Welcome to the Midlife Pilot Podcast, where we share the experiences and the challenges of flying in midlife. Whether you're a seasoned pilot, training for private or instrument ratings, or just thinking about getting started in aviation, we like to think of the podcast as your aviation companion, and your weekly dose of aviation inspiration. Hosted by the dynamic trio of Ben, Brian, and Ted - the show is not instruction - it's all about sharing real stories, personal insights, and the pure joy of spreading your wings in midlife.
Flying, and actually having someone else pay for it. The crew sits down with James Onieal of Raven Career Development: pilot, instructor, type-rated in the King Air, Citation, and Embraer 170/190, veteran of regional, fractional, and FAA flight check flying, and a career coach since 2010 (also a former FAA Sky Cop, but that's a topic for another day). Most aviation career advice is aimed at 22-year-olds; this conversation is for the midlife career changer: what Career 2.0 actually looks like when you're in your prime earning years, how a flight instructor made it to a legacy airline about eighteen months after starting the work, what changes when a 65-year-old airline pilot isn't ready to hang it up, and the question James opens with: what's your dream job? Tape-machine feedback, a review, and listener questions from midlife career changers round it out. Mentioned on the show: James Onieal, Raven Careers: https://ravencareers.com/ Brian's The Long Way, Cohort Bravo starting August 13: https://www.makesmallcorrections.com/ NetJets furloughed pilots in 2010: https://www.cnbc.com/2009/11/05/berkshire-hathaways-netjets-furloughs-495-pilots.html James's Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesonieal/ 21.Five podcast: https://www.21fivepodcast.com/
Ben is back from AirVenture and still hearing the Fisk arrival in his sleep. Two holds around the lakes, a push all the way back to Puckaway, and made it in on the third time, following an RV toward the runway: "I'm just going where he's going, and I hope they clear us to land." The full Oshkosh debrief: the campsite, the meetup with the APG crew, BK the Oshkosh controller, and the departure lesson every IFR pilot should hear (no slot before Oshkosh means no slot leaving it). Brian counters with the BUCKHD THREE arrival into Atlanta and a real-time weather call when the bad stuff showed up early. Plus a big announcement: a live show recorded at McCollum Field (RYY), with food at Elevation Chophouse after. Tape machine from Ash (flying_wheelies), a plea for written reviews (the stars are great, write the words too), Ray B joins at the Land-O-Matic level, and Dev Cannon logs an hour milestone flying his Navion home from Oshkosh. Mentioned on the show: RYY - Cobb County/McCollum Field: https://www.airnav.com/airport/RYY Elevation Chophouse: https://www.elevationatlanta.com/ Ascension Aviation, RYY FBO: https://ascensionfbo.com/location/atlanta/ Ash aka flying_wheelies: https://instagram.com/@flying_wheelies Ben on Airplane Pilot Guy 716, part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-jPl9NKqOQ BUCKHD THREE arrival for Atlanta: https://www.flightaware.com/resources/airport/KCCO/STAR/BUKHD+THREE+(RNAV) The Flying Reporter - Oceanic Adventure: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcG48Zvp5uCE Open Source GA - many Oshkosh videos: https://www.youtube.com/@OpenSourceGA/videos
This week Ben, Brian, and Ted get into IFR currency: what it actually takes to stay instrument current and ready. Six approaches, holds, tracking and intercepting nav aids, and the clock that never stops running. Foggles versus a safety pilot versus the real thing, why the foggles are "the worst approximation of the instrument experience," and whether an IPC is the smarter move than chasing six approaches every six months. Plus a full tape machine of your voice memos and a whole lot of Oshkosh anticipation. From the tape machine: Ash (flying_wheelies) on flying as a wheelchair pilot and sport pilot in his Paradise P1, and more of your feedback. Mentioned on the show: Brian's THE LONG WAY: https://www.makesmallcorrections.com/ Frequency Change Aviation, Nashville: https://frequencychangeaviation.com/ EP36 with CFI & flight school owner Jeff Ramsey: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep36-cfi-flight-school-owner-jeff-ramsey-on-how-to/id1591463789?i=1000615289723 Ash's Flying Wheelies: https://www.instagram.com/flying_wheelies Paradise P1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise_P1_LSA ICP Savannah: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICP_Savannah When Do You Need An IPC (Boldmethod): https://www.boldmethod.com/learn-to-fly/regulations/when-do-you-need-an-ipc-instrument-proficiency-check/ 1DullGeek's "I Can't See the Runway!!": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoIQv7IsfCw
