What made you get into aviation?

[ready2fly]

I was ALWAYS fascinated by anything and everything aviation as a child. Like MTSUav8er says - I pretty much grew up telling everyone I was going to be a pilot one day.

Got sidetracked after high school and college because, by that time, I pretty much believed what I had been told growing up - that there was NO way to become an airline pilot unless you were a pilot in the military and - there was NO way to be a pilot in the military unless you had 20/20 (or better vision).

I started wearing glasses shortly after high school, so that was that.

Got into pre-law. Decided to wait to pay down my private college undergrad and become a paralegal to find out what kind of attorney I wanted to be... and found out that I did not want to be an attorney.

Fast forward to October 2001.

If 9/11 did anything for me it was convince me that I should go ahead and do the things I always wanted to do - which was get my "pilot's license".

While checking into lessons, I saw:

Private Certificate
Instrument Rating
Multi-Engine Rating
Commercial.....

"COMMERCIAL??? But wait - I thought.... (see above what I had been told my entire life).."

And there it was - my decision on what I wanted to do "when I grow up."

Pretty simple decision really.

Couldn't be happier.... well, I could.... and will be... when I'm getting PAID to fly!!

 

[TheWife]

These stories are all really good! I think someone should run a whole section of them in one of the flying mags! Steven that is really neat about you and your dad!

BTW-is there anyone here who does NOT have Top Gun memorized from start to end? Lol.

 

[ready2fly]

Negatory Ghostrider.

 

[naunga]

Pattern is full...

HA!

You know those posts that people start here from time to time, with one sentence like "once upon a time" and then other people continue the story. It would be kinda cool (and kinda lame all at once) to have someone start a thread with the first line from Top Gun and then go through the whole movie one line at a time.

Maybe not.

Naunga.

 

[kellwolf]

I'd have to give all of the credit (or blame I guess) to my dad, too. He wanted to go into the Air Force to be a pilot, but his eyes kept him out of it. He had pretty bad vision then, and now he has really bad cataracts. He was always really big into R/C aircraft, and I have a picture of me when I was like 3 with him and one of his planes. We used to live about 1/2 mile from Memphis Int'l, and we would always grab the scanner and drive over to watch the airplanes land and takeoff. We did that from the time I was about 3 or 4 until I left for college.

I talked to a couple of recruiters in the Navy and Air Force about going military, but number one boot camp scared the crap out of me and two I had inheirited my dad's poor vision. Well not AS poor as his, but not 20/20. So, I went to college as a theatre major, met my wife in the dorm I lived in, moved to Florida to work for Disney (don't EVER do that), got sick of theme parks after working at Disney, Islands of Adventure, and finally Sea World, then came back around to the pilot thing. Low and behold, I was living in the land of flight schools and never knew it.

 

[av8rmsu]

I have always been amazed by airplanes. My first plane ride was from ORD-MSP at seven weeks old. I don't remember it, but my mom has pictures. I lived in the southern 'burbs of Minneapolis-St. Paul and my family has always been good friends with some NWA people. It seemed like everyone around was a pilot or FA. Two houses down was an overseas FA, two houses down from her was a 747 FO, and the list goes on.

One guy was a 757 captain and his wife would take me to MSP to meet him before the flights and he would let me sit in the cockpit and put on the oxygen mask and all that good stuff ( this was in the late '80s)

.

Another friend was a chief mechanic for NWA and he took me into the hangars. Seeing those massive planes up close at about age 10 was absolutely breathtaking. That was something I will always remember...It still amazes me that they can actually get all those wires and stuff in the right order.

Anyhow...my dad got transfered to MS when I was 11, so we moved.

I was still always talking about being a pilot. My family traveled a lot. My dad always got free tickets from traveling so much, so we would go on at least two vacations each year. In other words, I was fortunate and flew a lot as a "kid"(I'm only 23). My parents have always been supportive and think it is a great profession. The summer after my sophmore year of college I went to China for a 2 months and on the flight home I asked myself, "Self, what the hell are you going to do when you grow up?"

How about fly airplanes like you have always wanted to do. I told my parents when I got home and they told me to get my private and see if that was what I really wanted to do...needless to say it was. They thought it was great and gave me the money to go to flight school. I can't complain

. I graduated college last May and now I am in flight school living a dream.

Kind of long and boring...sorry...I just get a little excited when I talk/type about it.

On a side note...It really saddens me to hear about people not supporting others in a career that is not the "norm". Even reading Doug's bio about how a teacher told him that he was basically nuts. I think these people are just jealous to the fact that there is actually something fun and interesting to do for a living...maybe not always a good living financially, but I believe it will always be a great living in terms of self-satisfaction. My brother and I have always been fortunate to have parents that support us no matter what our endeavors.

 

[mtsu_av8er]

[ QUOTE ]
Pattern is full...

HA!

You know those posts that people start here from time to time, with one sentence like "once upon a time" and then other people continue the story. It would be kinda cool (and kinda lame all at once) to have someone start a thread with the first line from Top Gun and then go through the whole movie one line at a time.

Maybe not.

