1. When you first thought flying these things for a living is for me - how old were you, what type of machine was it, how did it make you feel and why?
Seven years old, and my father took me for a ride in a glider - what a hoot! Soaring away from the ground on a winch launch at a crazy angle to the ground, then the cable release and silence! A loop to set my fate in concrete.
First helo ride at 19 in a Huey piloted by my brother, the first wrestle with a hover, the first real scare a few days later, and i was hooked.
2. When you finally started to get some `runs on the board` was there a moment when you thought `I am so glad I stuck with this` - what were you doing, what country were you in, what were you flying, how did it make you feel, do you get the same excitement when you take the controls today?
As others have said, there was no sudden realisation that this was what i wanted, because i have wanted it all along.
Reminders come every flight, and two days ago, breaking out of the overcast into a brilliant sunny late afternoon, with some Cu towers rising above me and the occasional lightning flash off to the side - the feeling of happiness could almost be put in a jar and admired on a shelf.