How did you find aviation?

[cowman]

Not necessarily who mentored you or helped you get to where you are. Just, what first put this in your head as an idea you wanted to pursue?

I have an expectation but maybe I'm wrong...

 

[luvflyin]

Not necessarily who mentored you or helped you get to where you are. Just, what first put this in your head as an idea you wanted to pursue?

I have an expectation but maybe I'm wrong...

Expectation of what? What the majority will be? Right now it's me. 100% exposed in the military

 

[Salty]

I’ve just always been fascinated by flight.

 

[Rgbeard]

When I was two years old, my dad quickly became a half-owner of a Cessna 120, and had to get his PPL.

Several airplanes later, in the mid-80s, he got his Turbo Lance, which was only recently sold.

Growing up as a kid, I figured everyone had an airplane. It was simply a part of day-to-day life.

A year or so ago, my wife got an idea to point this out to me, saying: Do you realize, you've been around aviation for more than half a century?

At the moment she said that, I realized I'm an old fart.

 

[Jim K]

One of our landlords got into airplanes back in the '60's, and had an airstrip on the farm. He took me up in a tri-pacer when I was about 5 and the hook was set. I had maybe half a dozen rides over the next 10 years, but he moved full time to Florida and the plane (now an experimental powered glider) went too.

It was always in the back of my mind, but I never thought I could afford it. A few years ago I was noodling around online and came across a forum (which was almost certainly POA, but I don't really remember) and was reading about costs and found out about clubs and part 61 training. I realized it might be doable. As it happened I had a roughly 10k windfall around that time, and the club I'm still a member of was in the process of buying a plane at my local airport. It was like the stars aligned. Joined the club, found a CFI, loved it even more than I expected. The only thing better than riding in an airplane is flying it.

 

[Bell206]

Space race. I grew up, looking up. But since the piloting side didn't appeal as much as the wrenching side did, figured there weren't too many space-bound Gemini or Apollo mechanics so pursued the next best thing, helicopters.

 

[ktup-flyer]

None of my family flies, but I grew up around corporate aviation. Guess I just gravitated towards it for some reason.

 

[Bob Noel]

Always been a space nut.

And to seal the deal....a friend of my father took me for a XC flight when I was 14.

 

[asicer]

When I was in middle school, a friend's dad had a Cessna and told stories of the places they would go. One day they invited me to join them on a 250nm night flight to pick up someone and explained the training along the way. Prior to that, I had never thought about being a pilot.

 

[midlifeflyer]

Sky King.

 

[WannFly]

Back as a i kid I wanted to be a commercial pilot and push a lot of buttons. That never happened growing up in india and having a prescription glass at 16. So when I finally got a chance to go up in the sky and push buttons for no reason, I just couldn’t give up the opportunity.

 

[cowman]

Expectation of what? What the majority will be? Right now it's me. 100% exposed in the military

That most of us probably had a friend or family connection.

In my case, the real idea came from my father. He used to tell stories about having flown a Cessna 180 out of our cow pasture. Unfortunately he had medical issues and sold it/quit before I was born but that planted the idea as something I could do. Much later in life I was working somewhere that took me a 5-8hr drive from most of my family and offered scant time off. Then we took a commercial flight- I like the flying part of that a lot(hated the rest) but it got me thinking and googling. I ended up here and now I'm a pilot with an airplane.

 

[Mtns2Skies]

Flight simulator

 

[Dana]

Was out in the canoe with Dad and met a guy running an R/C model boat. I was 8 years old or so and was absolutely enraptured. Dad got interested enough to build one, mentioned it to his friend who turned out to be into R/C airplanes, so we got heavily into that. Then Dad gave me a copy of Richard Bach's Biplane, and that was it for me.

 

[Morgan3820]

Farmer John, the flying farmer when I was 5, in a TriPacer. Flew over the house with a no doubt anxious mother waving from the back deck. When we invite the youth into our experiences, you never know what will grow. Thank you, Farmer John.

 

[saracelica]

My husband grew up around planes. He got his certificate and wanted me to at least do pinch hitter. That's all it took for me to know more about it.

Not current anymore due to getting distracted with other hobbies

 

[AKBill]

Space race. I grew up, looking up. But since the piloting side didn't appeal as much as the wrenching side did, figured there weren't too many space-bound Gemini or Apollo mechanics so pursued the next best thing, helicopters.

Sounded like I wrote it. Navy working on T-2's, A-4's and P-3's. Finally got a job that paid enough to afford flying lessons. That was in the mid 90's..

 

[Ken Whitson]

I guess I was/am permanently afflicted with the flying bug.

