Check out the fascinating story of Barrington Irving.

At 28 years-old, Irving is the first black person, the first Jamaican person, and the youngest person to ever fly around the world on a solo flight.

Rising out the tough, inner-city streets of Miami, Irving was inspired by a mentor to pursue a career as a pilot. After receiving a football scholarship to attend the University of Florida, Irving shifted gears and dove headfirst into aeronautical science at Florida Memorial University.

Irving dreamed of flying around the world, and suffered multiple obstacles in his quest to make that dream a reality. But he never gave up.

From NewsOne:

“Seized by a dream to fly around the world, Irving would reach out to several airplane manufacturers for airplane parts, facing rejection letters numbering in to the dozens before donations began to pour in. Then he constructed a plane with the donated parts, totaling more than $300,000 in worth.

The single-engine airplane, a Cessna 400, was dubbed “Inspiration” – a proper name given the harrowing details of the 30,000-mile flight. Without a weather radar or de-icing system for the wings, Irving took off from Miami to embark on his journey on March 23, 2007.

Completed over the course of 97 days with several stops in between, Irving landed back in Florida on June 27 to much fanfare, after breaking two world records: he became the youngest person to ever fly around the globe solo and the first Black person to do so as well.”

Irving has since started a non-profit entitled Experience Aviation, “geared toward teaching minority youth about aeronautics and pushing them to excel.”

Read more at NewsOne.com

We are so proud of Barrington Irving’s incredible achievements, and his commitment to giving back to his community.

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