Why We Fly

17-year-old pilot heads to Oshkosh

Not many 17-year-olds can say they've used the Fisk Arrival to fly a classic Ercoupe into EAA AirVenture at Oshkosh, the world's largest general aviation event.

But Joe Honeck of Iowa City, Iowa, flew in to camp out in the vintage aircraft section five days before the big event started, when Oshkosh's Wittman Regional Airport is still a sleepy towered airport.

"It was so fun and kinda scary," said Honeck, who has been a passenger on his way to Oshkosh
17 times. Since he earned his private pilot certificate in November 2007, Honeck was able to fly in solo this year.

Honeck added that his two-and-a-half-hour flight was "a little intimidating," but with only four or five other airplanes in the traffic pattern, he had no difficulties landing safely.

By the time the rest of his family arrived, Honeck had already made plenty of friends.

"Nobody ever sees a 17-year-old flying a 60-year-old airplane," said Jay Honeck, Joe's father and part-owner of the Ercoupe. "Here's Joe discussing the airplane at Oshkosh, surrounded by people. It was fun to see him. He's my kid and then you see him as a standalone person, as a young man."

Honeck, who just turned 18, began his first semester as a freshman at the University of Iowa in August. He will major in linguistics and minor in Spanish.

"The next 12 years of my life are planned out for me," said Honeck, a member of the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC). As an ROTC scholarship recipient, Honeck has made it his goal to fly helicopters for the army.

According to Honeck's father, "He's going down a road that I think is going to be extremely successful with a growing shortage of helicopter pilots. It's hard to imagine a better flying job than that."

It's no surprise Honeck wants to be a pilot. His parents--Jay, a private pilot since 1995, and Mary, a private pilot since 1998--became owners of the Alexis Park Inn and Suites in Iowa City, Iowa, in 2002. Honeck works part-time at the aviation-themed hotel. In addition to the Ercoupe, they also own a Piper Cherokee.

"Joe grew up for the past six years immersed in this aviation hotel," said Honeck's father. "He has seen pilots from all over the world and even sat in their aircraft. If he hadn't been a pilot, it would've been some sort of a miracle."

Flying has taken up a large part of Honeck's life. "I live for it," he said, adding the only extracurricular activity he made time for in high school was wrestling. Otherwise, he was at the airport eager to complete his flight training.

"I was glad we were able to give him the opportunity," said Honeck's father. "He worked his butt off."

As a result, while other teenagers go camping or take road trips with their family and friends, Honeck has had the opportunity to fly all over the Midwest. "I've taken four or five of my friends flying already," he said.

Honeck has a big head start.

"I'm glad he got his ticket young," said Honeck's father. "For the next few years he won't have a lot of money and time to fly. But he won't have to deal with the hassle later."

Kathryn Opalewski is a former editorial assistant for AOPA Flight Training magazine.