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Evan Luft joins us on the podcast today, and he's here to share his unique journey through the world of aviation as a contract pilot. One of the standout points we discuss is that you don't have to follow the traditional path of becoming an airline pilot to enjoy a fulfilling and lucrative career in aviation. Evan's experiences flying over the stunning landscapes of Canada, from the Rocky Mountains to sunny Mexico, showcase the adventures that await outside the airline cockpit. We dive into the importance of networking, building relationships, and how being personable can open doors to incredible opportunities in the flying world. Whether you're just starting out or looking to carve your own niche in aviation, Evan's insights will inspire you to embrace the journey and explore the vast possibilities that come with it.
Takeaways:
Pilot to Pilot is the podcast for anyone who flies — or dreams about it. Host Justin Siems sits down with airline captains, bush pilots, CFIs, and everyone in between for honest conversations about the path to the cockpit, the grind of the career, and the love of flying that keeps us coming back. Whether you're a student pilot chasing your first solo or a captain with 20,000 hours, there's a seat for you here. New episodes weekly.
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Okay, so I'm Evan and I over
the last five years I've kind of
document I've been flying
airplanes for about 20 years now.
I started flying when I was 15.
AV Nation, what is going on?
And welcome back to the Pilot
to Pilot podcast.
My name is Justin Seams and I
am your host.
Today's episode is with Evan Luft.
He is a current pilot in
Canada where he's flying Conquest
all over pretty much North America.
He specializes in Canada and
he is flying over the Rocky Mountains,
out to British Columbia, he's
flying down to Mexico, the US and
he's really carved out such a
cool lifestyle and such a great way
to enjoy aviation.
And you can see that he really
has a passion for what he does, which
is awesome because part of
this podcast is just showing you
different ways that you can
become a pilot and that you can make
a career.
And Evan has definitely done
that for himself.
You don't have to be an
airline pilot to enjoy your life
as a pilot.
You don't have to be an
airline pilot to make good money.
As Evan will tell you right
now, he is doing exactly what he
loves and what he thinks he
should be doing.
So shout out to Evan, I
appreciate you coming on.
He's also a fellow Garmin
ambassador, so shout out to Garmin.
I got the Garmin swag on today.
I also have a hat on rocking
it backwards because I can't pull
off a flat bill anymore.
I think once you turn 35 you
got to turn the flat bill backwards.
You can correct me in the comments.
Maybe I shouldn't even have a
flat bill at all.
I should probably have a dad
hat, but.
Oh, man, getting old.
But anyways, I hope you enjoy
this podcast.
If you do, please leave us a review.
We're so close to a thousand
reviews on both itunes and on Spotify.
I want to see which one can
get a thousand reviews first.
But if you haven't left a
review, please do so and let me know
what you like about the podcast.
AV Nation.
Hope you're having a great day.
And without any further ado,
here is Evan to talk about his aviation
career.
Evan, welcome to the Pilot to
Pilot podcast.
Man.
Hello.
What's up?
Thanks, man.
Appreciate it.
Yeah, appreciate you coming on.
It's me.
A lot of fun.
We kind of mentioned before, I
haven't interviewed too many Canadian
pilots, so I'm really
interested to kind of get a better
understanding what general
aviation looks like in Canada, what
you're doing.
I can relate to the single
pilot stuff.
I have probably like 2500
hours of single pilot turbine time.
You know, I was doing single
pilot freight flying a PC12 in a
caravan all over Canada, all
over North America, down into Mexico.
So I know the single pilot
life, man.
It can be very interesting sometimes.
I learned so much about flying
from my single pilot days and weather.
And you're doing it in the
Rockies and the mountains with weather,
with icing.
So you're doing it in a very,
very interesting place to say the
least.
Yeah, I can relate to pretty
much everything you said and a few
things.
Yeah, right.
Well, I always like to bring
it back to the beginning.
So tell me originally, what
was the original inspiration for
you even to want to be a pilot
or get involved with aviation?
Well, when I was 14.
So this would have been 20
years ago.
21 years ago, actually.
I just went to my local flying call.
Well, it wasn't even a College.
They had three airplanes.
It was actually the guy that
started WestJet, he started up a
small little flight school
called Morgan Air.
And I think that was.
I don't know if that was sort
of, you know, a backup plan, as if
WestJet didn't really work out
then the flight school was still
there.
I'm not really sure how that,
you know, came to be, but the fella
had a flight school as well.
And some the instructors there
were all charter pilots working for
this other company, so they
had a lot of experience.
And there was this.
This lady that offered to
train me to fly, basically you just
walked in.
No one wanted to be a pilot 20
years ago because there were no jobs.
So they would literally give
you the airplane and you could build
hours for extremely, like for
next to nothing.
Right.
And this, yeah, this kind of
inspired me to.
I'm going to do my private license.
And I never really wanted to
be necessarily a pilot because I
thought, well, it'd be more
fun just to fly for fun.
So, private license.
And then kind of worked my way
through all the other ratings and
stuff.
And then flying became pretty
cool to me.
Like, I liked more of the
mechanics behind the airplanes and
stuff like that.
So for me, flying was only
part of what I really wanted to,
what I was really interested in.
And then flying up here in
Canada, obviously the scenery is
amazing.
It's long distances between
airports, so it's, it's not like,
like on your 300 nautical mile
cross country.
I think you have to do that in
the States to get your license.
It's literally like to go to
an airport is, you know, 100 to 300
nautical miles sometimes.
So that is, there's nothing in between.
So.
Right.
That was, you know, the
training here really kind of got
your mind going on like how
adventurous you could be with an
airplane up here in Canada too.
So.
Yeah, so I was really inspired.
I owe a lot of it to my flight instructor.
She was a huge part of, like,
why I even got my license.
So when I finally finished my
commercial and everything, I tried
to find a job and there were
no jobs.
Like there's.
There was nothing no one would hire.
There were so many pilots out
there already that were way more
experienced than me.
And so I just kind of started
networking with other individuals
at the airport.
Wasn't really looking for a
job, you know, that kind of.
I think there's a thing where
it's like, as soon as you're really
looking, pursuing something,
it seems really hard to get.
And then as soon as you stop
paying attention to it, all of a
sudden all these opportunities
are coming.
Where were you five years ago?
It's like, what the heck.
Yeah, so I've only done
contract flying, so my first gig
was this fellow that I knew
who was doing the same work I'm doing
now.
He was managing a couple of
turbo props for these private owners.
And he said, hey, like, I'm
going to get into helicopters now.
Here, how about I know this
young pilot who's, who's pretty good
and he's a fun guy.
And what, you guys just hire
him for a little while and then,
then I can go fly helicopters.
And so that's how I got my
first gig.
And I was way under qualified.
I don't know how the insurance
company even passed me because I
had maybe 50 hours of turbine
time to my dang dude.
That was it.
And the insurance like was the
easiest thing ever.
They just said, yep, yep, he's
good to go.
Like, if you say he's good,
he's good to go.
So then my first time flying
private clients was my first time.
Well, that was, you know, my
first day on the kind of the job
was just by myself taking
people out to Vancouver and, or,
you know, to Kelowna.
Like it was just right into
the work.
So.
And then since then I just
kind of learned how to do it myself
and that was.
It was all single pilot
operations for the most part.
We do fly two pilots a lot of
the time now, but still it's depending
on the availability of pilots
and stuff like that.
I've had to find some other
ones that are kind of here and there,
but a lot of airlines, I've
had to pull some people from the
airlines obviously that are
sort of like semi retired now and
they're pretty, you know,
because they want to do this contract
flying as like.
But I've done that ever since
and just managed the airplanes and
provided the, the crew and
then obviously done a lot of the
flying myself.
So.
Yeah, and it's led to so many
cool opportunities.
Like I don't do I say, I'd say
It's kind of 80, 20 rule.
Like 20 of it is flying.
80% of it is.
Well, all the other extra
things you get to do when you arrive
there and you get usually
spend a few days at your destinations
and it's all great because it's.
You're still working.
As I say, it's like you get
your work or you get paid to be there
as a pilot, not necessarily to
do the duties of a pilot.
Yeah.
So yeah.
So it's been, it's been a real
blessing, I have to say.
This is.
This has been a pretty cool opportunity.
So that's hence why I haven't
moved from this.
It's just been too awesome.
Was there you mentioned you
never really wanted to kind of like
be a professionally.
You didn't say professional
pilot, but like do it for a living.
Was that necessarily just the
side of airline pilot per se?
You were always kind of
interested in see how you can make
money off aviation.
I needed, I wanted the
flexibility of being able to fly.
Well, first of all, the people
that I'm flying.
Like I know most of them.
So unless they're new coming
onto the airplane or their friends
I haven't met before, most of
them I've known.
