I Knew I Wanted to Fly When............

[MooneyMitch]

Airplanes were one of my first vivid memories in life.  Probably around 3 to 4 years of age.  My Father would take me out to the end of the runway at Tulsa, Ok. airport.  We would sit on the hood of our car and watch the big American Airlines DC-6's fly over us for landing!  I knew from those moments that I would someday fly my own airplane. 

[jax88]

When I took that "penny a pound" ride in the front seat of an open cockpit bi-plane that would come around once a year.  I must have been 8 or 9.

[Vref]

When I saw gliders thermalling above our house at the end of the sixties when I was 4 or 5. Seeing my father coming home in his military flying suite and crawling into an ALII helicopter putting on his flying helmet as a kid did help too....;-)))...I did the same this year with my sons 4 and 6 jeeeeeeeeee....what did I dooo...;-))

[Immelman]

My dad would take me down to Kona airport when I was maybe 5 years old and there was a cargo operation flying DC-3s. Seeing those radials come to life did something to me. Being in Hawaii, going to see family on other islands meant flying and I always looked forward to it. Many fond memories of riding in YS-11s on now-defunct Mid Pacific Air.

I remember telling my dad I wanted to be the 'baggage man' when I was younger, because I thought the little cars they drove around were cool. It wasn't until maybe 10 yrs old or so when they had me take an intro ride in a 172 that I got the seed more firmly planted.

BTW, interesting fact, my father told me my first words as a baby were 'landing gear'. Neither of my parents is a pilot!

[fantom]

For as long as I can remember....

My brother was sure I was a reincarnated WW II or Korean War pilot who had bought the farm before his time. He never mentioned what side I was fighting for.

[Ned Gravel]

For as long as I can remember too........

When I was in grade 6 or 7, I would go to the library and lose myself in the section numbered 629 under the Dewey Decimal System.  There was a time when I could quote the page number of many of the aircraft listed in Janes All the World's Aircraft for years 1966 and 1967.  What a Geek!!!

Now I am a 57 year old dude living the dream of a 10 year old boy.  How cool is that?? 

 

 

[MooneyMitch]

"Now I am a 57 year old dude living the dream of a 10 year old boy.  How cool is that??"

Very cool indeed!!

[mooneygirl]

I grew up in an "aviation" family as my father was a trainer in the Army Air Corp.  He flew at Rankin Field in Tulare, CA with the likes of Tex Rankin and Sammy Mason.  He met my mother on a blind date, and took her for a ride in the Stearman.  When she was able to tolerate some aerobatics, he decided she was the girl for him.  When I came along in 1962 by Dad and brother had already rebuilt a Champ.  Later we had a Bellanca, then onto the M20C in the mid-70s.  I grew up going to airport days with my parents.  Every year we would fly across country to Indiana to see the Lucas side of the family.  That was in the days before headsets. And as well, we would often times fly from California up to the Seattle area.  I remember flying into Tulare, my Dad started letting me make radio calls "N6619U on base runway 31 Tulare".  My Dad used to land and then say "another successful flight of Haywire Airlines".  My father used the utmost care in deciding when to take his family in the airplane, what routing, weather and we never flew at night.  He is and will always be a hero to me. He served our country, he instilled in me the love of aviation and he is very proud of the aviatrix I have become.

[scottfromiowa]

Always loved aviation.  My dad was NOT a pilot, but a scale model builder and aviation artist as well as EAA supporter.  When we moved to Oconomowoc, WI. (my wife daughter and I) in late 90's I picked out my dentist by seeing him leaning on a P-51D prop.(in local free paper article)  Turns out Jim Michaels had a late war Mustang and a T6 (Canadian version) based in nearby Watertown.  We would talk flying as his office was filled with Robert Taylor WWII aviation prints...He asked me to go up and appologized that his P-51 was down, but his T-6 was available.  We took off from Watertown and flew over Horicon Marsh at 150 knots 50 feet off the deck...Blue Huron, ducks, geese peeling out in response to our "fly-by".  We flew up to Oshkosh and landed at a seaplane charter.  Father and two sons took folks up to Canada.  Dad had flown as a flight officer (enlisted) in P-51's during WWII and had a P-51 outside with chalks.  The plane was made up in his wartime birds markings.  Jim asked him to come up and he balked initially due to the differences in cruise.  Michaels said he did it all the time and he could throttle up...After a VERY QUICK pre-flight we were taxing out for departure.  I was looking rearward from the T-6 as the P-51 s turned...we did a formation take-off and flew in formation over Lake Winnebago.  We went inverted and flew on P-51's wing for a while...P-51 waved and dove we did a loop with a quarter turn at the top so I was inverted looking at the P-51 dive down at the lake...Jim then asked me to take the stick and stear us toward Watertown...THAT is when I KNEW I NEEDED to learn to fly.

