Aims To Become Youngest Person Ever To Fly Around The
Globe
Just past 1030 EDT
Friday morning, 23-year-old pilot Barrington Irving departed
Florida's Opa-Locka Executive Airport on a quest to become the
youngest person ever to fly around the world... and the first
African-American to do it solo.
Irving is the founder of Experience Aviation, an organization
aimed at encouraging minority youths to pursue careers in aviation
and aerospace. He is a student himself, taking aerospace courses at
Florida Memorial University.
First stop for Irving and his Columbia 400 will be Cleveland,
OH. The young pilot will then fly to Farmingdale, NY Sunday, before
crossing into Canada Tuesday. From there, Irving will alight over
the Atlantic, stopping in the Azores before continuing on to Spain.
He plans to return to Miami, FL on April 30 -- after having flown
approximately 21,500 nautical miles.
When asked what motivated him to attempt a round-the-world
flight, Irving replies, "The hopelessness and negative influences
in my community."
"I was born in Kingston, Jamaica but have lived in inner-city
Miami since I was 6 years old," he writes on the Experience
Aviation website. "When I was a teenager, there was little
incentive for me or my classmates to get off the streets and pursue
real careers... I believe part of the reason for this is the lack
of hope inner-city youth see for their futures -- I want to show
them they can do more with their lives than resort to violence!
I’m also motivated to show the few people who doubted what I
could do that anything is possible -- they said I was too young and
had no money, but that hasn’t stopped me."
For proof of Irving's "can-do" nature, one needs to look no
further than the story behind his aircraft, which he has dubbed
"Inspiration." Barrington began calling aircraft manufacturers four
years ago, asking them to borrow, lease, or donate a plane he could
use to make aviation history.
When no one manufacturer said yes, he decided to ask
manufacturers of the various components instead, to donate
individual products to him; he then asked Columbia Aircraft
Manufacturing if they'd agree to assemble the plane if he could
produce the parts.
The rest is history. Over the next year, Irving visited aviation
trade shows throughout the country and secured more than $300,000
in donated components -- including the engine, tires, cockpit
systems, and seats. Columbia built his airplane -- ready for
modification with ferry fuel tanks -- and Chevron kicked in the
fuel while Irving trained.
For the full story (there's a LOT more to it) as well as a live
flight tracker of Irving's flight, visit the Experience Aviation
website at the FMI link below.