So there's that personal connection.
Like I could hire someone
that's 10 times the hours as me and
they'd still look and be like,
but he's not Evan.
So it's just that there's that
connection as well that I have with
the people that I'm flying.
And then also it's, you know,
like this kind of flying allowed
me to do a lot of other things
as well as keep my aviation passion
going.
So like I might fly maybe one
hour for one day and then have two
days somewhere and then, you
know, but in between that time you're,
you're either scheduling the
next stuff or you got downtime to,
you know, I can do a lot of my
other work as well.
So I, once I kind of fell into
that life, that sort of lifestyle
of having or having the
opportunity to work on multiple projects
at the same time instead of
flying, you know, 12 hours a day
with turns here and there.
And this lifestyle was
totally, it just allowed for different
things.
So it's not like, you know,
you're not busy because it does get
crazy busy.
But it's just, it's just, it,
it's a lot more flexible.
Oh, for sure.
And I mean when you say you
can fly for one hour and then be
in a place, you can be in
Vancouver for three or four days,
you know, it's like kind of
like a no brainer or bamf.
I think you, I don't, I think
you posted about Banff recently or
just something that reminded
me of bam.
Yeah, So I live, thankfully I
live pretty close to Banff.
Oh dude.
So we're just like an hour
drive there.
So it's like a, we'll even go
out there just for the day.
You just drive out to, you
know, dream destination.
I need to make it out there.
It is, I remember like doing
lots of traveling to like, well when
I was in New Zealand one time
and then because I went there for
the mountains and then I was
getting all these advertisements
like come visit Banff and
you're like, man, I just, you know,
so yeah, so it is, it is
awesome to be up here and there's
so many cool places in, you
know, North America to.
It's just up here is unique
because there's so much less population
density or like the population
density is a lot lower here.
So if you want to go into the
mountains, and you can easily just
get lost by yourself and not
see anybody for thousands of miles.
Yeah, it's.
It's pretty very Canadian.
Right.
I remember the first one flew.
Flew to St. John's and I think
it was like 300 miles from my destination
at like, 43,000ft.
And ATC is like, all right,
we're canceling your eye far.
You're going VFR now.
I was like, wait, what do you mean?
It's like, I still have like
an hour and a half left on my flight.
Like, I'm not going via.
Yeah.
Or they hear you.
Just go direct to.
And they'll figure it out.
That's crazy.
Like, see, like, new, like,
say, Newfoundland.
I haven't.
Canada is so big.
I've actually never been to Newfoundland.
Like, there's so much I
haven't seen yet of Canada because
it's so far away that it's.
Yeah, it's.
It's.
Now I think I'm like, maybe I
should go to Newfoundland now that
you said.
Yeah, like, maybe I should
book a trip right now.
Yeah, all right.
I'm going to go.
I'm going now.
Apparently, there's a really
nice golf course out there.
I don't know if it's called,
like, Hawkesbury or whatever it's
called, but in that area,
there is.
We've flown to this really
tiny, uncontrolled airport that is.
It's by this, I guess, where
the water.
The seas, like, come up really
fast and they go.
I can't remember exactly what
it's called, but we didn't get to
see it because obviously my
last job they ran is pretty.
Pretty ragged, but we flew
there all the time.
There's tons of jets there, too.
And it's like.
Like, how do one.
How do people find this place?
And, yeah, it was just really
cool to see.
So you should go.
You should definitely.
I think, right after this
podcast, you should go.
Take off.
Yeah, yeah, just go.
And so, yeah, that.
That was kind like the
lifestyle fit for me.
And I've even thought I'm like.
Like, it would be.
I've got lots of friends that
fly in the airlines, lots of friends
that fly for all sorts of
different things.
And, yeah, it's always been a
passion of mine.
Like, I, you know, it's just different.
Like, there's so many avenues
you can take in aviation that this
was the path that I sort of
stumbled upon.
You know, it wasn't
intentional at all, but here I am,
and this is what I've come to
really really enjoy.
But I think that's what's kind
of the best about aviation is there
is this, like, wide range of
paths that you can go down.
Usually people see cfi, they
see regional, they see airline pilot,
but there are so many people.
One of the things I realized
from this podcast is like, yeah,
there's a straight line to a
career, but I mean, you're going
to have options presented to
you that you can take you all the
way off course where you think
it's off course, and you can eventually
wind your.
Myself back up to the airline pilot.
Yeah.
So I always tell people, never
say no to things.
Like, you might get this
really cool opportunity to fly aerial
survey, and you might get to
build your hours that way.
Or you could go fly in Canada,
they could go fly with you.
You could do so many different
things and you might end up back
to the airline side.
Or you might be like, I kind
of like this.
Like, I have the schedule flexibility.
I'm making enough money to do
what I want to do, and I fly cool
planes and do cool stuff.
And I mean, as a pilot, the
dream is, for me, at least I say
my dream is to go fly
somewhere, hang out for 24, 36 and
do like one flight back.
It's like, I don't want to fly
five legs a day.
I want to go with the freedom
of it.
And you can have that with a
lot of aspects of aviation.
Yeah, totally.
And that's kind of where, you
know, that's exactly where I'm at
now.
Is that the, you know, the
flying is the easiest part.
It's just the, you know, the,
the managing of people and scheduling
and that.
Or I shouldn't even say scheduling.
It's just, you know, you have
to wear many hats doing this kind
of work because you are kind
of a one person operation.
So that's why, you know, like,
even like using a lot of the Garmin
stuff was actually really important.
Like I would, you know,
especially with the Garmin pilot
app, that kind of stuff.
When I talked to Kyle, they
were really kind of pushing the,
this new app.
And I was like, okay, Well, I
use FlightPlan.com all the time because
I was crossing the border like
every several times every week.
And so I was like, okay, well,
this is probably something I can
switch to.
But it was hard for me to go
from, you know, one app to another.
But when I used it, I was
like, man, this, like I was flying
a single pilot airplane or,
you know, turboprop single pilot
with people in the back that
want to drink.
And it's just you.
You're going into the
mountains and then all of a sudden
the weather's crappy.
And also it like, that kind of
stuff was a big part of what makes
this possible.
Yeah.
Is the technology that you use
in the airplane.
Because it's like, I always
tell people this.
I'm like, hey, no matter what,
we are landing in exactly five hours
because that's when we run out
of fuel.
So if we don't figure out our
stuff within that amount of time,
we're landing.
So, you know, the technology,
especially, like, what.
Even like what Garmin's done
has been revolutionary.
Especially in the last, like,
three years.
Yeah.
Crazy how fast that stuff has come.
There's been a lot of
advancements, and what they've been
able to bring to GA has just
been incredible.
And the safety, whether it's
auto land, whether it's just enhancements
to safe taxi, any.
And Garmin pilot itself,
there's just so many cool things
that can really just help you out.
And one thing I miss most from
flying, the latitude in the G5000
is safe taxi.
You know, especially when
we're going to big, major 121 airports
and not be able to look at my
avionics and be like, all right,
there's this taxiway, there's
that you look down at Garmin pilot
and you can see all right.
Visual notams.
I know that's closed already.
So what they've been able to
do has been really cool.
And it is definitely handy
with you, too.
And then you add having
weather on there and having weather
on your avionics.
Having weather on Garmin
pilots, it can help you make a really
good.
And especially.
Especially I find, well, that
everything is.
Is all the garment stuff is
like, they.
They do a lot of, like, they
come up with new stuff all the time.
But it's very similar to the previous.
Like, it's like the ergonomics
are the same.
So you can literally come
into, like, a new avionics system.
I don't think I've ever opened
up a.
Like a manual on how to operate.
You should open up manuals if
you want to fly the plane should
open a manual.
You should read it.
But yeah, I don't think I ever have.
I've always just sat there and
just figured it out.
Because Garmin stuff is so
easy to like.
Oh, for sure.
How it works.
Yeah.
That it, like, you don't have to.
And that's always been one of
the biggest things.
Why I always thought like all
the Garmin stuff was.
Why it's so popular, too, is
because it's.
They've designed it really
well in how you.
You know, how you utilize it.
So it's efficient.
Right.
It feels like it was designed
for pilots.
Right.
Like it feels like it was
designed by pilots for pilots.
And you.
You can essentially go from a
G1000, sit in a G3000 or G5000, and.
Yeah.
Pretty much figure your way
around and do everything.
Yeah, for sure.
And I've done that before and
I've tried other, you know, I've
used Collins stuff.
Lots of different types of
avionics systems where there is a
bit of a learning curve.
But the Garmin stuff is just like.
Like, it's just so easy.
And there's, you know, there's.
There's.
There's teams, you know, for
each brand of avionics and stuff.
But I think that's why you see
every airplane now is equipped with,
you know, that's you.