[lahso]

I was born, at government expense, on a Military airport.  OK, to be more exact, in the hospital of a Military airfield.   When I was whelped, my dad already had over 3000 hours in single engine fighters.  All his buddies were pilots.  I didn't know any boys whose dads were not pilots before I was about 14.   Isn't everyone a pilot?

 

 

[HopePilot]

My dad was in WWII and strafed twice (once by the Allies and once by the Axis), before being injured by a "buzz bomb."  On the last day of the war he saw his first jet, an Me-262.  We used to go to a lot of air shows, but pilots seemed very exotic.  Karen and I have been to Alaska three times and we have always taken flight seeing tours in single engine GA planes.  One time, while staying in an Alaskan bush pilot community (Talkeetna), we took a particularly amazing flight through the Alaskan Range to see Mt. Mckinley.  The pilot who took us on this amazing journey was very young, and just an average sort of fellow.  I though, "If this guy can do it...I bet I could too!"  One day, several years later, a fever came over me for no particular reason.  I started looking into whether it was worth it to fly, but it didn't seem like a rational decision.  I had figured out how much it actually costs, and that I wouldn't be getting there much faster in the types of planes I would probably be flying (i.e. Cessna 172).  Still, I couldn't shake the disease.  Then, one day, even as I was weighing all these matters, I was called into a friend's office to meet a space shuttle astronaut, Commander Herrington (this was before I became a teacher).  He spent a great deal of his time, telling me what it was like to be in the shuttle, what re-entry was like, and about being the first Native American astronaut.  I shyly told him I was thinking about taking flying lessons.  A profound change came over his demeanor.  With a wistful look he told me how much he loved flying his small plane in Oklahoma.  He signed a picture wishing me luck with my lessons.  It was the "sign" I had been looking for.  The next day I called a local flight school.  When an astronaut taps you to fly, you pick up the baton and run.

In an odd twist of fate, Karen was urged to start flying lessons by Wally Funk, who could have been the first woman in space, except for an unfortunate turn of history, but that's another story... 

[RJBrown]

Always

 

As a small child in church the programs became airplanes.

a nickle was a balsa glider.

a dime bought the one with a prop.

plastic models filled the sky in my bedroom.

As a cub scout I sold Christmas cards off the back of the Boy's Life magazine to get a Cox PT19 trainer.

First job with a paycheck was at a hobby shop to pay my U-control habit. It paid 75 cents an hour, I was in 8th grade.

Radio control came later when I could afford it. Still have dozens of planes that only collect dust since I started flying for real.

Still just a boy with a toy! It's just better toys as I get older and can spend more.

The old saw " you can tell the age of the boy by the price of the toy" applies to me and things that fly.

As a child in bed I dreamed I could fly, no machine just me soaring through the sky.

[Jeff_S]

I grew up in Wichita, watching F4s and B-52s, and later B1s fly out of McConnell AFB, and driving by the Beechcraft Factory almost daily. Olive Beech was a family friend. (Cessna was on the other side of town so I didn't see it as much...maybe why I've always preferred low-wing planes!) Who can forget Pappy Boyington on Black Sheep Squadron? To this day, the F4U Corsair is my favorite WWII airplane although a P51 only loses by one rotation of a propellor blade.

