Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
In this episode, I sit down with Luke, a flight instructor based in Utah who's currently at around 900 hours and grinding his way toward the airlines. Luke shares his experience going through ATP Flight Training in just 8.5 months, the reality of being a CFI without the guaranteed job he expected, and how social media helped him land his current position as chief instructor at a flight school in Provo.
We discuss the challenges of building time in today's aviation environment, the pros and cons of the ATP route, and what it's really like to be in the trenches as a CFI. Luke opens up about his ultimate goal of flying for Delta, his concerns about being an aviation influencer while job hunting, and the valuable lesson he's learned about building relationships in this industry.
Whether you're currently grinding toward 1,500 hours, considering flight training, or just finished your ratings, Luke's honest perspective on the realities of early career aviation will resonate with you. This is the grind—unfiltered and real.
Topics covered:
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.
Episode 349 of the pilot the
Pilot Podcast takes off now.
The Pilot the Pilot Podcast is
brought to you by Ground School from
the Finer Points, the
indispensable training app for new
and experienced pilots.
Visit learnthefinerpoints.com
Justin to save 10% off your first
year, fly with Garmin Avionics.
Then grab your mobile device
and make the Garmin Pilot app your
cockpit companion.
Get advanced functions you'll
use before, during and after every
flight, including updating
your aircraft's databases and logging
engine data plan file.
Fly Log with Garmin Pilot all
pilots need the big weather picture
and I use Sirius XM Aviation
to check the fronts, airmets, segments,
turbulence, pireps and more
while I'm pre flighting and in route.
All to give my passengers and
me the most comfortable flight possible.
And now with the latest offer
from SiriusXM, there's never been
a better time to upgrade your
next flight with the Garmin GDL52
portable receiver to bring
Sirius XM and ADS B weather plus
traffic into your cockpit.
My name is Luke, I live here
in Utah and I'm currently working
as a flight instructor out of
the Provo Airport AV Nation.
What is going on?
And welcome back to the Pilot
the Pilot podcast.
My name is Justin Seems and I
am your host.
It has been a while since I've
done an episode with someone that
is currently going through the grind.
Currently as a CFI waiting for
the call, wanting the call, maybe
not even at a total of 1500
hours yet.
I reach out to Luke who goes
under the Instagram name that pilot
Luke and we talked about what
his journey has been so far.
He chose ATP.
Did he regret ATP?
He currently has about 900ish
hours and he is still in the grind.
It was awesome to hear kind of
what his outlook is, what he wants,
what he thinks he wants and
you know I think it's interesting
to ask him what you dreamed of
now because there's a good chance
that might change in the future.
It was great having Luke on.
I appreciate the conversation
we had and I I really hope he has.
He's looking for a great mentor.
If you are listening to this
and you think you might be able to
help Luke, I'm sure he would
appreciate if reach out to them and
also check out professional
Pilots of tomorrow as it's a great
option for mentors which I
mentioned to Luke as well.
AV Nation thank you so much
for listening to this podcast.
We are currently working on
volume two of the magazine.
We're going to have a massive
section on how I built my time.
I'm really looking forward to it.
If you have kind of an obscure
way, you know, not the normal CFI
aerial survey freight way of
how you built your time, let me know.
Email me justin pilot hq.com
or, or send me a message on Instagram
at Pilot the Pilot AV Nation.
I hope you're having a great day.
Without any further ado,
here's Luke.
Luke, what's going on man?
Welcome to the Pilot the Pilot
podcast, dude.
Thanks for having me on.
Yeah man, anytime.
Happy to be here.
I'm excited to talk talk with
you and talk about kind of someone
that is currently in the
process of building their time, chasing
their dreams and getting to
where they want to get.
It's been a while since I have
talked with someone that isn't either
at a major airline, a
corporate job or anything like that.
So I think it's going to be
awesome to hear kind of a fresh take
what you're going through,
what you want, what your goals are
and maybe how they've changed
throughout your flight training or
even just you starting to
become a pilot.
We will eventually get there,
but the first thing I always ask
everyone is why did you become
a pilot in the first place?
Why did I become a pilot?
You know, I wasn't one of
those people who, you know, since
they were five, knew they
wanted to become a pilot.
Their dad was a pilot, grandpa.
It was a little bit different,
you know, went to college, was going
to do medicine, then was going
to do finance and you know, started
chatting with my brother in
law who is a pilot though and you
know, he flies currently for
Delta and after chatting with him,
he seemed like he had a pretty
good lifestyle and you know, enjoyed
what he was doing, didn't
dread going to work every day.
So I went on a few flights and
man, I loved it.
I just thought the idea of,
you know, being able to actually,
you know, make money as doing
it as a career and you know, just
flying an airplane and also
making money doing that, you know,
why wouldn't you sign up?
I mean I had been able to save
up some money that would be able
to pay for flight training, so
decided to just go for it.
Yeah.
Was everything he said about
becoming a pilot like, I mean obviously
when you're flying at Delta
and you're flying at the majors,
you can really brag, you can
talk about how great it is, but you
know, the grind to get to that.
Did he fully explain what the
grind was like or did you think you
didn't really know what you're
getting into.
You know, I mean, he did like,
he educated me.
He was kind of lucky himself.
He did a 141 collegiate
program, got through his stuff, and
then went straight into
corporate flying with his dad.
So he was already in jets from
kind of day one and then, you know,
went to a different airline,
then to Delta pretty quickly.
The timing was good for him.
So I don't know if I was fully
aware of the grind, you know, after
paying the six figures for
flight training, but I'm definitely
more aware of it now.
Yeah.
Would you say you regret not
going to med school or going the
medicine route or finance
route, or are you pretty happy with
what you made?
Oh, definitely not.
I'm so happy to be here.
My wife just started her first
nine to five corporate job doing,
you know, sales, cold calling
at a tech company.
And man, I'm her, herself and
myself, we both say every day I'm
so thankful that I chose what
I did.
So, yeah, I love it.
There's nothing, I mean, I'm
not trying to like knock what your
wife's doing, but there's
nothing that makes me more anxious
than the idea of having to
call someone on the phone and be
like, hey, you want to talk
about sales in the head?
It's like, oh, it's terrible.
I just couldn't do it.
No props to her.
I'm, I'm proud of her.
Yeah, absolutely.
That's awesome, man.
All right, so you chose flying.
What was kind of your thought
process like?
All right, you made the
decision, you took those flights,
but it's like, what do you do now?
Do you just go to Google, type
in flight schools?
New me.
Did you talk to your brother
in law like, hey, where'd you train?
I want to do the same thing
you did.
Yeah, so I actually was doing
door to door sales in the summers
in between college.
So I was going out and doing
that to make money because, you know,
you can make a decent chunk of
money doing that.
And then, you know, I'll never
forget the door I knocked where it
just like a light bulb in my
head, you know, why have you never
considered becoming a pilot?
