Fate stepped in and at the age of 15, while working in his parent’s Christian bookstore, he met a Jamaican pilot who took him on a tour of the Boeing 777 jet he flew for United Airlines.  At that moment, Barrington aspired to fly and embarked on a career in aviation.

 

Barrington attended Broward Community College for two years majoring in Aeronautical Science. His tuition was covered, in part, by a Florida Bright Future Scholarship. Determined to share his passion for aviation with others in his community, he began speaking at local churches, schools, and community groups. Fate once again stepped in and with the help of community leaders he secured a scholarship that would cover his tuition and flying lessons in the aviation program at Florida Memorial University (FMU). He excelled academically and graduated from FMU. In the process he earned his private and  commercial pilots’ license, earned his instrument and multi-engine rating, and became a certified flight instructor. 

 

He felt blessed that fate seemed to have intervened and caused his path to cross with the Jamaican pilot. He became obsessed with the idea of ‘playing it forward’ and providing the opportunity for other youth who, but for divine intervention, may never have a similar opportunity. 

 

His obsession resulted in two incredible adventures. The first adventure was Barrington’s goal to fly around the world and have students follow his flight on the internet. The hope was to show students that there was no limit to what they could achieve. 

 

He needed an airplane to fly but was unable to secure a loan to purchase a plane, unable to lease a plane, and unable to secure a donated plane. He subsequently asked manufacturers to donate individual components and parts, and fortunately donated components and parts began to arrive. When he had secured $300,000 worth of individual components and parts, including an engine, tires, and cockpit systems, the aircraft manufacturer Columbia offered to build him the world’s fastest single-engine airplane appropriately named “Inspiration”.

 

On March 23, 2007, at the age of 23, Barrington departed from Miami on his historic solo flight with stops in Canada, the Azores, Spain, Italy, Greece, Egypt, Dubai, Thailand, Hong Kong, and Japan. He attracted thousands of students from around the world who tracked his voyage, and expressed newfound interest in the field of aviation. Upon completion of the voyage he became the youngest pilot, first person of African descent, and the first Jamaican to circumnavigate the globe solo. An unexpected bonus of the flight was the desire and opportunity for students in Miami to build an airplane and have Barrington the first person to fly that plane.

 

The second venture was the establishment of a nonprofit organization, Experience Aviation, Inc. Founded to introduce minority and disadvantaged youth to careers in aviation, Experience Aviation, Inc., offers  programs such as ’Get a Life & Fly’, providing disadvantaged high school students the opportunity to earn a pilot license; and ‘Career Day Experience’, providing students the opportunity to fly on a simulator, conduct aerodynamic , navigational, engineering and career placement exercises.

 

Experience Aviation hopes to continue to raise funds to financially assist and enable more students throughout the country to take advantage of its programs.

 

Barrington has said, “students are able to relate to me because of my age. I don’t know who these programs will reach. Is there a kid out there contemplating joining a gang or worse, who might be moved by my story”?

 

 

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