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Midlife Pilot Podcast: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Midlife Pilot Podcast
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.
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- 5 days ago1h 6m
EP198 - How Dare You Try to Minimize My Suffering
Ted has a private pilot checkride on the calendar, so naturally the crew dedicated the evening to helping him prepare. And by helping, we mean: "You may not be nervous at all for the checkride. But you will be by the end of this conversation. It's our job to make you nervous." The chat piled on until it got so deep into aerodynamics that Erica announced, "if a DPE asks about dynamic stability on a private pilot checkride, I'm quitting." The actual best advice of the night came via Nathan B., quoting Barry: slow down and think, doesn't matter if it's an egg, a 182, or a jet. Wind your watch. Midlifters will get that reference.CFI Sam lobbied hard for Ted to combine private and instrument into one checkride, a suggestion Ted received with grace: "How dare you try to minimize my suffering. I want to suffer as much as everybody else." One over-prepared checkride at a time. And when he passes, the assignment stands: bait r/flying with "I passed my private pilot checkride at 1,200 hours." (It was 1,005 hours last episode. The creeper bot confirms he's been flying.)The mailbag delivered the ultimate "I will never" correction: a listener who got his PPL in 1998 as a band teacher retired in 2022 and was promptly offered a charter job in a King Air 200. Then came type ratings in a BE-40 Beechjet and King Air 250 and 90, sims at RVR 800 and 200-foot ceilings at night, "pretty much like drinking from a fire hose." His own verdict: "So much for, I will never."Ted's medical saga got a postscript: Xyla Foxlin's video on her FAA medical fight. "It made me cry. Seriously, like tears." (The dusty plane in the hangar will get you.) Standing disclaimer, in his words: don't take from what you hear from me that anybody can get a medical. Know the risk before you apply.Also aboard: the beast (Ben's 182) is in the avionics shop losing the Cuisinart, an old Narco audio panel riding on 1968 wiring, in favor of two GI-275s. Congrats to Gary, our newest private pilot. Welcome, Hammack from HSV. And the cheeseburger that made Erica tear up has a name: Bare Bones Butcher, burgers 11 to 3 only, new potatoes deep-fried in beef fat, dipped in mayonnaise. She didn't want anything too heavy. "I don't care. We're going to go get this burger." Tonight's wisdom: airplanes convert fuel into noise and money into memories.Mentioned on the show:King Air 200/250: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beechcraft_Super_King_AirBE40 Beechjet: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawker_400King Air 90: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beechcraft_King_AirXyla Foxlin's medical story, "The FAA Has a Mental Health Problem": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aj0H8oVS7qgBare Bones Butcher, Erica's best burger ever: https://www.barebonesbutcher.com/
- 1 weeks ago1h 1m
EP197 - I Just Passed My PPL at 1,005 Hours
A listener comment set the agenda this week: as the hosts stack ratings and turbine job offers, do the 20-to-200-hour faithful still see themselves in the show?Ben answered by wearing his Nobody Cares hat, the one from the Nashville meetup of the same name, and explaining why: he had maybe 250 hours when Brian and Chris started recording, and hearing them talk about their first solos "hit home with me like a ton of bricks." He is still as excited for every first solo and first cross-country posted in the community as he was for his own. The whole thing turned into the closest the show has come to a Lloyd Dobler rant in years: "I don't want to manufacture anything, I don't want to sell anything."Because here is the thing about ratings: this is not a competition, and in the words spoken on air, "we're still terrified little babies on check rides." The instrument ride at 800-something hours was not easier for the experience. It was worse. And in the most on-brand development this show could possibly produce, Ted, freshly armed with his hard-won medical, is now preparing for a private pilot checkride, with a standing dare to post "I just passed my PPL at 1,005 hours" on the flying subreddit and watch the comments roll in.Ben, meanwhile, is still waiting for the beast to get out of the shop ("There is a very good chance that the beast will be done by the end of this week." "So one more month." "Exactly. That's what everybody says."). His new employer filled the gap with computer-based training homework that ate his entire weekend before Phenom 300 indoc, and they sent him the AFM, which he is respectfully not opening yet. He has, however, already downloaded a Phenom for Microsoft Flight Simulator, so training is basically complete.In the mailbag, a student pilot who lost his medical shortly after his second solo wrote that Ted's story "is exactly what I needed to hear to give me hope," and asked whether BasicMed can put the whole fight to rest. Fittingly, the community chat channel has become the Ted and Mike Alpha Golf medical regulation hangout, currently nerding out on FAA changes around antidepressant special issuance, sleep apnea, and diabetes.Also aboard: a 1985 Toyota MR2 blew a head gasket, grew a pinhole in a freshly