Sport pilots get treated as lesser pilots. This week the crew takes apart why, and why it does not hold up. The restrictions are real. The skill gap is not. After MOSAIC put Cessna 172s and Cherokees within reach of a sport pilot, the training gap closed on its own. It starts with Rich, a sport pilot in Atlanta who walked into a flight school and got told he had "so much less training." Also this week: listener Christopher H. crossed 500 hours and passed his commercial checkride. Tape-machine messages from Luke Johnson, Sierra Squared, and Chris M. From the community: Echo November Whiskey passed the instrument checkride after "5 reschedulings with 3 DPEs." PapaLima logged a 90-day run for the ages. hakan flew his first border crossing, Germany to Austria. Support the show, join the Discord, grab merch, and send us a message at midlifepilotpodcast.com. If you are enjoying the podcast, leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts and we will read it on the air. Mentioned on the show: Brian's THE LONG WAY: https://www.makesmallcorrections.com/ Czechoslovakia, Czech Republic since 1992: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czechoslovakia Long Way 'Round, Ewan McGregor: https://www.longway.tv/ Yes, Long Distance Runaround: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=La9Me7alNqA Erica's IFR class: https://www.gilbertaviation.com/
Ben's coming back to McCollum with his wife in the right seat and the winds at 340, 18 gusting 28, basically direct crosswind, and he's already named the two north-south runways he'll divert to if he doesn't like it. That's the whole episode in one scene. We dig into go/no-go decisions, built around the Go/No-Go channel where you post a flight before you fly it and let the group reason alongside you. No bravado, no armchair quarterbacking. Brian makes the case that scrubbing a flight you could have made is still a win, because you're teaching your future self the call was sound and next time the conditions could be worse. Erica Gilbert's 1,000-foot ceiling minimum comes up, and the story behind it: three emergency returns after takeoff inside 30 days. We talk through the real question under an IFR deck, which is how much time you want to find a landing spot when the engine quits, not if. The hardest scrubs are the ones 900 miles from home with work in the morning, so grab your meds and your underwear. We also read a remarkable letter from Bruce, a 45-year-old monocular MMA coach who spent two and a half years fighting through medical denials to earn his certificate. Plus accomplishments from Teddy's second Mooney, an M20J flown Texas to Minnesota, and Checkmate Barry's 14-maneuver flight review, the Piston Peasant shirt Ted designed, and a second cohort of Brian's VFR cross-country course after the first sold out. If you can't be a good example, you'll have to be a horrible warning. Mentioned on the show: THE LONG WAY cross-country course: https://www.makesmallcorrections.com/ PISTON PEASANT shirt: https://midlifepilotpodcast.printful.me/product/piston-peasant-shirt New website: https://midlifepilotpodcast.com/ I FLEW ALL DAY AND LANDED AT THE SAME AIRPORT shirt: https://midlifepilotpodcast.printful.me/product/i-flew-all-day-and-landed-at-the-same-airport-unisex-classic-tee Erica Gilbert's IFR masterclass: https://www.gilbertaviation.com/ifr-course
A whiskey episode, the non-format format where we catch up, work the live chat, and let it fly. Ted spots a pair of Canadair Super Scoopers fighting fires over Utah and IDs them on ADS-B in about ten seconds. Brian preps a 4:30 a.m. departure for West Texas to end-around a brutal heat dome, Tango 82 for a couple nights, then Marfa. Ted lays out the fatigue math of flying high for smoother air and better fuel burn, and when the oxygen comes out. We read an invite to Ed-Air, a Part 137 ag operation in Southern Indiana with a pilot house, six beds, and an 80-year-old founder. Ben recounts his annual five-mile hike up to the Len Foote Hike Inn near Springer Mountain and the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail, 19 miles over a weekend that doubles as Oshkosh