He's made quite a name for himself in his 25 years... and we
surely haven't heard the last of this aviator. Barrington Irving is
reportedly the youngest person to pilot a plane around the world
solo. He is also the first African American and first Jamaican to
accomplish this feat. He accomplished his amazing adventure in a
Columbia 400 named the "Inspiration."
Over the course of the trip he got to know Mother nature very
well. Of the over water portions of his flight, Irving (above)
added "My hats off to Charles Lindbergh. I don’t know how he
did it but I know why his windows were so small, when you’re
flying over that much water, you don’t want to see it."
Born in Jamaica and then raised in Miami inner-city, Irving and
his friends didn’t have many routes "out." Good grades and
athletic prowess in football promised Irving a future in sports and
a way to shed Miami’s influence.
One day when he was 15, his life turned to aviation. A customer
in his parent’s Christian bookstore was Jamaican Airlines
Captain Gary Robinson. Robinson invited Irving to see the Boeing
777 he flew. The aviation bug snagged Irving, who became the
airport kid -- washing planes for money for lessons or rides. The
football team lost a star as Irving turned down all the
scholarships and turned his dreams skyward. Few people understood
his choice, including parents, friends and coaches... but Irving
knew his path.
Irving attended Florida Memorial University and has worked his
way an instructor rating. Throughout his training Irving started
speaking at schools, churches and community groups about aviation
careers. In 2005 Irving founded Experience Aviation, Inc. on Opa
Locka Airport (FL). The program is designed to offer information
and guidance to young people in the South Florida area about
aviation careers.
Mr. Irving was born in Jamaica, and grew up in the Miami,
Florida. He is a graduate of Miami Northwestern High School. Mr.
Irving turned down multiple football scholarship offers with his
sights set on aviation. He later founded Experience Aviation, a
non-profit organization dedicated to empowering minority youth to
pursue careers in aviation. His airplane, the "Inspiration", has
been registered to Experience Aviation since 2006.
His message echoes Lindbergh’s. "It doesn’t matter
where you’re coming from, what you have or what you
don’t have all that matters is your passion." Irving never
thought he was smart enough to be a pilot so one of his goals is to
make sure young people realize their dreams in aviation are
attainable. In the future, Irving will be working with NASA to
encourage students into engineering.
And just recently, sixty high-school students participating
in aviator Barrington Irving's "Build and Soar" program got a
special thrill, when the plane they assembled was successfully test
flown by Irving himself in mid-October.
Hundreds of students, supporters and onlookers gathered last
Wednesday morning at Miami's Opa-Locka airport to witness the
event. Just before take off, Irving told the crowd, "I'm not
nervous about flying this aircraft because I believe in our
students. I'm about to do something monumental."
An exemplary flyer, we're proud that Barrington is one of "us"
and can't wait to see the effect he's going to have on our
industry.
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