fabricated muffler weld, and confirmed that its owner "will never win the lottery." Toby K passed his instrument checkride, Bill S got checked out in his flying club's A36 Bonanza (15 hours of dual for the checkout), and there is apparently an equity flying club out of PDK called Bonanza Five with access to five Bonanzas. Welcome to new patrons Ryan C. and Arnold A. And every "It's Ted" now triggers the Ren and Stimpy Log song, for which we apologize in advance. Tonight's wisdom: every great landing begins with a good approach and ends with a story that improves by dinner time.Mentioned on the show:* Ren and Stimpy, The Log song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cc7xLsp_mcg#t=35s* Bonanza Five flying club: https://www.bonanza5.com/* Lloyd Dobler rant ("I don't want to sell anything..."): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuc_BqAPxRo#t=23s* NOBODY CARES fly-in video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAjPnyxtrSM
- 2 weeks ago1h 15m
EP196 - BasicTed: Luck Favors the Prepared
The gag order is lifted. For ten months Ted answered "what have you been flying lately?" with a cheerful bunch of nothing, because he had quietly bet everything, sport pilot privileges included, on getting his FAA medical. If you apply and get denied, there is no crawling back to sport. He applied anyway. This week the curse-word-laden victory text went out: Ted has his medical, he is legal PIC again, and by his own math he'll have "probably 12 ratings in the next 60 days."Same week, same show: Ben formally accepted a charter job flying SIC in a Phenom 300. ("It didn't say Chrysler 300. It said Phenom, right?") He says he feels like the dog that's been chasing the school bus and finally caught it, and the chat has already decided his Piston Peasant shirt must be surrendered for a Turbine Tyrant model.Ted then opens the books on how the medical actually got won: five months of preparation before submitting anything, more records than his AME could upload (they faxed the rest), a cash MRI, a concierge neurologist one block off Rodeo Drive with an F1 replica car out front, a congressional inquiry, and a personally logged bill of $21,000. Disclaimer on disclaimer on disclaimer: that was Ted's very specific situation, not a recipe. Talk to AOPA Medical Services, Wingman Med, a HIMS AME, anybody but us.Also aboard: Mark, officially the fourth host ("the fifth wheel... it's really nice for redundancy"), is off to build airplanes in the Czech Republic, which Brian was reminded has not been called Czechoslovakia for quite some time. Brian pulled the power at 10,500 feet over a very hot Tennessee and glided Lucy all the way home ("the Icarus approach," per the chat). Plus a five-star review titled "New Era of Hangar Talk," sport pilot altitude rules straight from the 700-page MOSAIC reading (61.315: unchanged), and the non-event event on September 19 at McCollum Field (RYY).Tonight's wisdom, via Mike Alpha Golf: luck favors the prepared.Mentioned on the show:Chrysler 300: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_300Phenom 300: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embraer_Phenom_300Raven Career Development: https://ravencareers.com/Ted's video, "first flight after ten months grounded: my faa medical certification story": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCt_6pCuLgoIson Law, The Pilot Lawyers: https://thepilotlawyer.com/AOPA Medical Resources: https://www.aopa.org/go-fly/medical-resourcesAOPA MedXpress Simulator: https://wingmanmed.com/medxpress-simulator/Wingman Med: https://wingmanmed.com/Dissolution of Czechoslovakia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissolution_of_Czechoslovakia
- 3 weeks ago51 min
EP195 - I'm Temporarily Delayed, Not Canceled
Ben, Brian, and Ted declare this one Oops All Feedback (or, as Ben coins it, "oopsitizers"): five tape machine clips plus reviews and community wins. Ben's avionics go pop-pop-pop over Columbus under an occluded front, and the crew lands on static as the likely culprit, with a side of "do you have static wicks?" Mark (1DullGeek) returns with the owner-maintenance addendum: anyone can replace a cylinder, only an A&P can sign it back into service, half the work is reading the maintenance manual, and his torque wrenches visit a calibration lab every year. Tango Hotel plans to fly the entire Mississippi from Lake Itasca to Venice, Louisiana, sandbars included. Ray in Australia asks how to survive "dropping out the bottom of the flight school sausage machine." Dan, almost 60, regroups with a new instructor at a slower pace (spite is very motivating). And Sierra Mike, 59, calls midlife "a fairly optimistic actuarial assumption" and reports that his instrument rating is temporarily delayed, not canceled.Plus: Delta Foxtrot passes his instrument checkride on the first attempt a month before his 66th birthday, Aviator Mo's five-star review orders Ben to stop whining, the non-event event moves to Saturday, September 19 at McCollum Field (RYY) with Elevation Chophouse after, and Brian connects it all to the Center for Land Use Interpretation and the way little airplanes teach you to read the landscape. Tonight's wisdom: learn from the mistakes of others, because you won't live long enough to make them all yourself.Mentioned on the show:Center for Land Use Interpretation: https://clui.org/
- Aug 18, 20261h 13m
EP194 - "That's Why I Wear the Propeller Hat" - PropHatCat!