So anyway, started looking
into it that summer and that fall
and really didn't do a ton of research.
I, you know, just looked up on
Google flight school near me, fast,
flight school, whatever.
And then my feed of course
just got blasted with ATP and you
know, biggest flight school in
the country.
You know, they're advertising
this whole seven month thing.
So really I Did not do that
much research.
I said they're the biggest
flight school.
They advertise that it's fast.
And you know, I chat with my
brother in law and he put me in touch
with a few people who had gone
through the school.
But I didn't think much about it.
And you know, I had saved up a
good amount of money so I wasn't
gonna have to take out a loan.
And you know, I was ready.
That's right up my alley.
Doing a fast paced, intense thing.
And I didn't want to, you
know, take a few years to get into
it since I already spent two
years in college.
What was, what was a sell ATP
was kind of giving you at that time?
Was it like, hey, we're
getting people to the airlines within
like one or two years of their training?
Was it like kind of these
really, really fast track kind of
like crazy timelines or what?
Was there any kind of
realistic like, hey, like yeah, this
is fast right now, but it
could slow down at any time.
Yeah, you know, I think it's
what they've always kind of sold.
Originally when I looked them
up, they were promoting zero in seven
months to go from zero to mei.
And now they promote, I think
a year.
But anyway, I was able to do
it in eight and a half months.
But yeah, they were selling that.
The idea that you would be
able to get a CFI job with them,
guaranteed, you know, maybe I
just didn't read the fine print,
but that was on the impression
that I had.
And then they're also here in
my backyard.
There's two locations close to
me and my wife is in school here
where we live.
So, you know, didn't want to
move around.
And honestly aviation is a
very niche, small thing.
So if you look up flight
school, you're not going to see the,
you know, mom pop shops that
are 20 minutes away from me.
You're going to see ATP and
then uvu, the college that's here.
So I didn't realize they were
that many options around me, honestly.
Yeah, no, that's what's crazy
is a lot of people don't really see
like you know, you type in I
want to fly.
ATP comes up embry riddle.
Like the big schools, like
keep scrolling, you know, maybe might
need to go.
A couple pages and the.
But there are some other options.
Utah has a massive and I'm
sure other states like this, the
Facebook, you know, community
with flight schools.
I had no idea that was a thing
that there's several schools.
But anyway, yeah, so we'll get
into kind of ATP now.
But I want to ask before we
get into there, is there any regret
in the decisions that you made
on choosing ATP or going that route
or looking back on it?
You know, ATP works great for
certain people and you sound like
the type of person it works
great for.
You know, you get your stuff
on fast, you can keep up with the
high paced program and you're
not going to get behind and you're
going to knock it out.
But there is some people that
can't kind of drink from the garden
hose that that is ATP.
But looking back on your
choices that you made, are you happy
with where you went for training?
Are you happy with how
everything went or if had to go or
could go back in time, would
you make any changes?
You know, I guess the answer
is yes, I'm happy with how it went
for me and yes, I would go
back and choose a different route
if I could, if that makes sense.
You know, it worked, it worked
for me.
I got through an eight and a
half months and you know, I liked
the instructor that I worked
with most of the time.
He's a stud, awesome guy.
As far as how they operate
their program.
It's, you know, I do believe
with my chunk of money that I have,
I could have went and got a
small airplane, hired an independent
instructor and done it for
maybe a half or two thirds the cost
that I spent flying a 172.
There's a lot that I could get into.
I think for me it worked though.
But at the same time I think I
probably wish I would have just been
educated and done another
route just because I could have gotten
a broader flight experience
flying different airplanes, meeting
different people and then
also, you know, saving money.
It's.
Yeah, I definitely think I,
you know, overpaid kind of for what
I got.
I don't know.
Yeah, that makes sense.
No, I feel like at the end of
the day you're always going to think
you paid a little bit more.
Yeah.
Than you probably should have.
That's true.
You're always gonna, you know,
the repeating.
Even if you did at 61,
whatever you did or if you have your
own airplane.
Like, well, the maintenance
added up.
It's like maybe I could have
done a cheaper ATP, but it's expensive
no matter which way you're
going to do it.
Yes.
There's obviously ways
someone's going to comment on this,
be like, I had a 150 and I did
it for $20,000 and I did it in six
days and it's like, all right,
bro, sorry.
Cool.
People, people do that on all
of my YouTube videos.
Well, private for that much.
I did it for a fourth.
I'm like, all right, cool.
Yeah, yeah.
Well, this is what I did.
Sorry, bro.
Yeah, but it worked.
It got you to where you are now.
You are cfi.
Talk a little bit about kind
of going to ATP day one.
Did you prepare?
Did you have like pre study
materials that you needed to go over
or you just show up?
It's in doc and you're,
you're, you're going from there?
Uh, yeah.
I mean you'll hear a lot on
the Internet that it's very, you've
got to be very self motivated,
which I was.
I was, you know, before
starting In March of 2024, I was
super gung ho.
What's everything?
Watching every YouTube video,
every article on what you can do
to prepare.
So.
So all the written knowledge
tests for private instrument, commercial
cfi, all of those I think is.
I can't remember how many
knowledge tests I went and studied
and used, you know, Sporties
and Shepherd Air and got every single
knowledge test done before I
even started flight school.
So that helped me a ton.
They sent you materials, but
it was kind of just like, oh yeah,
study your sporty's private
pilot ground school before you show
up.
That was kind of the extent of
from what I remember.
But I was, my focus was the
written test and I think that helped
a ton.
Because when you're in the
program, you do not have time to
go and study Shepherd Air
questions and just memorize those
questions because, you know,
those tests are, you know, strictly
pretty much just memorizing
them and get them done.
So getting them done before
was huge.
I love Shepherd Air, but there
is nothing more painful than the
very first day you log in to
Shepherd Air and you like have to
start the memorization process
and you're just like, I don't want
to do this.
But then by day three, you're
like, all right, boom, boom, boom,
boom, boom.
Figure B with this speed and
the answer is always D. It's like,
all right.
I mean, I knew nothing about
aviation and I was studying for,
you know, the instrument
written test.
And I had no clue what I was
even saying, but got got through
it.
So did you, you mentioned ATP.
You would think that ATP would
have their own kind of CFI material,
CFI classes.
Yeah.
Especially with how there's so
many people out there now that have
CFI courses that you can take.
You think ATP would have their own.
But they mentioned just Use sporties.
Did you use any other kind of.
Did you watch YouTube videos?
Did you watch any other CFIs?
You know, there's Chris from
Angle of Tack, there's Jason or there's
Jason Moments and Jason Palmer
merged the two.
Jason Miller from the Finer
Points out in California.
Did you use any other
resources like that or did you just
kind of stick with the
sporties and what ATP.