training. Version two of the website is live at midlifepilotpodcast.com, with the Midlife Pilot Tape Machine and a VU meter that actually works, so go yell into it. Plus the long road to turning Nashville's Super Charlie into a Bachelorette Bravo, a Challenger pilot caught on the wrong frequency, the grace controllers extend to student pilots, bush wheels on a Cessna 140, and a shout-out to everyone with a checkride coming up. Don't scud run, people. Mentioned on the show: Canadair CL-415 Super Scooper: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadair_CL-415 T82 airport: https://www.airnav.com/airport/t82 I20 Ed-Air Inc. airport: https://edairinc.com/location.html I20 info: https://www.airnav.com/airport/I20 Len Foote Hike Inn: https://hike-inn.com/ Springer Mountain: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Springer_Mountain Gita's Calm Cockpit Podcast: https://calmcockpit.com/ Capt'n Todd's "portapilot" video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IR2HrQGf454 www.midlifepilotpodcast.com
Avgas hit 8.85 a gallon, so the $100 hamburger is now a $300 hamburger, and if you're renting, congratulations, it's a $1,000 hamburger. Brian, Ben, and Ted dig into how midlifers actually keep flying when fuel costs go vertical: pull the power back and trade five knots for four gallons an hour, cast a wide net for a safety pilot to split the cost, chase the cheapest fuel 50 miles out, and rediscover this thing called "morning." The feedback bag is stacked this week. The Tuba Guy writes in from the Boston Symphony, 13 years out of the cockpit and finding his way back. Listener Jason followed in Brian's footsteps to Drift Aviation and got hooked on the J-3 Cub. And Cassie, a brand-new private pilot, relies on the show for her weekly "aviation friend fix," which nearly earns her 30 instant pilot friends in Portland whether she wants them or not. Plus a legendary 1 Dull Geek Rant on the the eternal question of where exactly you're supposed to do your run-up. Brian's new VFR cross-country course is at makesmallcorrections.com. Mentioned on the show:* Catherine Cavagnaro: https://aceaerobaticschool.com/* Justin Tidwell, Flywell Aviation: https://www.flywellaviation.com/aboutus* AC Super Decathlon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Champion_Decathlon* Coronary artery disease: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronary_artery_diseaseiep141* Getting a medical with coronary artery disease: https://www.faa.gov/ame_guide/media/Coronary_Heart_Disease_Disposition_Table.pdf* Episode 141 - Every pilot is creative somehow: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep141-every-pilot-is-creative-somehow-tim-lien-from/id1591463789?i=1000721686629* Bill Burr- helicopter bit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9ZSzuj1UpA* The Ultimate Guide to Becoming a Midlife Pilot- second edition! https://midlifepilotpodcast.com/#guide* Lambert's throwed rolls: https://throwedrolls.com/* RYY airport diagram: https://www.aopa.org/ustprocs/20260611/SE-4/ryy_airport_diagram.pdf* Brian's "the long way" ground course: https://makesmallcorrections.com/Support the show! www.midlifepilotpodcast.com
You earned the ticket. Now what? Most VFR pilots get their certificate and then spend the next few years doing pattern laps and $100 hamburger runs, never quite working up the nerve for the big trip. There's no checkride for cross-country confidence, so nobody teaches it. This week, Brian, Ben, and Ted dig into everything that happens after your training ends and the open country begins. The guys get into the gap in pilot training nobody talks about: en route weather reality versus departure-and-arrival thinking, why personal minimums need a methodology for ratcheting (not just a number on a card), and how to think about your airplane as your responsibility for three days on the ground, not two hours in the air. Plus the stuff that bites you in the real world: dead iPads in one-million-degree Texas heat, self-serve fuel pumps that put a $3,000 hold on your only credit card, progressive taxi at unfamiliar fields with crossing runways, and knowing where you're going to put it down when the engine quits on departure from an airport you've never seen. Ben finally lands on the right runway at New Smyrna Beach, Brian watches his commercial rating show up in the airman registry, and a bathroom-wall sticker in New Orleans pulls another listener out of a training slump. Brian also announces The Long Way , his new