Inspiration in aviation and what did it for you?

I remeber many fond memories flying with USAir as a child to Florida and a few other places from LaGuardia airport and I think I fell in love with US almost immediately. I always thought the blue tail with red stripes was the most attractive scheme at LGA. I remember one particular round trip for some reason that stuck with me and locked me in as a US fan for life. It was late 1992 LGA-TPA-LGA to go to the house down there as well as to Disney and Bush Gardens. The terminal was BRAND NEW at that time.

I remember that every gate from 17 across to 6 had a visible tail on it and every one of them was mainline metal. I remember the professionalism of the people. The best airline employees that I could remember even to this day as far as being kind and professional. I also remember that when we boarded the flight and I got to my window I was a little upset that I could not see the "guns" (I thought every thing on the wing of a plane was a gun or other combat device thanks to Top Gun as a kid) because as we all know the MD-80 is a tail mounted plane. I remember the smell onboard and that I enjoyed it for some reason. I am not sure if it was recirculated air or new panels etc etc but I still have not smelled that smell in many years on a plane with any airline.

I remember an amazing chicken salad I had during the flight and I have been trying to get ahold of one that tasted just as good for a long time. (Ask Ron about me and the salad bar)
I recall the professioanlism of the crew, and how sharp they looked in their uniforms. I love the old red/blue combo.

I recall thinking that I wanted to be a USAir Shuttle 727 captain one day and than fly the MD-80 as well for US. Than I can remember that one the return I got to go to the flight deck of an almost new 737 and suddenly I wanted to fly the USAir plane with the "guns" on the wings instead. That changed again when we landed in NY and the shuttle 727's came into sight again though.

I think that US probably has the most profound impact on me as a kid in terms of one particular carrier making me love aviation. It is funny because the exact individuals that unknowingly inspired me as a child are people I get to share a cup of coffee with or buy lunch for on a daily basis and most do not even know that I would not be where I am at current (and still advanceing) had it not been for some of their impressions. I can even recall a few faces of the people but I think it might be a tad weird if I walked up to them and said "I know you but I do not think you know me. I am here thanks in part to you." Not to mention that they would then certianly begin to feel as old as they are. :lol:

What airline or experince sticks out for you in your head as an inspiration that led you toward your passion for the airlines? What carrier or group of people gave you your fondest experince as a child when flying?

I remember flying US Airways from LGA when they used to fly to DAB. A connection through Charlotte and we were there. I always remember asking why we couldn't take Delta, since that was the first terminal I saw at LGA coming from the east.
I used to want to be a pilot, but now I want to work in route/schedule/network planning with the airlines. Or I will work with an airline planning firm (I hope). I am in contact with the Director of Business Development at DAB and have been for years, that got me into the business stuff.

Did not care about aviation until just a few years ago. I remember I was always afraid that we would crash when I was flying as a kid. Then I saw a special on Discovery channel on business jets and those Lears looked so sleek I decided I wanted one someday. :lol:

It has been downhill since. I went online to find some ATC sites and found jfktower.com forum. At that time it was very active with Concorde retiring. Was reading that day in and day out, started listening to live atc feeds. Then I flew to NYC to meet up with some people from jfktower.com, did some spotting at JFK and got a tour of JFK tower. That did it for me :borat:

Too bad at that time I was almost done with my undergrad degree in computer science and could not switch. One day a friend of mine asked me why wouldn't I work for Boeing or something then and that was it. I decided that I want to work on avionics systems doing integration and eventually flight testing. After I graduated with my computer science degree from THE Ohio State, I went down to Embry-Riddle to get my Masters in Software Engineering and now I am glad I did that. All top four avionics makers were interested last year (Rockwell Collins, Honeywell, Garmin, and Avidyne) as well as Boeing and Lockheed Martin. I have gone with Rockwell Collins and so far it has been great. I am working on flight management systems doing some project management, integration testing, and even some flight testing.

In the meantime during my last year at the Ohio State, I had a logistics job with NetJets and that got me exposed to all the stuff going on behind the scenes of running world's third largest fleet of airplanes day in and day out. Also, while at NetJets I got my private and also got my instrument ticket earlier this year.

So that's my story :) Still working on a Lear though. I have actually decided to scale that down. I will be perfectly happy with a Diamond Twinstar someday.

Dima

PT and Chuck on the great TV show "Whirlybirds" did it for me. Still waiting for Nick at Night to show this or someone release it on DVD.

6 years old...USAir. First flight ever: 757-200 in bare metal with the old blue tail and red stripes. Flew MCO-IND nonstop. Like you Ryan, I remember the smell of the plane to this day. However, I've found the scent again in DL 757s and MD-80s, only those planes for some reason though. I just remember the excitment of taking off, the view from so high up, and the awesome moment of the wheels returning to earth's surface, safely and comfortably. I also remember every coach passenger getting a boxed lunch including a ham or turkey sandwhich, a bag of chips and an apple. Those were the days! I stepped off that plane saying, "I wanna be an airline pilot when i grow up." However, that has all changed a bit now. I still love aviation and want to have a career in it, just not in the flight deck. I think sitting next to a major airport's runway in my ops truck with a Canon 500D (by that time) and a 28-135 or something comparable will do just fine! :borat:

-Idle

I have said this story before and Ill say it again - TWA 800 I know its weird but sometimes tragedies have weird effects on people... I also remember going to ISP back in the 90s when US Air and Carnival and Delta all flew the loud 737s-727s and DC-9s and man having a 727 rotate in front of you with out the cops coming was great, now its blue both of WN and the blue stripes on the SCPD squad cars. I also remember going to ISP when I was younger and I remember a WN pilot waving at me - ( a/c N607SW) and wanted to be a WN pilot ever since!!!!