Said before the program or
during it?
Either one.
Yeah, love those guys by the way.
Their channels are awesome.
Before, the program is
strictly shepherd air for almost
everything except for private
studying for the written knowledge
test.
Once you're in the program.
ATP does have their own form
of ground school, but they, back
when I was there, I don't
believe they paid the instructors
for ground school.
They would do one group ground
each week where you would sit down
with private students or all.
When you were an instrument,
you were with all instrument students
at the school and it was like
two hours and you do one group ground
and then hopefully, fingers
crossed, your instructor would give
you more grounds even though
they weren't getting compensated
for that.
So it's kind of, that's crazy.
Cutthroat.
And then they also had plenty
of videos and materials.
They, they gave you lots of
materials to study.
But I did a ton of YouTube,
you know, tons of watching.
Jason Miller, Engle Attack.
Free pilot training.
All those guys.
Yeah, so.
So ATP, their idea was you do
all the ground yourself and you show
up and just fly.
That's kind of what they
wanted, honestly.
I mean, yeah, I mean when I,
when I was there, my instructor and
I could be wrong, but I'm
pretty sure he was not getting paid
to teach me a ground.
So he, he was a good guy.
He would, he'd come and sit
down with me.
But a lot of it was you study
on your group, you should be studying
all day.
When you're not flying, it's a
full time job.
So yeah, very self, you know,
you got to be self motivated.
So what was the timeline like?
Sorry.
So you did everything in eight
and a half months.
But let's talk about zero to
private checkride.
Did you take that right at you
know, 40 hours, 45 hours or kind
of talk about from zero to
private, then go, we'll go into instrument
commercial and all that and
kind of how it all went.
But did you.
I guess another question too
is when you're going and taking this,
these classes so fast, was
there ever a point in time where
you're just like, what on
earth am I doing?
This is extremely Overwhelming.
Why, why didn't I just
continue knock on doors and sell
stuff.
Oh, 100.
I mean so many people think,
oh, I'm going to become a pilot.
Like that sounds pretty cool.
Seven months and then I can,
you know, get a job and then go to
the airline a year later.
Yeah, it was, you know, you
don't realize how much goes into
it, but it was super fast.
I mean we were flying it
almost every single day.
Pretty much no time off
throughout the whole program except
for those short little two
week windows where I was waiting
for a checkride.
So private, I think I got
through private in about two months
or two and a half months from
first day to checkride, I think I
was about 70ish hours.
Instruments, same thing.
I think another about two, two
months, two and a half months.
And then one thing that I
really did appreciate about ATP that
they don't do anymore was the
crew stage where after instrument,
after you pass your instrument
checkride, they pair you up with
another instrument rated
private pilot and you just go fly
all around the country and
just file IFR flight plans so you
actually get IMC experience.
And you do that to build your
time for a commercial.
And you know, that was great.
So you're paired with
different pilots, different airports,
real IFR flight plans in imc,
but they don't do that anymore.
But anyway, commercial cranked
through it and then it was straight
into, I can't remember, I
think it was straight into CFI and
then commulti and then
doubleign mei.
And all in all it took about 8
and a half months from day one to
passing my MEI check ride.
So fortunately, you know, for
most people it's not that quick.
I, I was lucky with getting
check ride scheduled quick and then,
you know, didn't, didn't fail
any of them so that there were no
hiccups with my training.
That's good.
Yeah.
I've heard a lot about the DPE shortage.
So hearing you say that you
could get, you only had two weeks
off, which is kind of crazy to
think like your only time you had
a break was waiting for your
checkride, which is probably the
last time you want to have a
break because you start getting rusty
and you start like
overthinking things.
Like I don't want to break
right now, I want to break after
a couple long flights.
I don't want to break before
my check ride.
But you know, it's, it is what
it is.
And you hear stories about
people flying to different cities
to go book with another DP and
then the weather.
Yeah, it's just getting a
check right now.
Sounds like there's so much
more stress on top of what used to
be.
There's so much stress.
And I mean, and that's one of
the things that you just, you kind
of understand and sign up for
ATP is, you know, If I had 10 hours
left in my private training or
instrument training, and I felt confident
for the checkride, even if my
instructor did, they'd say, you've
got to fly out those 10 hours
and then we'll book your check ride.
And then.
And then, you know, they kept
changing their policy, but they'd
give one flight a week.
So anyway, it was stressful.
You know, you're.
You got to be ready on a dime
to take your check.
Right.
And.
But I really did appreciate
that they, you know, they would,
from my understanding, pay
these examiners bonuses and fly them
in to come do checkrides for
us, which was awesome.
Oh, nice.
Yeah, that's good.
Love to see that.
Yeah, it was awesome.
What was the hardest checkride
you had to take?
Oh, hardest CheckRide, probably.
Probably CFI, I think.
Yeah, I think more than
anything, just the studying.
You know, if you can teach
something, then you know it.
That's the thing you can get
through your private instrument commercial
by regurgitating answers and things.
But when it comes to cfi, if
you, you know, you got to teach things
and if you don't truly know
something, you're not going to be
able to teach it.
So.
Yeah, yeah, just so I was.
So I did aerial survey, but
before I got hired by an aerial survey
company, I was training for
cfi and I was doing all the lessons
with this, like, old school
Texas instructor.
Like, I mean, if you, like,
just as old school as they come.
Yeah.
And then he had a new private
student coming up.
He's like, justin, come to
breakfast with us.
I was like, all right, cool.
Just like, totally out of blue.
He's like.
And he's like, I want you to
teach him everything you know about
flying.
And I'm just like, oh.
It's like, I know what to do,
like in my own brain.
But, like, I didn't know how
to say it.
And when I said it, how I got
it, I'm like, do you understand?
He's like, no.
I'm like, oh, yeah, okay.
I don't know.
What do you want to eat now?
Like, what do we do?
It's like, jim, I tag you in, buddy.
It's your turn.
And I was like, maybe
instructing is not for me.
So yeah, I was looking for
other jobs at that time anyways,
but I eventually got there, a
survey job and I was like, jim, sorry
dude, but appreciate your
time, but I'm out.
Yeah, that kid's actually at
Delta now, so maybe I don't.
Maybe that he took.
Got something from me in that
one breakfast.
Yeah, that's.
That sparked the crew right there.
Yeah, bse.
I'm very glad I never took the
CFI check ride.
Just cuz hearing about how
some of those ground CFI orals can
be hours and the whole day and
it's like I. I don't want to be here
for nine hours talking about this.
Like, come on man, let's
shorten this up.
Yeah.
And I feel like it can be
super subjective on what the DPE
is, you know, grading you on,
but yeah, yeah.
So yeah, so ATP, man, but it
got you to where you want to go.
You know, you said eight and a
half months, you're doing what you
want to do.
