Where did it start? Where to begin?

So my journey with flying began on a hot day back in the summer of '87 when I witnessed an American Airlines crash in the jungle of Ecuador during a hunting trip with my oil tycoon father. My four year old innocence vowed at that moment that no plane would ever crash again.

Just kidding.

I don't really know when my interest in flying began. I can remember some moments that helped to feed it though.

I remember one time on a boy scout trip we rode by the end of the runway at MEB at night. The runway slopes up for the first 1500' or so feet and the lights were on. I was probably 10 years old, and remember not being able to look away because it was really cool.

A couple years later my family was in Charlotte for a junior golf tournament my brother was playing in. One night, after we ate dinner, my dad took us by CLT to visit the observation area. The next day when my brother and dad went to the golf course, my mom and I went back to the airport. I bet we were there for 6 hours. I was officially hooked.

Somewhere around that time I discovered Microsoft Flight Simulator. This one changed my life, and not only caused me to slip further and further into obsession, it also made me a bit of computer geek (but a cool one). Good game, I was sad to read that Microsoft isn't planning to create any more new versions.

For years I was a huge aviation enthusiast, but had never flown a plane. Sure, I got to fly a couple of times with a local pilot who knew I was interested. He even let me "fly" the plane and talk on the radio. I didn't know what I was saying to the controller, but felt awesome doing it. And it's amazing how well I landed his 182R with triple-blade prop at night with zero training. If I hadn't known better, I would have guessed that he was helping me land. But, I know better.

When I got my license (car license, that is), I found myself driving to the airport a lot. Needless to say, MEB is not busy. I would sit and stare at a mostly unused runway most of the time. But man, when a plane came in, it was a big day. When I got a chance to drive up to RDU or to CLT to watch planes, it was almost like Christmas.

All this and I hadn't even started any formal training. Getting the picture?