Guest CypherX777 Posted July 17, 2005 Posted July 17, 2005 Mine....My 8th birthday...my dad and I were on the way home from my party when we see at the small county airport a big "Airshow" Banner. We pull in, park, and walk around for about a half hour to find the place pretty dull. So as we leave the parking lot and are on our way home, my dad out of nowhere slams on the breaks and points THROUGH the trees to a large aircraft headed to the airshow. He turns around and starts to head back to the airport (Exceeding the speed limit) . So we pull back into the parking lot, and jump into the bed of the truck and just watch the sky. about 30 seconds later a greenish "Bomber" Screams over the field turns and rolls. Car alarms are going off, some glass broke...a B-1B just made a pass at about 500 ft.... God I envied that pilot. Turns out the guys who orginized the show booked the pass as the "grand finale" of the show....and kept it a big secret. After watching the Lancer go out of sight for about a minute or two...i had the feeling. The one of jealousy, of want, of knowing that someday, i would be in a cockpit similar to that, scaring and inspiring 8 year old boys. [ 17. July 2005, 00:42: Message edited by: CypherX777 ]
Guest pcampbell Posted July 17, 2005 Posted July 17, 2005 I guess I'm one of the few that hasn't always dreamed of flying. I just kinda decided to do it. I was an SSgt stationed at Mildenhall when I found out I got a ROTC scholarship. My commander asked me what I wanted to do when I commissioned, and I told him I didn't know. He told me that every officer should want to be a pilot first. It should be the Air Force's decision if the officer shouldn't be, according to him. So, when I was a junior in ROTC, I put my name in the hat for a pilot slot and got it. I didn't even know if I would enjoy flying. Well, 3 years and 270 hours later (~130 in the tweet, and ~70 in the T-38, so far), I've realized that I do enjoy it. I just can't wait to find out what I'll be flying the rest of my career. [ 17. July 2005, 01:49: Message edited by: Razorback ]
Guest Lincoln Posted July 17, 2005 Posted July 17, 2005 Not to sound cliché, but mine was Top Gun. I must have been about 8 years old also. I woke up in the middle of the night (which probably was 11pm-ish to an 8 year old) and went downstairs. My dad was watching Top Gun and told me to "come watch this part". I don't remember what scene it was, but he just thought it was the coolest thing. He dreamed of being a pilot his whole life, but he is legally blind in one eye. Since then, being a military pilot is all I wanted to do. Does anyone remember the cheesy Pepsi commercial at the beginning of Top Gun on VHS? Classic haha
EvilEagle Posted July 17, 2005 Posted July 17, 2005 Not exactly the same kind of story, but close... I started flying when I was in High School because a friend of the family was an instructor. So, I did that then heard about ERAU and thought that would be cool, found out I couldn't afford it, then got the AF to pay for college. I thought at that point, I'd just be an AF geek of some sort. 1996 Daytona Beach Air Show my best friend and I are walking around when the F-15 demo starts. We watch it (in amazement) and as he pulls up vertical right above us, my buddy hits me and says "Dude, they are going to pay us to do that $h!t" That's the first time I knew I wanted to fly Eagles.
Login Name Posted July 17, 2005 Posted July 17, 2005 Does anyone remember the cheesy Pepsi commercial at the beginning of Top Gun on VHS? Classic haha [/QB]hell yeah! that commercial rocked! watching Top Gun was when i decided i wanted to fly too. i used to want to fly the -14 then i realized i'd have to be in the Navy.
Guest Rainman A-10 Posted July 17, 2005 Posted July 17, 2005 My mother used to take me out to Minneapolis/St Paul International to watch the planes take off and land. She started doing that when I was 18 months old. She says she only did it because I went apesh!t everytime I saw an airplane in the air and would bother her incessantly about where those planes were coming from/going. I don't remember the going apesh!t part but I do remember going out to the airport and watching the planes takeoff and land. We would go at night sometimes and it was better than watching fireworks. Kind of gay, I know, but goes to the point that my earliest memories are about wanting to be in the sky. Not sure what I'm going to do in a few months when I don't have a bunch of jets on the ramp at work anymore. My kids can eat cucumber sandwiches if that's what it takes to buy a plane, right?