four-week ground course built on everything learned VFR-ing all over the country, available now at makesmallcorrections.com. Whether you're the pilot talking yourself out of the trip or the one who goes far but knows some of it was luck, this one's for you. You don't have to be IFR-rated to Ted yourself all over the United States. Mentioned on the show: Ultimate Pilot's Guide to Becoming a Midlife Pilot, 2nd edition: https://midlifepilotpodcast.com/#guide Fairchild C-123: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairchild_C-123_Provider New Smyrna Beach Airport: https://www.nsbairport.com/ The Jerk: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jerk The Long Way — Cross-Country Confidence for VFR Pilots, a four-week ground course: https://www.makesmallcorrections.com/ Air Facts Podcast with Gita Brown: https://airfactsjournal.com/2026/06/podcast-dads-logbooks-with-gita-brown/ Gita's 2025 Dad's Logbooks article: https://airfactsjournal.com/2025/08/dads-logbooks-keeping-a-daughter-on-course/
Brian is hiding from CMA Fest, Ben is back from the British Virgin Islands, and Ted has finally sprung the Egg from a two-month annual. Time for an Information Whiskey episode. Brian gets back in the air after his exam binge with a visit to Full Stop Aviation at Union City, where he meets a 1,000 horsepower Reno racer, then executes a strategic family airstrike to the Virginia mountains and reports that Lucy's autopilot vertical hold now sounds like logging into America Online before giving up entirely. Listener feedback from Chris H. sparks a debate on whether heavy dual time before the private checkride is a red flag or just life happening. Community accomplishments include a PIN code for the DC FRZ, a 9,000 foot density altitude wake turbulence encounter, ten Young Eagles in one day, an LSRM-I sign-off, and fresh grief for everyone hand jamming a Garmin 430 in actual. Then things go deeper. Brian unpacks his new video "Trip. Fall. Succeed." and the photograph he took of a family at Huntsville Executive just two days before they were lost in the Montana Aztec accident. It's a thoughtful look at how aviation talks about tragedy, and how Ron Horton's challenge to become instructors gives all of this weight and purpose. Plus: episode 200 hits this fall, and the crew wants your votes for a very special non-event event at a no-place place. Hudson Corridor? New Orleans? A Denny's in Topeka? Send votes to midlifepilotpodcast@gmail.com Tonight's bit of wisdom: "Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm." Mentioned on the show: UCY - Union City: https://www.airnav.com/airport/UCY Full Stop Aviation at UCY: https://fs-aviation.com/ Luke's Landing: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOrpUYt-M4Qosktmet7Jnfg FlightChops video, going to UCY - Have You Ever Truly Experienced "Severe Turbulence"? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUrGSFulrwI TUPJ - Lettsome International, British Virgin Islands: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrance_B._Lettsome_International_Airport EP182 - DPE Ron Horton Part 1: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5yl5pJ0rvFXpg5nxNL7xTw?si=1XbAa1HlQKmC5oP5Xfaghw I was today years old: https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/i-was-today-years-old FLARE Bourbon distillery: https://www.flarebourbon.com/home Checkmate Barry using the Icarus electronic foggles: https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2026-04-27/training-icarus-device-inoculates-against-iimc Redbird AATD (simulators): https://simulators.redbirdflight.com/ Brian's new YouTube video, The Midlife Way: Trip. Fall. Succeed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCim9wvwmO0 Blancolirio video about the family flying the Aztec: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7kT0_Jns0Q Brian's video on monetizing tragedy, The Economics of Exploitation. Aviation's YouTube Problem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=129nlBPpVAI Jim Morrison, No One Gets Out Of Here Alive: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_One_Here_Gets_Out_Alive NEW, New Orleans Lakefront Airport terminal building: https://lakefrontairport.com/about/ Connect with the show: Everything Midlife Pilot Podcast: https://midlifepilotpodcast.com Patreon and Discord: https://patreon.com/midlifepilotpodcast Live on YouTube Mondays 8 PM Eastern: https://youtube.com/@midlifepilotpodcast Leave a five star review on Apple Podcasts and we'll read it on the air.
