it's all W.E. Johns fault...
I started reading those Biggles books when i was 9, soon building airfix models afterwards...
Then mum & dad decided to work as ex-pats in the middle east, flying as pax became second nature, exciting, thrilling,...
The stewardesses, trying their best to keep my little brother and myself 'entertained' during the long flights, opted to send us to the cockpit, (allthough i now think they just wanted to get rid of us for a while...) and there it must have happened...
The shere impression of that machine, all those gauges, and the frienly pilots trying to explain and answer all questions that spring to a 6 & 10 year old's mind.
The spits and hurricanes soon made place for DC9, Caravelle, 707, etc models.
By the age of 13 I had my subscription to Flight International, and learned a lot as the years passed by....
After secondary school I wanted to become an airline pilot, but my parents strongly suggested that I study for a 'decent' profession first. So I became an engineer and got a job straightaway in the Construction business. Years passed, but everytime an aircraft would fly by a construction site, I'd be looking up, wondering what it'd be like to be a pilot.
On my 30th birthday i decided: it's now or never... Just do it and find out what it's like, rather then regretting never having tried...
So here I am, 33 now, passed the ATPL writtens and just a few hours away from my CPL/IR SEL.
Next multiengine/multicrew. And then look out for opportunities towards a flying career.
Regards,
Belgian Chap