At the end of all that, did
you get a job with ATP for CFI or
you kind of left on your own
to find your own job?
You know, I did not get a job
right off the rip, you know, I thought
I was.
Had a pretty good chance.
I felt like I had good
relationships with at least my main
instructor who did most of my
training and some of the other instructors.
I was a pretty solid student,
willing to take check rides whenever,
you know.
But I think they did a short
interview from what I remember, and
then they kind of just put you
on a waiting list.
They'll rank you based off of
what lead instructors are saying
about you and other stuff.
They don't reveal too much
about the process, but pretty much
you're just on a list of, you
know, you're waiting for a call and
I think I might even still be
on the list, but never got a call
there.
They did give you the option
that after the program if you want
to go to Jacksonville, I
think, and work kind of on the corporate
side of things and flight
safety or whatnot, you can do that
for three months and then you
get a guaranteed indoc date.
I believe I've had a buddy
that's done that and he currently
flies for ATP as instructor.
So they did give you that
option, but with my scenario and
situation, I didn't want to.
So I was independently
instructing and then also, you know,
kind of looking for other gigs
around here.
Yeah.
Were.
Were you open to moving or
were you kind of like you said, like
your situation?
Were you just set on staying
in the Utah or Provo area, right?
That's what you said.
Yeah, I'm in Salt Lake and
then I drive to Provo every day.
But at that time, no, I was
not open to moving because my wife
was still finishing up her
degree here at BYU and had done,
you know, three years or so, so.
And we didn't have a ton of
money and you know, you don't make
a ton of money as a cfi.
So we kind of.
And currently, you know, super
thankful my in laws are letting us
live here right now.
We moved back in with them and
we're, you know, getting free rent.
So super thankful for that.
So it's kind of figured out we
gotta stay here.
Yep, absolutely.
I mean, dude, hold on to that
as long as you can because when you
got to pay the bills, it's not fun.
You're like, oh, dang.
Yeah.
Holy smokes.
Yeah, it's definitely a grind.
And it's a grind that you're
going to look back on and you're
going to be thankful for.
And I promise you, you were
going to miss it.
You'll look back and be, I
don't know if this is you, but for
me, I just kept looking toward
the future.
I was like, man, I can't wait
to fly for the aerial survey company.
I can't wait to fly for the
freight company.
I can't wait to fly netjets.
I can't wait to fly for a
major airline.
I just kind of like overlooked
the training and really didn't try
to appreciate where I was or
what I was doing.
Because the reality of it is
when you get to your final job, when
you get to wherever it may be,
the chances of you still flying small
ga aircraft is pretty slim.
Like, I know it's, it's all
part of your life right now, but
there are so many airline
pilots that do not touch small airplanes.
Whether they're not safe or, I
mean, it's still expensive.
Even when your airline captain
making 500 grand, they're still like,
this is still too expensive
for me to justify with my expenses
with, you know, they have like
six houses and boats and other stuff,
but they're like, it's just
too expensive.
I can't do it.
So truly try to slow it down
and enjoy it because the job will
come.
Obviously there's a little bit
of a slow kind of hiring short.
There's still the pilot
shortage, but you know, they're still
kind of trim back a little bit.
They're going to get higher, more.
But it has slowed down a
little bit.
But try to enjoy it.
I know there's probably lots
of dreams, and you see some other
friends and some other buddies
kind of be accelerating, accelerated
ahead of you or whatever it
may be, but your time's gonna come,
and you're really gonna look
back one day and be like, dang, flying
172 is pretty cool.
Yeah, that's the goal.
I mean, it is so hard not to
just focus on the next thing.
Doesn't even seem like I'll be
in a bigger plane one day.
But, no, I. I enjoy what I'm
doing, and I enjoy being an instructor,
for sure.
Yep.
That's good.
Because it's funny, you know, you.
Every time I change jobs,
every time anyone changes jobs, you're
so excited.
You're so pumped to be there.
It's like, oh, my gosh, I
finally made it to regional.
Then two years into the
region, you're like, this job sucks.
I can't wait to get the majors.
And then you just.
Majors.
You're like, this is kind of
similar to what region is like, but
I just get paid more, and I
have a little bit more time off.
Like, dang.
But this is it.
Yeah.
So, yeah, the best way is just
have a good outlook on life and.
And just try to enjoy the
process, because one day you're going
to be 65 and you're retired.
Be like, dang, that was fun.
I like that.
Yeah.
No, for sure.
What.
What is your overall goal, or
I guess I should say, have your goals
changed since day one at.
To where you are now?
And what I mean by goals is
like, what is your dream job?
Day one versus now.
Yeah.
Yes.
They have a little.
But the ultimate.
Ultimate goal is not.
I want.
I want to end up at Delta.
A big thing for me is family.
I love Utah, and I love being
around family.
So I'm very aware that I'm
going to move.
I'm prepared to have to move
throughout the next decade or whatever.
But the end goal is to end up
at Delta and be based here in Salt
Lake.
That's.
That's the priority.
If it takes a while, that's fine.
Originally it was, oh, yeah,
go to a regional, stick it out there
for a while, then move to, I
don't know, Frontier or, you know,
somewhere else for a while,
and then get picked up, hopefully
by Delta.
But right now, what has
changed is I'm super open to any
opportunities I.
You know, again, you don't
realize how many corporate and different
gigs there are out there until
you start meeting people.
So I'm totally open to, you
know, my next job and next step in
my career.
Definitely doesn't have to be
go to SkyWest or go to Envoy or something
like that.
Yeah.
So super open to anything,
honestly at this point.
But definitely would like to
end up at Delta one day.
Yeah.
Can't blame you there.
Especially living in Salt Lake.
You know, it doesn't beat.
Nothing really beats living in base.
Even if you someone that
really wanted to go to Delta, but
they lived in Chicago, it's
like it's probably not the best airline
for you to fly for.
Unless you want to move to
that base.
Yeah.
Because not commuting is.
Is massive.
And I a corporate job.
Net jets where, you know, you
didn't really commute.
They flew to the plane.
That was great.
Currently the job now I'm
based in New York, so I had to commute
from Raleigh to New York.
I did just get Charlotte, so
it's still a drive.
But it beats kind of flying to
New York.
So yeah, not trying to
minimize your commute will be the
best thing that you can do.
And I do recommend.
You did say it.
You're open to a lot of ideas,
but don't be afraid to say yes to
something you weren't
necessarily thinking about.
You know, there's going to be
some opportunities that might pop
up and you're like, you know,
I never really thought about flying
a caravan in Hawaii or yeah, I
had one friend that flew survey in
some random country or
protector, I don't know, out in the
Pacific.
It's like, don't be afraid to
say yes those opportunities because
you never know where it's
going to lead and it might change
what you want out of your career.
Maybe you end up a net jets
guy, maybe you end up at a different
airline or maybe you're like,
like, wait, we love living in Hawaii.
