The first time my father let me fly a plane I was 8 too

It was when we were on vacation in Santa Fe, New Mexico at a church convention and I asked to go flying and we went up then in 1956 in a Piper Tri Pacer. At that time I didn't take the plane off because I was too young so instead I just took the controls and flew around Santa Fe under the instruction of the pilot and my father at that time. But, it changed my perspective a lot about being an 8 year old boy too then. Soon after that my grandmother gave me my father's old Remington pump rifle with bullets (a .22) to keep in my bedroom which was traditional for boys west of the Mississippi river and many places east of the Mississippi river too. But, it was more common in the western states from Texas (where my grandmother was from) to California and all the western states still in 1956.

The first plane I helped take off from the ground was a glider being towed by a plane when I was 16 years of age at El Mirage, California in the desert at that time. This would be 1964. The first time I took off in a motorized plane I likely was around 18 or 20 years of age when Danny Kaye just returned from flying around the world in his jet at Van Nuys airport I think. I saw him there the day I was taking off a plane for the first time then with a flying instructor who was a World War II fighter pilot ace at that time. Likely this was when I was 20 in 1968.

this is what wikipedia says about Danny Kaye and Flying:

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Flying[edit]

Kaye was an aviation enthusiast and pilot. He became interested in getting a pilot's license in 1959. An enthusiastic and accomplished golfer, he gave up golf in favor of flying.^[71] The first plane Kaye owned was a Piper Aztec.^[72][73] Kaye received his first license as a private pilot of multi-engine aircraft, not being certified for operating a single-engine plane until six years later.^[72] He was an accomplished pilot, rated for airplanes ranging from single-engine light aircraft to multi-engine jets.^[19] Kaye held a commercial pilot's license and had flown every type of aircraft except military planes.^[9][72][74]

Kaye received a type rating in a Learjet, and he was named vice president of the Learjet company by Bill Lear as an honorary title (he had no line responsibility at the company).^[75] He supported many flying projects. In 1968 he was honorary chairman of the Las Vegas International Exposition of Flight, a show that utilized many facets of the city's entertainment industry while presenting an air show. The operational show chairman was well-known aviation figure Lynn Garrison. Kaye flew a Learjet to 65 cities in five days on a mission to help UNICEF.^[9][75]

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Kaye