When you see an airplane for
sale, that's usually one of the first
things they mentioned before.
They even mentioned the engine times.
It's like Garmin upgrades.
Yeah.
What avionics?
Like, yeah, don't worry about
the engine.
We can go past tbo, but what avionics.
Yeah, yeah.
Which is funny because the
most, you know, that avionics turnover
pretty quickly.
So still, especially in the
airplanes that I'm flying, you know,
the vat.
I mean, the whole value in the
airplane is really in the engines
and the autopilot.
So we have all the Garmin
autopilots now in these airplanes.
And then obviously the
touchscreen displays are pretty important,
but that's it.
No one cares about the interior.
No one cares about the, you
know, the airframe tire.
Like, icing on the cake.
Right, the interior.
Yeah.
I mean, if it looks nice,
looks nice, but, like, get me there.
Yeah.
Give me this.
We want engines and gone.
Yeah, that's it.
What kind of planes are you flying?
So the ones I've always been
flying are Cessna conquests.
There's.
They're 425, so they.
They're called the Conquest One.
So they're awesome little twin
turbo props.
They're kind of like a King
Air, but a little bit narrower or.
Sorry, not narrower, but
they're narrower on the top.
But they have, like, just
incredible performance capability.
They burn very little fuel and
everybody wants them right now.
So I've.
I've sold or had one airplane
that sold, and it was like, immediate,
like, asking price.
They didn't even Do a pre buy.
They just picked it up, so maybe.
Oh, my gosh, that's crazy.
I don't know.
Cool.
Yeah, sure, you can take it.
Yeah.
But these airplanes have been
incredible machines and especially
flying up here in Canada
because a lot of the runways are
shorter.
So we're, we operate on of,
you know, there's lots of 3,000 foot
strips that were there from,
you know, when they were, when the
airports were built.
Whereas you go to the United
States and it's like you go to a
small town, they got a 7,000 foot.
Runway, nicely paved with an
ILS and RNAV.
Yeah, yeah.
Or, you know, I mean, there's
lots of small airports with short
runways, but there's always an
option to go to like a, you know,
right next door.
There's usually a Runway
that's, that's fat and long and easy
to land on.
There's airports everywhere.
Everywhere.
Yeah.
So.
So up here the, those
airplanes are, are essential.
Turbo props are great.
The jets, obviously they can
go to the big airports, but once
you have the turboprop
capability, and that's why a lot
of the owners that, that I've
been flying around, they've either
come from flying, you know,
from flying in jets, but now they
want to go, you know, they
have fishing lodges in different
places, or they want to get
into these other smaller airports
that give them access to where
their business is.
And that's the capability that
these, these turboprops offer is
that.
But then also they can go long distances.
So it's not like, you know,
you're restrained by the speed or
anything like that.
Because like these, these
airplanes, they, they, they, they're
very niche.
Like, they, they're fast.
But we can also get them into
some pretty small, tight little airports
and stuff.
And do they have Garrett's?
They run Garrett engines?
No, there's a Conquest 2,
which does have Garrett.
It's like a stretched version.
I have literally zero
experience flying those airplanes.
I've always stuck to the 425.
So they have the, the Pratts
on them.
Give me a Pratt, man.
Yeah, I'm a frat guy too.
They start easy up here.
Yeah, I mean, it's Canadian
too, right?
Pratt.
It is, yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, I'm pretty sure
they're still Canadian.
I don't know if the ownership
is, has changed since.
You never know.
At one point it was a Canadian
brand, right?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
I think the only conquest that
I've seen because I feel like they're
not very common.
Right.
Like you're not going to see it.
You see a King Air, you'll see
pretty much any kind of multi engine
turbine other than a Conquest,
wherever you go.
And the only one that I have
seen has been a Garrett.
I just remember the, the, the
propellers and how loud that is and
it's like, why would you want
to fly that?
But this is the first time
I've actually had any kind of insight
into what a Conquest can offer.
And it does.
It sounds like a great airplane.
They're an awesome airplane.
The nose is long too, so we
always throw skis and I always put
paddle boards in there.
So if I'm flying somewhere
like this coming week, it was just
a short flight with a client
that I go pretty much every week
with and we do an hour flight
down to Spokane and then I throw
paddle boards in the airplane.
Then we'll go and you know,
while they're doing their thing,
I just hit the river and chill out.
And then the next day we fly home.
So it's like, yeah, it's
pretty, it's a pretty capable airplane.
And we, we can load the thing
up with fish when we do fishing trips.
We can, you know, fill the
passenger seats and still go, you
know, just over a thousand
nautical miles.
We've taken them to Mexico,
across the Gulf.
Like it's, it.
They're awesome little airplanes.
And once it's, I think once,
once, once an owner like, and usually
like these, these aren't owner
flown airplanes necessarily.
I mean none of the ones that I
fly are.
They're, you know, the owners
aren't pilots.
So they're just sitting in the
back paying the bills.
All they care about is the,
you know, the, the reliability of
the airplane and how much it
costs and, and they all love these
airplanes.
I've had, I had one owner that
he, he had a CJ3, I think a CJ older
citation.
He had a King Air, a Cessna
340, like one of those small little
piston poppers.
And then he had, he had a
Cheyenne, he had a, another King
Air F90.
He's on like every airplane in
the book.
And then he bought one of
these conquests and he's just like,
no, this is hands down the
best airplane.
He's just the guy that sits in
the back, pays the bills.
So yeah, I'll take it.
So that says a lot to me
because it's not like necessarily
it's a fairly easy airplane to fly.
But you know, it's different
when it, when a pilot says I really
like this airplane because I
think every pilot, if they're in
an airplane, they learn to
love it.
Exactly right.
You learn to love the quirks
of every airplane that they have.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I'm gonna.
You're kind of be a Canadian
ambassador right now.
A lot of people that I list
that listen to this podcast are probably
going to be in the lower 48,
and they're only going to know, like,
the airports that we go to or
the cool places that we fly to.
And on top of that, the people
I've talked to in Canada, they are
usually kind of east of where
you are.
Where you fly is probably some
really cool scenery, some really
cool small airports.
Yeah.
Can you give me a top five of.
Or top three, whatever you
want to do of, like, places that
anyone should like, put on their.
Their airport goal list or
places to fly list where you live
and where you fly.
Really cool place is in western.
Well, it's actually kind of on
the eastern part of the Rockies.
It's in.
It's actually in British
Columbia, but it's called Fairmont
Hot Springs.
Okay.
Yeah, it's in a place called Invermere.
There's a few airports kind of
in the valley there.
But the south of there is an
airport called Cranbrook.
And if you just go north of
there is a.
There's an airport called
Fairmont Hot Springs.
And that, to me is.
It's just a really cool spot
because you kind of get a combination
of like, lake life and all
that sort of stuff.
But you get to fly through the
valley and they.
I think they do like a little
fly in every once in a while.
I've gone to one of their
pancake breakfasts where it was like
eight airplanes showed up and
that was it kind of thing.
But it's a beautiful spot to
like a incredible place to.
To fly.
And it does have a couple of
IFR approaches, but they're, you
know, it's limited.
Like I always say, if it's.
If an airport here has IFR
approaches in the mountains, you
basically like.
The IFR approach is at VFR
minimums in a lot of cases because
you have to do like a shuttle dist.
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Totally understand that.
But that'd be one of them, obviously.
On the coast, there's a place
called Haida Gwai.
It's a.
The islands just south of Alaska.
Lots of big fishing camps up
there, some known as the Queen Charlotte
Islands.
There's a place called Sands
Pit, which is a pretty cool airport
to fly into.
And then for more challenging
strips, a place Called Nelson, British
Columbia, Canada.
A lot of them are in B.C.
but there's so many cool places.
Like if you have a float plane
up up here, there's unlimited lakes.
Like, just go to a lake and
build your own little cabin and I
don't know, you can probably
name the lake if you want.
And people.
It's as easy as that, right?
Just build your cabin.
This is Evans Lake now.
Yeah.
Because Canada's so vast and
airplanes play a huge role in.
In, especially in the north
for how people get around.
But those would be some really
interesting airports that I've been
to.
If you go further east,
there's some really cool places in
Manitoba, Northern Manitoba,
especially once you get further north
on the.
On Hudson's Bay, where you can
get into kind of polar bear territory.
But that's, you know, a little
bit more northern Canada.
Yeah, you got to have the,
the, you know, you want to have the
knowledge of how to fly up there.
Yeah.
And some fuel.
Because not all.
Every airport you fly to is
gonna have the fuel for you to get.
That's a problem.
That wanted to go up there and
he wanted to buy or he wanted to
take a. I think it was a.
It was some sort of cool.
It was a cool airplane, but he
wanted to fly it all the way up to
Baffin island, which is north,
North Canada.
