Sex in the sky?
No shit--and it's legit. Welcome to the "
Mile High Club Traverse City."
Scott Conaway offers a whole new meaning to "flying the friendly skies" when he takes couples soaring into the air to be romantic exactly one mile above the earth--without sneaking into the restroom of a jammed, hell-bent-for-the-next-hub 737 jet.
"When we get to 5,280 feet (the one-mile point) they can move about the cabin as they please," Conaway says.
Oh, the puns never end.
His Piper Cherokee Six--teasingly dubbed the "Cherokee Sex" by friends--has a satin-clad bed and a heavy, light-blocking privacy curtain between its cockpit and its rear (that's right--we said it) and you can snatch a flight from Cherry Capital Airport. Or any other airport, for that matter--just name the region and he'll be there to provide everything you need for a one-hour afternoon delight flight.
Conaway, who has charter piloted "normal" scenic aerial tours in the Traverse City region for years, got the idea in Las Vegas, and brought the Sin City business idea home to Michigan
"It started out as a joke," Conaway says. "But I researched this and found operations like this all over the place. I didn't know if there would be a market for this type of flight in this area, but business is great. A local radio station got a hold of my story about a week after I opened and the phone started ringing."
Conaway still operates chartered flight tours with fully clothed passengers wanting to see the sights from the air, but they do it in a chair. His other charter plane has regular seats.
But when the horizontal portion of the business took off, friends jumped in to help Conaway name the aircraft, with "Cherry Popper" and "Cherry Bomb" among the most popular suggestions. In reality, Cherokee Six remains nameless, and most of the lovers who climb aboard, its captain says, are middle-aged, married couples.
"I'm very comfortable with that. I love it," Conaway says. "I've been happily married for 13 years myself."
The unusual market that Conaway has cornered is almost exclusively female-dominated--women love to surprise their men with a gift of a racy flight, according to Conaway, and they make the greatest share of "Mile High Club Traverse City" bookings.
Honeymoon, anniversary and Valentine's Day flights are trendy right now, especially for financially stable couples looking for a really special gift, the unique opportunity to fulfill a fantasy, or a chance to sprinkle some spice into a relationship.
Nearly every future passenger asks about intimate discretion before flying with "Mile High Club Traverse City," and privacy is of utmost concern to Conaway.
"It's very private," he says. "I wear noise-concealing headphones, so I can hear what I need to hear from the tower, but that's about it. I can't hear anything else. This is about them, not about me. Like I said, I'm a happily married man."
Perks? He doesn't supply the bubbly, but Conaway shops locally for flowers and fine chocolates upon (frequent) request before take-off.
He enjoys both sides of the charter flight business immensely. Being high in the sky is like soaring toward Heaven, according to Conaway.
"Flying has always been ecstasy for me," he says.
Indeed. Now it's ecstasy for his passengers.
Check out the "Mile High Club Traverse City"
Facebook page where one brave soul publicly posts the question, "Is there room for three?"
Conaway's answer is, simply, "Yes."
And that's all he's got to say about that.
Kelle Barr is a Portage-based Second Wave Media reporter who loves flowers, chocolates and small airplanes.
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