Sean Hovanec took to the skies to show off his Pittsburgh pride, producing a stunning image of his Terrible Towel looking out over Downtown and the North Side.
The Navy lieutenant flew his single-engine trainer from Milton, Fla., to Pittsburgh International Airport for the Wings Over Pittsburgh air show, and used the opportunity to capture his black-and-gold fever in one photo.
“Steelers is kind of like equal to religion,” Hovanec said. “When the Super Bowl’s on or when the Steelers are playing, it’s not unheard of to run a cable to the bathroom to make sure we don’t miss anything during the game.”
Hovanec, 33, who grew up in Indiana County and went to Hopewell High School, is currently in the Navy reserves, living in Milton near Naval Air Station Whiting Field. He had wanted to make the trip back home for a while, and when he was finally able to do so, he made sure to bring his Terrible Towel along for the ride.
“Everyone got a kick out of it in the Air Force reserves unit up there,” he said, also mentioning that he spent some time waving the Terrible Towel around — like a true Steelers fan — after he landed.
In addition to flying over the city, Hovanec’s trip included aerial views of his father’s house, his grandparents’ home and his family’s cabin in the Allegheny Mountains.
He said that in order to make the trip a reality, he needed three things: a competent trainee as copilot, decent weather and coordination with local Air Force units.
“Our primary goal is to do training, not to go on fun joy rides up to Pittsburgh,” Hovanec said. “If I don’t have a good flight student, I have to concentrate more on him than the flight itself. I had a good flight student, so that helped.”
With that issue out of the way, Hovanec next had to worry about the weather, particularly icing.
“The weather helped us play ball,” he said. “There was enough to be annoying, but enough to be OK still and make it up... We were able to pick through it safely.”
Coordinating with the Air Force was a special experience for Hovanec because it was the first time he was able to work directly with his uncle, Tech. Sgt. Frank Coulter. Hovanec credits Coulter, who is also a volunteer firefighter, for inspiring him to join the military.
“He likes to serve people,” Hovanec said. “I kind of got that from him.”
He and Coulter also have a unique relationship because Hovanec now outranks his uncle, which he described as a “neat little conundrum.” In fact, he has gotten to re-enlist Coulter twice, in 2012 and 2016.
When it was time for Hovanec to land at Pittsburgh International, Coulter was the one marshaling him to safety.
“Being in the Navy, we don’t deal with the Air Force very much at all,” Hovanec said. “There’s some cross-pollination when you’re doing missions and stuff like that ... but it depends. I haven’t had much exposure with them. We worked it all out and they were actually really good to work with. Everything worked to a T.”
Hovanec’s goal is to become a commercial airline pilot and to eventually move back home. The only thing that seems to rival his love for the Steelers is his passion about flying.
“Flying an airplane is really neat,” he said. “If you’ve never been in a little plane, go on one. It’s fun to see the world from the air.”
First Published: May 23, 2017, 9:30 a.m.