And the problem was Avgas.
And he had it all planned out.
And then I was like, man,
like, I don't think you can get AV
Gas fuel up there.
Like, they might.
They might drop a drum or two
at certain airports.
And that was the problem that
killed the trip because he's like,
shoot, I didn't realize that
there's no fuel at a lot of these
airports.
It's like, what do you mean
there's no fuel in an airport?
Yeah.
And up there you have to plan ahead.
Sometimes you have to make
sure that there is actually going
to be fuel there.
Because I know when I was
learning to fly, I'd fly to some
airports that.
Where you land and there's
literally nothing like, yeah, this
airstrip.
And.
And it, like, it'd be in a
place where there's a town and everything.
But it's like, well, you.
If you want to get any
services, you better walk to town
and get somebody, you know,
walk to the gas station and get a
connection there, and they
could come and help you unlock the
fuel, you know, to get fuel.
Right.
That's funny.
Whereas.
And that's one nice thing
about flying in the United States
is that everywhere you go the
service is like, top.
Like, it is top notch.
Like.
Yeah, there's always a place
where someone will be able to help
you or.
A phone number to call, and
someone will be there in 20 minutes.
And you'll.
And the services are like that.
It's like, you know, in
America, the people are ready to
supply the airplane with what
you need, and they're ready.
To take your money, right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, they will.
But then, like, some of the
best deals I found found in the States.
Yeah, that's true.
Sometimes in Canada, you come
here and you go to an FBO and you
realize you're like, man, they
did nothing.
Like, they did absolutely nothing.
And they sent you a 600 bill.
Yeah.
And they charged you the most.
Yeah.
Canadian.
Gotta love it.
One of my Canada stories of flying.
I got de iced in a hangar one time.
That was the first time ever
that ever happened.
They didn't have type one.
They only had type four.
Yeah.
So they didn't.
We put us in before it started
snowing, and they're like, all right,
we're gonna throw you some
type 1 on real quick and make sure
it fits your hold over time.
And you go out and you take off.
It's like, all right, well, I
guess that that works.
But it was in our.
Was in our aom.
It's like, this is acceptable
at these certain airports.
It's like, okay, this is a
first for sure.
But yeah, it's just different.
Yeah.
And like, I've always found up
here, too.
I. I mean, just because the
airports are so kind of.
I mean, there's a lot less
airports that your options are.
Are limited, too, so you have
less competition.
I mean, there's some airports,
I know that they, you know, the.
There's only one FBO within.
You know, like, all the other
airports don't have services.
And then the one airport that
is really busy only has one fbo,
so you know that when you land
there, you're going to pay, you know,
premium, 30, 40% higher fuel
rates there.
And, you know, they're.
They're sitting right next to
a refinery.
I know you get this cheap.
It's like, what are we doing?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Canada's a strange place.
We're a little strange up here.
But it's a.
It's a beautiful place to fly.
Totally worth it.
The other strange thing you
guys do is the mandatory frequency.
That is not something.
That's the United States.
And I feel like that.
Yeah, that trip some people
up, that's too.
You know, we.
We owe Credit to our lack of
just hiring air traffic controllers,
but yeah.
So there's lots of airports
where they'll have, like a. I don't
even know what you call it.
This was flight school stuff.
But a guy or a lady in the
control tower that does no controlling.
They just relay messages to
other airplanes and provide traffic
updates, which is more
comforting than talking to pilots,
because sometimes, you know,
when you're.
I don't know, maybe you can
relate to this when you're flying.
And it's just nice to hear
because you feel like they're, like,
helping you out even though,
you know you're still in control
of the plane.
It's just.
Yeah.
Thing to know.
Like, there's times where
you're flying and you don't talk
to anybody for, like, 20
minutes, and then you're just like.
Then you hear someone on the radio.
You're like, oh, hey, yeah,
there's someone there.
We're still here.
Yeah.
We're not in a simulation anymore.
All right, cool.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, and it helps you.
I mean, there's been times
where, you know, you line up on final
and you look five miles out
and you're like, wait, there's an
airplane landing the opposite Runway.
It's like, mandatory frequency.
Can.
I mean, I'm guessing it can
still happen, but it is.
It makes a little bit of
safety in there, right?
Yeah.
They use it at airports that
don't really require the need for
air traffic control, but
they're, you know, they have enough
traffic going on that they
need someone to help.
Help delegate or, you know, to
help organize what's going on and
provide information.
And like I said, like, I
remember, I flew into.
Was it Palm Springs, and it
was the worst airport I ever flown
into my life.
It was so disorganized, and
the sort of audacity of some of the
pilots there to just
literally, they don't make radio
calls and they land on runways
and the people are yelling at each.
Like, pilots are yelling at
each other.
And as a Canadian being in
that and seeing how that worked,
I was like, why isn't there a
controller here?
Like, they got the.
The airport's big.
Like, they got, you know, 20
airplanes trying to get IFR clearance
and trying to do circuits.
And then a jet comes in and he
decides, no, just going to land on
the opposite Runway.
Which is literally what happened.
And everybody was all.
And I was like, this is.
You can't do that.
This is, like, this is just a
catastrophe waiting to happen.
Yeah, absolutely there.
But it was Like, I.
As soon as I left that
airport, I was like, no, never again.
If anyone wants to go to Palm
Springs, like, I'm not doing it.
I'm going to get someone else
to fly that trip.
I'm not going.
I'm out.
Like, I'm busy.
I'm going to pick a different.
So I. I have a lot of
experience flying in that area.
It's a very popular area.
In my previous job, Palm
Springs itself, the main Palm Springs
airport.
Great.
Highly recommend.
Love it.
Air traffic control.
Two airports south of there.
Absolute dumpster fires.
Bermuda Dunes and Thermal.
It is.
Thermal is.
Probably needs a Delta tower.
It is very busy.
Thermal.
That was the one I was at.
Yeah.
Thermal can be a hot mess.
And then Bermuda Dunes is just north.
There 1.
It's impossible to find.
It's extremely busy.
And it blends in with the road.
And then you can't even go on
the taxiway because there's literally
houses that have this.
They're like hangers and
garages that go over the taxiway.
It is a wild, wild place.
Just go to Palm Springs, pay
the extra money and go to Palm Springs.
Yeah, I think that's what I'll
do next time.
Because I didn't enjoy that.
And I think when I got.
I was like, it's just me.
Safer if we just take off.
VFR and I flew through some
restricted airspace, and it was a
disaster.
I'd never do it again.
The la.
You know, the LA airspace can
be kind of.
Can be a little complicated,
especially LA itself.
I remember we were taking off
at a Van Nuys one time, and it was
really early in the morning.
The guy's like, all right, fly
to this radial the next.
This radio on this radio on
this and this.
Like, bro, it's 20, 24.
Like, can we knock at GPS
points right now?
It's like, it's 4:00am no
one's out here.
Just give me the departure.
And it's like, oh, sorry.
That's how we always did it.
It's like, fine.
Yeah, See?
And like, I learned to fly at a.
At Cat.
Like our.
Our main international airport here.
So really busy.
And you'd be like the little
172 squished between, you know, all
the bigger jets and stuff.
So I always found big airports
were easiest for me because I'm like,
if you're just good at just
doing what someone says, you're fine.
Like, you can fly into a big,
busy airport.
Those were the easiest for me.
Like Vancouver National Sea Tac.
All those airport or you know,
anything where they have the big
air traffic control, it's like you're.
You're set up everything.
You know what you're gonna do
about, you know, 100 miles before
the airport because you have
to fly the arrivals.
You have to fly this, and then
they just vector you for an ils.
I was like, it doesn't get
easier than that.
It's.
With the challenging part up
here, it was like, okay, now you
have an airport where there's
no air traffic control.
It's ifr.
And now there's two airplanes
arriving at the same time.
Just two airplanes.
And one wants to do an ils,
and the other one wants to do a visual
or something like that.
And then center just says, all
right, like, you're cleared for this
approach.
And then you might have
someone doing circuit circuits in
the.
It's like, that's where it
gets really challenging because now
you got to figure out, okay,
well, how do I do a.
You know, how do I manage this all?
Like, now I'm responsible for,
you know, for making sure that I
don't collide with one other
airplane that's flying around.
And.
Yeah, and so that.
That was always the challenge.
And actually, you see it here
a lot.
Like, students will get, you
know, they'll.
They'll practice at the.
The air.
At one of the airports here
that has air traffic control, and
it's busy, and they get really
good at that.
And as soon as they're at an
uncontrolled airport, it's like,
okay, well, like, what do I do?
Who do I talk to?
You know, so you have to
manage it.
And that could be a lot more.