My saga:
-Started my flight training when I was 6 years old - upside down lawn chairs
-First real-world flight as 11 y/o - DC-3 from Long Beach to Catalina Island
-First jet ride on the way to Navy boot camp
-Got accepted for flight training, but an Admiral decreed to me personally that it wasn't going to happen
-Hitched/hoofed it 7+ miles to a local airport while in Electronics training (I was going to show that Admiral how wrong he was; turns out he took no notice of my endeavors)
-Received my PPL in San Diego shortly before I went to WestPac for most of 4 years
-Afterwards, obtained my CPL, and instrument and glider ratings
-Became grounded in 1983
-Became un-grounded in 2017

 

[SkyChaser]

My dad didn't fly, but he loved anything related to military aviation or space flight, so I was exposed to it at an early age. However, I had no idea GA was a thing until my little brother was investigating the cropdusters that buzzed our house all summer and discovered that they offered flight lessons that anyone could take.

 

[Tools]

Watching the blue angels when I was 4.

 

[Spring Ford]

I found it overhead.

 

[Brad Z]

Since you’re asking mostly certificated pilots, I suspected the top answers would be close connections, ie family and friends. I bet the answer would be very different if you asked people showing up for a discovery flight or first lesson. I think folks who have been exposed to aviation by a friend or relative are 1) in similar social economic circumstances to the existing pilot, and 2) are better educated by that person of the costs and time associated with learning to fly. They might also have an “in” for access to planes and instructors, but at the end of the day, time and money are the biggest drivers.

 

[woywoyboy]

My grandfather and uncle were military pilots (RFC and RAF); my father’s friends included several military (RAF and RAAF) and GA pilots. Flying — military, commercial, or GA — was always in the air (sorry) for me back then; I don’t remember not wanting to be a pilot of some sort. One particular RAF pilot friend of my father's I remember lost his eyes and most of his face when his Hurricane landed on fire in the Battle of Britain and he couldn't get out; he was a big encouragement to the young me when it came to flying. I first flew in a small GA plane (a Cherokee out of Aeropelican, north of Sydney) when I was at most ten (and got to manipulate the controls for nearly thirty minutes cross country, perched on a large cushion in the right seat); I first looped in a plane (a glider) when I was not much older than that. I knew how VORs worked (electronically and conceptually) as a teenage nerd. But I didn't actually get a license (sorry, certificate) until decades later, for one reason or another, and never made any sort of living from it…

 

[geneseib]

Not necessarily who mentored you or helped you get to where you are. Just, what first put this in your head as an idea you wanted to pursue?

Going to job sites with a boss in his airplane. As a kid I was fascinated by planes used as crop sprayer and coyote spotters around the farm, but I didn't think it was something I would or could ever be involved in.

 

[eman1200]

no pilots in the family, no introduction to GA at all until my disco flight (I guess other than a few air shows). my parents used to ship me off to FLA to visit my grandparents when I was young. I was the kid with his face planted up to the window the entire time. loved every second of being on a plane. loved flying commercial. every time a plane went by I looked up. thought about what it would be like to learn. looked into it in jersey and it was way to expensive. years went by, I hadn't flown in a long time, thru most of college. then one year we decided to go to mardi gras. that is a whole other story. first year we drove, second year we were like hellz no and flew. the second the cabin doors closed I freaked out....shaking, sweating, freaking out kind of freaking out. from then on I had to, um, self medicate just to get on a plane. then I actually got meds from a doctor. then I was like holup, holup, no way. so I stopped with the meds. then when I moved to charlotte I was like that's it, imma learn how to fly so I'm never afraid to fly again. and that's all she wrote. it's still mandatory that I have a vodka and cranberry on every single commercial flight. if I don't, bad things will happen. and since I've had a vodka/cran on every flight and nothing has ever gone wrong, apparently that works. that's my story and I'm stickin to it.

 

[Stan Cooper]

Was I ever this skinny?

In 1962 I saw a Cessna 140 that had been converted to tricycle gear on the flight line at Lowry AFB when I was in tech school there and found out it belonged to the base aero club. After tech school I was stationed at Vandenberg AFB, CA and visited the VAFB aero club where I promptly signed up for lessons in February, 1964. I passed my private check ride on September 11, 1964.

 

[Zeldman]

10 years old and did not want to muck out horse stalls all my life.

 

[Pugs]

It's a progressive disease.

Grandfather was an Eastern pilot, Dad a PPL who said "too expensive" when the club Eurocoupe went to $8 and hour and grew up flying models.

The 13 years between retiring from the Navy and getting to GA was a sad period in my life.

 

[Southpaw]

1945 Dad bought a J-5 Piper from a friend.
We lived on a depression era farm. No electricity , no running water, cook stove doubled as house heater.
By 1948 mother decided we needed to move to town. Running water, electricity, separate floor heat for house , lawn and only a block from the school. Dad sold the Piper for a down payment on the house.
He never owned another aircraft other then RC. Models. He did keep his license current up till he came down with some health issues .
I started flying lessons in 1970 but never continued on. Finally in 2019 I decided at age 79 it was time to do it of forget it. Started lessons again in August of 2019. Bought a 1959 Cessna 172 in Dec. of 2019. Now have 122 hours and about ready for the private test. 81 now and am about to finish up and get the flight exam done.

