharp 90 degree edges so it is not dangerous for her. I then let her deburr the edges along with some holes I've drilled.

For 6 yrs. old, she does a great job deburring!

Perhaps getting one of those Vans Toolboxes for the young ones to learn metalworking. They can be working on that while you are working on the plane. A little training like that could go a long way towards building confidence in themselves, as well as in you in their abilities to actually do something airplane related.

Maybe have them start by doing some of the mundane chores we all hate....like deburring stiffeners' edges and drilled holes. Something where if the part gets screwed up, it is not a huge deal to fabricate another one! Maybe spending the time to scuff up a part prior to priming....all sorts of little odd jobs of the like.

fehdxl · #4 10-07-2006, 10:33 PM

My 8-yr old son helps with:
- clecos (pneumatic easier than pliars for little hands). Also, once the holes are final sized, the clecos go in and out much easier for him.
- works the lever on the DRDT-2 dimpler
- sqeezing rivits with me using the pneumatic sqeezah,
- measuring that the shop heads of every rivet are within spec with Clear Air's tool gage. (Sure, once the sqeezah is set I don't need to measure every one, but he likes it and it keeps him busy)
- counting out the number of rivits I need and putting them in the hole just before riveting
- cutting out the paper templates for the foam blocks in the -10 elevator/trim tab
- deburring holes with me with the Cogsdill tool
- match drilling holes with me

All in all, he comes and goes while I'm in the shop. I figure if I make him help me, it won't work out. Of course when he wants to help, I go out of my way to let him do something. In fact, just tonight he wanted to help with the priming. We got out the extra respirator, tightened it up, got a good seal, and he held the parts steady while I sprayed.

FWIW, I put the small Mickey Mouse TV he got from his grandma a couple years ago in the shop. I figure having him out there with me is half the battle. That way when he's tired of helping, he can watch a little TV until he's ready to help again.

Best,

Jim

OneCharlieKilo · #5 10-07-2006, 11:44 PM

I've been working on my RV-6A for 10+ years (getting close to done) and have 3 kids: girls ages 16 & 10, and a 13 year old son. All have helped at one time or another when I needed a third hand but the youngest two are the ones that used to ask if they could help and I'd usually have them install/remove clecos or help hold skins, etc in place while I clamped or taped prior to measuring, drilling, etc (I know, more modern builders don't have to do that anymore) - things took a little longer but it was worth the extra time to have them involved for a while because sooner or later they get older or bored with it and quit asking.

The youngest went through a phase during the fuselage "upside down canoe" stage where she was always wanting to help but too young to really do anything useful (couldn't grip the cleco pliers). So I gave her a Sharpie and the mechanics creeper to get under the fuselage and told her I needed the inside skins decorated. All the "family portraits", black rainbows, trees, dogs, hearts, and "I love you"s are all still there for review when the empennage fairing or baggage compartment bulkhead is removed for maintenance or inspection - most are upside down since they were drawn when the fuselage was in the jig, but we're both still proud to show them off! I did eventually clean and paint over pictures in the cockpit area.

Lot's of ways to get them involved if they want to, but I did find that giving them sandpaper and asking them to sand rib or skin edges wasn't a good way to keep them around the shop...they got bored real quick with that and wanted to do the "fun" stuff.

Good luck!
Chris
RV-6A

Jekyll · #6 10-08-2006, 12:12 AM

There's always something to be done inside the tail boom

I've got a short, slight, aircraft building buddy who is always ready and willing to crawl inside my tail boom when something needs to be done in there.

Seriously, I wish I could have started this when my son and daughter were home. Grown and gone and I'm missing what could have been some truely quality time with them. Speaking as an empy nester, involve them everywhere you possible can. Every minute you spend in the shop with them will add immeasurable to your happiness and thiers, now and for the rest of your lives. I would even recommend allowing the shared experience slow the build if necessary to gain the life-long benefits.

I work on a group building project in my local EAA chapter and we have a father and son in our group, mid seventuies and early fifties, that still share a passion they shared when the son was a boy. I can't think of a nicer way to live.

Jekyll

pierre smith · #7 10-08-2006, 06:46 AM

Jekyll hit the nail on the head.......it's such a great opportunity for some real quality time. I too, am now an empty nester with a 25 year old son who still hugs me everytime he and the new wife visit....tears and all.

6 and 7 year olds fit nicely in the tailcone and can buck rivets like crazy. It only takes 5-10 minutes of practice on some scrap in the vise with you shooting and them bucking. I laid a 1 X 12 piece of wood in the botton of the fuselage to lie on.

They'll lie down in there and run wires all the way to the tail and then silicone them in place.........lotsa uses for the kids.

(Especially under the instrument panel!!)
Regards,

rv8guy · #8 10-08-2006, 07:05 AM

somewhere out there is a PA-16 with a weird shaped patch under the stabilizer that my 6 year old "helped" me with, and then he grew up and bucked almose all the rivets wih me on the -8, and he crawled in the tail to back rivet the fuse.

Bottom Line -- anything, clecoes, deburr, hand squeeze with some help. Take some scrap and make a Christmas ornament-you'd be amazed.

Also a great time to learn shop sfety--they love glasses, ear muffs etc.

Watch out, pretty soon they know more than you do!!

Rick6a · #9 10-08-2006, 07:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChiefPilot

Today, my oldest son (7 yrs) asked if he could help me work on my airplane.......Any suggestions?

If your son is strong enough to simply hold a bucking bar firmly against a skin, you can back-rivet a hugh amount of the airframe. There are special cushioned gloves specifically designed for bucking but short of that you might want to fit him with a pair of soft gloves while he holds the bucking bar. Experiment of some scrap/test pieces first to see how you both work as a team.

jim · #10 10-08-2006, 07:27 AM

This year at Oshkosh I volunteered at KidVenture on the riveting projects for a couple days. I was amazed at how well most of the kids did. They were not "allowed" to drill but they could shoot or buck rivets. Most did a great job. There was one kid about 8 years old that was just a natural, I didn't even need to be there for him. You could tell with how he handled tools that it all just made perfect sense to him. That was fun! Get the kids involved!