MIDDLETOWN, Rhode Island — A 12-year-old from Middletown has returned from a flying competition in Iowa with the Top Gun trophy.

WPRI-TV reports (bit.ly/13CuNGi ) Alex Bowley won the competition at the Fly-In in Clinton Iowa over more than 50 adult pilots.

Officials say he is the youngest pilot ever to win the prize.

Bowley is too young to have a pilot's licence, so pilot Graeme Smith sat next to him during the contest.

But the fifth grader did the flying. Smith says Bowley also flew most of the 2,400 miles to and from Iowa.

Bowley's father, Chris, says his son's passion for flying began with visits to Newport's airport when he was 2-years-old. He says he expects his son will make his first solo flight before he gets a driver's license.

Wait is this model or real, because i am 12 and have my model licence and like him I fly real planes just with someone next to me. I flew a spitfire and a Trojan on the weekend.

Mr.DIG,

Check the link.
Maybe you can do it next year.

Paul

Digby wrote: Wait is this model or real, because i am 12 and have my model licence and like him I fly real planes just with someone next to me. I flew a spitfire and a Trojan on the weekend.

Cool Digby...I hope to start my flying lessons soon...I can't wait...

I can't handle heights or flying something that can get me killed. I just could not bare the responsibility of a task like that.

Allied wrote: I can't handle heights or flying something that can get me killed. I just could not bare the responsibility of a task like that.

There is no sensation of height when you fly.

Life will get you killed. LIVE IT!

Paul Mantz, Jr. wrote: MIDDLETOWN, Rhode Island — A 12-year-old from Middletown has returned from a flying competition in Iowa with the Top Gun trophy.

WPRI-TV reports (bit.ly/13CuNGi ) Alex Bowley won the competition at the Fly-In in Clinton Iowa over more than 50 adult pilots.

Officials say he is the youngest pilot ever to win the prize.

Bowley is too young to have a pilot's licence, so pilot Graeme Smith sat next to him during the contest.

But the fifth grader did the flying. Smith says Bowley also flew most of the 2,400 miles to and from Iowa.

Bowley's father, Chris, says his son's passion for flying began with visits to Newport's airport when he was 2-years-old. He says he expects his son will make his first solo flight before he gets a driver's license.

the pArents of this kid really need to take a good look at themselves for letting their child fly at that age, remember a few years ago the young girl trying to fly round America , killed her and co pilot. Trying to beat some record. My son is 4 loves going past airport , passion , parental stupidity really .!

While I respect your opinion and would never question your parenting skills, was my father stupid for allowing me to fly at 6?

I've lived to be an old man with uncountable hours acting like a bird. I have lived my childhood dream.

I love my dad for that.

He was a wise man.
Cantankerous? Yes.
Strict? Yes.
Stupid? I think not.

If your son likes the planes take him flying. It's a wonderful bonding, memory maker.
Of which, I wish the two of you an infinite supply.

If 13 year old little Dent wanted to fly, Break a record I'd back her 100%. She is probably more capable than her 46 year old Dad.
I'm very open with little Dent, I can't believe some to the thing's I hear that go on these day's with 13 year olds..... They learn these thing's from Us, Their parent's....
I just hope little Dent can enjoy the same Freedom's and successes that I've had in my Adult life...
P.S. : I spoil her rotten... Am I a bad parent?......

My 10 yr old daughter and I jump horses. Yeah, there are safer things to do, and also more dangerous ones. If she ever got seriously hurt from riding, I would of course feel horrible, but I hope I would be able to rejoice in the full life I was able to help support (of which riding is only a part). The life lessons are worth a lot.

A fellow rider broke her arm playing field hockey. Go figure. Another mashed her ankle badly when hurdling a fence; not on a horse, just her on her feet.

We wear helmets in our activity, and it's all baby steps as far as building skills. We don't do cross country eventing (a la Christopher Reeves), and most of the focus is on horse care and horsemanship. When she is old enough, she will draw her own lines, but right now the lines and tradeoffs are up to us, her parents.

By the way, that's not a slam on Chris Reeves. He was a guy who liked to push his own limits, who drew his own lines a little differently. More power to him. If memory serves, he was an avid pilot too. A real celebrater of life wherever it took him.

Manfred

Speaking of planes that I saw a Fokker Dr.1 for sale on EBay once. That thing sold quick. I thought it was pretty cool.

Cool
A real Fokker D1 how nuch did it sell for?

I don't remember but I estimate around 100K. Really cool replica.

Heff006 wrote: the pArents of this kid really need to take a good look at themselves for letting their child fly at that age, remember a few years ago the young girl trying to fly round America , killed her and co pilot. Trying to beat some record. My son is 4 loves going past airport , passion , parental stupidity really .!

Heff does bring up a good point however. We never know the effect of underlying circumstances 100%, but the case of Jessica Dubroff's attempt to fly across the USA is a good one to read about. Despite my leanings in other aviation cases, the best source of facts in this case is the NTSB accident report. This article appears to contain excerpts from that report (wish I could find the official report, but I think this is close):
www.avweb.com/news/safety/183036-1.html

My own reaction to this report (yours may differ):
- High pressure record-setting is fraught with temptations to ignore safety warning signs, and should be handled only by professionals who've done it before (this P.I.C. was a competent pilot but not experienced enough to resist the pressures of a stressful itinerary)
- If it becomes anything at all about ME (the parent), step off because it can't be healthy any more. This report stops short of blaming the father for the pressure to take off that fateful day, because the evidence isn't there... but we can all learn a lesson regardless. The man did set up events so that there was much at stake if they didn't take off that morning.
- And from a piloting angle (and this extends to other activities as well): Pre-flight and pre-takeoff checklists are Golden and should NEVER be missed. Even in a rush. Especially in a rush. Just try not to be in a rush when it's about Safety.

Manfred