Flying high in Hoosier skies

IU student Eric Gunther likes the freedom that comes with flying airplanes: the bright orange colors that reflect off campus buildings during sunset, the lack of traffic, the speed and the ability to shave hours off travel time.\nAnd he's started a club to find other people who share the same passion for aviation. \nKnown as the Flying Hoosiers, his newly formed group offers both licensed pilots and flying enthusiasts a chance to learn more about aviation, and to even take the controls of a small plane for themselves. \n"Anybody who has an interest in flying (can join)," Gunther said. "The club can offer you as much or as little as you want." \nGunther, a junior majoring in entrepreneurship and marketing, said he has always been fascinated by aviation. When he was younger, he remembers playing with toy model airplanes and video games involving flying. When his father renewed his pilot's license earlier this year and began to consider purchasing his own plane, Gunther saw an opportunity. Last November he started working toward his own pilot's license at the Monroe County airport, and received it in July. \nBecoming licensed requires 40 to 50 hours of in-air flight time, said Bob Burke, president of BMG Aviation, a full service base operator at the Monroe County Airport, which offers a flight school and general aviation services. Students must take 15 hours of dual instruction for about $100 an hour, Burke said, and can then take solo flights for $70 or more per hour, depending on the aircraft. Oral, written and practical exams must also be passed before someone can receive a license, Gunther said. \n"It's an expensive hobby, but it's worth every penny," he said. "It's really, really neat to be in control of an airplane instead of just sitting in a back seat. You're in total control of what happens, where you're \ngoing, how the airplane is flying. You can bank it all the way to the left, you can bank it all the way to right, you can do whatever you want." \nThe club, now made up of 20 members, seven of whom are licensed pilots, meets about once or twice a month for administrative and instructional meetings and also comes together at the Monroe County airport for "fly days," Gunther said. \nDuring meetings, instructors from BMG Aviation are planning to teach members skills like navigation, reading a map, planning a "cross-country" trip -- where a plane takes off in one airport and lands in another -- as well as the physical dynamics of aviation and the onboard systems of an aircraft, he said. \nThe club will assist members in becoming licensed by referring them to flight instructors and informing them of requirements, but will also give non-pilot members the chance to fly, using a system where the license holder will be the "pilot-in-command," but will allow the non-pilot to make turns and other small moves, Gunther said. One member of the group, junior Kristen Olson, took her first trip in a small Cessna 150 plane in early September, when she flew over campus with Gunther. She said she's been hooked ever since. \n"It's a totally different experience," she said. "The first time I was up there, it just kind of clicked with me, and it was definitely something I wanted to pursue." \nShe said she plans to attend the instructional meetings on campus, offered through the club, and hopes to begin taking private flight lessons next year.\n"It's so cool, it's unique, it's not something that everybody can do," said freshman Serena Olson, the club's vice president, now working toward her license. \nAs the organization grows in the future, Gunther said he would like to see a day in when the club can embark on a partial Big Ten tour, visiting Purdue, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin -- all by plane. \nIn the meantime, though, he said he's just enjoying the thrill of taking to the sky for himself. \n"It's like, 'Oh, by the way, I'm a pilot,'" Gunter said. "Somehow that always comes out in the first five minutes of talking to someone"