Naunga.

[/ QUOTE ]

[Random officer walks into Combat information center, greeting sailors as he enters]

Officer : Morning, Scott.

Scott : Morning, Sir

Officer : Morning, Wells

Well, Morning, Sir.

Scene fades to controllers....


OK, OK...way too much time on my hands!!!

 

[shooter13]

My grandfather was a B29 pilot in WW2 but I don't think that is what got me into aviation. I just always wanted to fly. My parents lived a good distance apart so as a small kid I flew back and forth to visit. Then I just became your typically teenage geeky kid with all of the airplane pictures in his room. I took my first GA flight on my 16th birthday. I knew I was hooked. I spent my combined savings and chartered a flight for an hour for sightseeing. The weather was awful. There was a ridiculous crosswind but i loved every minute of that flight. I took my dad with me and he was green in the back seat while I was smiling from ear to ear. All through high school I knew I wanted to be a commercial pilot. (In truth I wanted to be a pilot in the Air Force flying F111's or A10's but my eyes didn't cooperate.) After high school I started college but some personal issues occurred and I ended up enlisted in the Navy. Those issues resolved themselves a few years ago and I decided when my obligation to the navy was satisfied I was going to be a commercial pilot. When I met my wife, I told her what I wanted to do. It took her a little time to decide if she could accept the lifestyle but she is now onboard 110%. A while back I started thinking of maybe continuing my naval career but she laid the kybosh on that line of thinking and told me I will go be a pilot because she knows I won’t be happy doing anything else..

 

[H46Bubba]

I'm a Navy brat from birth. I've been into aviation since I was a toddler. We flew to Long Beach a lot to visit my grandparents. My grandmother worked for North American later Rockwell and retired from McDonnell Douglas. She's worked on almost every space craft. Her last was the shuttle Endeavor. While she was at MD she worked on the MD-11 and then the C-17. My grandfather built R/C planes in the garage. Of course Top Gun came out and was a big influence.

When my Dad went back to active duty, we moved back out to CA. We got a house right down the street from NAS Miramar. I think my friends and I rode our bikes to the base everyday to go watch the jets. I was very lucky to have my bedroom window positioned towards the base. The best was when the Blues would come for the airshow and I could just sit in my room and watch them practice and perform. I knew I wanted to be a fighter pilot.

When I didn't get accepted to the Naval Academy, and just barely missed NROTC scholorship, I just went to comm. college and started to work on an aviation degree. I was lucky to find a job working as a ramp rat for American Airlines at SAN. It was a blast!

My father convinced me to look into flying on the enlisted side of the military. I first went to the Air Force, they didn't look too promising. I then went to the Army looking to get into the WOFT. I was hooked on that program. Just before I go down to get all my paperwork signed, they changed a requirement to the program. The told me that since I din't have my A.A. degree that I was no longer eligible for the program. I went to the Navy and they hooked me up with a guranteed spot as an enlisted aircrewman. Signed on the dotted line, swore my oath and off I went.

I was an H-46 crewman for three years and after getting downed by medical for good, changed over to aviation supply, which I continue to do today.

After transferring back to San Diego from Norfolk, I ran into a friend who was a CFI. He convinced me that I still could be a pilot and get to the Majors the civilian route. I went out and got my Private. In three weeks, were off to DCA to fish up the rest of my training.

 

[EatSleepFly]

[ QUOTE ]
What made you get into aviation?

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't ever remember a time that I didn't want to fly. My dad's cousin was an A-10 and F-16 jockey in the ANG, so I guess that was part of it. Some of it came from living near an airport, and watching the crop dusters (came from a big farming area). My parents used to take my brothers and I down to the road at the approach end of the local airport when we were little to watch the planes take off and land. I would say that was probably the biggest thing that motivated me. My dad always said that once I became an instructor, I had to teach him how to fly. I'd really like to get the chance to do that, but I live too far away right now...maybe someday.

 

[rausda27]

I cant remember my first thought or desire to be a pilot, but I do know it was when I was very young. As a kid I would build aircraft models, read all the books I could on Aviation (Highly recommend Roald Dahls "Going Solo" for any young aspiring aviator) and basically immerse myself in as much aviation related material as possible.

My entire famiuly is from the UK so I would spend every summer there as a child. I used to sit in my grandmothers backyard all day wathcing aircraft on approach to Heathrow. I would record the aircraft type and airline in a scrapbook I had, dutifully sitting there with a pair of binoculars and a bunch of colored markers.( A color coding system was devised, unfortunatley the legend long lost) Every once and a while a British Airways Tri-star captain who lived across the street would sit with me and we would talk about flying, it seemed like the best job in the world.

