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Wisconsin State Journal Crash Victim Had Passion for Flying Date: Thursday, September 5, 2002 Byline: Barry Adams, Police reporter, Wisconsin State Journal Whether it was flying a co-worker to a northern Wisconsin cabin or introducing his passion to children, Thomas Rebholz cherished his time in the air. "He was a friend to everyone," said Diane Kohn, who worked at the Department of Workforce Development with Rebholz since 1987. Rebholz had on a couple of occasions flown her to a family cabin in Chetek. "He really was a big advocate in getting people interested in flying. Maybe it was just the peace and serenity up there," Kohn said. Rebholz, 47, of Madison, was killed Tuesday night when the single engine airplane he was piloting crashed on take off from Blackhawk Airfield in the town of Cottage Grove. Rebholz was pronounced dead at the scene by a Med Flight helicopter doctor. An autopsy is scheduled for today [ada: Thursday: ]by the Dane County Coroner's Office. Rebholz is survived by his wife, Nancy, and two sons, Peter, 18, and Daniel, 15. Funeral services are scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday at St. Bernard Catholic Church, 2450 Atwood Avenue. Visitation is from noon to 2 p.m. at the church. Investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration arrived at the crash scene Wednesday morning and moved the airplane from a cornfield near the south side of a runway to a hanger at the airport. Why the plane crashed has not been determined. A final report could take up to six months to complete, said Cottage Grove Police Detective Paul Matte. "We know he took off going west," Matte said. The Rans S-10 [ada: cq: ]plane, which is built from a kit, was found on its belly after it took off at about 7 p.m. from an east-west runway. The crash scene, however, was located about 80 yards from the south end of a north-south runway at the private airfield, Matte said. "They're a very good aircraft," said Dick Knapinski, a spokesman for the Experimental Aircraft Association in Oshkosh. "It's a nice design and has some good cross-country capabilities." The plane, introduced in 1988, has a range of about 520 miles, a maximum speed of 130 miles per hour and a cruising speed of 125 miles per hour, Knapinski said. "It took several years for him to build it. It was immaculate. It looked like a factory built plane," said flight instructor Jim Hughes. "He was one of the finest students. You couldn't ask for anyone better. He loved everything about flying. He was pretty incredible." Dana Perry, of Barneveld, worked with Rebholz for half of the 14 years Rebholz worked at Workforce Development. In October, Rebholz took Perry's son Jacob, 11, and daughter, Erin, 12, for their first ride in a small plane, flying from Cottage Grove and picking up the kids at the Iowa County Airport. Rebholz was part of the Young Eagles flight program created in 1992 by the EAA to give 1 million children ages 8 through 17 around the world an introductory flight by the year 2003. "They thought it was great," Perry said. "I was impressed by how much he stuck to the check lists and did everything by the books." |