Imagine if you had the ability to soar above the earth whenever you wanted, whether simply to get a bird's-eye view of Lexington on a pretty day, or to travel without security lines and layovers to the destination of your choice. Sound impossible? For some Central Kentuckians, this is a weekly occurrence.
Bobby Owens grew up in a flying family. His father, John C. Owens, had a plane, and every family vacation Bobby remembers started with a trip in dad's plane, whether to Michigan or the Bahamas. At age 16, Bobby was already taking lessons, and by 18 he had his license. Now 52, Bobby owns two planes and has logged over 1,000 hours at the cockpit controls.
"What I enjoy is the ability to go anyplace that you want to go," he said. "It offers you a freedom that you don't have on the ground. I think you can just about get yourself anywhere in a car anymore, but there are [still] some places that are probably more accessible by airplane."
Bobby travels to some of those places, such as small towns in Eastern Kentucky or West Virginia, through his role as president of Risk Placement Services Inc. However, most of his time spent in the air is purely for pleasure.
"I enjoy joyriding around town, maybe make the loop around New Circle Road one pretty evening, flying to Georgetown or Frankfort, do a touch down, or just enjoy the nice evening."
Bobby's "newest" favorite ride is his recently restored 1942 Piper L-4. One of 7,000 planes of its type purchased by the United States Army for use in WWII, it is the only one known to still be in flying condition. When it made its maiden voyage with Bobby at the controls in 2005, it was its first time in the air since 1960.
When Bobby isn't joyriding in the L-4, he's likely to be traveling in the Cessna he co-owns with attorney Larry Deener. Both Larry and his daughter, Elizabeth, share a fascination for flying, a hobby they've come to enjoy together.
"She has flown in the plane with me since she was in her booster chair," Larry said. When Elizabeth reached her teens, the two took flying lessons together. Now they both fly planes and gliders (unpowered aircraft).
"Every time I go out and take off flying again, I just enjoy the feeling of being able to control the plane," said Larry. "It's just a good experience. Particularly when I fly gliders, it's the skill of being able to stay up there on a column of air. It's a good, free feeling."
Unfortunately it can be expensive to achieve that free feeling. Acquiring your own pilot's license takes a minimum of 40 hours of instruction, plus a written test, and most potential pilots end up with more than 60 hours before they are licensed. However, to some people, flying has been a lifelong dream, so they find a way to make it happen.
Charlie Monet meets a lot of those people. As co-founder and owner of Aero-Tech Inc., a flying school and airplane sales company based at Blue Grass Field, Charlie has been instructing future pilots for 37 years.
"The most common phrase that we hear 'I've always wanted to do this," that's the key catchphrase when someone walks in our door," he said. "Flying has a mystique about it and a lot of people spend half a lifetime just thinking about it and get to a point where they say, 'it's just time to do it.'"
Dr. David Stevens, a longtime member of Lexington's city council, is one of those people who grew up fascinated with airplanes. "I grew up near Bowman Field, in Louisville, and hung over the fence like a lot of kids do," he said. He wasn't able to act on that interest until the 1970s though, when another doctor introduced him to flying. Now at age 77, Stevens flies for work and for play. "I try to do 100 hours per year," he said. "You get a great feeling when you're flying, it's like skiing downhill. You feel liberated. You're up there in the air and you're enjoying the scenery and it's just fun."
David owns his own plane, but he said both the cost of buying one and keeping it fueled up (gas can run $4 a gallon), is taking its toll on aviation. When he bought his Cessna, a vehicle he described as the "Chevrolet of airplanes," more than 20 years ago, it cost $67,000. The same plane today would cost $450,000.
However, there are some cost-cutting solutions out there. One of them is the Lexington Flying Club, which is essentially a co-op that owns four planes and provides members a more economical way to get airborne.
"What the club allows you to do is fly for a cheaper rate than anywhere in town," said member and flight instructor Linda Sturde Huff. "It helps cut down the cost of your hourly rate."
Hourly rates and training hours don't sound very exciting, but once the basics are under control, the real joy is in the air.
"It's just fun," Linda said. "It's something unusual that not everyone gets to do. It's kind of neat to say, 'hey this is what I do. I teach people to fly airplanes.' I think it's a great release from the real world."