If you haven't listened to Episode 182 yet, go back — this conversation picks up about five minutes later. Ron Horton, DPE extraordinaire, returns with the crew to finish what he started: a data-driven, story-rich tour through what actually happens on checkrides, what actually trips people up, and what a lifetime of examining pilots looks like from the other side of the table. In this second half, Ron walks through his color-coded scorecard of common ground and flight failures — weather, cross-country planning, airspace, and the takeoff and landing tables that trip up nearly half of all students. Spoiler: if your entire weather education came from ForeFlight, you and aviationweather.gov need to get acquainted. We also dig into why so many students arrive with no mechanical intuition whatsoever (one applicant had never cut grass — and had someone for that), why VOR navigation has become a near-lost art, and what it means when a student shows up with a perfectly calligraphed weight and balance that they clearly didn't do themselves. Brian gets called out — gently — for overthinking his commercial W&B scenario, which as it turned out had absolutely no landmine in it at all. Ron also makes the case that showing up with a pre-tabbed FAR/AIM you bought online is a very different thing from showing up with tabs you put there yourself. And he closes with the phrase that stuck with Brian after the checkride: What's time to a hog? — a farmer's wisdom about taking the long road when the long road is worth it. Mentioned on the Show: aviationweather.gov: https://aviationweather.govSeth Lake (VSL Aviation) YouTube: https://youtube.com/@VSLAviationJason Miller — The Finer Points: https://thefinerpoints.netFreedom Aviation Network: https://freedomavnetwork.org Connect with the Show: Website: https://midlifepilotpodcast.comPatreon: https://patreon.com/midlifepilotpodcastYouTube: https://youtube.com/@midlifepilotpodcastEmail: midlifepilotpodcast@gmail.com
The crew is joined by Charlotte-based Designated Pilot Examiner Ron Horton — 60 years of flying, Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award, AOPA Regional Instructor of the Year, and the man responsible for both Brian's and Ben's commercial certificates. Ron comes armed with something most DPEs don't bother with: actual data. Over 500 checkrides' worth of it, color-coded spreadsheets and everything. In this first of a two-part conversation, Ron unpacks his checkride pass/fail rates across private, instrument, commercial, CFI, and CFII — and the numbers will either comfort you or send you back to the books. (Spoiler: the instrument rating is harder than you think, and it's increasingly the avionics' fault.) We also dig into the sobering reality that the average student now takes 103 hours to reach their private checkride — up from 81 just five years ago — and what that 36% creep in dual hours says about the state of flight training. Plus: why soloing students at 40 hours dual is, in Ron's words, "staggering," and why the instructors who never ask a DPE what went wrong are the ones who keep sending unprepared students. Mentioned on the show: * DPE Ron Horton: http://planevisions.com/ * Seth Lake- VSL Aero- How to Read a Jeppesen SID and Star (Made Simple): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2osAEHUpKjw * FlightInsight- How toRead a Jeppesen Approach Plate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQViPd5XYk8 * EGCB - Manchester Barton Aerodrome: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester_Barton_Aerodrome * Thorndike's Law of Effect: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_effect Support the show, get shirts and hats, and more at www.midlifepilotpodcast.com
Brian's got a shiny new commercial certificate, Ben just logged 25 hours in three days in a flying potato over Florida, and somehow nobody declared an emergency — so naturally, it's time to talk about flying like a professional even when nobody's paying you to. From sterile cockpit discipline to weight and balance on every single flight (yes, everyone), the crew runs through a practical list of habits that separate polished pilots from the yank-and-bank crowd. Plus: a listener who went from ICU nurse to CFII at 54, a fuel tank horror story that will make you check yours right now, and Mark prepares to hand a large sum of money to some people in the Czech Republic who have definitely sent him pictures of his actual airframe. Probably.Mentioned on the show: * Time Building Mafia: https://volare.aero/timebuildingmafia * The Calm Cockpit Podcast: https://calmcockpit.com/ * TL Sparker: https://www.tl-ultralight.cz/en/ultralight-aircraft/sparker * 0W3 - Hartford County Airport - Churchville Maryland: https://www.airnav.com/airport/0w3 * PHKO - Ellison Kona airport: https://www.airnav.com/airport/phko * SISKIND: Do Easy: How Fast Can You Take Your Time? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oqsg-iW3KBw
