It is difficult for pilots to explain why they love flying and have retained that love since they were small children.
It is equally difficult for people who don't fly to understand why people are so fascinated with flying.Such was the fascination Kenneth L. Hepner had with flying. He can remember lying on the ground as a child, looking at soaring birds, looking at airplanes and wondering how they stayed aloft. He decided early he wanted to be a pilot.
At 58, Hepner has been flying various types of aircraft for many years and along with his wife, Barbara, owns Barken International, a supermarket of an air charter service located north of the executive terminal at the Salt Lake International Airport.
The company name comes from the first three letters of their names.
Mrs. Hepner's attraction to the skies is similar to her husband's: She wanted to fly at an early age and now is qualified to fly many types of business-size aircraft. She can even brag that she is the only Utah woman qualified to fly the Boeing 737.
The Hepners have gradually built their business into a supermarket air charter service by providing everything from charter flights, insurance, maintenance, sales, repairs and providing flight crews for corporations with their own aircraft.
It hasn't been easy for the couple who at one time barely had enough money to purchase fuel for a charter flight. But things have improved - last year Barken had more than $5 million in sales.
A California native, Mrs. Hepner's family moved to Utah when she was 4 years old, and she was raised in Salt Lake City. She became interested in flying 20 years ago more or less on a challenge and took lessons in a single-engine Piper Cherokee at the old Kelsey-Ellis Air Service at the airport.
"I slung pizzas at night and went flying in the morning," she said - a difficult task because was trying to raise three children. She needed 300 hours to obtain her private pilot's license and later qualified for a commercial pilot's license, but there was only one corporation, Jelco, in Utah with an airplane.
In qualifying for her licenses, Mrs. Hepner flew every chance she got. "I know every rock and pebble in Utah from the air," she laughs, and it was tough to keep everything going.
Were there scary times? A few rough-running engines and some strong crosswinds gave her concern. She had some doubt about her first solo takeoff, but once airborne she loved the freedom of flying and the chance to get away from everyday life.
A year after getting her commercial pilot's license she was hired by Jelco. Hepner had been working for a company in Twin Falls, Idaho, and he was hired by William Kibbie, Jelco president, and that's where he met his future partner, both in marriage and business.
Both had been married and divorced.
Mrs. Hepner doesn't fly as much as she used to because the company has 27 full-time pilots and three part-time pilots, but she still logs 250 hours annually, keeps her aircraft ratings current, helps manage the company, pays the bills and keeps current on all regulations affecting the airline industry.
A native of Bend, Ore., Hepner was a typical boy who liked model airplanes and visited the airport with his parents. In 1949 he went to the Prineville, Ore., airport and purchased a 1941 Porterfield airplane with a 65 horsepower engine for $240 and a new rifle.
After the purchase, Hepner realized he didn't have any money for flying lessons but went to work for the airport manager and eventually received his private pilot's license. He soloed on his 16th birthday.
Hepner flew every chance he got, returning airplanes to their owners who left them at the airport because of bad weather. The owners paid for his return trip on the bus.
He enrolled at Oregon State University in 1949 and hung around the airport in Eugene, Ore. He was offered a full-time job at the airport if he got his commercial pilot's license. Hepner flew often, earned the license and also received an instruction rating.
He has more than 8,000 hours as an instructor; many of his students are flying for major airlines.
After the Hepners met at Jelco, they found they had many interests in common and most of them centered on flying. Hepner said they spend many hours talking about what things go into operating an outstanding charter service. They married in 1974.
That same year the Arab oil embargo caused Jelco to reduce its aviation operation, but Hepner was given the chance to sell a helicopter. The Hepners formed Barken, sold the helicopter under their company name and soon were selling other helicopters after inquiries to advertisements kept coming in.
They decided to take advantage of the situation so they kept purchasing and selling helicopters and purchased an airplane to get to the areas where the helicopters were located. The helicopter business slowed down after four years and the company dealt in fixed-wing aircraft only.
In 1978, the Hepners were hired by Sunn Classics Pictures to determine if the company could effectively use an airplane. They told company officials leasing an airplane was better than purchasing one. They located a Lear Jet, leased it and flew it for Sunn Classic for two years.
Taft Broadcasting purchased the movie company and officials decided they didn't need an airplane or pilots. The Hepners had 90 days to decide their next move. They applied to the Federal Aviation Administration in 1980 for an air carrier certificate to get their company going.
The certificate arrived on a Friday, just a few hours before an earthquake in Mexico caused extensive problems for natural gas lines. They were hired to fly an engineer to the damaged area and they scraped some money together and used both of their credit cards to pay for the gas.
The Hepners didn't have a bank account in the Barken name at first, but gradually as the charter flights came they built the business, hired more pilots, some mechanics and later some office workers.
They own several airplanes, have three hangars and soon will begin construction on a 15,000 square-foot hangar for maintenance and storage.
Because the Hepners have been involved in flying for many years, it is obvious their children were influenced by their work. A daughter, Jo-dee Morgan, handles the risk management service for the company; sons Kenny and Rod Barlow are pilots for Barken; and another son, Cory, is a ramp manager for Delta Air Lines.
Don't be surprised if some of the Hepners' seven grandchidren wind up in the same business. With model airplanes and airplane coloring books as frequent gifts, what do you expect?