No she was not. Strictly a passenger.

A young lady took her first ride. Was super excited, the experience of her life .... at the moment, up to that point.
Pilot let her out and neglected to shut down the engine, or have a responsible assistant walk her to safety.
She walked right into the spinning (invisible) prop.
Nearly killed her. She lost one arm and removed half of her face.
Never assume anything.
Be responsible, take every precaution.

In 1986 I had the chance to learn to fly and did, it wasn't easy or cheap even then with work and a family. I was lucky enough to make a living and fly for 31 years before retirement. If I remember right with my private license, commercial and instrument ended up around $ 20,000 even back then.

If your son has the desire it might be a great opportunity for him

Ther are young eagle flights kids can go on for free. He may be a little old for them but it worth checking out.

In our area there is a flight club called the 702 flight club. It's ran by the youth they had 3 plans last time I was down there. They get the plane and simulator time for free and only u have to pay for fuel and the instructors. My daughter was worj on her private license and planing on working up to a commercial pilot when she had to stop due to the loss of her right arm after getting shot. Now she has had a full recovery but change towards cardiac sonography or nursing. I was disappointed but it her life to live not mine.

Flight school to get your co commercial pilots license a few years ago was listed at about 89,000. Expensive but after about 5 to 10 years pilots make a pretty good income. Especially if they can get on at work for someone like UPS

neighbour 14 year old went through military Cadets gliding school and continued into flight school from there
flies med vacs now out of the artic
making big buck....s

at 22 he could even join the Air force or train to be a commercial pilot

sounds like a good experience , is he married , flying and marriage seems to be an issue for many, but single small apartment , used car and lots of money on a plane

flying old planes is big here where I live we have people who retire here because it is the cheapest place in the US as I understand it to have a hanger.

when my wife was working at the co-op she could order people Aero-Shell products and they ordered a bunch some of them lived in AZ but flew up here for their summer residence to work on their planes and do all the big fly in pancake breakfasts and such.

If you score well enough on the ASBAV I think 110 you can goe into the army as a Warren officer and get directly into flying rotary Wing or just helicopters. Is the only way you can fly in the military without being a commissioned officer from my understanding. That's it you want to go into the military

they used to have flight schools for enlisted where they could take training at a discount not sure if they have that any more if he is mechanically inclined being a aviation mechanic pays decent and puts you around planes and often flying them even if you fly them as a hobby

I had a uncle who was a aviation mechanic supervisor for US air he later went to Alaska air , he flew on his own in small planes but they went al over the place flying standby as employees. My aunt divorced him but flying wasn't the reason.

another uncle, Great uncle Bobby got his start private , then built a plane then went sea plane school and was a seaplane pilot maybe still is although he should be retired he must be 70 , with grandma not having family reunions in a bunch of years I haven't seen uncle Bobby

my dad and uncle bobby were in ground school together in the 80s

Another avenue is to join up with your local CAP (Civil Air Patrol).
Used to do a lot of flying for free. Modern equipment too ! And gliders.
CFI was in our wing and provided instruction as well.
At the time, all you had to buy was the gas.
It is a bit like military tho, lotta hoops to jump through.

He’s not a fan of wokeness, so the military is a no go.

Sounds like a great idea Hobbie

Getting his FAA Part 107 License (UAS Pilot) may be an affordable first step.

Oshkosh is amazing. Tell him to try it out......jk