A thrill seeking Effingham pilot is preparing to experience Monday’s solar eclipse from thousands of feet above the earth’s surface.
Ken Wohltman plans to fly his plane during the eclipse, which will be visible from much of Effingham for about 40 seconds, beginning at approximately 2:03 p.m. Monday. Effingham sits on the northern edge of the eclipse’s path of totality.
“It’s once in a lifetime for me,” Wohltman said in an interview at the Effingham County Regional Airport Friday. “I think it’s going to be a hoot.”
Wohltman has been flying for more than 50 years, but he’s never taken a flight quite this. He noted that his interest in flying was initially sparked by his brother-in-law, Ed, who worked as a pilot for Northwest Airlines and convinced him to enroll in flight school at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
“I started flying in 1969,” Wohltman said. “I switched gears from Lake Land and went straight to Carbondale down there and got into their flight school, and that’s where I got my certificate from.”
When Wohltman and his wife, Valerie, got married and started their family, he chose to take a step back from flying to be closer to her and his four children.
“So I just kind of put the flying on the back shelf to raise my family and everything. And then about six or seven years ago, I retired and was flying with Ed again,” Wohltman said.
After retiring, Wohltman purchased the plane he’ll be flying during the eclipse Monday, a red, white and gold Piper Archer II PA-28-181.
“That’s a four-seater. It flies good,” Wohltman said.
On the day of the eclipse, Wohltman plans to take off from the Effingham County Regional Airport at approximately noon, and he’s looking to follow the eclipse’s path of totality from Carbondale, which lies in the center of the path, towards Indianapolis. However, he is going to try to fly over the eastern portion of Carbondale, so he can avoid the high levels of air traffic he expects to see in the area that day.
“I know there’s going to be some people coming in there, flying in there. It’s going to be a circus,” Wohltman said.
Although he has yet to decide just how far he plans to follow the eclipse’s path of totality, Wohltman is prepared to follow it for as long as he’s able.
“I’ll fly it and follow it until I’m tired of flying it and following it,” Wohltman said. “If I’ve got to stop somewhere and get fuel, no big deal. This plane will fly four or five hours without needing fuel, so I won’t fly that far.”
Wohltman joked that some might think he’s “crazy” for flying during an eclipse, but he’s also confident that the flight will be just as safe as any other flight he’s taken in his life, calling it a “piece of cake.”
The eclipse itself shouldn’t create any issues for Wohltman, but he’s hoping that the weather on Monday doesn’t. In fact, he said he might be forced to reconsider his plans to fly that day if the sky becomes too obstructed by clouds.
“That’s the one thing I’m kind of worried about,” he said.
In August of 2017, Wohltman witnessed the previous total solar eclipse that passed over the United States while on a lake in the Ozarks. He said the eclipse darkened the sky and caused a noticeable drop in the temperature.
“We were out in a boat out on the lake,” he said. “It was really kind of eerie. You almost wished you had a jacket to put on. It was weird.”
While this won’t be his first time witnessing a total solar eclipse from its path of totality, flying during the eclipse Monday will be a completely different experience, and Wohltman can only imagine exactly what his view of it will look like from his plane.
“I’m hoping to catch the darkness, but I’m thinking when you get up there, you see about 22 miles into the horizon. I’m hoping I pick up the lightness from it too,” he said. “I think it’s just going to be dark as night, and I’m hoping that I can see lightness in the distance.
“I’m going to take my phone and take pictures.”
Wohltman is looking forward to experiencing “the thrill” of flying during such a rare and fascinating astronomical event, a thrill similar to that which he felt while flying over firework shows on the Fourth of July a couple years ago.
“Maybe I’m half nuts,” Wohltman said. “I enjoy life.”