I'm gonna fly for Alaska now.
I was gonna say Hawaiian, but
that's not a thing anymore.
Yeah, that's what my wife is
shooting for.
That's what she wants.
Yeah.
I mean, hard to blame her.
I wouldn't mind that at all.
I'm like, yeah, that would be great.
Just.
Yeah, why don't you give it to
me right now?
No, I. I'm super open to
anything at this stage.
I. I think, you know, just
like you said, any new job is like,
oh, this is sick.
You know, new experience, new planes.
So.
Absolutely.
Talk a little bit about your
CFI career as it is.
You mentioned that you were
doing on your own, you were kind
of building your own business.
You're kind of, kind of seeing
how you can freelance it.
Has it been more difficult
than you think it would have been
by just being hired by ATP to
find students to get hours?
Or have you enjoyed kind of,
you know, owning this whole process
and doing it on your own?
Yeah, so I'm, I'm, I'm no longer.
I don't really do independent
instructing now I'm out of flight
school in Provo, which I'll
get to.
Yeah, no, I mean, as far as
finding students, getting hours,
100% more difficult than being
an ATP.
You know, they feed you
students and then I think it was
really good for me though,
because I found a group of guys who
rent aircraft out and, you
know, do the legality of it.
I have to find students who
will then rent the airplane and then
hire me on to come teach them.
But anyway, they had a couple
different Cessnas, Archers, different
avionics and everything.
And I was a total G1000 baby
at ATP.
So I think it was really good
to go actually fly a six pack and
see a GNS versus a gtn, GPS
and an Archer and this and all that
different stuff.
So that's kind of where some
of my social media came in.
Trying to, you know, market
myself and I was able to find a few
students.
I really wasn't doing much
flying though.
And then through social media
I was able to meet one of my buddies
who was able to put a word in
for me and then got hired at a school
down in Provo since last March now.
And awesome school.
They do aerobatics, uprt,
upset prevention, recovery training.
So I've been.
I jumped all into that.
Have about 60 hours in a super
decathlon doing upset recovery and
aerobatics, tail wheels, and
I'm able to teach in that plane.
They also have a Seminole that
I teach in and I was able to luckily
get.
I was able to become the chief
instructor at the school too, so.
So it's opened up a lot of doors.
Um, but anyway, so that's
where I'm at now and I've got plenty
of healthy students and I
think you can do it independent,
but it, it definitely does.
Finding students can be a challenge.
It's just, you know, I don't know.
So, yeah, that's kind of where
I'm at now though.
Yeah.
Has CFI life been about what
you expected or do you.
Is it much different than what
you expect?
It was going to be, uh, it's
been Pretty similar to what I expected,
I would say.
What I didn't realize, and I,
I mentioned this in one of my reels
on Instagram recently, is
you're still always studying and
obviously, you know, a good
pilot's always learning and you hear
that stuff.
But man, when you're teaching,
you know, private instrument and
then multi engine stuff and
then upset recovery and tail wheel
and spins, you've got to stay
sharp on all that stuff.
I mean, it's hard enough just
to stay proficient with your IFR
stuff.
But, you know, I'm constantly,
before I go teach a ground, I'm constantly
working, watching a YouTube
video, reading up on that subject.
And because it's stuff, you
know, the skills and knowledge is
perishable.
So I think that's the biggest
thing that I didn't realize is how
much I would still have to
study even after flight school.
Yeah.
Have as many students try to
kill you as I thought they would
or has been less than you thought?
Oh, I don't know.
The private students maybe,
but maybe some multi students too.
But no, it's not, it's not as
bad as I think some people might
make it out to be or seem.
I mean, no, I would say it's
not too crazy with that stuff.
From your first takeoff in a
Cessna 172 to chasing horizons in
a Beechcraft King Air or
cruising high in a Cessna Citation,
Longitude, Textron Aviation
has been there for pilots like you,
generation after generation.
For nearly 100 years, the name
Cessna and Beechcraft meant one thing.
An aircraft you can count on.
Whether you're flying for
business, for adventure, or just
for the love of it, Textron
Aviation builds the aircraft that
help you do more and go farther.
So if you're thinking about
upgrading your aircraft, stepping
into your first jet, or
expanding your fleet, Textron Aviation
is ready to help you take the
next step.
They offer the performance,
capability and support that pilots
trust every single day.
Because when the sky is your
inspiration, Textron Aviation is
your partner.
And what's next?
Learn more about how Textron
Aviation is built for the skies ahead
today@txttav.com that's txtav.com/config.
Very excited to add Textron
Aviation to the sponsor list for
the Pilot the Pilot podcast.
I've always, always wanted a
plane from Textron Aviation.
My dream plane is a 182, maybe
a 206.
So hopefully in the next
couple years we can make that happen.
But shout out Textron Aviation
and as I said, make sure you go to
txtav.com when you become kind
of, you know, the Delta airline pilot
that you want to be, do you
think you're going to be the type
of pilot that just goes home,
doesn't fly anymore, or are you gonna
be the type pilots like, all
right, we're getting a Super Cub.
We're gonna go fly in the back
country of Utah because, I mean,
you have access to some of
the, the coolest flying in the whole
country.
I mean, outside of probably Alaska.
And there's some other cool
places too, but I mean, backcountry
pilots, you know, you're
thinking of where you live and the
opportunities that you have.
So is that something you think
you'd want to.
To do?
Oh, a thousand percent.
I've had the opportunity to
fly a Super Cub a few times and hoping
to do some contract work in
it, just out on BLM land and do different
jobs in it.
But yeah, I mean, if the
money's there and it makes sense
for my family and where we
live, I would love to like, I love
doing low level backcountry stuff.
I mean, I'm already big into
backpacking, hiking, and being outside.
So being able to fly, that's
one of the best ways to see it.
It.
Yeah, absolutely.
I mean, there's a lot of
people that do in that area too.
So you got some people.
There's a big Back country
association, but there's no Super
Cubs to rent, so.
You just had to buy one then.
I know you got a lot of courses.
Yeah, yeah.
Seriously.
Would you.
What was I gonna say?
How was I gonna say that?
Yeah, I'll scrap that part.
So, yeah, so you are doing the
CFI thing.
You are going through this experience.
Have you ever thought that
maybe being a CFI could be what you
want to do?
Because, you know, there are
some lifelong CFIs.
Does that thought ever come
across your mind?
Do you love teaching that much
or is it kind of, you know, this
is good for now, but I'm ready
to eventually do more.
Yeah.
I mean, and I don't mean to be
that guy.
Right.
I. I do have a passion for
aviation, but where I'm making anywhere
from the range from 20 to
50,000 a year versus one day, three
to 600,000 a year, you know,
so math ain't math.
Yeah, no, it doesn't.
That doesn't make sense.
No, I love it for where I'm at now.