Ben is about to climb into a Piper Apache, which our own blog has definitively declared the official airplane of twin-engine Russian roulette, and he's doing the responsible midlife thing: writing down the flows, chair flying in his hotel room until his shoulder gives out, and showing up prepared anyway. Brian is deep in commercial checkride prep mode, synthesizing seven sources of information into cheat sheets that actually make sense to a human brain, and Ted — man flu survivor — is keeping everyone grounded as only Ted can. The topic tonight is what it actually takes to reenter the atmosphere of training after a gap: the ego check, the clipboard anxiety, the moment you realize you don't understand something and instead of walking away, you just read it again slower. Also: Neil deGrasse Tyson drops some wisdom, a five-star review nails all three hosts in one sentence, and we make the case that your private certificate is just a learner's permit for everything you're about to get wrong. Safety third. Always.Mentioned on the show: * Piper PA23 Apache: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piper_PA-23 * Gary Vaynerchuk: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Vaynerchuk * Blog- The Ultimate "Official Airplane Of" Guide: https://midlifepilotpodcast.com/blog/the-ultimate-official-airplane-of-guide * Brian Schiff on The Calm Cockpit podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnSCpa2weUs * Transair Flight 810 - 737, shut down the good engine: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transair_Flight_810 * Beechcraft Baron 55: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beechcraft_Baron * Beechcraft Dutchess: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beechcraft_Duchess Support the show! https://www.patreon.com/MidlifePilotPodcast
It's Information Whiskey time, and we're only one episode late — which, as Brian would say, is basically on time. Brian's commercial checkride is less than two weeks out, which means Lucy has been getting a workout and the chandelle has chosen violence. Mark crashes the Discord and the podcast in the same evening, Ted is somehow alive despite a brush with man flu, and a listener's tachometer cable failure at Sun 'n Fun reminds us all that airplanes love to choose the most inconvenient possible moment to express themselves. We dig into the surprisingly philosophical world of commercial regulations — where "do you have operational control?" is apparently all you need to know, until it absolutely isn't — debate whether AI is the future of aviation study or just a very confident guesser, and somehow end up at the conclusion that private pilots are pilots, instrument pilots are meteorologists, and commercial pilots are lawyers who can't bill by the hour. Monroe is a hornet's nest, the Cessna 140 is the VW Bug of airplanes, and Brian is headed to Mark's house. The pantry awaits. Mentioned on the show: * M54 - Lebanon Commemorative Air Force Warbird Day, May 23 2026: https://commemorativeairforce.org/events/750A * EQY - Charlotte Monroe Executive, North Carolina: http://www.airnav.com/airport/EQY * JQF - Concord-Padgett Regional Airport, North Carolina: https://www.airnav.com/airport/JQF * MyAeroGlass: https://www.myaeroglass.com/ * Glide AI: https://www.glideai.io/ * HobbsMate: https://hobbsmate.com/ * WingsMX: https://wingmx.com/ * VSL Aviation- Seth Lake: https://www.youtube.com/@SethLakeDPE/videos * Ben Lehman, Drift Aviation, Cessna 140 tailwheel: https://www.driftaviation.com/ Support the show and keep us ad free! https://www.patreon.com/MidlifePilotPodcast Visit us at midlifepilotpodcast.com