I tried to get into the Navy AOCS after college but even though I passed all my tests, they noted flat feet on the physical exam. Given that Top Gun had just come out, and every red-blooded aviation wannabe was in the recruiting office with me, that was enough to cancel me out. So instead I taught skiing for a few years (actually great training for flying, as it too teaches the concepts of maintaining control in three dimensional space) and ended up in business.

But I guess that gave me the funds to get back to aviation eventually. The dream was always there. It took a copy of X-Plane as a Christmas present, and a colleague/mentor with a 172 and a big heart, to get me to my first lesson. The rest was fueled by 100LL!

[Bob]

Many of you have pretty cool starts.  Enjoyed hearing them!

I never dreamed of flying.  Took lessons while working, away from home, in Watertown, WI in 2001.  At 39.5 hrs, My instructor said I needed 2 more hrs of Instrument and was ready for the checkride.  Got married, had a daughter, didn't fly again until 2009.  Got back in and needed 28 hrs to get back to proper levels for my checkride.  Many people have a "bucket list".  At 43ys old, I do as well, but mine is empty.  I was given a quote in my early 20's:  “Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.”  I think about this often and everytime I have an item on my "list".  I think this is why my list is empty!

[Parker_Woodruff]

Always liked stuff with engines and being outdoors.

Took an intro flight in a brand new Cessna 172S (38 hours on it) when I was almost 15 years old and flew once a month till I could solo.  I thought that thing was so powerful as it pulled us down the runway.

Soloed a couple weeks late due to weather.  Skipped high school Prom to take my Private Checkride on my 17th birthday my junior year.

Ok, so I was scared to ask a girl out...but the first part sounds better.  Figured $300 was better spent on an FAA examiner.

[Barry]

I wanted to fly as soon as I was aware of flying. Finally, pulled the money together to learn in 1976. 63 years old and still flying. I want to live forever ... so far, so good   )

[skyking]

I was also born into it.

I was born in Scotland and both my grandfathers flew spits in WWII.

My dad was military ( he was a guard at Buckinham palace) and yes he worn one of those funny hats ( a busby) and i joined the air cadets at 13. Got my pilots liscense before my drivers permit! and have never looked back.

Since i was 16 i believe i have gone no longer than 6 months without owning a plane of some sort.

[DaV8or]

My background is a contrast to those here. Nobody in my family was ever a pilot. I never knew any pilots. We never went to the airport, except a very rare air show growing up. My parents are very frugal, so we almost never traveled by air. My uncle joined the Army with the desire to be a pilot, but in the first few hours of training he was terrified and quit. My Grandfather's best friend built a Pietenpol Aircamper back in the Depression, flew it once I think, nearly killed himself with it and gave up. He did later become a career A&P for the airlines though. Only met the man once I think when he was retired.

That's the extent of aviation in my family.

I think the first model I ever built was a A7 Corsair II jet when I was 5. I think I still have it. I loved models and built a lot more planes that I hung on my ceiling, but really, I liked cars and trains better. I had the Cox PT19 trainer and built a few balsa and dope control line planes too. RC was way to expensive back then for me. I ended up scratch building my own glider out of styrofoam that flew really well. Learned a bit about basic flight from that. However, I was just into everything that had a motor and airplanes were more a curiosity and of historical interest than a real passion. That was cars for me.

When I was about to graduate from High School, the recuiters came calling and I considered the Airforce because I thought it would be cool to fly. I needed glasses, so that was out. I assumed the same was true for GA, so that was the end of my thoughts of flying... for a while. I wasn't crushed or anything, just not an option for me I thought. Oh well, back out to the garage and back to the engine swap on my Thunderbird.

Fast forward almost two decades and I had moved to the San Francisco Bay Area while a lot of my friends and family still lived back in Santa Barbara. I found myself making the 360 mile trip up and down the 101 a lot. One day I was visting my best friend in Camarrillo and we went out to the airport cafe for lunch. I was amazed that we were allowed to just walk amongst the airplanes! My friend told me that he really wanted to get his PPL and suggested that I get mine too and we could go through the process together. He had done the research and found out a bit of what it took to get a PPL and got me intrigued. He told me about the AOPA "Be a Pilot" program and the cheap into flight for I think $35.