 

[hindsight2020]

Outreach. Random Cub scout trip to the local intl airport (SJU). They passed down a couple ANG swag/posters of A-7s and F-16s. This was circa the time when they were making the transition out of slufs and into the block 15s. Falcon 3.0 gameplay later on during my teenage years, opened up the notion of flying fighters for a living, thus motivating the push to get my civil ratings in order to compete for an AFRC/ANG spot. Though I never got the opportunity to fly fighters for my home territory (BRAC'd before I could apply), that motivation was central to everything that happened to me vocationally and avocationally down the line. It is absolutely true that a single moment can change a lifetime. Cheers!

 

[Joe_B1]

Flying club in high school, my chemistry teacher had a Cherokee 140 and used to take us on short flights to local airports. That was 45 years ago and I have been flying ever since!

 

[Brad W]

As early as I can remember I was sitting behind a room fan, pretending it was a prop & yelling baaa into it to her the stuttering sound while pretending to control the airplane.... watching any show that had airplanes or helicopters. Never considered it would be something I could do..... you have to be good at math to be a pilot "they" would say.... (& my brain isn't wired for math). I grew up thinking it was out of my reach...only for rich people....but still always interested in airshows.
Then in a college I had a close friend whose dad was a Private Pilot. Never flew with him, or even saw his plane but it put the idea into perspective that regular folks do it to! Sadly a few years later he crashed that Mooney, scud running as I understand it, RIP Mr. S.
...probably about the time I was starting to take lessons.....which was the first thing I started doing after I got my 1st real job out of college....

 

[Passenger Lurk]

My dad had his PPL in the 60’s, and a Piper Cherokee. He used to take me with him when I was really young. When I was about 7, parents were getting divorced and the plane was gone and he quit flying. After high school my brother got his PPL, Instrument rating, and was into his Commercial, multi training. I used to go flying with him. Then life changed, and he gave that up. I’ve always hoped to be able to find the funds and time to get my PPL, but it’s never been in the cards.. Thanks to POA, and YouTube, it keeps me into aviation.

Now if I hit that Powerball tonight, I’ll be signing up for lessons and looking to buy a plane next week.

 

[Htaylor]

Sky King.

Penny.

 

[bkspero]

My 18 year old brother used money from his first job out of high school to pay for a night flight for him and 10 year old me out of Caldwell Wright (now Essex County/KCDW) airport. Seeing the lights, roads, and NYC skyline from 1500 ft was magical, and we were both hooked. Lessons started 12 years later as soon as I got my first regularly paying job.

 

[Tools]

So there I was...

11 yrs old, already had my life planned out to be a carrier pilot. Went to an air show in Kearney NE, specifically to see the blue angels perform. I lived in Norfolk VA from 1 to 6 yrs old and remember the blue angels vividly at the annual air show. We were close enough to the base to see much of the show from the back yard.

So at this show was a static display A-7. WOW. Had a set of stairs leading up and a LT there in a flight suit answering questions. WOO HOO! Get to meet a real live carrier pilot, my living hero.

I climb up, I’m smitten, he rebuffs me. I TRY to ask intelligent questions, but hell, I’m 11, that wasn’t working, he continued to rebuff me. I left pretty disappointed, and remember thinking that if I were ever so lucky to get to be him, I’m not gonna be like that...

And I wasn’t, still not. To date I’ve flown well over 200 young eagles, the vast majority having never flown before. And dozens of adults who have never been up in a small plane. The most recent less than a week ago. I did get feedback from from one of my young eagles, it was a few years later and he had his PPL and aspirations of becoming a professional pilot.

Other than dropping bombs, giving those rides is my favorite thing to do in a plane.

 

[Mxfarm]

By picking up rocks for a guy that liked to give kids rides. If I’d take 5 gallons of gas over, we’d go flying.

 

[John Pringle]

My great uncle was a bomber pilot in ww2 he was shot down 5 times over Europe and walked out under great duress each time. He never flew after he returned home but his stories were not something I could just set aside. And fortunately I’ve never had anyone want to shoot me out of the sky like he did.

 

[Everskyward]

My father was not a pilot, but was interested in airplanes. I remember going to Rhinebeck as a kid. He would also point out airplanes as they crossed over our house on the approach to Newark Airport. He died before I ever started taking lessons. My mom would sometimes tell me that he would have been happy that I became a pilot. Speaking of my mom, she told me that she met a patient at the VA Hospital where she worked, who was there because of an airplane accident. After he recovered, she went for a ride with him.

 

[Tarheelpilot]

No idea. I can not remember a time in my life without looking up and wanting to fly. I’ve never considered any other path.