172. What does it take to reinstate your lapsed CFI?
21.FIVE - Professional Pilots Podcast
Release Date: 06/10/2025
181. How Many Things Can Go Wrong on in the Idaho Backcountry?
21.FIVE - Professional Pilots Podcast
Max returns from the Idaho backcountry with a Cub full of stories—starter failures, in-flight repairs, surprise rafting, wildlife rescues, and nearly becoming the emergency contact for a hiker with a head injury. This standalone episode is a wild tale of aviation adventure, mechanical mayhem, and resourceful fixes. No mailbag or flight advice this time—just pure story time from the sticks. Strap in and enjoy the highs (and literal downdrafts) of off-the-grid bush flying. Show Notes 0:00 Intro 3:35 The Adventure Begins… 14:41 Darkness Falls 28:47 Heading Out 40:36 TL;DR Highs and Lows Our...
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180. Is Pilot Hiring Heating Up Again?
21.FIVE - Professional Pilots Podcast
Dylan and Max sit down with James Onieal of Raven Careers for a wide-ranging industry update. James breaks down the latest pilot hiring trends across legacies, regionals, and corporate operators—and why networking still beats any resume hack. From CFIs grinding to 1,500 hours to regionals debating upgrade timing, to cadet program uncertainties and the “pilot leverage index,” this episode maps out what the next 12 months could look like. Tune in for sharp insights and some laughs along the way—your jumpseat briefing on the state of pilot careers. Show Notes 0:00 Intro & Oshkosh...
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179. What Happened to Those “Hard Days Off” You Promised Me?
21.FIVE - Professional Pilots Podcast
Dylan and Max connect from hotel rooms across the West, with Max prepping for his Cub camping trip to Idaho and Dylan testing out foam ear tips for his ProFlight headset (link in the show notes). In the Mailbag, listeners weigh in on commuting trade-offs, a gear-down hydraulic improvisation involving bottled water, and flying under Bravo airspace with “raw dog radios.” Flight Advice tackles a business aviation bait-and-switch: hard days off evaporating into 24/7 on-call duty. The hosts dig into leverage, contracts, and how to sniff out a toxic flight department. Show Notes 0:00...
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178. What did the Mr Beast Challenge Pilot Do for 100 Days in a Jet?
21.FIVE - Professional Pilots Podcast
Corporate pilot (and MrBeast 100-day jet winner) Armando Carrion jumps in to unpack the ops behind living on a Hawker 800 for 100 straight days—no devices, no Netflix, just Part 91 brainpower and a lot of extension cords. We get into air-to-air formation over SoCal and the Grand Canyon (yep, with a Bonanza), CRM, and why Armando turned down the “double-or-nothing” 100-day extension. We also talk post-win realities: maintenance bills, management, and why the airplane is probably headed to a new owner. Follow Armando at Show Notes 0:00 Intro 3:27 Preparing for the Video 12:41 Tech...
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177. Should You Spend $8K on a Seaplane Rating or a CFI?
21.FIVE - Professional Pilots Podcast
This week, Dylan and Max talk Oshkosh FOMO, a rogue taxiway takeoff, and some serious Midwestern rental car struggles. Mailbag highlights a listener mapping out his aviation career path and asking if it’s possible to fly both corporate and airline gigs at once (spoiler: not easy). Flight Advice tackles how to best spend $8K of National Guard tuition money—seaplane rating, CFI, backcountry flying, or something else entirely? Plus, Starlink outages and the return of our favorite sunshade gear review. Show Notes 0:00 Intro & Oshkosh 9:41 Musings: Flights & Tolerance...
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176. Will a United Internship Trump Turbine Time?
