Looking down from 500 feet in the air, the world and its problems look miniature. Anything seems possible as Jamail Larkins shoots towards the clouds in a vertical climb, then curls backwards into a loop that leaves his stomach behind. For this 22-year-old, the feeling is nothing new - Jamail was flying two years before he could legally drive.

According to Jamail, aerobatic flying is the ultimate roller coaster. It's an extreme sport where pilots perform expert maneuvers and play with G-force like a yo-yo. In the cockpit, Jamail can weigh 1,000 pounds one second and plummet to negative 600 the next, leaving everyone below in awe. After becoming one of the youngest pilots in the country at 14, Jamail continued to amaze onlookers when he became the first to solo a revolutionary certified, single-engine aircraft at 16. In 2004, millions watched Jamail perform on The Late Show. Casually chatting with David Letterman from the cockpit, he tumbled and rolled on camera in a precisely timed performance.

This summer Jamail graduates with honors from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, but he will continue one of his college traditions in the fall. Jamail begins his fourth DreamLaunch Tour in September, during which he will speak to thousands of students around the country. The tour is one of his many efforts to promote aviation and just a small part of what drives the aviator's powerhouse lifestyle - he's also the CEO of his own company. But Jamail's career, believe it or not, has just begun to take off.

"Honestly, ten years ago, when I first flew inside an airplane I would have never guessed that I would be doing what I'm doing now," Jamail says. "Flying air shows, working as the ambassador for the FAA, running my own company, now buying and selling airplanes, and all the different things that I've been involved in."

Jamail, who got his start washing planes and volunteering at the airport, is now well-known in the highest aviation circles - in 2005 he became the first ambassador for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Recently arriving home after two weeks of non-stop travel that took him as far as China, he plans to purchase a condo in the next month - only four years after he bought his first plane.

Before he was old enough to think about passing a driving test, Jamail set his sights on getting a pilot's license. Growing up outside Atlanta, 12-year-old Jamail spear-headed his interest in flying by posting a message in an online chat room. He learned about a program called the Young Eagles and took his first flight with a local pilot that same year.
In a move that surprised even his parents, Jamail decided to "take on the federal government" by challenging the U.S. regulation prohibiting student pilots under-16 from flying solo. When the FAA denied the ambitious 13-year-old, Jamail adjusted his flight plan.

He wrote letters - lots of them - asking companies to support his latest effort. With a few big names behind him and a slew of enthusiastic reporters, Jamail soloed in Canada, where there were no age restrictions on student pilots. In a maneuver he still considers one of his best, Jamail became one of the youngest pilots in the U.S. But an even larger obstacle waited for him at home: finding a way to pay for the astronomical cost of flight training.

Depending on where you live, it will cost between three and six thousand dollars to get your [private] license," Jamail says. "And being 12 or 13, you know, shelling out six grand can be kind of difficult."
Jamail, however, had channeled his enthusiasm for flying in all the right places - a move that was about to pay off. He had been sharing his stories about aviation on his personal website, and before long, noticed he was generating a few thousand hits a day. Jamail had also befriended a few leaders in the aviation industry, and with the cost of private flying lessons looming before him, asked if they would let him distribute their products online. The execs agreed and in 1999, when he was 15, Jamail founded Larkins Enterprises, Inc.

"At first it was just that a lot of companies had a heart," he says. "They were willing to help me get my foot in the door and start flying, and at the same time promote the aviation industry. It's just kind of evolved into an actual business."

His company, an aviation sales and marketing firm that started by selling flight-training manuals, eventually led to financial sponsorships. Today, Larkins Enterprises buys and sells commercial and corporate aircraft, as well as pilot supplies throughout the country.

With the funding to support his flying, the young CEO decided to take it to the next level. Jamail wanted to be an aerobatic pilot. He remained focused in high school as he undertook a rigorous flight training schedule. Flying as much as three to four times a day to build up G-tolerance, Jamail also scheduled time to serve as his high school class president and earn a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. The martial arts kept him in shape as he practiced aerobatic loops, hammerheads, and spins hundreds of times in preparation for performance. Before he graduated, he purchased an aerobatic bi-plane, something unimaginable just four years earlier. When he and a friend arrived at Jamail's first air show, it was clear that he was about to break a few more barriers. The two quickly discovered they were the only pilots under 30.

Undeterred by the age difference, Jamail stayed active on the air show circuit while attending Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach. Majoring in aviation business, he was about to create his own lesson in public relations. Drawing on the experiences he had as a spokesman for organizations like the Young Eagles, Jamail decided to launch his own educational agenda. For the next three years, in addition to college classes, Jamail flew around the country speaking to students about pursuing their passions with a project he aptly called, the DreamLaunch Tour. Last year the tour reached 60 cities and over 30,000 students.

"One big reason I started the DreamLaunch Tour is that I know there are other people like me out there that have the desire to learn how to fly, but don't know how to get involved," Jamail explains. "If I can help speed up that learning curve for them, then they don't have to go through all the hurdles and obstacles that I went through."

Today, companies jump at the chance to have their logo on Jamail's plane, lured by the 18 to 25 million
people each year that attend air shows. The draw for Jamail, however, is much more than commercial.

"It's just that I love to fly," he says. "I've been put in a really fortunate position where I have the opportunity to fly a ton of different great airplanes, travel around the country and tell other people about something that I'm truly passionate about."

He hesitates to comment on his accomplishments in any grand way, but he has already made history as a remarkable force on the ground and in the air. Jamail will continue to turn heads in the aviation world and hopes to make an impact with his company - a smart move considering his aptitude for business has been his fastest vehicle to the top. For now, his perfect afternoon is flying aerobatics, zipping 200 miles per hour through the sky and dropping to a few hundred feet off the ground. Whatever his destination, it is highly unlikely he'll be walking.