I really appreciate it.
I've always loved teaching,
but no, I've never thought about
doing this as a long term.
And you know, and we, the, we
don't aim to hire instructors.
We aim to hire instructors at
our school who, you know, actually
have a passion for teaching
and enjoy it.
But I think almost 95% of
CFIs, you know, are doing it as a
stepping stone.
Right.
You know, it's not like being
a CFI pays more than doing survey
or something.
So.
No, it's more of a stepping stone.
But that doesn't mean I don't
try to do my job the best I can and
provide the best instruction
and actually enjoy it.
So.
Yeah, I don't know if that
answers the question.
No, it does.
How many hours are you at
right now?
Right, about 900.
900 total.
Okay, so.
And then you have a restricted
ATP, so can you apply at a thousand
or.
No, I do not.
Nope, just go 1500.
So.
1500?
Yeah, that's what I needed to
back in the day, feel old.
But yeah, 1500.
So you are closer than you think.
You know, 600 hours.
As soon as you hit 1500 or
what is it?
I think you can technically do
like 1425 and then maybe.
I don't know if they still do
it, but they have some I know Republic
used to have where they would
help you get the last like 50 hours
or 25 hours of multi, which
I'm not sure if that's still a thing,
but is your goal to apply as
soon as you can?
Are you currently looking into
all the regionals and ranking?
My wife made me make a spreadsheet.
Actually, she made the spreadsheet.
I was like every single low
time job with the benefits, with
what it was, where it was,
where it was and how it was.
Are you currently doing that
now or are you kind of just waiting
until you get a little closer?
You know, I might be naive,
but I would totally do something
like that.
But I feel like I maybe don't
have that luxury.
I feel like, you know, I'm
kind of.
I'm surrounded by guys who
have sent in applications everywhere
and still haven't heard back.
So I don't, I really, as soon
I'll start.
And that's kind of what I
found is I really like, I need a
mentor.
I don't, you know, I have my
brother in law who flies for Delta,
but he's, you know, he only
knows what he knows.
I really am trying to find
someone or resources that are tapped
into hiring more.
Hence why I've listened to
your podcast and try to find podcasts
just like this.
So yes, I'm trying to apply
soon again.
Do I Apply now?
Do I not apply now?
Do I get the written done?
These are all things I'm
trying to actually tackle right now.
But yeah, I'm probably going
to start submitting applications
soon pretty much to every regional.
And again, I'm not opposed to
other smaller 135 operations, so.
So I'm really just trying to
explore it.
But the plan is, yeah, just
submit everywhere and hopefully get
picked up by one or two or I
have no idea what, what the future
holds.
So have you heard of
professional pilots of tomorrow?
Yes, I think so.
I highly recommend.
You mentioned that you're
searching for mentor.
Is looking at that website and
just filling out some information.
They'll give you a free mentor
who is kind of tailored either to
where you live or what you want.
And that is just an access of
information that I think will be
very good for you because it
will give someone that either just
went through the process or is
has seen this and has helped a ton
of pilots like you to get to
where you want to go.
And they may know people, right?
Like, I mean in aviation it's
all about who you know.
My jobs before I got to this
final job was all based on who I
knew.
I went to Ohio State.
I.
My aviation communications
teacher was like, hey, have you ever
heard of aerial survey?
They have an aerial survey company.
It's not too far from here.
I said, no, what's the name?
And I applied, got the job
mostly because of him.
My freight company, same thing.
Friend went there from the
Aero survey company who I Knew and
then NetJets.
When I played football at Ohio
State, I got introduced to one of
the top guys at NetJets.
So I always wanted to go there.
That was who I knew.
And then when I left that
company, coming to where I am now,
I didn't know anyone.
So I was just kind of on my
own merit, but just lucky actually.
But I actually, yeah, actually
they knew your podcast.
Yeah, I probably, I probably
wouldn't have got the job if they
knew my podcast.
Like, oh gosh, not this guy.
No, that's probably what
people are saying about me.
No.
Well, that's actually an
interesting question because there
is, I mean some airlines do it
differently than others.
There is a little bit of a
stigma out there sometimes with,
you know, quote unquote influencers.
Are you worried at all about,
you know, putting yourself out there,
having and like the exposure
of the Internet?
Like, I'm not saying that what
you're doing is bad or anything like
that, but sometimes there is a
negative stigma to People with followers
in flying and sometimes
there's not.
But is that anything that you
have thought about personally?
100%.
Yeah.
No, I mean, every time I post
I'm thinking about it.
You know, when you get
negative comments and I want to say
something back or defend
myself, I'm like, maybe that's not
going to be seen as professional.
Maybe what I'm posting doesn't
seem professional.
No, I definitely do think
about it.
I just had a buddy apply to a
regional and he got an email.
He also posts content and
everything and got an email and they
were analyzing all of his
posts that got flagged and then they
go in and review specific
posts of his.
Oh, really?
That's.
Yes.
So it does make me worry,
should I do it?
But at the same time it's
provided different opportunities
to make relationships and meet people.
So I want to keep doing it for that.
And also just to, you know, I
enjoy aviation and sharing it with
others and helping others who
are a little bit behind me.
I appreciate people who put
out content and I think if you do
it the right way, it can be good.
But yeah, it does make me, you
know, always worry a little bit about
what a recruiter or someone, a
potential employer is thinking about
it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I definitely do not
respond to the negative comments.
I have responded negative
comments before and it never came
back because I'm.
I can be kind of petty sometimes.
Like, dude will screw you.
Oh, of course.
Yeah.
I.
But there are the
opportunities that the person making
that comment like, well, I'm
actually the chief pilot of blah,
blah, blah, so you're never
gonna get a job here.
It's like, oh, shoot, all
right, my bad, bro.
Sorry.
But sometimes, you know, just,
just don't pay any attention to it
and just either laugh it off
or just try to, you know, have fun
back and just joke back in a
negative way.
But it can be tough and it is
like a, you know, it's a double edged
sword.
Like you like, posting the
content has provided opportunities,
but it also has the potential
to get you in trouble and make the
brand look bad, which everyone
just want to protect their brand.
That's all they want to do.
They are afraid and they do
not want to have one pilot that could
post one reel that really kind
of tarnishes their brand and affects
their bottom line.
And if that happens, then,
boom, you're gone.
They'll fire in a heartbeat.
But it's just, it's something
that' very, very delicate to play.
And I think there is a right
way to do it.
And there's a wrong way to do
it, but that's not up to you or me
to decide if you were doing it
right and wrong.
It's the person that's looking
at your application.
So you just have to hope that
you get the person that looks at
your application.
It's like, all right, well,
yeah, he posts content, but, you
know, I actually like this content.
Or he's never gone too far.
He's not posting videos online.
He's making good decisions.
He's not commenting back and
clapping back at people and making
people look bad.