Rocker Posted July 17, 2005 Posted July 17, 2005 I've never really been enthralled by flying itself. I've always just really enjoyed the challenge of it and I know it's all I ever want to do. And I sure has hell don't want to have a "real" job making money for corporate ass-clowns somewhere. I have only wanted to be in the AF since I was knee-high to a grasshopper, and the only thing I've ever wanted to be in the AF was a pilot (though I would still have tried to join if I hadn't gotten a pilot slot). Granddad flew P-38s, dad flew Herks, and now that's where I'm going. It's never been as much about flying for me as it has been about being an Air Force pilot.
DC Posted July 17, 2005 Posted July 17, 2005 My story is pretty similar to Razorback's. I didn't exactly set out to be a pilot, per se. Its just happening that way. Its definately the best thing that ever happened to me.
Stiffler Posted July 17, 2005 Posted July 17, 2005 Dude when I was a kid I pretended that my classroom was an airplane, (like a flying school) and I was the pilot. HAHA...sure made class go by fast. But I didnt learn anything. I quit doing that senior year of college:) Sidenote...does anyone here, like me, absolutely love old planes...biplanes etc? Or are you all just in love with the jet power?
Guest pavesooner Posted July 17, 2005 Posted July 17, 2005 Who knows.... Third Generation USAF Pilot....did I have a choice? Grandfather flew everything from the mustang to the F-4... My dad Flew C-141's My Uncle Flew F-4's and F-16's And I fly Pavelow's Between the 4 of us we have all your air requirements covered.....
Scooter14 Posted July 17, 2005 Posted July 17, 2005 Originally posted by pavesooner: Between the 4 of us we have all your air requirements covered..... Which relative flew tankers?
Guest CrewDawg1 Posted July 17, 2005 Posted July 17, 2005 I din't really have anyone in the family in the military. The closest person to a pilot in my family was my grandpa who was a tailgunner on the B-25. I have wanted to fly since I can remember. My mother took me to the Dayton Airshow when I was young, and I guess I knew from that day on that is what I wanted to do. I was to young to remember the show but somehow it has stuck with me since. [ 17. July 2005, 12:16: Message edited by: CrewDawg1 ]
FourFans Posted July 17, 2005 Posted July 17, 2005 I know that I wanted to fly ever since I got to ride along with my dad while he was taking PPL lessons. We were just doing patterns one day when an Eagle showed up and blew by us for a few patterns. On top of that, for as long as I can remember my family has been going to air shows (Battle Creek and Muskegon in Michigan mostly). On more than one occasion my parents had to come and find me while I was completely engrossed looking at the military static displays. KC135: Yes, I would give my left nut to fly von Richthofen's Fokker. [ 17. July 2005, 12:14: Message edited by: FourFans130 ]
Guest Wxpunk Posted July 17, 2005 Posted July 17, 2005 Grandpa(USAF - Maj): C-47's, C-130's, C-141's Father (USA - CW4): UH-1's, OH-58's, Queenairs; FAA Inspector (ATP with lots of type ratings) It's in the blood. Plus, I used to spend my summers out at the Pell City Airport where my dad was in charge of the Army aircraft maintenance group there. I used to watch him do autorotations and always thought it was cool when he skid a bit on the skids while doing them. ---------- Wxpunk
Guest rumblefish_2 Posted July 17, 2005 Posted July 17, 2005 I joined the AF as an engineer because I wanted to serve my country for four years and then get out. While sitting in my office at Randolph doing a 100+ slide power point presentation on useless b.s., I looked out the window and watched a bunch of Eagles from Tyndall land. They were doing hurricane evac or something. Anyway, I really hated my job at the time and had a sort of Office Space epiphany. I really wanted to have a job that I enjoyed going to everyday, so I decided then and there to pursue a pilot slot and I haven't looked back since...
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