Childhood is a very special period for everyone as ordinary incidents can have a tremendous impact on a kid’s personality and affect his later life. But for some kids an obsession can be so intense that can shape their whole future and have a tremendous impact for their whole life. In my case, an inexplicable passion for aviation took me over at around the age of five and since then the intensity has remained the same. How did it start?

Things seemed to be the usual that Sunday morning back in 1982, which was the day that my life would change direction. My sister was at the ballet class, my dad was watching the football games as he was doing every Sunday and mum was preparing lunch. Unexpectedly, my uncle turned to me and asked me if I would like to follow him in a little adventure.

I couldn’t resist the invite and 30 minutes later I found myself flying from Athens to Rhodes in a small plane, sitting in cockpit with the pilots! It is impossible to describe how I felt looking at the flag indicators and that red led beacon that was right up my head. The sense of being able to pilot such an ingenious piece of technology in all three dimensions was beyond what my mind could conceive on the time.

The flight didn’t last more than 30 minutes but that was enough to change my life forever. And on the way back, carrying no passengers on board the pilots let me hold the control grip! Without any question that was the key element in the whole story. After that day, I knew what my life was going to be like in the future.

Whether I would have became a pilot without the experience of that day is something I cannot definitely answer. Becoming a pilot was just a question of time. I would definitely encourage parents to expose their kids in as many different situations as possible. This is a good way to discover someone’s talents and desires!