I thought that traveling and commuting by airplane would be pretty cool, so I took the bait, got up the courage and went down to KOAK and got my intro flight. I was hooked. I started lessons almost immediately. In the end, I got my PPL, IR and nearly my CPL. My best friend, who got me started, never got past the intro flight. We did both just attend Oshkosh together though as a celebration of being friends for 40 years. He still wants to fly, but sadly, I'm not sure he's cut out to be a pilot. Maybe he'll prove me wrong one day.

I have yet to realize the dream of traveling or commuting by airplane though. I have done a bit, but my wife doesn't like flying, the weather is unperdictable and really does cost a heap o' cash to go somewhere. The fact that I finally bought my own plane tells me though, I haven't given up in spite of all I know about flying now.

[1964-M20E]

My first flight in an airplane ride was in 1979 I was a cadet in the CAP.  I was really excited and I actually got to fly the plane.  As I moved on into my older teen years my interests changed.  When I was in college I was at a cross roads of what to do with my life.  Progress on my degree seemed to be stagnant.  I went to the counselor’s took some tests and low and behold the military showed up as an option.  I joined the AFROTC and decided I wanted to be an Air Force Pilot.  I obtained my private pilot’s license to give myself an edge in the competition for a pilot slot.  I was rejected by the Air Force on the medical.  My dreams were crushed but I still had my license and I obtained my degree in engineering.  I continued to fly for about 7 years even rejoined CAP as a senior member but about the time my son was born I stopped flying.  Fast forward 14 years and I have jumped back into flying all the way.  At the beginning of the year I got with an instructor to get current and signed off on a BFR.  I bought my first airplane in May of this year, a Mooney M20E.  I have been using it to go here and there trying to incorporate flying to conventions, meetings for work and just for fun.

[Piloto]

I was motivated on flying by watching the Superman TV series of the 1950s. I though the secret was on the cape so I put on a large towel and jumped from bed and other high places with no luck. I even glued the Superman logo on the Corn Flakes boxes to the cape but no luck. I began to suspect that Superman was a fake. What a disapointment!!

José 

[Skybrd]

I wanted to be a pilot because of my Dad's interest in aviation. He was a WWII pilot and kept his interest in flying after the war. I went with him to the airport almost every weekend to check out what was happening and the local airplanes. I knew the names and models of most of the planes and at times got to go for a ride. My Dad paid for some ground school and a few flight lessons when I was 14. I didn't get the bug to finish my pilots license until years later when I bought a 1953 Piper Tripacer. the story about this is at http://www.douglass-eng.com/fly.htm  . Its been over 37 years since I got my pilots license and I still like to fly. I presently own 3 planes: Wittman W-8 Tailwind, an open cockpit plane called "The Green Hornet" with a VW powered engine and a M20E Mooney. The Tailwind and Hornet pictures are http://www.douglass-eng.com/tailwind.htm  and http://www.douglass-eng.com/hornet.htm 

Flying to me is like driving a three dimension car. It sure gives us a good view as we look down. I don't know why everybody doesn't want to fly.

[DaV8or]

Always liked airplanes, but not my first love. No one in my family flies and had zero experience in single engine planes. Didn't really know I wanted to fly until after my intro flight during the old AOPA "Be a Pilot" program that offered discounted intro flights. One flight and I was hooked.

[thinwing]

I was real young ,infact first memory was of dad flying me and sisters arround.Later he was stationed at elemendorf afb anchorage ak.He and a buddy went partners on n1070h..an aronca sedan (ac15)powered by a mighty continental 145 hp.It was based at 6mi lake on the base and was on wheels spring/floats summer/wheels fall/skis winter.Dad would fly us kids to the ymca camp at kingslake..thought it was pretty cool and I would steer the plane even though I couldnt see out the window...we than moved back to calif and dad sold the plane to his partner who stayed in ak and later lost n1070h in a takeoff accident.Dad only occasionally flew than with my uncles tripacer and later a maule.than it was junior high ,high school,college,dental school with my only real connection with avation was radio cotrol models.the seed was planted though and my first paycheck went for flying lessons and later a disassembled stinson voyager....kelly p couch..