TA BY
ZAIR A RT
KI
A AH MAD
& DE SIGN
14 PROFILES MARCH 4, 2022
Trips can be long and hard, but what keeps Gavin Irias ’22 motivated is the destination.
NG IS P H OTO S B Y
BY W I L L I A M C H E N G
LA ABEL
T IS
DA
LE
C
omfort is found in numerous locations: some find it in nature, others in their homes, but for Gavin Irias ’22, it is in the bustling environment of airports — people rushing by with places to go, the smell of coffee traveling through terminals during the early morning, pilots striding along with their suitcases, planes flying overhead with destinations all over the world. The airport is his second home. For years, Gavin has known how deep his connections with aviation run. “Mom, Dad, I think I want to be a pilot when I grow up,” were the words he said to his parents five years ago when he realized just how far his passions could take him. Gavin first interacted with planes at the age of seven when he flew on a JetBlue Airbus A 320 from Burbank to Las Vegas. “It didn’t really spark anything at the moment for me; it was just a really, really cool experience,” Gavin said. “ I remember it feeling nice to be in the sky — I liked it.” Plane crashes were what initially sparked his interest in aviation. To better understand the intricacies of flying, he began watching documentaries about such accidents. “I liked finding the problems and causes leading up to the accident so I knew what had been made better [with planes] as time had gone forward,” Gavin said. While many may find themselves mindlessly playing games such as “Subway Surfers” or “2048,” Gavin explored a series of aviation games. He first downloaded a plane crash simulation game, then an air traffic control game,
until finally, he found a simulator called Infinite Flight. After that, Gavin was immersed in the aviation world — nothing could pull him back out. “That opened the door real wide for me. It just has exponentially increased my interest in knowledge of aviation,” Gavin said. Through Infinite Flight, Gavin connected to aviation in a whole new way. He joined a virtual airline simulation called Delta Virtual, allowing him to fly around the world. Aviation enthusiasts alike can join a Discord server to share their thoughts about the virtual airline.
“
I COU LD TE LL IT WAS MY TR U E CALLI NG BECAUSE [IT FE LT] NOR MAL . -GAVI N I RIAS ‘22
”
“I get to communicate with such awesome people from around the world. Some people are corporate pilots, some are starting out just like me, some aren’t really pilots, but they’re interested in aviation,” Gavin said. “It’s a really diverse group, and I get a lot of my knowledge from them.” Gavin’s dreams truly began to take shape when he took an introductory lesson at the Clinton Municipal Airport, hosted by the Experimental Aircraft Association Young Eagle Organization. “It definitely opened my eyes to what being a pilot was like. It was kind of a cloudy day,