So there's definitely a way to
do it.
But it does have the potential
to hurt you.
You, which is interesting.
I have definitely tailored
back the content that I make around
flying.
Yeah.
Since I got my job, I, you
know, there are some airlines that
are very pro influencers.
I might not work at that right
now, but I definitely view my job
as more important than posting
a reel of me being a first officer
or touching buttons or showing
the delivery or showing me my uniform.
There's other ways that you
can create content and then not.
Not also look like what some
people think of as like a tool or
a d bag.
Not saying you or anyone does.
But yeah, unfortunately, the
people that don't like the influencers,
that's the first word that
comes to their mouth.
Oh, for sure.
No, I'm very aware of it.
And that's, you know, it's
always been on my mind and I'm always
trying to think of, you know,
am I doing this right?
Should I keep doing this?
But, yeah, I don't know.
What are some of the cool
opportunities that you mentioned
that, you know, doing this has
provided for you?
Yeah, I mean, for one, the
biggest thing is getting me my job
at my flight school.
You know, it's hard.
When I, when I finish flight
school, I'm seeing all these guys
I worked with and they're
struggling to find a job and have
loan payments starting and all.
And, you know, a tough scenario.
And strictly because I was
posting on social media and had my
small little presence that I
do and met one of my buddies, he
was.
He got hired at the school, he
put me in touch, he got me an interview
there.
And eventually, you know, now
that I was able to be at this school,
and now I'm the chief pilot or
instructor at our school.
So, you know, that all came
from social media.
So that's probably the biggest one.
And then just, you know, being
in touch with other people who have
flown at other companies and
them being Willing to share information
which you could go just DM
people on LinkedIn and do the same
thing.
But I think, you know, in
general, when people see some of
my content and me not just
trying to say, hey, look at how sick
my life is and that I'm doing
this, but that I'm all that, I also
try to help people out who are
behind me or who are where I was
a year ago.
I think people appreciate that
and want to help me out too.
So I don't know, there's just
other connections that I feel like
maybe haven't gotten me a job
right now or anything like that,
but I feel like that are
beneficial and good relationships
to have going forward.
Absolutely.
And you can find mentors
through this as well.
Yeah, definitely.
People that have helped me out
just ask questions.
Especially when I was debating
if I wanted to go 91k versus 121.
You know, I had a lot of 121
friends that for the longest time
were like, dude, you're
working way too hard.
You need to come to the airlines.
And I was like, no, it's
great, it's great.
But when the time came for me,
ask the questions.
They're all there to answer them.
So, yeah, friendships that can
definitely help you out and create
mentors.
Yeah.
You mentioned that you're a
chief at your current flight instructor
job.
What does does that look like?
We never knows what a chief
is, what a chief pilot can do.
But specifically for what you
do, what is like the day in the life
of a chief pilot at a flight
school look like?
It's nothing crazy.
I mean, we're a pretty small school.
We've got like nine archers
and then a few other planes.
It's really the same
responsibilities and then just a
bunch of other random, random tasks.
So anything from event
planning, coordinating maintenance,
when an instructor has an
issue and they're stranded somewhere,
coordinating how we're going
to help them, updating the GPSs on
the plane, developing syllabi
for our students, making sure our
operating procedures are good.
One thing we recently
implemented is we require all private
students now at our school to
do a uprt flight before they can
get signed off for a checkride.
So, you know, it's kind of my
responsibility to help make sure
our students are being taken
care of.
The right students are with
the right instructors.
You know, kind of those are
just a few of the.
A few of the tasks.
I feel like it's very broad
and just random extra tasks that
are happening and then
obviously conducting the mock check
rides and Stage checks and
those kinds of things.
And then.
Yeah, so that's kind of some
of the things.
It's not.
It's not insane, but it's
definitely more work.
Yeah.
What would you say is the
biggest lesson?
It could be a good lesson or
bad lesson that you've learned in
your career so far.
Flat flying.
Oh, biggest lesson that I've
learned while flying.
You know, without having given
previous thought to that, I. I would
just say it's kind of has to
do with relationships that you.
I feel like I would have made
a better.
I feel like I should have made
a better effort in flight school
to make more relationships
with more people.
Just like you said so much, if
not everything in aviation is who.
You know, that's with a lot of
industries, but especially in aviation,
how small it is to really make
a good effort to not focus so much
on yourself, but how you can
help others and we can all move on
to the next thing.
I guess kind of what I'm
trying to say is just build those
relationships and be friendly
to whoever it is around you, whether
it's a student, an instructor,
somebody you rent from, somebody
who works at the airport, the
fueler, really anything.
And just to, you know, and not.
Not make good relationships to
benefit you one day.
But just because it's a small
industry and you know, your name
will be.
It's.
It's very easy to run it, run
back into people who you don't think
you would have down the road.
So I think it's just super
important that you build a good reputation
around your name.
So I don't know.
That's kind of what comes to
my mind.
I highly recommend that.
That's.
That's a great thing to do,
and it's tough to do because there's
so many times where you just
get locked in.
You're like, I need to do this fight.
I need to do that.
I mean, maybe there's like,
what's up, dude?
Nice to see you.
Like, I've seen you before.
I'll wave.
But, like, you know, it's not
going to kill you to be like, oh,
dude, how's your training going?
What's going on with you is
like, can we study together?
Can you.
Can I learn from you?
Can you learn from me?
You know, having those
relationships and almost, I like
to say from football, it's
called trauma bonding.
Right?
Like, there is just this
opportunity for you guys to go through
this experience together, and
you're gonna be friends for life.
Right?
Like, you go through the same
experiences you Go through the stresses
together.
It just creates a bond and
friendship for life.
So I definitely think that's a
good thing to do for anyone that's
listening and is going through
that process like it's a grind.
Absolutely.
But it does not have to be a
grind alone.
You can kind of go through the
grind together with someone else.
For sure.
Yeah.
I think the few people that I,
that I bonded with it at ATP, you
know, still have relationships
with them and it's fun to see where
we're all going now and.
Yeah.
Yeah.
What, what's been.
Two part question.
What's been your favorite
flight and what's been either like
the scariest or worst flight
you've done so far?
Oh, I'll start with the
scariest or I, I don't know.
Yeah, worst.
Maybe I kind of have two for that.
First one is, you know, I was
flying with my dad and my brother
just in little single engine.
Archer.
We flew out kind of by the
Uintas in the.
In Utah, landed, and then we
needed to fly back to Provo.
And on our way back, I
realized I was probably going to
land just after night.
So I needed my night currency,
which I think I needed two or all
three landings.
So he stopped at a little
airport, middle of nowhere.
They jumped out of the plane.
I did my three laps to get
night current.
Got some, yeah.
Anyway, and then they hopped
back in the plane.