I find it's more workload
flying into an uncontrolled airport
if there's traffic in the area
than flying to a busy airport where
at least you have, you know,
some sort of air traffic control
service that can, you know,
they tell you what they.
They can see everybody.
That's.
Yeah, for sure.
It can get hectic, obviously.
Like, I think, like, once you
land, that's this.
The.
The hardest part is trying to
figure out your way to where you
need to go and stuff and thank
God for safe taxi.
But that's, you know, that's
kind of how I learned, you know,
flying in busy airspace was
always a little bit.
It was easier for me.
So I would always prefer to go
into, like, a busier airport than
to go into an uncontrolled
airport, because to me, there was
a lot more risk in flying into
an uncontrolled airport or a Place
that doesn't have facilities.
Yeah.
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No, I totally agree.
And I think it has to do with
what you're used to, right?
Like what you.
You brought up in training.
I did my training at a Delta airport.
It was relatively busy but
like I felt comfortable with that
amount of traffic with those instructions.
And then you go to like, like
you said, you go to an uncontrolled
field and there's not many
traffic in there.
There's not much traffic in
the area.
You just go in and you go to a
busy and controlled field and it's
a hot mess.
You know, you're just waiting
for someone to hit you.
You, you don't trust the person.
You have to count on this
someone being courteous eventually
to let you in or to extend
final expend, extend their base or
you do that for someone else.
And then you go to a Bravo
airport and you might think it's
the most intense place in the world.
I remember when I was young,
you probably don't know.
Do you know where Fort Wayne,
Indiana is?
That was like a big airport
people went to for Charlie airports.
It's in Indiana.
It's really dead.
Okay.
Yeah, but just the idea of
going to a Charlie airport, having
to talk to approach, having to
get talked to clearance when you
come out, like that idea I'd
never done before.
So I thought it was just like
the most crazy thing you could possibly
do in a 172.
But now I'm with you, it's
like, my favorite place to fly is
New York.
I love the New York controllers.
You listen to what they say,
and you do it and you do it right,
and everything works out.
As soon as you do something
wrong, they'll cut down your throat
and they let you know.
It's like, I like having my
expectations, like, you need to do
this right now when I say it.
And that's how you do it.
It's like, done.
Thank you.
Please, let's do it again.
Yeah, that's the thing.
I. Uncontrolled airport.
If something doesn't, like, if something's.
If.
If something's incorrect, it's
100% your fault.
Yeah, Right.
Doesn't matter if there's
another pilot that does something
messed up, it's still your
fault because.
Or, you know, it's both of
yours fault because you're both supposed
to coordinate.
So it's like, you know, I had
an airplane once literally line up
to take off down the.
We were ready to go, and he
pulled out of the Runway, and we
were going to take off in the
opposite direction.
And it was like, if I wasn't
like, hey, man, like, what the heck
are you doing?
Do not take off off, then, you
know, it would have been a. Yeah,
not good.
Would not have ended well.
But that was an uncontrolled airport.
And the people there, when I
talked to them after, they're like,
well, yeah, you know, okay,
we'll let them know.
I was like, I don't think you
get the gravity of, like, how serious
that could have been, but, you
know, the responsibility is still
shared.
So.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I had that happen at.
Where were we?
David Hooks.
It's.
It's near Houston.
It has a water Runway, and it
also has a normal Runway, but the
tower is closing.
And some guy just.
The tower closed right after
we landed.
And he was like, all right,
everyone that's taxing, make sure
you let this jet.
They can only turn off on this
one taxiway because it's the only
one that supports their weight.
And this is at a previous
company out.
The company out now.
And he was like, all right,
guys, I'm out.
Make sure that jet goes where
it needs to go.
And everyone's like, all
right, all right, all right.
And this one plane just, like,
comes out of the hangar and just,
like, turns onto the Runway.
And like, bro, you're
literally right where we need to
go.
Like, get out of here.
I'm getting ready to take off.
It's like, do you not see the
Jet that's literally in front you
of you.
And he's like, oh, what do you
want me to do?
It's like, get out of our way.
Get out of the way.
Yeah, just stay where you are
a little longer.
Yeah.
So, yeah, uncontrolled
airports, man, it's just like, it's
crazy.
I, yeah, it can be the wild,
wild west.
So there's a lot of times you
go from one control uncontrolled
airport to another
uncontrolled airport.
Yeah, the whole process is
sometimes you don't talk to anybody.
So, yeah, absolutely no one
can be very quiet.
Talk about kind of any
challenges you had in your flight
training at all.
Yeah, when I first started flying.
Well, obviously, I think
nowadays the big challenge is cost
for most people.
They have to, like, there's
substitutes that I've known that
have taken on a lot of debt to
become a pilot.
And I think they get.
I think there's sort of a kind
of tunnel vision towards like, okay,
well, if I, I like, I'm going
to become this kind of pilot.
And I've actually, I've got
friends that are like that, that
are learning to fly right now
and they're like, nope, this is like
exactly what I want to be doing.
And which is, I guess maybe
that's not a bad thing either.
But my experience was totally different.
It was like I didn't know what
was in store for me.
I just know that all the
licenses are the same.
So whether you're going to
take this career path or this career
path, you still have to get
the, you know, all your licenses
and ratings things the same.
So just focus on that and
don't get too like.
I think the big challenge is
just figuring out how to do that
in a timely and cost effective
manner, which for me was picking
a time in my life that would
have been, you know, where I could
focus on that the most but
also be able to support that.
Because now is more important
that people can still, you know,
fund their flight training and
not get in too deep with like, hey,
now I've got all this debt now
how am I, like, I need to get a job,
right?
And yeah, and obviously it was
different for me because I like the
flight training.
Wasn't this, like, near as expensive?
I think, like, my private
license cost me like $7,000.
Oh, dang.
People are gonna be so sad.
They're gonna be like, what
the heck?
And you could rent a twin for 150.
I was renting a, like a, like
a little twin for 150.
Bucks an hour.
Like, do you remember what's that?
Was it wet or dry?
Well, that was wet.
Yeah.
And they would just sometimes
the owner of the plane, of the flight
school, he'd be like, yeah,
just take the plane and like, you
know, go pick up Jim.
We got the, you know, another
172s broke down.
You'd go pick up the
instructors right at this airport
and be like, sweet, I can log
three hours for free.
You know.
But now I think it's more
important, you know, the challenge,
the big challenge that I
didn't have was obviously how expensive
it is now.
And I think there's, this is a
reality right now is that there was
the whole perception of a
pilot shortage, which there still
is right now.
But it's not for new pilots.
It's for up here in Canada,
for sure.
It's for pilots that have, you
know, maybe a thousand hours of,
of PIC time.
Right.
It's the captain positions
that they're short of.
So, and I experience that
right now, like I can find, I could
get, I could throw a job ad
out and get probably hundreds of
responses, but that would be,
you know, there, there wouldn't be
enough qualification to do
this job.
It'd be like, hey, yeah, I
want like I got 400 hours and you
know, I just got my commercial license.
I got four, maybe 500 hours
and I've got maybe 20 hours of multi
time.
Right.
But then it's that the poor,
you know, great, we got lots of pilots
there now.
But it's the, you know,
thousand hours of PIC time pilots
that are missing and that's
just going to take time.
There's, there's still that
gap, I think.
Yeah.
And I know so many people
right now that are trying to find
contract pilots and they're
like, they'll pay literally, like
they'll pay a lot of money for
these people, but they just don't
exist.
Those pilots aren't there.
There's.
They're scooped up doing, you
know, doing other things and they're
or they're just not, they're
not there yet.
So there's still a pilot
shortage problem.
It's just, it's not in new pilots.
It's now like that, that that
deficiency is kind of.
Or that deficient part of the pilot.
That makes sense.
Yeah.
It's kind of like the gap
where everything is.
Yeah, absolutely.
Trying to find that is challenging.
Yeah.
Do you think there's ever a
world where you would find yourself
finally thinking, you know,
maybe the airlines are the way to
go?
You know, maybe.
Yeah.
And actually so my, my
brother's a pilot as well and him
and I have, actually we're
very close.
So we talk a lot about what
the, you know, what we want to do
with flying and whatnot.
And he, he learned to fly
after me and it was kind of, it was
great because like him and I
could then, you know, I trained him
on these airplanes and we both
do contract flying together, but
we talk all the time about
like, well, what is like the big
maybe we want to fly airplanes
in the future.
I've always left it open, you
know, fly airline stuff in the future.
And I've always left it open
because I have no idea, like, I don't
know how I didn't think I'd be
doing this contract plan for this
long, but I love it.
The money's great, flexibility
is incredible.
The adventures have been awesome.
So I don't know.
And I, I, I look at some of my
airline friends and I'm like, man,
that would be pretty cool to
be able to fly across the ocean.
