By Barbara A. Schmitz
Michael and Martina Höcker, of Aachen, Germany, certainly took the long route to arrive at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh. About a 20,000-mile route, in fact.
The couple took off April 9 in their 1979 Beechcraft A36, and will return home about August 22, having stopped in more than 50 destinations in Scotland, Iceland, Greenland, Canada, and the United States.
They arrived in Oshkosh Tuesday and will depart Sunday for their next stops on the East Coast before turning north to Quebec and going home.
“We bought the aircraft nine years ago; our plan was to fly around the world,” said Michael, EAA 1277558. However, their plans changed due to political realities and the pandemic, until everything finally aligned last year and they started planning for the trip.
“We had the time, the money, and the aircraft,” Michael said. But they also took time preparing for their flight, creating an itinerary and planned route, making sure the airplane was mechanically sound, and preparing themselves for the long flight to ensure their safety.
They made it to Goose Bay, Canada, before they had their first major issue as their airplane suffered engine failure on the runway. “The repair wasn’t complicated, but it took six days to get one part out in the middle of nowhere,” Michael said. “But we’re thankful that the engine failed where it did. We do not want to imagine what would happen if it were in another place.”
After their repair, they headed to the United States. In Fresno, they landed on one of two parallel runways, just as two F-15s departed.
Some air traffic controllers were confused with their tail number … it’s just letters, not numbers. “But one controller realized we were Germans and said, ‘Guten Reisen’,” recalled Martina, EAA 1277559. It means have a good trip.
Martina said she was surprised to see dying trees at Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks, a result of lack of water, bugs, and disease, problems compounded by climate change. Michael agreed that the total decimation of the forests was shocking and saddening to see. But he added that it is a global problem, and they see similar situations in Europe, too.
While they’ve seen some beautiful places, it’s the people they met that they said they would remember the most. “Some of the towns we stopped in weren’t that interesting, but the people we met are what is most important to us,” Michael said. “A handful said we must be crazy for going on a trip like this,” Martina said. But then others asked if they could come along with them, she added.