If you’re a member of AIAA, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, you may be familiar with their current PR program. They’ve printed ads with pictures of little kids playing with toy airplanes, or in astronaut suits with model rockets. This is partly to inspire members to support the next generation, by reminding us that many in aviation and aerospace think of it as a calling and wouldn’t be happy doing anything else.
There’s some fine “testifying” on their site, but we obviously need some too. So, I ask you … when did *you * know?
For me, it came very early - we lived near an airport, and those big noisy flying things just beat trucks all to hell as an object of interest. It got locked in when we went to Florida by air - my first airplane ride, and I still remember it clearly even though I was only 3. DC-6, Eastern Airlines, Cleveland-Tampa, from snow to sun, and I couldn’t get enough. I wanted to go right back (I’d know better now).
Then came the space program, and all us kids getting herded into the school cafeteria to watch every launch on TV. Anybody had any questions, they’d ask the nerdy kid (hey, nerdiness was cool then!) who knew everything about it. Model rocket club came next, and we had a great time, leading right into engineering school and beyond. But only in the last couple of years did I finally get my pilot’s license, long after realizing I didn’t have the eyesight to make a living at it. My only complaint is that I finally got into the industry right when the Great Things era, when technology and its practitioners were admired and valued, was ending.
What’s your story? If it wasn’t a DC-6 ride, when did *you * know?
For me it was Sky King reruns in the late 50’s early 60’s (please don’t do the math) the Mercury program and Heinlein juveniles. I sooooooo wanted to be Penny or Podkayne. Got the degree, worked in the biz and for NASA, got my pilots license, just recently sold my plane. Could never qualify for astronaut training because of way bad eye-sight, rats.
My first plane ride was with a fellow college student in a Cessna 150. We took off, flew for 10 miles, landed at a grass strip, had a coke and flew back. w00t. I’ve had a few funny flying experiences. The most surreal was being dropped off on a ramp at ORD in the middle of the night and told to “just run towards those lights and don’t tell anyone who you came in with” after hitching a ride on a King Air. :eek:
I can’t remember not wanting to do it. I also can’t specifically remember my first aeroplane flight. I can remember certain key points I suppose. I remember flying with my uncle and some cousins and being allowed to sit on his lap and fly the plane (I would’ve been younger than 8 but I’m not really sure how old.) And I remember going for a proper flight with him when I was a teenager and doing circuits in a C180. Other than that, Top Gun went some way toward cementing the desire in my head.
Unlike some guys I know, I still love it, though I’ve not paid to do it for pleasure for over seven years. I get enough of a fix from work I guess.
There’s a huge pilot shortage looming here in Australia, we need all the young kids we can get, but I suspect many are realising it is not the job it used to be and would rather have a secure well paying job outside of aviation.
My bug started when I was maybe 7-9 years old or so…
I lived in south Florida when I was a little kid, and our town used old DC-3’s which had been converted into “mosquito bombers”. Early in the morning, round about sunrise, formations of 2-5 DC-3’s would come screaming over the houses, no more than a couple hundred feet overhead, spraying some (probably god-awful DNA-altering) mosquito control spray over the town, crisscrossing back and forth until the whole town and nearby outlying areas were treated. As a little kid, I used to get up a little earlier than I needed to for school, stand outside, and wait for the “bombers” to fly overhead. The low rumble of those old round engines resonated in my chest, and just recollecting the memory still gives me a little flutter. That sight and sound is still one of the coolest damn things I can remember. (I did try to get inside before getting coated in bug spray, though).
-that probably explains a lot of what’s wrong with me, huh.
I tried pursuing a different career, as I didn’t think aviation was very practical for a woman. It sucked me back in, I’ve been chasing the dream for about ten years now, and I haven’t regretted it one bit. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.
I can’t remember when, it just seems like I was always fascinated by airplanes. Especially WWII stuff and modern fighters. I do remember my 5th Grade math teacher remarking that I should be an engineer, since I was good at math. That’s when I decided I wanted to be an Aerospace Engineer, even though I didn’t even really know what they did!
In college I wanted to go AFROTC and try to get a pilot’s slot. But I got shot down for having hay fever, and was so pissed I said screw it, I could always go OCS after college if I wanted to go with the AF. I had never been on an airplane until after I graduated college (and that was a commercial flight). In '91 I finally got a job with DOD, but for the Army. I only took the job figuring after getting my foot in the door, I could transfer to the Air Force or NavAir. 5 years later an opportunity opened up at Edwards AFB and I took it.
It wasn’t until about '99, or so, that I got my first flight in a smaller plane - one where you actually feel like you’re flying - as opposed to an airliner. I’m still waiting for my backseat ride in an F-15 or F-16, although I’m no longer holding my breath.
That describes my kid, who will begin studying Aero Eng at UofI next fall. I remember coaching him in 4-5 year-old soccer, and he would completely zone out of the game and instead watch the planes landing and taking off on their paths to and from O’Hare. He zoomed past the pre-school snake and dinosaur phases and locked onto some picture books on planes - especially military.
He also developed a huge interest in military history, especially French-Indian War, Napoleon, and WWII. For a while I expected he might be a historian. He also got into SF, especially “accurate” stuff such as Heinlein and Asimov, and wrote several stories and plays himself. And he was a Star Trek/Star Wars fan from way back, devouring the technical manuals and such. So I thought he might be a writer. But as he went through HS and studied more science, he decided he really wanted to be involved in the air/space industries, and the best way for him to do that was by being an engineer.
Neat how this seems to be a career path that imprints early on.
I grew up with it, so it’s pretty well ingrained. My dad was a pilot, a mechanic & we owned airplanes & hung out at airports since before I could walk.