But then I'm like, man, every
time I've flown across the ocean,
whether it's for, you know, to
go for fun, you know, I don't know
if I'd want to sit in an
airplane for 12 hours and that, that's
just not my lifestyle, I don't think.
And so, yeah, so it's, it
might come in a different point in
my life, but I think, I think
being more open minded makes you
kind of a little bit more
accepting of, of more opportunities.
Oh, for sure.
100 just having like, if I was
just focused on, okay, I want to,
I want to do airline flying.
And then, you know, and then
if that wasn't something that I ended
up in was, I'd be disappointed.
So I, so I've tried to be
really open minded with like lots
of.
So my dream would be like,
hey, if I get a float plane job,
I've even looked like jobs
that would generally perceptually
be considered, you know, going
backwards in your aviation career.
Like, I'm like, man, it'd be
fun to just go fly float planes out.
Yeah.
You know, Tofino in B.C.
on the ocean.
And like that sounds awesome
to me.
I'm like, there's a place in, there's.
Every retired airline pilot
will do.
Yeah, no, once they retire,
they buy a little airplane, they
fly it around and, and no.
And you know, in the
wilderness, a.
Lot of them do do that.
There's a place in Florida,
it's called Tropic air.
And they just go to and from
the islands.
They go in caravans, and they
just fly to the Bahamas and then
they come back.
You know something I don't think.
I think they fly, like, a lot
of legs a day.
But, I mean, it's kind of fun
to go land in the water.
And my buddy was the chief
pilot, and he was, like, just posting
up in the water, just like,
swimming next to his plane.
He's like, all right, now
we're gonna take off and do another
leg.
I was like, that sounds.
Yeah, sick.
Like.
And I would have loved to
build my time that way.
It's like, I don't want to
make that my career right now, but
one day, you know, that could
be a cool option.
Well, and that's the thing is,
like, for some people, that is a
great career.
Yeah.
And it's a very rewarding career.
I just have.
I just know some people that
do that, and they're the happiest.
You know, they're.
I mean, in more way.
You know, in more ways than
just just the flying part.
Like, they're.
They're physically strong.
They're just like.
Because they're out and, you
know, their.
Their work is more physically demanding.
Right.
Like, they're.
They're just.
Because of the environment
they're in.
And.
And I think it just serves their.
Their.
You know, it serves their body
and their mind.
They're just happy, really.
They enjoy doing that kind of stuff.
And so.
And so the airlines just don't
really fit me yet, but I have a huge
appreciation for people that
do do that because.
Because it's an essential thing.
And, you know, you have to
have brilliant people behind the
scenes and flying the
airplanes, mechanics, air traffic,
it's a.
It's a.
It's the biggest part, I
think, of the industry, I think.
But I just haven't got there
yet because this is what I love.
I love the adventure part.
And I. I just can't find that
in big airports and hotels.
There's.
It's a different kind of
adventure, for sure.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But it's great that you have.
Have an open mind about it,
because, I mean, I was like, for
sure.
I was like, I would tell
everyone, even on this podcast, you
listen to one, like, three
years ago, and it's me being like,
I'm never going to the airlines.
Like, this is maybe not three
years ago, probably like six years
ago, because it definitely did
sway at some point, and people could
probably pinpoint when it did.
But, I mean, I was just like,
this is all I want to do.
I'm never going 121.
And then as we talked about
before, it was just kind of like
I started seeing people, you
know, some of my friends, they're
upgrading their captain.
I was like, well, what's their pay?
And I was like, holy smokes.
They're year three captain and
they're making more.
More than what, like a year 10
captain makes at where I am at, and
they fly so much less.
So at some point it's like,
all right, well, better quality of
life.
They could have more money.
And they only fly like two
legs a day where I'm flying like
five legs a day.
I was like, what am I doing?
Like, why am I working so hard
and not making that much money?
So there definitely comes a
point where it does look advantageous.
And you hope, hopefully, if it
ever does happen, you're in a position
where they are hiring and they
need pilots, because there are some
times that might click and
you're like, dang it, there's no
hiring, you know.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, totally.
Well, and that, that was the,
you know, I, I found up here, like,
there's, you know, I've never
made a resume except for once.
And it was like, flooded with
like, I got.
So I had so much opportunity
to go fly for.
I mean, up here, they, they
would literally strap you to an airplane
if they could.
And you know, they, some of
the, some of the airlines were, were
very, very eager to hire people.
They'd hire you over the phone
and, and contract flying.
There's another fellow that I,
I got the pleasure of meeting.
We kind of got connected
because he flies like, he does contract
work as well.
And it was his, his life was
like copy paste mine just in a jet.
And that's the one thing that
I, you know, I, that I, you know,
I'm really fortunate that this
is kind of the pathway that I've
taken because I think contract
flying is one of the most.
It's for the amount of time
and work you put in.
It's one of those lucrative
flying gigs you can, you can get
just because of, you know,
the, the necessity that, okay, someone
needs to, if they, the owners
need to fly somewhere, you're the
guy, right?
If you're not there, nobody flies.
Right?
And they're not just gonna,
you know, they can't just go and
hire someone because you're
the, you're the guy they know, you
know, the airplane.
And so the, you may not fly a
lot, but the, you know, it's not
based on how much you fly.
It's based on how much time
you're available.
That, that, that's where the
compensation comes in.
And you can set your own rates.
Like I've got a guy that he
won't fly unless he makes.
I mean he makes more than he
does flying for, for the airline
that he does.
And he's been a, you know, you
know, I think he's like a seven year
captain.
And he, he just comes, he's
like, he's like, I like hopping in
the conquest.
So he's good to fly like two
hours to this place and hang out,
go have a beer and spend the night.
And then next day it's like,
oh, we don't fly till the afternoon.
So you know, he might go hit
the beach for a bit and then fly
two hours to come back home.
And he likes that as you just
little side side gig kind of thing.
But, but yeah, like the
airlines, I'd never cancel that out
necessarily.
But when I, as soon as I hear,
I'm like, oh man, I like I, you know,
I'd have to leave the people
that I've got here as well.
Kind of strange.
Both.
You never know.
Yeah, so be that guy.
Flying big jets would be super cool.
Yeah, I love to do that.
It's definitely different than
flying little planes.
The site picture got me for a
long time.
You know, landing the latitude
was a lot longer, lower than landing
737.
So I'd be like, all right, my
wheels are boom.
I was like, yeah, I gotta
figure this out.
And there's a guy that I got,
I hired him, not well, it'll be a
couple years ago.
And he, he was like a 25 year
triple seven captain.
Oh, dude.
And he would go from that to
the 425 and it was like he had somehow
he could just do it like that seamlessly.
And he, it wasn't like any
change at all for him.
Like, oh yeah, yeah buddy, I
got this.
And he'd land silky smooth.
And then he'd go and hop in
the triple and like, see you.
Same thing.
Well, I've never flown with
him in the triple, obviously, but,
but I'm assuming it's silky
smooth because he's one of those
people that some people just
got it.
It's flying like he's flown
everything you can imagine.
Yeah.
And, and so some people are
just really, they're just born to
be pilots for sure.
Tell me, tell, give me one story.
And we're gonna go from each
side of things.
Give me like the best day of
your work.
So a quick story in that and
kind of like the worst day you've
had at your work.
Yeah, so I'd say the best day is.
I've had lots of great days.
For me, it's.
It's all about, like, the
people I'm flying.
Like, if we do fishing trips,
I love those because there's get
paid to fish.
And sometimes it's just a
matter of, like, the, you know, the.
The guys I'm flying, they'll get.
They'll get this idea like,
hey, we want to go here.
We're gonna go.
We're gonna go to the lodge
and, you know, we're gonna go salmon
fishing for three days.
And then.
And then you get there and you
spend three days fishing, and then
they're about to go home, and
then you come up with this wild idea
like, well, you guys all have
your passports.
Like, we could go to.
You guys want to pop on down somewhere?
It's just kind of a pie in the
sky idea.
And then the owner's like,
that's a good idea.
And then everybody else is
like, where are we extending the
trip?
And then it continues on from
there kind of thing or whatever.
And a lot of it, the flying is
for work.
But, you know, they always get the.
I always like the kind of the
unknown element.
So usually, like, if I've done
trips like that, there's kind of
a component of.
Of.
Well, we could just.
Where.
Where should we go next?
Like, right.
Got the.
We got all the friends in the
back, you know, their friends in
the back, the plane, and they
go hang out somewhere else.
Yeah.
So like, when we do Mexico
trips, that's usually kind of how
it.
Like, we get down to Mexico.
And then coming back, they
just pick spots like, hey, we'd like
to take.
Let's stop here and let's hang
out there and go.
Go poke around, you know, Reno
for a bit.
Oh, I haven't been to Reno.
