Plane + Pilot Subscriber Wins 2025 Ultimate FLYING Giveaway

Plane + Pilot subscriber Troy Hoehne has been announced as the 2025 Ultimate FLYING Giveaway winner of a $50,000 cash prize. 

The Ultimate FLYING Giveaway ran throughout 2025, doling out $1,000 cash prizes to entrants each month. To participate, entrants had to be an active subscriber to one of FLYING’s “qualifying magazines,” with additional entries given to subscribers who gave out gift subscriptions for one of the select magazines to family and friends.

Entered into the pool after subscribing to Plane + Pilot earlier this summer, Hoehne was awarded the grand prize—a choice between a $100,000 credit toward an aircraft purchased through AircraftForSale.com or a $50,000 lump sum. 

While the prize was chosen by a random drawing, the award goes to a proven member of the aviation community. 

Born into a military family, Hoehne spent much of his early life bouncing around to various military bases before obtaining his first pilot certificate in high school. After graduating, he quickly joined the Army, attending the flight school where he spent 25 years as an aviator in the military, filling his logbook with destinations all over the U.S., South Korea, and the Caribbean, all while flying both fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft.

Hoehne spent a lot of his time operating the Bell UH-1 Iroquois and was flying CH-47D helicopters when he retired from service. 

Upon retiring from the Army, Hoehne worked as a high school history teacher, where among other subjects, he taught aviation history and worked with a number of aviation museums, both in the U.S. and abroad. 

Keeping with his passion for aviation history, since leaving the classroom Hoehne has been researching the story of famed aviators Charles and Anne Linbergh’s 1937 flight to India and hopes to publish the results in the near future. 

We’re honored to see the prize go to a distinguished reader and proud member of the Plane + Pilot community.