Pilot Pete (IG @pilotpete.fly) is 37. I'm 57. He's hoping his biceps age as well as mine. 💪 Wingmen, Big week. The money questions you ask me most, two full-length interviews, and a hard workout in Manhattan. Let's go. THE MONEY MISTAKES THAT KEEP PILOTS BROKE Every week the most common questions I get are about money: Air Line income, taxes, and whether to borrow for flight training. Plenty of pilots earning top 10 percent incomes are still living paycheck to paycheck. I'm not a stock...
10 days ago • 3 min read
Captain Scott Jones (IG @moosepilot) and I crush a Barry's workout in the ATL. Happy Fast Jet Friday from Milan. Welcome to the new wingmen. WINTER IS COMING I don't mean the weather. I mean the mood. In the trenches I keep hearing the same thing: nobody's hiring. It isn't true. My favorite legacy airline just seated two new hire classes eight days apart. That's 122 pilots. The jobs are there. Landing one takes work. A young CFI in New Mexico texted me recently. He had 2,100 hours and 50...
17 days ago • 2 min read
Saturday night at Wings Over the Rockies, the Thunderbird still under wraps behind me. Happy Fast Jet Friday, A lot of you joined this week. Welcome to the wingmen. Last week I promised photos from the unveiling. Here is one, and the lesson that jet reminded me of. YOUR SIX In a Fighter, your six is the spot directly behind you, the one place you can't keep watching while you're managing threats, fuel and weapons. Your wingman watches it for you. You watch theirs. As a Fighter Pilot, I flew...
24 days ago • 2 min read
Happy Fast Jet Friday, A lot of you found us on Instagram this week. Welcome to the wingmen. Whether you are chasing a cockpit, already flying, or standing at the fence with a long lens, this letter is for you. I read every reply. Tomorrow night an old friend comes home to Denver wearing red, white and blue. THE THUNDERBIRD COMES HOME Saturday night I have the honor of helping host the Spreading Wings Gala at Wings Over the Rockies, and of speaking to the room. The evening honors the United...
about 1 month ago • 6 min read
Happy Fast Jet Friday, If you just joined us from Instagram or TikTok this week, welcome to the wingmen. Every Friday I send what I would want in my inbox if I were chasing a cockpit, and I read every reply. Sometimes the answer to a new problem is an old airplane. This week the Air Force is looking backward to solve a very current shortage, and I have thoughts, because I flew the jet in question. WHAT IS OLD IS NEW AGAIN The Air Force says it will consider buying brand-new F-16s, reportedly...
about 1 month ago • 4 min read
Happy Fast Jet Friday, The road to a cockpit has never been a straight line. This week it is shifting at almost every checkpoint: the checkride, the medical, military training and airline hiring. Here is what matters. WHAT EXAMINERS WISH YOU KNEW I sat down with Designated Pilot Examiner Greg "Chairman" Newman for a candid conversation about checkrides. A few truths worth taping to your kneeboard: Know the standards, but do not treat the checkride like a trivia contest. Be ready to explain...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
Happy Fast Jet Friday, If you are new here, welcome. This is where I share what four decades in aviation have taught me, and what I am still learning. TWENTY-FIVE YEARS Twenty-five years ago this morning, nearly three thousand people went to work, boarded an airplane, or answered a call, and never came home. The passengers and crews of American Airlines Flight 11 and Flight 77, and United Airlines Flight 175 and Flight 93. The people at their desks in the World Trade Center and the Pentagon....
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Happy Fast Jet Friday, Welcome to the hundreds of you who joined this past month. The base we are building here is something special, real aviators, aspiring pilots, and people chasing a better version of themselves, all in one place. I do not take a single one of you for granted. Here is what is on the flight plan today. THE SOUTH AFRICAN RUGBY FLYBY WE ALL WATCHED A stadium full of people looked up this week and got a moment they will never forget. As a Fighter Pilot and an Air Line...
about 2 months ago • 4 min read
Wingmen, At 0630 this morning I was off the ground at Erie with @MauriceFlyz in the right seat of my turbo-normalized SR22, climbing into a sunrise over the Colorado Rockies. Maurice is 22 years old. He is upgrading to Captain at a regional airline and will be 23 by the time he finishes as required by 14 CFR 61.153(a)(1) - in case you were curious.. This same week, I interviewed pilots who persevered for decades to reach the cockpit they dreamed about. Both stories are true. There is no...
2 months ago • 2 min read