Marcus is a magician, an off-Broadway producer, and an en route controller at Houston Center, which is either an unusual resume or a perfectly logical one. To thousands online he's Prop Hat Cat. He opens with the disclaimer (he doesn't speak for the FAA or NATCA), delivers a verdict on traffic management, and lays out the whole machine: tower to TRACON to center to the Command Center in Virginia, which fixes things with a cleaver and hands down playbook routes that every layer below shaves a little finer, until a controller is staring at a route straight through a thunderstorm and thinking exactly what you're thinking. EDCTs, why fog in San Francisco turns into 80 miles in trail, and how to read the arrival demand charts before you plan into a busy field. Plus why modernization takes forever at an agency where repaving a parking lot took seven and a half years, why frequency changes are harder than any controller believes until they sit in the right seat, how two American flights ended up with the same number, how accurate Pushing Tin is (very, especially the relationships), and why nobody else makes this kind of content: "they're not dumb enough to do it." Mentioned on the show:PropHatCat on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prophatcatPropHatCat's merch: https://www.etsy.com/shop/PropHatCatPropHatCat on Linktree: https://linktr.ee/prophatcatATC TMUs: https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/publications/atpubs/foa_html/chap18_section_2.htmlEDCT: https://www.aspm.faa.gov/aspmhelp/index/Expect_Departure_Clearance_Times_(EDCT).htmlNAS status: https://nasstatus.faa.gov/Arrival demand chart: https://www.fly.faa.gov/aadc/ERAM, en route automation modernization: https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/technology/eramPropHatCat flying with Accidental Aviator: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GtI-uRIswcOpposing Bases: Air Traffic Talk: https://www.opposingbases.com/FAA Mobile Clearance for GA, announced at Oshkosh: https://www.faa.gov/newsroom/faa-advances-digital-departure-clearances-general-and-business-aviationElevation Chophouse and Skybar, McCollum Field: https://www.elevationatlanta.com/Midlife Pilot Podcast: https://midlifepilotpodcast.com
- Aug 11, 202649 min
EP193 - Getting in the Way of Our A&Ps
Owner-assisted maintenance, with all four hosts aboard: Ben, Brian, Ted, and Mark (1DullGeek), the show's resident expert, currently apprenticing in his mechanic's shop. What are you actually allowed to touch on your own airplane? The crew walks through 14 CFR 43.3(a), the 31 preventive maintenance items in Part 43 Appendix A(c), and the fine print that says you can change a tire on the rim but not remove the wheel, since that means touching the disc brakes. The sport pilot exception (SLSA only), why the list is not "examples," the Coleal interpretation and what Mike Busch and others have made of it, and the practical wisdom: even when it's legal, do it with your A&P the first time. Plus your aviation-lingo-at-home tape machine submissions from the EP191 ask, and the words of wisdom every procrastinating owner needs: the small problem you delay fixing becomes a major problem at the most remote airport on your trip.Mentioned on the show:Opposing Bases: https://www.opposingbases.com/Cheese Pilot: https://www.youtube.com/@cheesepilotGita and the Calm Cockpit Podcast: https://calmcockpit.com/Mark/1dullgeek's youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@1dullgeekTL Sparker: https://tlsportaircraft.com/sparker/Arrested Development, Mr. Wendal song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcnPfHS24Pg#t=1mMeat and Three: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meat_and_threeWhy can we work on our own aircraft? 43.3(a): https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-14/part-43/section-43.3#p-43.3(a)43 Appendix A(c): Preventive Maintenance. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-14/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-43/appendix-Appendix%20A%20to%20Part%2043#p-Appendix-A-to-Part-43(c)Except for sport pilot, pilots can perform preventive maintenance on owned or operated aircraft. Sport pilots only for SLSA: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-14/part-43/section-43.3#p-43.3(g)The 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.pdfAOPA: Mike Busch and Savvy on Coleal and maintenance: https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2019/october/pilot/savvy-aviator-preventive-maintenanceAOPA: Mike Busch on Coleal and other interpretations: https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2023/august/pilot/savvy-maintenance-legal-interpretationsGAN: Jamie Beckett on interpretations: https://generalaviationnews.com/2025/08/26/the-rules-mean-what-the-rules-say-or-maybe-not/
- Aug 4, 202658 min
EP192 - Career 2.0
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.htmlJames's Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesonieal/21.Five podcast: https://www.21fivepodcast.com/
- Jul 28, 202659 min
EP191 - I'm Just Going Where He's Going
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/RYYElevation Chophouse: https://www.elevationatlanta.com/Ascension Aviation, RYY FBO: https://ascensionfbo.com/location/atlanta/Ash aka flying_wheelies: https://instagram.com/@flying_wheeliesBen on Airplane Pilot Guy 716, part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-jPl9NKqOQBUCKHD 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=PLcG48Zvp5uCEOpen Source GA - many Oshkosh videos: https://www.youtube.com/@OpenSourceGA/videos
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About Midlife Pilot Podcast
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.
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