Ted soloed a glider this weekend. He went up at 3,500 feet and came back down at 9,500. Then eventually came back down from that too, but only because his butt hurt. One tow rope, zero engines, four and a half hours, and a metal ballast brick he was apparently sitting on the entire time. Silver badge? Almost. Cushion? Negative. We get into what gliding actually feels like when you come from powered aircraft — the tow, the release, the moment the tow plane rocks its wings and suddenly everything is very real, and the variometer beeping in your ear like an Atari game while you chase thermals over rural Oregon. Ben joins the conversation too as we dig into the physics, the philosophy, and the surprisingly affordable math of staying airborne for half a workday on a single tow. Also: Brian had a weekend. We'll just say that. Plus listener feedback, community wins including a freshly minted instrument pilot or two, and a closing thought that pretty much nails why we all do this in the first place. No engine required. Mentioned on the show: * M91 - Springfield Kentucky: http://www.airnav.com/airport/M91 * 9A0 - Lumpkin County/Wimpy's Field, Dahlonega Georgia, Ben's nemesis: https://www.airnav.com/airport/9A0 * Ted's glider club: https://www.wvsc.org/ * LET L-23 Super Blanik: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LET_L-23_Super_Blan%C3%ADk Support the show! www.patreon.com/midlifepilotpodcast
What do glider tows, five written tests in 32 days, and refusing to go home before a late concert all have in common? Momentum — and the sneaky ways midlife tries to steal it from you. This week Brian, Ben, and Ted dig into what it actually takes to keep the aviation ball rolling when life, annuals, and the sweet relief of finishing something hard are all conspiring against you. From Brian's commercial training comeback to Ted's sun-toasted glider adventures to Ben's Sun 'n Fun barrel-roll-adjacent arrival story, we explore how to pick your next mission, why your weakness list is your best preflight tool, and what pudding skin has to do with getting back in the cockpit. Plus: too many PICs, one very eventful military checkride, vetting your safety pilot, and a review that'll remind you exactly why this show exists. If it's not on the calendar, it's not real. Go put something on the calendar. Mentioned on the show: * Sun n Fun: https://flysnf.org/ * Member-exclusive bonus content: Parachute Equipped Flying with Erica (Aerosafe): https://www.patreon.com/posts/bonus-content-150148114 * I Learned About Flying From That- EP102, “geese shatter night calm”: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/ilafft/episodes/102--Geese-Shatter-Night-Calm-e310i8a/a-abs6rja * 1dullgeek - "Passed Checkride, Still Doing Checkride Prep?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsb6YPyWCQk Support the show! www.patreon.com/midlifepilotpodcast
There's nothing more dangerous than a plane full of pilots. A wise man with a Pilatus once told Brian that, and he's been thinking about it ever since. Episode 176 is a deep dive into one of GA's most awkward social puzzles: what do you actually do when you need to evaluate another pilot before you get in the plane with them? And flip side — what should a non-pilot passenger even know to ask before trusting their life to someone with a certificate and a Cessna? Also: Ted went flying with no engine. On purpose. Loved it. Needs more rudder. Mentioned on the show: * Conan O'Brien interviewing Arsenio Hall: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LS1pfretkM8 * M93 - Southernaire - breakfast: https://tennesseerivervalleygeotourism.org/entries/southernaire-motel-and-restaurant/4e5a83ce-d53d-4443-a85f-fbb1daaa43be * L-39 Albatros, what Ben took to pick up his plane: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aero_L-39_Albatros * 10" certified Garmin G3x: $13,195: https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/682215/pn/G3X-TCERT-01/ * 10" experimental Garmin G3x: $5,425: https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/166058/ 621.79 delta air lines * TPF - Peter O'Knight Airport, Tampa Florida: https://www.airnav.com/airport/TPF * I flew all day and landed at the same airport - tshirt: https://midlifepilotpodcast.com/merch/p/i-flew-all-day-and-landed-at-the-same-airport-unisex-classic-tee * EP104 - Flying With Strangers From The Internet: Vetting Co-Pilots: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3HdgBUWZghbMuYXi5klMr2?si=6EjeYPykTT6iLwRTStTmEA * CheckMate Aviation - Crew and Passenger Briefing Card: https://www.checkmateaviation.com/products/checkmate-crew-and-passenger-briefing-card?_fid=a43b4f713&_pos=1&_ss=cSupport the show! www.patreon.com/midlifepilotpodcast
