Now he's an Airbus first officer (by design), an FAA examiner with roughly 700 checkrides behind him, an aircraft management guy specializing in the Piaggio, and he runs upset recovery training in the L-39. He also raced at Reno in the gold jet class at 500 mph, four to six feet off another airplane — until he watched his friend and competitor Aaron Hoag G-LOC and go into the ground in front of him in 2022.
We get into:
- Why enlisting first was a risk he'd take again
- What a Navy flight surgeon prescribed when Pete was struggling in T-45s (hint: Halo)
- Being shot off a carrier deck, and why nothing else compares
- Fighter pilot ego vs. actual humility — and why humility can't read as weakness
- What air racing really takes: micro-knots, wake vortices, and why pole position changes everything
- Losing Aaron, "stem power," and how he got the jet on the ground
- Why the DPE shortage isn't a DPE problem, it's an FAA problem
- What he can read about an applicant in the first two minutes
- Honesty, knowledge, determination — his three traits of a good captain, FO, or wingman
- Exposing your kids to aviation without pushing it
"When we get in an airplane, we're in a survival situation. We're not supposed to be there."
Happy Flying,
Justin
What is Pilot to Pilot?
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.