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 Top Gun
Sit Back, Buckle Up And Please Keep Your Hands To Yourself As Former Air Force Captain And Pilot Reichen Helps Us Overcome Our Fear Of Flying (Not Like We Have One, But We Needed Some Excuse To Have Him Show Us His Cockpit).
For right now he only goes by his first name: Reichen (pronounced Ry-Ken). But, with a name like that, who would pay attention to his last name? Standing six-foot-one, with his chiseled features, buff body and stern glance, Reichen looks like one of those men who wouldn’t think twice about roughing you up (which is just fine with us).
However, looks can be deceiving—and underneath that tough exterior is a gentle guy who insists he’s an “animal person” and who believes in love at first sight. Plus, he’s a pilot and owns his own business. So, we forgave him for his good looks and gave him a chance to impress us with his personality.
INSTINCT: What else do you do besides showing of your bod for Instinct readers?
REICHEN:[Chuckles] I own a charter airline brokerage service: Tribe Airways. It’s a project I started about three years ago and it’s only been up and running for about a year.
Okay, so explain how Tribe Airways works.
Basically, we charter planes to travel anywhere in the world. Gulfstreams, Citation Jets, Learjets, King Airs, helicopters, single-engine planes. Our most high-end one is the G-5, Gulfstream 5.
How much would that last one set us back?
Well, roundtrip airfare for a G-5 from L.A. to New York is $75,000, but that includes the plane, fuel, the pilots, catering, ground transportation and cleaning—whole package.
That’s it? Screw flying in filthy first class on our next trip to New York! Where does this passion for flying come from? You mentioned at the shoot that you were in the Air Force?
Yeah, I went to the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs right out of high school.
Where’d you go to high school?
In Boston. I grew up there.
What hoops did you have to jump through to get in to the Air Force Academy?
It’s actually very competitive. First you have to get a Congressional nomination just to be considered. The funny thing is that I got my nomination from Barney Frank. I didn’t realize I was gay at the time; I was doing what everybody else was doing and dating girls.
Did Barney make a pass at you?
[Laughs] No! [Laughs again] But I’ll never forget my interview with Mr. Frank. It was just me and him, and we were really far away from each other in his office. He was over behind his desk eating something while he interviewed me. I was on a couch by the wall scared to death. But three weeks later I got my nomination letter. I finished applying, got my appointment at the academy and graduated with the class of 1996.
So, when did you finally realize that you wanted to play with the other soldiers’ little lieutenants?
I came out to myself when I was 21, a junior at the Academy. I became involved with another guy at the Academy—so involved, in fact, that I decided to call my parents and tell them I was sleeping with a guy. My mother asked, ‘Is this something you think you want to keep doing again and again, or is it just a phase?’ ‘I think I want to do it again and again,’ I replied. My dad then said, ‘If that’s the case, you’re probably gay.’ I asked them if that was all right and they told me, ‘Of course it is.’ Basically, my parents told me I was gay.
You had to go in to active duty after the Academy, right?
Yes, for five years. My first active-duty assignment was as a second lieutenant at the Los Angeles Air Force base. After three years of that I went to the University of Virginia to work with their faculty in the ROTC department, which included everything from character development of the cadets to a lot of recruiting activities. I was head of the Junior recruiting Program for all of the high schools in the state of Virginia. I separated from the Air Force as a captain and went back to L.A. and moved in with my boyfriend right away…
You had a boyfriend while in Virginia?
Yeah, long-distance.
How’d you keep it going?
We flew back and forth every single weekend, which gets very expensive, but it was so worth it.
How many times a week do you go up in a plane nowadays?
I’m also a flight instructor; the only time I’m up in the air flying is when I’m teaching someone else to fly.
What do we have to do to have you as our flight instructor?
You just have to be a living, breathing person. I’d put you in the cockpit pilot’s seat right away and usually take you off the ground in the first ten minutes.
Are guys impressed by the whole pilot thing?
Sure, they think it’s cool. But when I take them flying they see how important it is to me and how seriously I take it. It’s not just something I talk about; it’s something I really love to do, so they end up loving it more.
Ever had sex while flying?
[Laughs] I’ve messed around, but I wasn’t flying.
What makes a man hot in your opinion?
Confidence makes a man sexy. You know, you can find out of a guy is confident by taking him up in an airplane and giving him the controls.
That’s your confidence test?
It’s one of them. A confident man will take the controls and start moving them around to see what they do. A guy without confidence will hold on stiff with white knuckles.
So, physically, what part of the male body turns you on the most?
You can tell everything about a guy by looking at his wrists. How much alcohol he drinks, if he’s a weightlifter or runner, how hairy his body is, how hydrated he is…
Can you tell if he’s going to be a good kisser?
Sure.
And how big he is going to be, you know, down there?
Well, size does not matter to me at all.
Would you choose having sex or making out?
Can I choose both? I like to kiss a lot. I love grabbing a guy’s head, putting my face next to his and sniffing in his ear, sort of like a dog does. [Chuckles] I don’t know why, but that’s what I like to do.
So, are you the only aviator in your family?
No, my grandmother was a pilot in World War II. She was one of very few women who served in the armed forces directly, as a Women’s Air Service Pilot (WASP). They ferried aircraft from the manufacturing plant to where they needed to go, and also flew planes from base to base. She’s a little badass; she recently jumped out of an airplane for her 80th birthday.
What’s the corniest thing a guy has done when hitting on you?
Usually, the most I ever get is a look from across the bar. That’s corny to just give someone a look. I wish that guy would just come up and talk to me. Even if he’s not my type that doesn’t mean I’m not going to talk to him. I’d rather meet someone cool who shows a little confidence than have someone stare at me like some sort of creep.
Last question: Do guys look better in uniform?
You know they do.
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