Flight Training - November/December 2022 - 40

Nathan Ballard introduced his son, Jack, to flying relatively young, but they didn't start training in earnest until closer to Jack's high school graduation. Nathan kept the
training structured and formal as a way to normalize the experience for Jack, who went from right-seat passenger in 2017 to private pilot this year.
started encouraging him with casual instruction on trips, and they
would talk about flying at home or to and from running errands.
Things gradually became more formal until later in high school,
when Greg realized they were at a crossroads. Austin loved to fly
and was good at it, but he wasn't putting in the studying to get over
the finish line.
CFI Nathan Ballard recently finished teaching his son, Jack,
and he had the same experience. Jack was in high school and
flying well, but not regularly enough and not with the determination
it takes to finish the course. Before Jack's freshman
and pressure to finish Austin's training course, and father and
son maintained their relationship. " I didn't want to poison this
beautiful thing we'd done together, " Greg said.
Ballard, who from the beginning trained Jack as he would
any other student, decided to take the patient approach and
wait for his student to be ready to learn. After his freshman
year Jack came home, studied, flew often, and passed
his checkride.
But while Brown's approach was all about playing the long
game, planting the seed, and then nurturing the relationship,
I PUT MY KIDS IN THE FRONT, LET THEM GUIDE ME WITH THEIR INTEREST, AND REMAIN
READY IF AND WHEN THEY SAY THEY WANT TO LEARN.
year at college, he soloed, and Nathan came up with a plan for
him to finish before the fall semester began. But Jack had other
priorities. " Once he went to school, he realized he missed an
opportunity, " Nathan said.
Both Brown and Ballard had to continually balance the
complex web of parent, coach, mentor, and flight instructor. For
Brown it meant not pushing Austin, and working with a flight
school to have him finish. The school applied the necessary rigor
Ballard attacked the course more formally. Partly, that's because
he had taken a break from flying when his children were young,
so they didn't have the opportunity to be as widely exposed. But
it's also because Nathan believed that Jack was going to be most
successful if he were treated the same as everyone else. " I was
a coach when my kids were little, " he said. " I learned back then
that if you treat your kids differently than everyone else, it's not
a good experience. " So, while they naturally discussed flying at
Greg Brown taught his son, Austin, to fly, but the pair agreed that a finish-up program was best to get him through the checkride. A few years later it was Austin's turn
to teach his dad a few things about the Air Force's T-6.
40 FLIGHT TRAINING NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2022

Flight Training - November/December 2022

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