That little button is not your enemy — but nobody tells you that when you're a student pilot white-knuckling your first radio call. In episode 175, Brian, Ben, and Ted dig into everything they wish someone had told them about ATC before training started. Why "say again" is a superpower and not an admission of failure. How to read back what matters without trying to memorize everything the controller just said. Why knowing who you're talking to — ground, tower, approach, center — shrinks the panic down to a manageable size. How live ATC on your commute is basically free ground school. And the single most important thing any student pilot can do before pressing that button: practice the words before you say them. Whether you're still circling an uncontrolled airport wondering what to say on the CTAF or you're tangled up in a busy Class Charlie wondering how anyone does this naturally — they didn't. They just got the reps. Mentioned on the show: * Thanks to Erica at Turbine Rotables! https://www.turbinerotables.com/ * Taylor Coot: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taylor_Coot * Republic Seabee/Lake Buccaneer: https://airvectors.net/avlake.html * NOBODY CARES fly-in: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAjPnyxtrSM * Turbo Encabulator video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ac7G7xOG2Ag pro pilot pete * PlaneEnglish: https://planeenglishsim.com/ * ARSim: https://arsim.ai/ * Revisionist History- This Is Your Captain Speaking: https://www.pushkin.fm/podcasts/revisionist-history/this-is-your-captain-speaking * The Right Stuff (book): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Right_Stuff_(book) * CaptnTodd's "first flight with the portapilot" video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyUVfGulHeY Support the podcast - keep it ad free - and join our community! www.midlifepilotpodcast.com www.patreon.com/midlifepilotpodcast
Ted "puts a ring on" his airplane in the most permanent way possible. A Colorado hotel owner proves that "not a Patreon supporter" and "free advertising" aren't mutually exclusive. We talk IFR currency, what it's like to come back to instrument flying after 20 years of VORs that no longer exist, and why the marine layer off the west coast might be the greatest IFR playground on earth. A 56-year-old gets his ticket back, another gets his for the first time, and somewhere between teenage phone anxiety and shooting approaches in the Pacific fog, we remember why all of this matters. Mentioned on the show: * Luke's Landing: https://www.youtube.com/@lukeslanding2230/videos * EP172 - Live from Bentonville! Thaden Invasion podcast video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vL_5JakmqDA * 48A - Cochran Georgia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochran_Airport Support the podcast on Patreon, get merch, send feedback: www.midlifepilotpodcast.com
You can have a flying machine or you can have a project. Sometimes you get both whether you wanted them or not. This week, 1DullGeek aka Mark lays out why he's leaving the certified world behind and building a TL Sparker — a Czech experimental that burns half the fuel, costs a fraction to maintain, and was designed after his children were adults (unlike the Cherokee 235, which predates his parents). Brian is staying in the museum business for now, flying a 1967 Cherokee 180 and embracing his identity as a steward of vintage aviation history, whether he likes it or not. Ted is flying a Special Light Sport that is certified, experimental-adjacent, and philosophically its own thing — much like Ted himself. Along the way we get into what it really costs to own old iron, why parts availability in the certified world will break your soul, what MOSAIC means for the future of sport pilot, and whether two weeks of coursework is actually enough to maintain your own airplane (spoiler: probably not, but it's a useful warning label). Also in this episode: a debrief from the Thaden Invasion fly-in including a NASA report we won't elaborate on, a $25 ramp fee at JWN that costs less than a tank of avgas but somehow hurts more, a surprise night power-off 180, and a birthday calculation that required community intervention. Listener Sierra Victor from Surprise, Arizona (yes, that's a place) writes in about sport pilot gatekeeping and gets some straight talk: the aerodynamics don't care what certificate you hold, and neither should you. Mentioned on the show: * UCY - Union City Tenn: https://www.airnav.com/airport/UCY * Full Stop Aviation: https://fs-aviation.com/ * AOPA - PAPA bill: https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2026/march/11/pr-support-grows-for-bills-banning-ads-b-misuse * Coleal interpretation: https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/agc/practice_areas/regulations/interpretations/Data/interps/2009/Coleal-Bombardier%20Learjet_2009_Legal_Interpretation.pdf * LSRI, LSRM courses: https://rainbowaviation.com/courses/ * Dunning-Kreuger effect: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect * Fly Eagle Sport: https://flyeaglesport.com/ Support the podcast: www.patreon.com/midlifepilotpodcast www.midlifepilotpodcast.com
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