alarkyokie

My Dad had a friend that flew a Piper out of northern Oklahoma to Wichita
on Saturday nights late to pick up the Sunday newspapers (bundles).
Dad loved to fly,even though he ran out of money before he got his PPL
in the late '30's.
He would set me on his lap in the right seat,and off we'd go in the starry Midwest night! I even got to hold the stick and feel the up/down control
I could induce.
When I was getting my training, my instructor put Dad in the right seat,
and once off the runway, Dad flew like he'd never been out of a plane!
Even after 40 years, the "feel" was still there,even though he'd never
flown anything but a stick and the Cesna had it's yoke..
My love of flying came from my father!

kansas

Mom gave Dad a plane ride for a father's day present one year, my sister and I got to go along for a bumpy ride in the August heat...I hated it!

Two years later (ripe age of 9), went on a boy scout trip to the same airport to talk to an instructor and look at a plane...for some reason it felt a lot different, and I decided it was what I wanted to do.

bobloblaw

An Army helicopter made an emergency landing at my elementary school when I was 17...I mean 7 years old. I spent an hour, or our if you believe my first comment, talking to the pilot. I moved to Baltimore City when I was 15 and started working for a helicopter tour company. I relayed my desire to fly helicopters to the pilot and he told me to get my airplane licenses first. At 18 I earned the FW private. The road to the private was a long road and my parents refused to pay for my training. I started a tractor trailer driving career which helped me pay for subsequent licenses.

18 years later I earned my CFI/CFII/MEI and in Jan, 2007 started working for Eagle as an EMB F/O. The good news is I am totally paid for. That road was difficult and it took perserverence to complete.

Sioux39

For as long as I've been alive my uncle has been an airline pilot and got the bug from him. Also I lived not far from Palwaukee airport in Wheeling, IL so from when I was really little I had airplanes flying over my house.

HerkFCC

Being a(n) FE on the Herks, back in the day. Buzzing along at FL200 one day sitting in the seat, right above the clouds and watching the sun set. That and flying low levels in that thing at treetop level at 300 knots yankin' and bankin'. I was hooked from there...didn't want to do anything esle after that as an occupation but fly.

Planespotta

Must have something to do with the blood in me. One of my uncles is a pilot and the other an astronaut with five flights under his belt. I loved reading aviation books when I was a kid (pretty much all I did during elementary school ), and my greatest joy as a youngster was playing Flight Unlimited (the first version, with just the Pitts, Extra, Sukhoi, Decathlon, and Grob). My joystick broke, so I had to use the keyboard, but that didn't stop me. Anyways, I've always been addicted to flying, and, aside from a brief period when my dad (himself a doctor, but not a surgeon) convinced me that I wanted to be an orthopedic surgeon (haha, was that short-lived), I've only ever wanted to become an airline pilot. My dream is just starting to come true as I begin lessons!

FlyArmy

My dad always took us to airshows and to KIAH to watch planes when we were little. During baseball games growing up I would be staring at them as they would come in also...pretty much have always loved everything flying. Had every version of Microsoft flight sim since FS4. Uncle/cousin were both AF pilots, but I decided to go the Army route. Any job where I got paid to fly was great (tried doing it out of pocket and that was kind of expensive).

It's weird, in army aviation, flying isn't so much of a passion as it is a job for a lot of the people. I was riding w/ my roommate today on post and they had some thing where they brought in lots of helos onto our parade field and were giving rides for $25 or something in a huey. I made him go drive by so I could see everything (it was kind of out of our way) and he made the comment "I can't see you having any job outside of aviation, for me this is a job, but you live for this kind of stuff." That about sums it up.

andy171773

Ever since top gun, i've always wanted to grease up and play volleyball. Thankfully i get to live my dream every day.

I'll never lose that loving feeling.

Ewfflyer

Kinda like yours, except it was my grandpa, and we'd go to Rally's, get some good greasy fries and a burger, then go to MIE to watch planes and listen in on the scanner to the communications. We'd also built 2 RC planes together and flew them. I have a 3rd I'm going to build this winter and suprise my grandpa with it.

HercDriver130

My dad flew F-86 fighters during the Korean war, F-100's, later flew F-105's during Vietnam. He took me flying in a Cessna 310 when I was about 10 and it just sorta grew from there. Started flying at 16, the guy who soloed me was Bill Martindale, he was a retired airline guy who flew P-51's in WWII, then got my PPL at 18. then only flew off and on during college. then on to UPT in 1985. oh..plus I had a uncle who was an AF pilot as well. Then my brother broke the mold and was a career Navy Pilot flying helo's from 1980-2000.