To not let DH take DD hang gliding

[poppycock6]

She's 5. He's planning to do it on hol and has told DD she can go up with him. Obviously, she wants to do it and apparently, they allow it from 4yrs of age. I've said no way and as he knows the risks but she doesn't! Am I being mean?

Quite apart from my immediate reaction of over my dead body, I would be looking for a host of other fun things to do that would be a great alternative. I bet your holiday insurance won't cover that sort of activity, will you be in the EU?

Is he very experienced?

If its a casual hobby I wouldn't want mine going up but if it's been a long term passion and he's experienced then she's his DD too (assumption, apologies if wrong) and I can understand him wanting her to know about his 'thing'.

I'd do it.

Abseiling and bungee jumping were far more fun than I expected. Being young, she'll be much less afraid.

Make sure your insurance covers it and you are doing it at a reputable place, though

At age 5? Not A Chance.

No not aged 5, at that age they're too unpredicable.

She might be all up for it before, but she doesn't truly understand what it will be like does she. There's every chance she could completely flip when up in the air and I don't have much knowledge of these things, but I can't imagine a screaming, wriggling? child is going to be particularly safe, and you can't land straight away can you.

Age 7/8ish I'd be willing to reconsider. I'm not risk averse but I honestly don't think that would be a good idea!

Need more info I think.

Is your DH an experienced hang glider?

Would DD be on the same hang glider as DH? Not sure if that is even possible, but I know you can do parachuting that way.

More questions may come to mind later.

Both of our children rode horses for many years and that is supposed to be a very dangerous sport, so I may not be the best person to comment.

Thanks for replies. No he's never done it before so zero experience. It will be in the U.S. I wouldn't be a good mum if I didn't protect her from this so he'll have to sulk about it and she'll have to cry but at least she'll be alive!

Fireside, yes it would be on the same one as him.

Me and DP are quite devil may care and we've both agreed we would definitely not take ds hang gliding at 5 years old.

Thanks Broken. I'm a bit annoyed really that he thinks it's okay to take the risk.

Oh god no, definitely not if he's never done it before! Will the place even allow that?

I don't see how he could take her. If he has never done it before presumably DH will be going tandem with another instructor. I very much doubt another instructor would be comfortable taking dd.

He doesn't understand why it might be a problem to take a 5 year old hundreds of meters up in the air with no experience, and the fact they'll probably be scared witless? It's not like it's something on the ground you can get off quickly if you don't like it!

Are you SURE that he's actually allowed to do this and hasn't misread somewhere?

OK, thanks for the update.

Our children (now all grown up now) have been canoeing, mountain climbing and regularly jumped fences on huge horses. Probably loads of other things too, but can't remember them all just now. We were happy for our children to take some calculated risks.

No way would I have let them try hang gliding with a complete novice. Like Remote has already said, would this even be allowed? Madness!

Another no here too .

I did abseiling , climbing , canoeing etc with my dad from a young age but he was very experienced . Is he sure they would really let a complete beginner go up with a small child ?

Surely the idea would be that they would be in tandem with an instructor .

i wouldn't let my children do it, nor anything particularly dangerous tbh (i know people will say that i shouldn't wrap them in cotton wool but pooh and plop to them, it's my choice)

Stupid man! At 5 and potentially frightened, how on earth does he think she will be able to follow the VITAL safety instructions?

He's never done it before himself?! Absolutely no way

its the fact he is a novice, what on earth is he thinking? he wont be allowed a solo flight immediately never mind a tandem with a 5 year old.

No way.

My dh is a paragliding instructor - very experienced. BHPA state that you can't solo fly until 14......I can't remember what age tandam flights are allowed. Either 10 or 12 maybe.

USA won't be covered by BHPA but I can't believe a reputable organisation would let a kid fly at 5yo. There must be a USA hang gliding organisation and I'd have thought they have a higher age than 5yo.

I find it very hard to believe that this would be allowed. I think you'll find, that in the UK anyway, she wouldn't even be allowed on "high ropes" in a mountain centre, let alone hang gliding!

Not when he's a novice, no way. I did scrambling/experienced hiking at a young age with my dad but he was experienced and there's no way he would have taken me anywhere I wasn't old/mature enough to manage safely.

I'm very surprised any company would let a 5 year old go anyway. Most places I've seen have age limits of about 12 for that kind of thing, so it doesn't seem like the company is very safe/reputable...

Reputable firms like this seem to say 18plus even for a tandem flight.

www.eaglesnesthanggliding.com/about/

I'd be concerned about the training/experience/safety of a company that would agree to take a 5yo.

And as a novice he wouldn't be allowed to take a tandem passenger up surely?

So he'd have to do some tandem flights, then solo flights.

But in the UK having a tandem licence takes some doing, a lot of experience and extra exams. In fact dh doesn't even currently have a tandem licence.....mainly because he's not bothered about having one.

So your dd would have to go up with a stranger.....one of their staff. How would they handle her if she freaked out?

I let my DS up in a microlight when he was two with his very experienced dad but there is absolutely no chance I'd be allowing this