News
Romance takes flight
Email this story | Print this story
Saturday, June 7, 2008 10:40 PM EDT
Argus-Press Photo by Anthony Cepak Rob Hoschner and Rachel MacKay stand by the Cessna Skyhawk they flew from their wedding in Flushing to their reception at a private airport on Hibbard Road in Caledonia Township Saturday night.
CORUNNA - For some, falling in love has been described like flying through the air. For Rob Hoschner, 22, and Rachel MacKay, 23, their entire relationship has been about flying - except they use actual airplanes.
Airplanes have so impacted their relationship, in fact, after they were married Saturday, the newlyweds and their bridal parties flew from the Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Flushing to their reception party at their private hangar in Corunna on one Cessna and two Cherokee 6s.
Once the bride and groom had arrived, friends of theirs performed a low fly-over in formation over the hangar strip in their honor.
Hoschner is a licensed pilot and a certified flight instructor. He has taught at the Owosso Community Airport for four years on and off. Hoschner's father and MacKay's parents are also all licensed pilots.
“I soloed when I was 16, got my license when I was 17, and got my flight instructor rating right before I went to college,” Hoschner said. “At one point I was thinking of becoming an airline pilot, but when I got into high school I got involved in more math and I realized I wanted to get into aerospace engineering.”
Hoschner then went to the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor to study aerospace engineering. MacKay attended University of Michigan-Flint, where she earned a degree in health education.
It was because of their parents' shared love of flying that they finally met.
“Our families are extremely into aviation,” Hoschner said. “(Rachel's) father, mother and brother all have licenses. And my dad and I have our licenses.”
Since both of their families hung around the Owosso airport so often, they eventually got to know each other in the summer of 2004.
“I was a younger person and she was a younger person, so we ended up talking a lot out there because we were getting bored with the adults,” Hoschner said. “We also had some mutual friends that connected us together.”
MacKay said because her family is so interested in aviation, she was getting sick of it - and going to the airport. That is, until she met Hoschner.
“Every time my parents drove past the airport, they always wanted to stop by,” MacKay said. “It got to the point where I hated driving with them because I knew that we would end up at the airport and spend hours there.”
Despite this, one of MacKay and Hoschner's first dates was flying.
“I didn't mind that so much,” MacKay said. “I liked him so much that it was worth it. I would've done anything to get his attention.”
“And she had it,” Hoschner chimed in.
For their honeymoon, they will fly to Malaysia - but this time, they will take a commercial jet.
- Contact Michael Peterson at 725-5136 extension 223 or mpetersonarguspress@gmail.com.
Comment on this Story
pam shepard wrote on Jun 8, 2008 7:10 PM:
