Two Fathers, Two Sons
My father wants to start flying....I dont know how to handle this. He wants to buy an airplane, train for licenses, and then use it on his weekly commute (4+hours) drive. I would like to teach him, but is that a conflict of interest? Like a Dr working on a family member? What kind of things are big points to look at when buying an airplane (Like a 1970's 172).
I only know two pairs of people that have done things like this, and one of them doesn't really apply.
One is a father and son who, when the son (age 23 and just finished college) does a lesson the dad just often tags along. Sits in the back on some dual XCs, sits in the right seat of the Warrior when Jr. is building some PIC XC time. This works out just fine because dad at his airline job doesn't fly a whole lot, and what flying he does is 100% long haul from JFK to one of three airports, so he loves to do some GA flying again. Plus, dad has less than a clue as to what the new airspace classes are such as class A, B, C, etc. and thus he feels like he has no right to suggest much more to his son other than very general things he remembers from his CFI days 30 years ago.
The other pair was different. Dad was a TWA captain at the time and son was in his late teenage years, and they were starting from zero hours with dad as CFI. Dad described it this way: "Like anything a dad tries to teach to his son at that age, this plan failed miserably, so we both thought it'd be a great idea for him to just go to Flight Safety and get his ratings there." Ha. So, this family member combo did not work out as well.
With all that said you are not in the same position as either of these two pairs. You are the younger one, plus, neither of you are in the rebellious years of your life so I don't think it would be a problem at all if you taught your dad how to fly. Just treat him like you'd treat any other student!