This weekend Adam and I met up with the AOTF crew and csstricker and his family for a fun weekend of flying, hotsprings, rock climbing, and camping at Ibex in central Utah. It was one of best flying trips I've ever had. Adam and I had a great time! Thanks everyone!!

Here are a few pics. I'll do a full trip report in the near future.


Adam is excited to be going camping. The plane was a bit empty without the rest of the family.


Crater Hot Springs


Ibex


Noreen getting ready to climb.


Adam all geared and chalked up for his turn to climb.


Carey making the climb.


Airplane bowling


Sunset over Ibex and Notch Peak.


Sunrise over camp at Ibex.


Morning at Ibex.


Allen, Adam, Noreen, Chuck and me in a very loaded C205 on our way home.

A video of some of the flying we did.

Looks like a fun trip you guys had!

I'm unclear on how everybody ended up in the 205?

GSP, Why do you have Adam sit in the back seat instead of the copilot seat? When it is just me and my daughter I always put her in the right seat; just wondering if there is a reason and if I should rethink what I am doing.

Stan (the camera man) had to be back early the next day for a meeting, and we weren't willing to leave yet, so he stole our plane! Fortunately, Cory had room in the 205 for me, Noreen, Chuck and all of our gear. Man, you can really stuff a lot things into that 205.

Families that climb together, stay together!

Oh, and get Adam a proper harness!

Great trip report GSP. Adam is sure growing fast!

soyAnarchisto wrote:Families that climb together, stay together!

Oh, and get Adam a proper harness!

Are you meaning a BAS for the middle seats? I've never seen any installed there but wondered about it.

whee wrote:GSP, Why do you have Adam sit in the back seat instead of the copilot seat? When it is just me and my daughter I always put her in the right seat; just wondering if there is a reason and if I should rethink what I am doing.

Hey Whee,

A couple of years ago we let Adam sit up front and he loved it. He'd ask all the time and we'd occasionally give in even though it meant Dee sitting in the back if we were all together, which wasn't ideal if something happened to me. If it was just the two of us, I'd let him sit up front.

When we got the 205, his new seat became the fifth seat by the rear door since he is the most self sufficient, leaving the other two within arms reach to take care of. He has been content to be there playing his Nintendo, which sadly is what he looks forward to the most since he usually only gets to play it when we travel. So, when it's just the two of us, he wants to sit in his sister's seat because her purple headsets have an aux jack that I can plug his Nintendo into. That pumps the game sound right to him without me having to hear it. So he is happy.

For me, there is another overriding reason. My friend's 2 year old that was killed this summer was in the front seat. The backseat area was survivable. In some of the discussion afterwards, several people commented that they had not let there kids sit up front while they were young. That got me to thinking and since I've not pushed it and just let him sit in the middle row if he is content. I know it might not always work out that it is survivable space, but I can see there would be fewer things for him to impact.

FYI, even though the BAS is up front, it doesn't fit very well on the younger ones and I don't know how much help it would be.

So, that's the long answer to the why.

I meant he needs a properly sized climbing harness... It's clipped together by the gear loops and is about 20 sizes too big. And check that knot - he needs to be tied in with a figure 8 follow through, or a bowline. I hope he didn't climb with it this way?

If budget is an issue, you can always tie a simple "swiss seat" out of a few feet of webbing. Should cost you less than 10 bucks, but a good kids harness is 40-50$ and will last him a long time.

I love to see kids and families climbing together. Flying too. Thanks for the TR, I look forward to the full episode of AOTF!

Grassstrippilot wrote:
Adam all geared and chalked up for his turn to climb.

amacbean wrote:Stan (the camera man) had to be back early the next day for a meeting, and we weren't willing to leave yet, so he stole our plane! Fortunately, Cory had room in the 205 for me, Noreen, Chuck and all of our gear. Man, you can really stuff a lot things into that 205.

...and still get off the ground!

About the climbing harness for Adam - it was more than sufficient for the "climbing" he did. He got about 3 feet up the wall and that's where he wanted to stop. It was more for the photo op of him climbing with the gear on than for real climbing. Cory, nor the rest of us, would have let him try climbing the wall without the proper sized harness or knots.

Ah, good. I figured as much. It was a long time before my son would get more than 10 feet off the ground. Fun times!

amacbean wrote:About the climbing harness for Adam - it was more than sufficient for the "climbing" he did. He got about 3 feet up the wall and that's where he wanted to stop. It was more for the photo op of him climbing with the gear on than for real climbing. Cory, nor the rest of us, would have let him try climbing the wall without the proper sized harness or knots.

Thanks Allen. Yeah, I knew Adam would be done within 3 feet but feel like he climbed Everest! A photo op and him having a turn were the important things.

Grassstrippilot wrote:

whee wrote:GSP, Why do you have Adam sit in the back seat instead of the copilot seat? When it is just me and my daughter I always put her in the right seat; just wondering if there is a reason and if I should rethink what I am doing.

Hey Whee,

A couple of years ago we let Adam sit up front and he loved it. He'd ask all the time and we'd occasionally give in even though it meant Dee sitting in the back if we were all together, which wasn't ideal if something happened to me. If it was just the two of us, I'd let him sit up front.

When we got the 205, his new seat became the fifth seat by the rear door since he is the most self sufficient, leaving the other two within arms reach to take care of. He has been content to be there playing his Nintendo, which sadly is what he looks forward to the most since he usually only gets to play it when we travel. So, when it's just the two of us, he wants to sit in his sister's seat because her purple headsets have an aux jack that I can plug his Nintendo into. That pumps the game sound right to him without me having to hear it. So he is happy.

For me, there is another overriding reason. My friend's 2 year old that was killed this summer was in the front seat. The backseat area was survivable. In some of the discussion afterwards, several people commented that they had not let there kids sit up front while they were young. That got me to thinking and since I've not pushed it and just let him sit in the middle row if he is content. I know it might not always work out that it is survivable space, but I can see there would be fewer things for him to impact.

FYI, even though the BAS is up front, it doesn't fit very well on the younger ones and I don't know how much help it would be.

So, that's the long answer to the why.

Guess I need to rethink this. In the Luscombe I have no choice but in the new plane she could ride in the back seat. I always put her in a carseat so she has the harness that is built in to it. I figured she can't move much in the carseat so hitting stuff wasn't a concern but I never really considered whether or not the rear area would be more survivable in a crash.

Cessna did not put the belts in, but did provide the nut plate mounting on the frame for shoulder harnesses in the rear seats of many aircraft. Even the wannabe rear bench seat on my 180 has shoulder harness attach points. Had a couple back seat kids in a crash several years ago with lap belts only that suffered spinal injuries from being folded like tacos at impact. Know I talked about it then. Sorry for the repeat, but worth reminding when it comes to the "whys" of safety.
Thanks for the trip report!

I've updated this with a video of our flying. It is at the end of the original post. Enjoy!