Reece Katterhenry peered across the wing of the 1976 Piper Warrior at his mom, René, before departing on his first solo flight on Thursday. Photos by Matthew Crane.
On Wednesday, Reece Katterhenry made the trip to the BMV for the rite of passage so many 16-year-olds look forward to; he was going to test for his driver’s license.
Weighing a bit heavier on his mind, though, was the larger challenge coming Thursday evening when he planned on completing his first solo flight at the Huntingburg Airport. He was originally supposed to take off on his own Tuesday evening. But his flight instructor, Tony Rhodes, had to postpone the solo flight due to the weather.
With the cancellation, Reece lost the opportunity to boast that he was licensed to travel the open skies before he could drive to school. Boasting isn’t really his style anyway, according to mom René Katterhenry.
Thursday evening, Reece first flew and landed three times with instructor Tony Rhodes aboard. This helps Tony see where his students’ minds are and confirms whether he will allow them to take their first solo flight. His discernment of their ability is important as they take their lives and others into their own hands when they leave the ground on their own. Tony confirmed Reece had been ready to take off since May, but René had insisted on a few more hours with Tony’s help before allowing her son to solo.
She was surprised he had taken on the challenge of getting his pilot’s license at all. He’s loath to even approach ladders due to an active fear of heights.
But, last October, when the little single-engine Piper Warrior took off with Rhodes at the stick, the moment the wheels were free from the tarmac, Reece knew he wanted to learn how to fly. More than that, as the gray line receded below and the sky opened up, he saw his future in front of him.
René has always strived to give all of her children opportunities to experience and learn. When Reece, Logan or Lexi have an interest in something, she sees it as her responsibility to water those seeds of interest and see what blooms.
So Reece started meeting up with Tony every other Tuesday.
Logan, 15, hugged his brother, Reece, after he completed his solo flight and landing.
That’s always been her goal with Reece and his brother, Logan. The pair ended up in her home when she was in her 20s after they were removed from their biological home by the Division of Family Services. Neglect and other issues were obvious. Logan was underdeveloped, and it was also apparent that four-and-a-half-year-old Reece had been taking care of his younger brother as well as a pre-kindergartener could.
“I think I needed them more than they needed me,” she said about the boys’ entry into her young life.
After two and a half long years of fostering the boys, 27-year-old René was finally able to adopt them. On October 26, 2011, they rounded out her growing family of four that now included a younger sister, Lexi, who had just entered the world a few months earlier on August 31.
Lexi, 12, also took a moment to hug her brother. Lexi also joined Reece on that inaugural flight with Tony Rhodes, which allowed her to overcome her own fear of flying.
Neither boy was unscathed by those early years of neglect, and for René, it’s important to note that both have overcome deficits to achieve what they have in spite of those setbacks.
Now, Reece is ready to continue training for his private pilot’s license, with plans to attend Purdue and become a commercial pilot and flight instructor.
Reece filled out his log after completing the practice flight and landing with Tony aboard. The pair spent about an hour taking off and landing three times together before Reece took off on his own.
A crowd of family and church members joined the Katterhenrys for Reece’s solo flight. Pastor Alan Bradley of Faith Community of the Nazarene in Huntingburg prayed over Reece before he took off. René credits Reece’s inquisitive nature for their church family. One night, after René sang “Jesus Love Me” to her two young sons, he asked her who Jesus was and how he knew Jesus loved him. Soon after, they began attending church.
René posed outside the plane as Reece completed his pre-flight check.
René recorded Reece’s first launch and each subsequent one as he took off, landed, taxied in and then took off again three times Thursday evening.
Tony welcomed Reece back to the ground and to the family of pilots after he completed his solo flight Thursday. On the solo flight, Reece stated he had little time to think of anything other than not crashing while he was circling the airport.
Traditionally, once a student solos, their instructor cuts the back of their shirt off. This tradition began in the early years of flight when instructors were unable to talk to their students. To signal the student to take over, the instructor would tug on the student’s shirt. Once they soloed, their shirttail was no longer needed and was cut out, and the date they soloed was written on it. Reece’s shirttail will join the 18 others on the walls of the terminal building and in Hanger 5 at Huntingburg Airport.
Reece poses for a photo for Tony. He explained that he relives the excitement of his own solo flight every time he has a student fly on their own for the first time.
