As a kid flying as an unaccompinied minor with my brother on TWA. If my memory serves me correctly it was a DC-10, I only remember it having two isles and 4 lavs in the back, and more seats then I had ever seen on airplane. We were brought onboard prior to the boarding process and let in the cockpit (I dont think they had flightdecks in the 70's...lol) with the pilots, prior to the flight. Im sure I talked their ears off..... That was way cool... My Grandpa, one Aunt, one Uncle and Dad, all private pilots, non instrument rated.

 

A low number in the 1969 draft lottery.

Actually, that just gave me a legitimate excuse to join the USAF, which I'd wanted to do ever since seeing this picture 12 years earlier:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...-1234S-001.jpg

 

star wars!

 

First, my parents bought me Flight Unlimited and a joystick when I was 5, and nothing has thrilled me more than controlling an airplane since then. Second, my uncle was an astronaut and a great man who inspired my love for aviation. Third, family trips to Jamaica as a kid. I have many vivid memories of walking off chartered Tristars onto the sunny ramp at Montego Bay and looking down at the Caribbean Sea from my window seat, and not so many vivid memories from the resorts we stayed at.

 

Grew up in the flight path of BOI. Would sit for hours and watch all the planes coming in and going out. It was the F-4's from Gowen Field that sank the hook in me. I joined the AF, figured if I couldn't fly em, I'd fix em. Well I've fix them for 20 years and now I'm flying and loving it.

 

It was cheap, I was bored.

 

Growing up near Marine Corps Airstation Beaufort (NBC)
F4s, A4s, and AV-8s, (now Hornets). I could tell what was flying overhead based on the engine noise.

Also going to airshows at NBC and CHS.

 

I grew up near an AF base and one of my childhood memories was being terrified at age five by a B-52 on static display. I climbed up into it anyway on that rainy day and it opened a whole world up for me. Spent a lot of lazy afternoons watching F-105s, B-52s and F-4s land at the local AF base. My Mother would drive us out there , no doubt to get us out of the house for a while.
Got to fly GA with friends and family at an early age. I liked the sound and the speed. I found it difficult to decide what to do during my school years. I found that I had a tendency towards "Lawsickness" and philosophy didn't provide any meaningful handles. I happened to come across the notion that when building a weapon, an aircraft, a building or a bridge that there was little room for vague notions of what was right. I enjoyed this idea and I enjoy flying some of Man's most beautiful creations in one of natures most beautiful environments.

If you can ignore or avoid the many ups and downs of the business it is a great way to make a living and a very nice way to live.

I eventually flew those F-4s and served as a pilot in two branches of the military, and still wander the globe with a childlike sense of awe. It has been very good.

 

Grew up near the ATL airport and was surrounded by men who flew in WWII. Mentors before anyone came up with the idea of mentors.

ATL at that time also had its own version of corrosion corner and a freight ramp. It was awesome. No fences and no one stopping you. Different time but more often than not the only restriction was "Kid.. don't flip any of the switches" and I could climb in and out of just about anything on the field. We had a couple of outfits retrofitting Mustangs and Corsairs for second careers. I could sit in the cockpit of a refurbished P-51 or F4U.

You could get up close and in airplanes then.

 

Saw an AF recruiting poster while eating lunch on campus. Glad I didn't blow off classes that day.