Oh, we haven't been to North Dakota.
Well, I can tell you there's
nothing in North Dakota.
Not in the winter time.
Yeah, definite not.
Nothing against North Dakota.
It's a. Yeah, it's a
powerhouse for, you know, the oil
business.
So.
So you gotta, you know, it's
an important place, but in the wintertime,
it's cold, so.
But, you know, stuff like that
where you just kind of.
The unknown parts have been
some of the best days ever.
Because you're, like, sweet.
Like, I don't know where we're going.
We don't know what's here.
But we're gonna try to fly
there and see where we're gonna have
fun.
Yeah.
And then the worst days have
always been and not.
I love all the weather flying.
So for me, like if it's.
I always like flying to the
coast because there's.
The weather's more interesting there.
If it's like a blue sky day
like it is today here in Calgary,
I. I'm not as interested
because to me it's just not as exciting.
So.
I like the mountain flying.
I like the, the weather flying.
I like the.
I like the elements of that.
Especially in the winter up
here because it gets really cold.
But for me it's.
The worst days are always when it's.
When it's heavy snow and
you're stuck at an airport up here
and it's minus.
Well, I guess would it be in
Fahrenheit to be.
But.
Well, Celsius would be like
minus 30 and you're stuck on a ramp
and it's snowing and the snow
is kind of like, you know, like it's
cold but it's like, like, you
know, it's sticking to the airplane,
that kind of stuff.
And it's night time and then
you got passengers that aren't showing
up on time and.
Yeah, yeah.
That stuff just.
Oh, just.
I just, I hate that because.
And then once you're in the
air, you're like, like, yeah, finally.
I mean, the flying's the
easiest part in doing anything like
this.
It's all the stuff before that
because you're always worrying about.
Okay.
And sometimes like the worry.
These are simple little things
like, you know, okay, did I like,
did I forget to book rental
cars for, you know, someone or you
know, like stuff like that
that doesn't really apply to actually
flying the airplane at all.
So.
Right.
It's like you're like a travel agent.
It's like the complete trip.
Right.
Like you gotta, you gotta do everything.
Yeah.
Sometimes.
Yeah.
And then most of the time they
do have like, you know, they have
their assistants that will
line that stuff up.
But sometimes, sometimes they
just look to you because they trust
you and they're like, Evan,
like, line us up a rental car because
this is going to be a fun trip
with me and the wife and these other
people that are coming along
and you're the guy.
Right.
And they also might just
include you in everything too.
Which sometimes.
Which works too.
You want to go do your own
thing, but they want to include you
like, no, we got dinner plans tonight.
We're bringing you like, like,
we'll meet you here at seven.
You're like, darn it.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Kind of good though.
You have to be a good people person.
Yeah.
And it's surprising how many
pilots aren't don't like people.
Yeah.
You're not wrong.
You're not wrong.
Like, you know how to handle personalities.
Right?
You got to understand how to,
how to talk to people.
Yeah.
And, yeah, exactly.
And, and somehow, you know,
make them always feel comfortable.
But then.
Yeah.
Light hearted fun is, is
always important when doing this
kind of stuff.
Well, as you know, like flying
for netjets, you probably, probably
had lots, I mean, you deal
with lots of people, like face to
face, right?
Yeah, yeah.
If you're diverting, you have
bad news.
It's just one of these.
You're like, hey, we can't get
in, the weather's bad.
You know, you don't have a
door in front of you.
It's face to face.
And you see them get angry and
you see their wheels turning and
where's my car?
How do I get there?
What about my food?
What about this?
What about my meeting here?
They're on the floor phone.
It's like, all right, dude.
Yeah, we actually can't get in
there now either.
We're going somewhere else.
And like.
Yeah.
Oh, yeah.
I've had people like, well,
there's one fella and he just sit
in the back and he'd just
throw mints at you when, when the
cabin was too cold or
something like that.
You throw mints from the back
and then, you know, like stuff like.
But those people I've learned
to love, could and appreciate because
they're obviously, they're all
brilliant people.
Yeah.
And they've, they're all
totally different from one another.
But you know, you learn a lot
from those people.
And they're, they're, they're
airplane owners.
They, they are, their whole
purpose is running their business.
And you know, they've all got
families too.
So I, I, you know, you can
relate to, you know, their passion
as well.
It's like they're passionate
about other things just as much as
I am about airplanes and doing
flying for them.
But that's, that, that's what,
that's what I love about this job
is, is being with those
different types of people.
People.
And when we, when we finish a
trip and they're all happy, like,
yep, see you, like next weekend.
Like, it's like, that's good.
That's what makes me feel good
about doing it.
Yeah.
And they trust you.
The trust is.
They don't have to tell you that.
You could just tell, like,
they trust you a lot.
Yeah.
Especially when they load the
plane up with their family and stuff
and you're like, yeah, absolutely.
It's a big deal.
And then, you know, that.
That means a lot to me.
So that's one of the reasons
why it's hard to.
To go to something else,
because I feel like I would miss
that a lot, and I wouldn't.
I'd be jealous if someone else
came and took my spot, to be honest.
That's.
You know, I feel like I've worked.
I've worked a lot of.
Absolutely.
You know, just to.
To build that up.
And I didn't even know I was.
Because I was enjoying the
flying and.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's amazing.
Business now is.
How'd this happen?
Yeah, it's.
It's kind of like.
Yeah, it's like anything you
put a lot of effort in, if it's something
you love to do, you could put
a lot of effort and time into it.
And you don't realize you put
a lot of effort and time into it,
which is good.
Yeah.
So I got.
I got one more question for you.
We kind of talked about it,
but you can kind of sum it up in
one thought here.
If someone's listening to us
right now, they're like, man, I don't
really want to do the airlines either.
I don't want to do this.
You know, your style or what
you have created is what I want.
Give me three tips on what
you'd recommend.
Someone starting out that's
just getting ready to get into the
contract world or getting into.
Into the single pilot world.
What would you recommend for
them to be successful and what you
do.
Awesome.
So there's a video on my
channel, and when I made this video
is about how to get your first
pilot job.
And when I made the video, I
thought, oh, like, I kind of talked
very vague about details, and
I sort of just talked about, well,
you got a network and all this
other kind of stuff that seemed a
little cliche and whatnot.
And it was crazy how well
received that video was.
And there were so many people
that were like, oh, man, I got my
first job, like, doing this
exact same thing.
So it was the complete
opposite, what I thought.
And I almost didn't release
the video because of that, but it
was.
I talked a lot about, like,
how important it is to get to know
people, and that is still the
biggest thing.
And, you know, contract
flying, this is kind of a lucky Thing,
but airlines, the exact same thing.
I know a guy that was.
He did a career change.
He was 40, I think mid-40s,
and he just got his commercial license.
And he knew a guy really well
that was operating a international
medicine medevac, flying a G, G100.
So a little Gulf stream all over.
All over planet Earth.
And he got hired at, I think
it was just under 400 hours via FO.
And he basically check marked
planet Earth.
Like, you see, like, where
this guy flew, picking up pat, you
know, patients all over the world.
And he'd been to like, every.
Every country I can think of.
And, And.
And that was all because of
just a good connection and that connection
that he had had.
I ended up being friends with
him as well.
And he's provided so many
opportunities for me, most of which
I just couldn't take because
of my current job.
But that was probably one of
the best examples.
I was like, if you want to.
If you want to fly a certain
type of airplane or go into a certain
career path, you can
definitely, probably make that happen.
You just got to get to know
those people.
And not in, like, the way
that's like, hey, I'm just trying
to build an opportunity for my.
Myself, like putting the hours
just to become good friends with
those people.
So, like, for me, the clients
that I have, they trust me a lot
because.
And they hire me because of
not necessarily my piloting skills
or, you know, like, that's
obviously required.
But they hire me because,
well, I go and I sit with them.
We talk about things
completely irrelevant to that.
I'm not just, like, digging
for opportunity from these people.
It's like, I genuinely put the
time and effort in to go and this
sounds bad, but, like, you
know, sit with them and.
And get to know, go for dinner
with them when they have their business
meetings and, like, hang out
with them, right?
Because then they're just
like, well, this Evan guy, like,
he's.
He just likes us.
And it's true, because I do.
So I think, like, if new
pilots, if they want to get into
a career right out of the gate
and have a big advantage, manage,
is to start networking with
people and get to know them at, like,
a friend level.
That's so important.
And it's the same thing with.
I think that with any job,
people always hire.
They hire people that they
know before anything else.
They always pull from that
pool of people that they know.
Right?
And I think having a strong
resume is important too.
But also having, like, good,
good quality hours in airplanes is
important too.
So I think if you get some
time, even just sitting right seat,
that says a lot on a resume, too.
