Barrington Irving climbs out of his plane after landing in Cleveland's Burke Lakefront Airport on the first leg of his around-the-world journey Friday. Irving, a 23-year-old aerospace student, took off Friday, hoping to become the youngest person and first black pilot to fly around the globe alone.

Miami ? Barrington Irving stood silently in front of the cheering crowd. It was all for him, this mass of thousands eager to see him start his historic journey around the earth.

“Please forgive me,” Irving said Friday at Opa-locka Executive Airport. “I just need to soak it all in.”

Irving was still wondering about it all. Just a few years ago, people mocked the 23-year-old’s desire to become the youngest person – and first black – to fly solo around the world.

Now, he was about to do it. Schoolchildren smiled in front of him. His parents and politicians sobbed behind him.

Somehow, Irving, a Northwestern high school graduate still working toward a college degree, got them all to believe in his dream.

He left Friday on a single-engine jet plane, Inspiration. He’ll fly 25,600 miles. He’ll return at the end of April, after stopping to see places he never thought he’d see: Athens, Rome, Dubai, Bangkok, even Cleveland.

For so long, Irving said, he has wanted to fly away from the violence around him. His family came to Florida from Jamaica’s violent capital, Kingston. They moved to Miami Gardens, he played football at school in Liberty City – but still found violence. He wasn’t sure how to escape.

Then he met Gary Robinson, a Jamaican-born pilot who became his mentor. Irving, all of 15, became fascinated with flying.

At 19, he got his pilot’s license. He’s majoring in aerospace at nearby Florida Memorial University, where he also became a member of the ROTC program.

His dream came up one day about three years ago when his fellow ROTC cadets were traveling to the University of Miami for a training exercise. They were discussing what they wanted to do after college, recalled Curtis Major, FMU’s transportation manager.

A wide-eyed Irving told Major and the others, “I am going to fly around the world.”

“They all looked at me like I was kind of crazy,” Irving recalled. “They all wanted to know why I wanted to even bother.”

He told them he wanted to see the wonders of the world – and wanted to be the type of role model for children that he didn’t have.

All he needed was the money and the plane, so he sought sponsors. At first, they all gave him the same look as the ROTC students.

He tore his rejection letters in frustration. Then he began saving others in boxes. He has more than 50.

Fabio Alexander V, chief executive officer of Miami Executive Aviation, was the first willing sponsor. He pledged $100,000.

“I really tried to test his will and spirit,” Alexander said. “Why would a football player want to fly planes? But he was so determined. I couldn’t say no.”

Irving traveled around the country to get more support. He also gave speeches to children from North Carolina to Biloxi, Miss., and opened a flight learning center at the Opa-locka airport for local children.

More sponsors joined. In all, more than 40 have contributed $600,000 worth of donations.

“People refer to me as a prodigy,” Irving told Friday’s crowd. “But I’m not. I’m just an ordinary person, surrounded by extraordinary people, empowered by an extraordinary guy.”

Then he climbed into Inspiration. He circled around the airport four times, then flew off. His parents, Clovalyn and Barrington Irving Sr., watched, their eyes filling with tears, as their son disappeared into the sky.

A black woman and a young black son walked and tapped them on their shoulders.

“I just wanted to introduce my son to you,” said Denise Johnson, in the company of her 12-year-old, Albert Porter. “He wants to be the next great pilot.”