OPA-LOCKA, Fla. -- A 23-year-old aerospace student is trying to become the youngest person and first black pilot to circumnavigate the globe solo.

Barrington Irving began the trip in a single-engine Lancair Columbia 400 plane when he took off from Opa-locka Executive Airport at about 11:45 a.m. Friday.

Irving was born in Jamaica and grew up in Miami. He said he saw little chance for success until he met a Jamaican-American pilot at his parents' Christian bookstore in Pembroke Pines.

The pilot took then-15-year-old Irving to see a Boeing 777. He turned down college football scholarships to pursue his dream of becoming a pilot.

Before beginning his journey, Irving offered words of inspiration to fellow aviation students.

"I want you all to realize where I started from," he said. "I didn't start off rich. I didn't start off with much. The only thing I had was love from my family, love from friends."

Irving is an aerospace student at Florida Memorial University. He has private and commercial pilot licenses.

Irving is also the founder and president of Experience Aviation, a Miami-based organization that encourages minority youths to pursue aviation careers.

His U.S. stops include Cleveland and Farmingdale, N.Y. He expects to cross into Canada on Tuesday, and then travel across the Atlantic, through Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Irving hopes to be back home April 30, just in time to be recognized at the McDonald's Air and Sea Show in Fort Lauderdale.