Getting Wife Buy-In on PPL

[KitCarson]

I've spent a long time lurking on these boards, dreaming about the day when I might finally be able to pursue a pilot's license. Like a lot of you, I grew up around planes and airports and have wanted to fly recreationally for as long as I can remember. Financially, that's now possible. But with one young child in the mix already and another on the way in several months, my wife views learning to fly for fun, and the time involved, as neglecting my responsibilities as a father. (In better news, she's not that worried about the safety of it.)

I'm not crazy/dumb enough to start taking lessons with a newborn in the house, but this is still something I'd like to pursue in the next few years, and my wife has said she's open to changing her mind. That's where you come in: if you've balanced pursuing/maintaining a recreational* PPL with work and a young family, I'd love to hear from you. How do you make it work? How did you sell the benefits to your spouse? Do those benefits even exist?

Alternatively, if the answer is, "Your goal isn't realistic until you've got kids in college," do please share that too. Not the answer I want to hear, but my wife and kids are more important than flying, and I want to be sensible.

*By recreational, I mean you got your PPL for fun, not to advance a career goal.

 

[PeterNSteinmetz]

One more thing to think about that has been hinted at but not stated explicitly. Being a good father also entails setting a good example of how one pursues one’s aspirations in life. If it truly is a dream of yours to learn to fly and important to you, I would argue it sets a bad example to children to just give that up.

Delaying perhaps until the children are no longer infants requiring constant care seems reasonable, but don’t put it off forever.

My 2 cents worth.