Barrington Irving, a 23-year-old aerospace student is hoping to be the youngest and first black pilot to fly solo around the world. On Saturday June 23, 2007, the 1940 Air Terminal Museum located at William P. Hobby Airport (HOU), served as one of Irving’s last stops before flying home to Miami, FL where he will complete his globetrotting journey. The museum hosted a welcoming ceremony with a list of eager supporters awaiting Irving’s return with a guided tour of the museum and vintage aircraft. Many aviation students, media and community supporters turned out for the event to witness living history in Houston.

© Houston Airport System Barrington Irving arrives at Hobby Airport.

Drew Coats, the President of the 1940 Air Terminal Museum, was one of the many excited on-lookers as Barrington touched down.  “The museum is excited and honored to welcome Barrington Irving to Houston. We’ve gotten a chance to witness aviation history in the making,” he said.

The young pilot began his journey in Miami, FL in his single-engine Columbia 400 aircraft – a fast single engine piston-powered aircraft - he calls “Inspiration” on March 23, 2007. Inspiration was built out of $300,000 in donated components from various aircraft manufacturers. Everything from the engine to tires to cockpit systems and seats were all donated and Columbia Aircraft Manufacturing Corp. agreed to assemble the plane.

“I named the plane ‘Inspiration’ because that’s what I want my historic venture to be for young people who are looking for a purpose in life beyond the streets of the inner city,” says Irving.

Weather along his route extended the trip from the planned six weeks to over 13 weeks. This gave him more time to explore some of the places he has visited along the route such as the Azores, Portugal, Spain, Egypt and Russia, to name a few.

He hopes his historic flight will inspire other young people to resist the negative influences of the streets and work toward their dreams. “More than setting world records, my mission is to reach those youth. I want them to see that neither a lack of money nor their young age can keep them from attempting what may at first seem impossible,” adds Irving.

In 2005, with at $10,000 grant from Miami Dade Empowerment Trust, Irving founded a nonprofit organization, Experience Aviation, Inc., to address the significant shortage of youth pursuing careers in aviation and aerospace.

At Experience Aviation, information and guidance programs are offered to young people in South Florida which include touring planes at the airport and learning how to use a flight simulator.

The Empowerment Trust later increased its commitment to $75,000 to reach more youth in the community. With these funds, Irving set up the first Experience Aviation Learning Center, offering exciting educational experiences to middle and high school students. Here activities are designed to give them experience in various fields including flying, air traffic control, aerospace technology and aviation maintenance.

Copyright © 2007 - Houston Airport System