21.FIVE - Professional Pilots Podcast
Max sweats through fence repairs in 110 °F while plotting an Idaho back-country Super Cub adventure, and Dylan tries (unsuccessfully) to review a “dad-grade” sun-hoodie. In the Mailbag we read spicy reviews, debate the sanity of commuting, and swap credit-card hacks for pilots living on per-diem. Flight-Advice gets heavyweight help from James Onieal of Raven Careers, who steers a listener through the mine-field of a United Flight-Ops internship vs. PC-12 135 gig vs. aerial-survey multi-time. Plus: Reginald stops by for a quick check-in, and Dylan still owes half the world 21-Five...
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175. Should You Drop $5 K on an ATP-CTP Now?
21.FIVE - Professional Pilots Podcast
Max walks into a 737 cockpit guarded by a five-inch hula girl and promptly invents the “Shakira Scale” for bumps in flight . Listener mailbag hits everything from the best starter credit card for flight instructors to whether a degree really matters and if paying $5 K for ATP-CTP is smart when you’re 49 and eyeing the next hiring wave . In Flight Advice, a military helo pilot with only ten working years left asks whether to chase a major or ride the fractional lifestyle . Plus: back-country flower bombs, 37-hour B-2 runs, and a polite plea to stop yelling at the intro. Show Notes 0:00...
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174. B-17 to F-4: A 102-Year-Old WWII Aviator’s Incredible Journey
21.FIVE - Professional Pilots Podcast
WWII & Vietnam combat pilot Col. Richard “Dick” Bushong takes us from 155-knot B-17 climbs to Mach 2.1 in the F-4, describing 28 hairy missions, dead-reckoning nav, and sheet-metal patch art. He’s 102, still volunteers every Thursday at Tucson’s 390th Memorial Museum, and wrote My Wars to capture the stories. Grab a coffee, tighten your formation, and hear a masterclass in staying alive—plus the morale-crushing day HQ “prorated” his tour. Four engines, two out, no brakes? No problem. Learn more about the in Tucson, AZ Check out Col. Bushong's book Show Notes 0:00 Intro 6:00...
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173. Descend Via Phraseology, Aviation YouTube Deep Dive, and CFI Survival Tips
21.FIVE - Professional Pilots Podcast
Dylan and Max are recording from hotel rooms across the country and catching up after some time off. They kick things off with a deep dive into aviation YouTube, comparing backcountry flying with ferrying retired Airbuses from Asia. In the mailbag, they respond to listeners with questions about juggling a corporate flying gig while working for a major airline, updates from a newly minted high school grad CFI, and a debate on whether you need to report vacating altitudes during "descend via" clearances. Flight Advice wraps the episode with tips for a low-time pilot who just landed a chief pilot...
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172. What does it take to reinstate your lapsed CFI?
21.FIVE - Professional Pilots Podcast
Dylan and Max are joined (again) by everyone’s favorite multi-hyphenate pilot, Seth Lake. This time, he walks them through the process of reinstating their expired CFI certificates—turns out it’s not as terrifying as they thought. From FOIs to ACS, Seth breaks it down like a DPE Jedi. If you've let your CFI lapse, or you're just morbidly curious, this one’s for you. | Show Notes 0:00 Intro 5:01 Keeping CFI Current 15:58 Reinstatement 31:27 Creating this Document 39:02 On Ground vs In Plane 58:24 Emergency Operations & After Landing 1:07:05 Wrap Up Questions Be sure to...
info_outlineDylan and Max are joined (again) by everyone’s favorite multi-hyphenate pilot, Seth Lake. This time, he walks them through the process of reinstating their expired CFI certificates—turns out it’s not as terrifying as they thought. From FOIs to ACS, Seth breaks it down like a DPE Jedi. If you've let your CFI lapse, or you're just morbidly curious, this one’s for you.
Seth's Website | 10% Off the ACE Guide
Show Notes
0:00 Intro
5:01 Keeping CFI Current
15:58 Reinstatement
31:27 Creating this Document
39:02 On Ground vs In Plane
58:24 Emergency Operations & After Landing
1:07:05 Wrap Up Questions
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