Like, hey, even if you sit in
the right seat of a King Air and
you see what's going on, and
maybe you can't log the hours necessarily,
but that experience is still
something you can showcase, right?
Yeah, because I think it's.
It's out of touch a lot, you
know, for a lot of new pilots to
just go and say, well, okay, I
need to get some.
You know, I need to log some
hours in a King Air.
We can't necessarily.
You can't rent those hours.
But if you can get experience,
tag along, hang out at airports.
Like, it's just amazing how
many times I've.
I've gotten free rides with
people just because other owner operators
are proud to.
People that have airplanes
love showing off their airplanes.
So you can go to any airplane.
It could be a.
You can.
I've hopped on rides on jets
just because you just go and you
talk to the pilots, and then
the owner's there and he's like,
yeah, I want you to hop on.
And then you just hop on the airplane.
I.
That's in Canada.
I don't.
I imagine in the States, it's
probably the exact same thing because
there's 10 times more airplanes.
Right?
But you just got to be a
likable personality and be fun and.
And that's.
I. I think everybody is kind
of in the same boat, whether they
own airplanes, whether they
have a lot more money than you, whether
they have.
Have, you know, fancy
airplanes or.
Or they're just flying the airplanes.
They're like.
Everybody just wants friendly
people around them.
So you can be a friendly
personality that's eager and that
shows enthusiasm and loves
flying, has a passion for not just
flying, but also like the
mechanics of aviation.
There's so many ways you can
build your own resume up without
having to put it on paper and
make opportunities for yourself.
Yourself, for sure.
And, I mean, there's a lot to
say about just being a likable person
and coming in with a good
attitude, because end of the day,
they're gonna.
They want to make sure.
I mean, even this.
This goes to airlines.
I. I guarantee you, most jobs,
what they look for, they want to
make sure that they can sit
with you for eight to ten hours a
day and not want to.
To kill you, essentially.
Not want to, like, murder you.
And they want to be able to go
get dinner with you and be like,
all right, we're cool.
This is a cool person.
Let's Go fly.
Yeah.
So just be a good person, be
chill, and.
And a lot of things are kind
of open up for you.
And I think, you know, my
dream when I started flying, flying
was.
Was to be like an airline pilot.
I thought that was one of the
coolest things.
Right.
And I think, you know, I think
what, you know, the big difference
is, is, you know, airline
flying, you can, you know, you're.
Because you're dealing with
new people every single day, but
there's ample opportunity to.
To be a friendly face there too.
Right.
Like, it's rare even.
I've hopped on lots of
commercial flights recently, just
going back and forth to
places, and you never see the pilots.
I don't know if that's, you
know, they're either doing something
else, but I'm like, well, you
know, there's an opportunity to stand
out if you are a pilot, to be
more present and maybe you've been
in the world.
So I'm sure you can give a lot
more advice on that.
Yeah, no, for me, it makes sense.
It's.
It's the hours you put in
outside of flying that are so important
when it comes to people skills.
And.
And like I said, people will
hire always who they know first,
and you can't fake that.
You just have to practice it.
100.
100.
Yeah.
And flying headsets, like.
Like that.
That.
That's.
That's a cool job.
Like, it was a great job.
Pretty amazing.
You think of.
About the value of what the
machine you get to fly.
Yeah.
Doing a job like that and the
people you get to fly.
I'm like, that's.
That's pretty freaking cool stuff.
Yeah.
I mean, it was a great job.
And there was like, I tell
people now, like, hey, if this is
what you want to do, if this
is what you want out of your career,
like, the best place for you
to go is to go to NetJets.
If that's not what you want,
then go to the airlines.
But there's definitely a very
specific person that does very well
at that job.
Job, and it can be a great career.
I could have retired number
two there.
It was great for my lifestyle
at the point in time that I was there.
But then when lifestyles
changed for us and we needed a different
kind of fit for a job, that
what we could do and required a little
bit more schedule flexibility.
That's when the airlines kind
of came in.
I was like, all right, guess
it's time to go.
And that's the best thing
about aviation.
There's so many different Jobs
out there that you don't just put
yourself in one bucket and sit
there forever.
It's like, all right, I did
the corporate stuff, now I'm gonna
go to the airline stuff.
And once you go airlines, it's
probably a little bit harder to go
back to corporate just because
you're seniority game.
You're doing it all here.
But if you have the
opportunity and you, you realize
airlines is not for you, you
know, don't be that miserable person
that is an airline pilot for
30 plus years and no one wants to
fly with you because you hate
your job.
It's like there are other jobs
for you to go do and go do it.
Yeah, totally.
And I like, I mean, you can't
get more well dressed than an airline
pilot.
I don't love the hats.
That's the only thing I can't
get on board with the hats.
But I'll have to like with me.
It'S like know we've, you
know, it started off when I was doing
this contract fly, like, you
know, I dress up more and stuff.
But then, you know, then, then
you were doing more things with the
clients and stuff and you were
more involved in their lives and,
and you know, some of the
trips required just, you know, you're
flying to really hot destinations.
So it was, you know, if, like,
if I put on a dress shirt and stuff,
they'd be like, what the
heck's wrong with you?
I don't want to fly.
I don't want to fly with this effort.
I don't want to fly with the other.
So, but, but yeah, like, don't
limit yourself to one for new pilots.
For sure.
Don't limit yourself.
I completely agree with that.
Like, keep open mind and for
sure, dude, sometimes you got to
take a job just to get the experience.
And I mean, that doesn't mean
you can't be smart about, you know,
certain, you know, picking
certain pathways in order to get
where you want to go.
But definitely you can make
the best of every scenario.
Like doing what I do has
always been, you know, this has been
a dream come true I think for.
And, and it's why I've been
able to, to, to find some, some other
people to help out other
pilots because there is a pool of
pilots that are now they're
like, well, hey, like I'm, you know,
I'm flying six days a week for
this airline and I got all this other
time and I want to do some of
this adventure flying, flying, like,
you know, sign me up kind of
thing and exactly and so they.
They've.
They're kind of gone full
circle now.
They're like, hey, I want to
get back into.
But I can do the adventure
flying as a contract pilot.
Cool.
Like, I could, you know, and
then I look at them kind of like,
well, hey, like, I'd like to
do what you do at some point.
So, yeah, yeah, it's all fun
and yeah.
Just don't limit yourself.
That's the.
Absolutely.
And things.
So well said, man.
I appreciate your time.
I appreciate coming on.
It's a.
It was a good time talking
with you and, and learning and seeing
kind of what kind of general
aviation in can in Canada.
And Canada is like, it was just.
It's really cool.
And you find such a really
pretty area, the.
Of the world and of your
country that a lot of people just
don't understand.
I mean, even just talking
about British Columbia, like, one
time I flew to.
To Vancouver, I was just like,
looking outside the whole time.
I was like, oh, my gosh, this
is sick.
Like, I'm back here.
It's kind of going to Seattle
for the first time.
You're just like, whoa, this
it is.
Yeah.
And then you take Seattle and you.
You just chop it down to, you
know, a fifth of the population or
whatever, and that's Vancouver.
Even Vancouver to me is like,
oh, it's such a busy place.
Like, as soon as you're
Vancouver, it's like, I want to go
to the island.
I want to get away from.
I want to get to all the
adventurous stuff, and I want to
deal with people or traffic.
And I was just in Seattle.
Actually.
Seattle is an amazing place
because the industry there and stuff.
I like going to the museums
and seeing all the, you know, the
ships in the harbor, and that
kind of stuff fascinates me.
But I go there for a per.
I don't go to Seattle for
necessarily the hiking or the outdoor
stuff because to me, that's
back in Canada because there's so
much empty space to do that
mountain wrong to yourself.
And you're not wrong.
Yeah, but Seattle's like,
Like, yeah, those, you know, Seattle
in those areas are amazing for
the industry.
That's what fascinates me.
I mean, that's where you guys
build all the airplanes.
That's where they build air airplanes.
It's a place to be for
aviation, right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's really cool to be on the podcast.
It's.
It's.
Yeah, it's.
I appreciate you inviting me.
Yeah, man.
Anytime I need to come up to
Canada and we can hang out and you
can show me around the
conquest and we can take us to Banff.
You can take my wife and I to Banff.
I'm gonna.
I'm gonna make you.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, actually we're seem like
you would know where to go.
Yeah, yeah.
I've got.
Got some people we're going
out to today actually to Banff.
Poke around there and maybe
have a little.
Because we only get two months
a year.
Yeah, right.
Yeah.
Perfect, dude.
Well, hey, I appreciate your time.
Thank you so much again for
coming on.
This is awesome.
That's a wrap on today's podcast.
Thank you so much for
listening to the podcast.
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I hope you are having a great
day and as always, happy flying Pilot
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