By Tenley Ong, EAA 1388744
The first time Jessica Thacker and Josh Fischer met at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh years ago, they didn’t particularly like each other.
A mutual friend introduced them, but Jessica wasn’t impressed, she recalled.
“I thought he was going to show up for one year, drink all our beer, and leave,” she said. “But he kept coming back, so I thought ‘Okay, you’re cool.’”
Things certainly have changed. On Monday, July 26, Josh proposed to Jessica in the Metro Warbirds section of the vintage aircraft area. She said yes.
Over the years, their love and passion for aviation brought them closer together and they became good friends. In 2017, they flew to Oshkosh in the yellow Piper Super Cub that Jessica learned to fly in. That year, Josh and Jessica shared their first kiss underneath the wing of the Cub and they have been dating for about four years.
“I was just excited to find a girl that thought my airplane nerdiness was cool,” Josh said. “She and I have a really amazing friendship with each other. Aviation is what brought us together.”
Based out of White Bear Lake, Minnesota, the nature of their work as airline pilots keeps them very busy. Despite the stress of the job on a family, they love that they work in the same industry since they have a mutual understanding of the job and the time commitment expected.
The love of aviation and the knack for finding love in the industry runs in the family. In 1987, Jessica’s parents, Bill and Janis, honeymooned at AirVenture and also got featured in the daily EAA paper. Bill was a pilot and Janis was a flight attendant.
Coming to Oshkosh with her family since she was in the womb, Jessica said that eventually she and Josh want their own airplane to go on family vacations, just like she did with her family when she was growing up.
Bill said he is really glad that his daughter picked a “boy that flies,” and he enjoys building airplanes together in the garage with his future son-in-law, also known as “whatshisname.” He says with a smile, “Gen 3 will be cool to have in camp,” to which Jessica chimes in, “We will make Gen 3.”
Every year, the Metro Warbirds meet at Jessica’s family home, about two hours south of Oshkosh, and fly together to AirVenture. Jessica has a very small biological family, but her airplane family is her second family. Jessica and Josh said that 40 percent of the guest list will be made up of their Metro Warbirds friends. Their wedding will likely be in September 2022.
Jessica and Josh’s story goes to show that you never know who you’re going to meet and what impact they could have on your life. As Josh said, “A few chance meetings in a field in Wisconsin, and this was our chance meeting.”