The Pro-Pilot Playbook Podcast Pro-Pilot Playbook

Sean & Mike sit down with John Zimmerman from Sporty's Pilot's Discretion Podcast which is possibly the most downloaded aviation podcast in history.
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Are the latest headlines about slowing airline pilot hiring just a temporary pause or the start of a downward trend? In this episode, aviation career mentors Mike Martin and Sean Richey explain what the real state of the industry is. They also talk about the right approach to flight training, how to build time, and whether airline interviews still matter. Mike and Sean have lots of experience as corporate pilots, so they share tips from the world of private jets, including the different skills required for that type of job. In the Ready to Copy segment, you’ll hear about tough checkrides, how to be a good copilot, and the best airports in America.
QUOTES:
- Current hiring trends: “There’s a difference between the hiring surge that we had and the true pilot shortage that’s going on in the background.”
- Airline hiring 25 years ago: “Your first year you made like $22,000; you had to pay $18,000 back to them for your training.”
- Where we are now: “There is no greater time in the history of man, since the Wright brothers first flew, to become a professional pilot.”
- What type of flight school is best: “At the end of the day, you’re going to get the same certificates and ratings no matter what you do.”
- Why waiting to start flight training can cost you: “For every year you wait, you gotta think about those big bucks on the back end of your career.”
- Competition between employers: “This large airline hiring is sucking pilots out of the corporate world like a vacuum cleaner.”
- Corporate jobs vs. airline jobs: “The actually volume of flying you is way less. There are many corporate pilots that fly as many hours annually as an airline pilot does in one month.”
- How to break into corporate flying: “Be at the airport… you need to be at these airports and you need to see yourself seen and known.”
- What makes a good copilot: “The ability to distinguish what’s important from what’s not important.”
- Flying celebrities: “I had a perception before I did this… [that] money doesn’t buy happiness and all that. I actually think after years of doing this that that’s a coping mechanism that us poor people say.”
SHOW LINKS:
- Pro-Pilot Playbook: https://www.propilotplaybook.com
- Boeing Pilot Outlook: https://www.boeing.com/commercial/mar...
- Pilot Training+ Membership: https://www.sportys.com/sportys-pilot... Explore the podcast

Sean & Mike talk with Daniel Smucker on how he was able to achieve his Instrument rating in just 10 days.
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If you have a question you'd like us to answer, you can email us at: podcast@propilotplaybook.com
 
CHAPTERS:
00:00 Intro
03:10 Daniel's story
11:02 How Daniel financed his training
14:50 How he achieved Instrument rating in 10 days
18:20 Accelerated commercial pilot license
21:38 Hacks for sharing time via Face Book groups
24:40 Owning a plane for training
29:40 Borrowing an airplane for training
33:04 Accelerated Multi-engine rating
38:28 Flight training with brother as CFI
42:20 Working on CFI and Networking
46:11 Daniel idea for starting a flight school
47:40 Is ATP flight school accelerated training?
49:00 How did it all cost?
52:00 Right seat in a jet
54:30 Daniel's advice to aspiring pilots
56:20 Networking at the airport

Sean & Mike answer two listeners video questions on the pilot marketing softening and whether it's worth buying your own type rating in an aircraft.
DON'T MISS THIS! Go to https://www.propilotplaybook.com and enter your email to get access to our list of "The Top 10 Flight School Rip-offs" and access to free lesson from our course.
If you have a question you'd like us to answer, you can email us at: podcast@propilotplaybook.com
 
CHAPTERS:
00:00 Intro
01:56 Steve's question
09:02 Truckers becoming professional pilots
10:53 Ground school before flight training
14:25 Skipping the regional airlines
14:58 Hiring slowing down at the airlines
16:56 Buy your own type rating?
22:32 Good companies want good people
25:06 Expensive training on speculation
25:51 Finance it and accelerate it
27:00 Take action

Sean & Mike talk to Ben Roller, former FAA Operations Inspector and Designated Pilot Examiner, to get the inside hacks on passing your pilot checkride. We also discuss common mistakes pilot applicants make on checkrides and how or if discretion actually exists when it comes to your checkride.
DON'T MISS THIS! Go to https://www.propilotplaybook.com and enter your email to get access to our list of "The Top 10 Flight School Rip-offs" and access to free lesson from our course.
If you have a question you'd like us to answer, you can email us at: podcast@propilotplaybook.com
 
CHAPTERS:
00:00 Intro
02:23 Ben's background
08:30 Pilot hiring in early 2000's vs today
19:10 Pilot job market up's and down's
20:44 Shortage of designated pilot examiners
24:41 Requirements to be a DPE
26:35 Who's the DPE's DPE?
28:38 Do pilot examiners have a pass/fail ratio quota to maintain?
30:57 Examiners discretion on a pilot checkride
34:42 Examiner knows in the first 5 mins of meeting applicant outcome of the checkride
35:48 Ben's advice to private pilot applicants
39:55 Common problem areas on pilot checkrides
48:19 Checkride with highest fail rate?
56:30 Take Action!

Sean & Mike talk to Jamal again as he updates us with his progress at ATP flight school where he was able to get his Instrument Rating, Commercial Pilot Certificate, and Multi-Engine Rating in under 5 months. Jamal had also used the financial aid which means he started his training at ATP with no money being paid up front.
Jamal's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Jahmalthepilot
DON'T MISS THIS! Go to https://www.propilotplaybook.com and enter your email to get access to our list of "The Top 10 Flight School Rip-offs" and access to free lesson from our course.
If you have a question you'd like us to answer, you can email us at: podcast@propilotplaybook.com
 
CHAPTERS:
00:00 Intro
02:23 Recap on Jamal's story
07:02 How long and how much
12:05 Can you fail at ATP
14:25 What are the Cons of ATP
18:58 Jamal has a JOB!
26:20 Companies paying students at ATP Flight School
28:16 Ages of other student pilots and CFI's at ATP
30:58 Mike & Sean on the road

Mike and Sean break down the crash of a Challenger 604 on approach into Naples, Florida (APF) airport that experienced a dual engine failure on final crashing on I-75 killing both pilots. We talk about operating the challenger and possible causes of the accident including introducing a new theory that doesn't include fuel starvation or birds.
 
Here's some links to other YouTuber's videos on the Naples Challenger crash:
https://youtu.be/EKAw1ioDcAE?si=7u9aJbwSSOwTmujH
https://youtu.be/OfEl6clsW_M?si=CF2Uz3bsfq3vyL8W
https://youtu.be/icKVGG9QiS0?si=F7LqLWJs8oLlPGbZ
 
DON'T MISS THIS! Go to https://www.propilotplaybook.com and enter your email to get access to our list of "The Top 10 Flight School Rip-offs" and access to free lesson from our course.
If you have a question you'd like us to answer, you can email us at: podcast@propilotplaybook.com
 
CHAPTERS:
00:00 Intro
03:32 Facts surrounding Naples crash
05:02 Challenger 604 business jet
08:54 ATC audio
10:37 Video of jet crash in Naples, Florida
13:15 Dual engine flameout in jets
19:52 Theories of what could have caused Naples crash
26:07 Alternate theory for Naples Challenger crash
34:07 Pilots of Naples, Florida crash heros