And when they hopped back in
the plane, you know, I was like,
okay, I guess I'll pull out
the checklist, do the run up for
like the third time.
Everything's been looking
fine, you know, set the mixture,
do the whole thing.
But I'm so glad I did and
didn't skip over the checklist, even
though I had been flying that
plane for the past three hours because
the alternator had failed at
that point.
And in that plane there was no
standby attitude indicator.
So and we were going to be
over the mountains, pretty much mountainous
terrain, and we were in the boonies.
And the moon, the phase of the
moon was the lowest light during
that month.
So we pretty much.
I would have been with my dad
and brother over mountainous terrain
with no avionics, no attitude
indicator, because we were a couple
hours away.
So, you know, the battery
would have gone out too, you know,
with no attitude indicator.
So that was not very fun.
And I'll just keep it to that one.
And then probably the best flight.
I don't know.
I mean, I feel like there's so
many flying that Super Cub super
low to the ground is super fun.
And then also probably just
going with my wife, you know, taking
her up, having her fly the
plane, flying around at sunset, around
the mountains in Utah, flying
through the canyons and whatnot.
It's just, it's unbelievable,
you know?
Yep.
So I don't know, probably just
every time I fly with my wife is
a pretty good time.
That's awesome.
I will say kudos to you for
actually stopping to do your landings
because I feel that might be a
good interview story for you to tell
people because there are a lot
of people that just would have flown.
It's been like, screw it.
But you never know when the
FAA guy's going to be there, whoever
may be.
But that takes.
That's awesome that you did
that because not everyone would do
that.
Yeah.
And then second, the question
is, is what does your wife think
about aviation?
Does she think it's all cool?
Does she love it?
Or is she fully kind of under.
Does she understood,
understand what it might look like
in the future when you do get
on with a regional, you do get on
with 135 carrier and you know,
Luke's not here as much anymore.
Luke is now gone for seven
days at a time or Luke is on a five
day trip.
Has she kind of.
Does she understand what the
future does actually look like?
She does.
At first when I brought it up
that I was going to become a pilot,
you know, she was like, not
about it at all.
You know, you're going to be
gone half the time, you know, she,
she just did not like the idea
of it.
As she's chatted more with my
sister again, who her, my sister's
husband is, flies for Delta.
She, you know, started to
think, okay, it's not too bad.
Like he's actually around
more, a little bit more than I thought.
And you know, they have a
pretty good life and they're comfortable
and, and all that.
I think she's totally aware of it.
And I've tried to, you know,
tell her like, we are going to move.
It's almost a guarantee that
at some point we're gonna move.
We might have to go move out
to wherever, somewhere that's not
here.
Our little bubble with our
family and the mountains and all
our hobbies here in Utah.
Yeah.
So I think she's aware of that.
But I think as she's worked
her corporate job now for just over
a month, I think she's super
happy for me that I actually enjoy,
you know, doing it.
And it's not gonna be the
mundane nine to five every day Day
in, day out.
So.
And then, you know, my dad and
her dad both have traveled a good
amount.
I mean, she grew up with her
dad being gone Monday through Friday
in a different state working,
and he was home on the weekends.
So she's like, you know, if
you can be home for three days and
you're home and you're not
stressed about work, that, you know,
I'll take it.
So I think she's.
She's good with it.
Now.
That's one of the best things
about aviation is, yeah, you can
be gone, and there are going
to be times in your life where you're
going to be gone more than
others, but there is a time where
you're going to be more senior.
You're going to have the
opportunity to be home more and see
not necessarily more, but see
different things than what someone
working a 9 to 5.
You know, you can go to lunch
with your kids, you can pick your
kids up every day, be at
almost all the baseball practices,
but you might miss some games.
You might miss this.
Yeah, it gives you the
opportunity to be home more sometimes,
but you could make less.
Like, you got to kind of
figure out what is more important
to you.
But.
And you can also find time.
A lot of people have side
hustles with this, too.
So the great part about new
pilot is when you come home, like
you said, you don't think
about a thing like that.
Landing, boom, gone.
I'm home now.
I'm in dad mode.
I'm in husband mode.
That's it.
Side hustle, wife, kid,
whatever it might be.
Or, you know, you can play
video games.
I don't know why some people
do that, too, but there's so much
that you can do with being a pilot.
Yeah, that's why I have a podcast.
My wife is like, my husband is
not playing video games.
I could be a Twitch streamer.
I'd make tons.
Yeah, there you go.
But here I am.
Yeah.
So, yeah.
But yeah, it's.
It can definitely be a grind,
but every season just know is temporary.
You know, some might be harder
than others, but it's going to be
temporary.
It's going to pass, and it's
going to get better.
So, yeah, that's pretty much
all I got for you, man.
Luke, I appreciate coming on.
It's been fun to talk to you
and hear your story, where you are,
and I hope Delta comes true,
and I hope that that's where you
end up when we talk again in
the next.
I don't know, hopefully before
five years or 10 years.
But hopefully one day I'll see
you with a double breasted and forced
mandatory hat that you have to wear.
Yeah, we'll see.
Dude, thanks.
Thanks so much for having me on.
I really appreciate it and you
know, love your podcast.
Thankful for, for what you do.
I've been listening for a long
time, so thanks a ton.
Thanks man.
Yeah, anytime.
I appreciate it and I hope you
have a good one.
All right, you too.
That is a wrap on episode 349.
We are so close to 300.
150 episodes.
Insane.
Just the fact that there's 350
episodes, maybe 350 hours of me talking
and you listening is crazy
because I know I would probably turn
myself down and turn myself off.
So I really appreciate that.
Thank you so much for anyone
that has bought the magazine.
Hopefully by the time you are
listening to this, you have it in
your hand.
As I mentioned on Instagram,
there is a massive shipping delay.
You know, it's kind of
promising things from shipping and
none of them have come true.
And it's gotten to the point
where I've just asked for them to
ship me all of the magazines.
They helped me ship out the
first 100 which they were able to
do and all the other orders
are going to be on me.
So hopefully you received that
first shipment.
And if not, just know that I
am currently waiting on all of the
magazines so then I can ship
them myself, which I will do as soon
as I get them to the first
thing I do.
I'm going to pack them all.
I'm going to try to take them
wherever, ship them out and try to
expedite it depending on how
expensive it is.
Cuz holy smokes.
I looked at shipping and and I
know people probably think the price
is expensive for the magazine,
but it's like, do I have to raise
my prices?
Because holy tamoli, shipping
is expensive.
But that's not your problem.
That is my problem.
And I thank everyone for
buying the magazine.
Please, when you get it, show
it off.
Tag me on Instagram.
I will repost everyone that
posts anything about the magazine
because it's the best magazine
I've ever seen and I say that because
I created it, so I'm
definitely biased.
But it's great and the
content's great to so AV Nation,
I hope you're having a great
day and as always, happy flying.