I always planned on getting my pilots license one day and my wife was well aware of this. One day when she was at work (she is a recovery room nurse) she had a patient who was a Delta Captain recently diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer, who prognosis was not at all optimistic. She mentioned that her husband always wanted to be a pilot and actually started giving her advise on ways to become a career pilot. My wife took a few notes, came home and told me the story and I started looking. The pilot had mentioned FlightSafety and Embry Riddle, but since I already had a degree I decided to check out the academies in Florida, ultimately choosing FlightSafety. I gave up my position in Pharmaceutical Research in Boston, moved to FLorida with my wife and have'nt looked back since. My wife and I often reflect on the strange turn of events that led me to be where I am today, the chance envounter with a sick patient that got the ball rolling, the events of September 11th and the trials and tribulations of being a student pilot and CFI and wonder what is around the corner. I take it one day at a time and build my time one hour at a time, and I am loving every minute.

The thing that saddens me the most is that even if I was able to track that pilot who gave my wife the advice to thank him, he most probably did not survive the disease he was diagnosed with. Thats my story, more to come in a few more years....

 

[Eagle]

 

[Ophir]

Nice Staggerwing!

The DE out here just got one. Sweet plane.

Hey, do you know what a Cessna 195 would be like in terms of maintence and other costs?

 

[Tim]

I grew up around a small airport in south Georgia. My dad was an Customer Service Agent for Southern Airways. Back then there wasnt much secruity. They flew Martin 404's. I remember the tires for the main gears being as tall as I was. Those were the days.

 

[flyguy]

I've been interrested in airplanes as long as I can remember, but i never though about flying for a career until about my junior year in high school. My family had just got a new computer and with it came a copy of the original Microsoft Flight Simulator. I fiddled around with it and had so much fun, I started to wonder what it would be like to fly for a living. This was further enhanced when I had an oppritunity to fly a DC-10 simulator at United's training facility in Denver. That was just about the most exciting thing I had ever done, and I was hooked from then on. For financial reasons I didn't get a chance to fly any real planes until I began my PPL training about 3 weeks ago. So far flying has exceeded all of my expectations and I look forward to seeing what the future has in store for me.

 

[Phoenix_Son]

I'm not in it yet, but I'm on my way into aviation. I look at it a little differently - I don't have a favorite Boeing plane or a favorite fighter jet, and when I see Top Gun on TV, it doesn't hold my interest. I just think a career as a pilot would have enough variety in it to hold my interest for 30 years. It seems to have stages to it that require totally different skills sets, so to reach the majors would require well-rounded skills in many areas.
After we moved out here from NY when I was seven, we flew back there to visit every year for several years. I understood how airports and airlines worked, just not the planes themselves. I've always struggled with technical and mechanical things, so whenever Mom would ask 'why don't you study to become a pilot? You love to fly' I would just shrug the idea off. I didn't think I was smart enough.
Well, I got MS FlightSim 4.0 when I was in fifth grade, and learned to fly using the keyboard (since that version didn't support using the mouse). Since then, I've spent thousands of hours on that game, and still use just the number pad to fly and land. I like to think I'm quite good at it.
Anyway, towards the end of the spring 2002 semester (when I was still a music major, and was playing at a church at the time & hating it), I was playing the new MS FS 2002 Pro version I'd just gotten, and was enjoying it so much I didn't want to stop and finishing the composition I was writing for the upcoming year-end concert (for a class I was taking).
And it clicked - if I'd rather be doing this than writing music (and much rather than practicing the piano), why am I laboring to pass auditions for music schools? This is was what I want to do. But the industry was in such horrible shape at the time, I developed a very cautious, second-guessing view of the industry's job prospects.
My composition never did get performed. It was just too hard for the players I had to work with. One thing that has appealed to me about being a pilot is having control over the quality of your own work - not having to rely on other people's motivation levels to make your work look (or sound) good. I hope my expectations aren't unrealistic, and I hope the industry recovers enough to be ready for me soon.
Sorry for the rant. This was cathartic, though. Very good question.

 

[davetheflyer]

I had two pilots in my family. My dad was an inactive private pilot who told stories of landing his J3 Cub in farm fields. I also had a cousin who was retired military and later flew for American.

I grew up watching Black Sheep Squadron and Battlestar Galactica with my dad. We went to airshows a lot. By the time I graduated and left home I had approximately fifty model airplanes hanging from my ceiling ranging from a Spad to a Corsair to an F4 Phantom to an F16 to an F117.

I took my first lesson in high school and got my CFI halfway through college. I took my dad up several times (my mom too but she wasn't into it as much) and eventually did a BFR and Wings session with him.

When I started, I never dreamed that I'd be flying airliners one day.

 

[aloft]

[ QUOTE ]
I grew up watching Black Sheep Squadron and Battlestar Galactica with my dad.

[/ QUOTE ]Then you'll be thrilled to know that all 5 seasons of Battlestar Galactica were just released on DVD; Costco's selling the set for $70.

 

[davetheflyer]

Cool. But I think I'll wait for it go on sale.

 

[pkloop]

When I was young we would go and pick up my mom or dad from the airport (KMSP) and every time you'd drive past Ft Snelling was it? on the way into the airport there would be jets thundering right over the cars to land. I always though that was the coolest thing. Geeky I know. Had the flying bug since then and can now afford to do it. And hopefully one day will be the one at the controls of one of those jets. Even though I'm only flying the cessna now I still think its the coolest thing to be on final right over the highway to land! Yup I'm a geek