Pilots Say What?

Ep. 126: How to Use VA Benefits for Flight Training

Can you use VA benefits for flight training? In this episode of Pilots Say What?, we sit down with Thrust Flight’s Tracy Copeland to break down how veterans may be able t

Ep. 125: Part 61 Flight Training Wasn’t Working for Me

Between aircraft availability, maintenance cancellations, instructor availability, finances, and inconsistent flying, nearly a year went by without earning his Private Pi

Ep. 124: What It’s Like Falling Behind in Flight School

Falling behind in flight school can make you question whether you’re cut out for it at all. In this episode of Pilots Say What, Matthew talks about struggling through pri

Ep. 123: What Being a New CFI Is Actually Like

Zach sits down with new Thrust Flight CFI Guy Bassett to talk about what actually changes when you go from being the student to being the instructor. Guy shares what sur

Ep. 122: Why He Quit Apple to Become a Pilot

Caleb went from working at Apple to completely changing careers and becoming a flight instructor at Thrust Flight. In this episode of Pilots Say What, Caleb talks about

Ep. 121: How a Thrust Flight CFI Became an Airline Captain

Lan returned to aviation after spending 13 years away from flying, completed his CFI training at Thrust Flight, and later became a flight instructor at the school. Today,

Ep. 120: The Flight Student Everyone Wanted on the Podcast

Brock went from working 90-hour weeks as a band director to completing his professional pilot training in roughly nine months. Along the way, he became the student other

Ep. 119: How a Childhood Love of Aviation Became a Lifelong Career

Melanie Hill joins us from Australia to discuss how Air Cadets helped launch her lifelong aviation journey, the wide range of careers available throughout the industry, a

Ep 118: What Your Flight Instructor Wants You To Know

In this episode of Pilots Say What?, Halley Bowers is back, this time, we’re going beyond her story and getting into practical flight training advice from her first few m

Ep. 117: What Future Airline Pilots Should Do Long Before 1,500 Hours

Julie Cable recently joined Thrust Flight as our Career Services Liaison, helping students and CFIs better understand what comes after flight training. In this episode of

Ep. 116: Why Mesa AZ Is Built for Flight Training

In this episode of Pilots Say What?, Zach sits down with Andrew Sowers at Thrust Flight’s Mesa location on Falcon Field Airport to talk about training in Arizona, the adv

Ep 115: President-Nominated NTSB Member Reveals What Pilots Learn From Crashes

In this episode of Pilots Say What?, we sit down with John Duluth, a board member at the National Transportation Safety Board, retired American Airlines pilot, former 787

Ep. 114: Flying the Embraer 175 as an Envoy First Officer

Will Garrison started at Thrust Flight with zero time, worked his way through flight training, became a CFI, later became an Assistant Chief Instructor, joined the Envoy

Ep. 113: The Part of Flight Training Nobody Warns You About

In this episode of Pilots Say What, Tim sits down with Zach to talk about what it was really like starting flight training from zero time, moving across the country, taki

Ep. 112: He Pushed Through Flight Training Setbacks

In this episode of Pilots Say What, Zach sits down with Jackson, a brand-new CFI at Thrust Flight, to talk about his path from Part 61 training, medical delays, and the u

Ep. 111: American Airlines 777 Captain Joe Johnson Reveals What Pilots Get Wrong

In this episode of Pilots Say What, we sit down with Joe Johnson, an active American Airlines 777 Captain, check airman, DPE, and founder of the Ashton Johnson Memorial C

Ep. 110: She Took One Discovery Flight and Changed Careers

Halley Bowers didn’t grow up around aviation. She was a first-generation pilot, originally pursuing college and marketing, until one discovery flight changed the directio

Ep. 109: Why This Pro Baseball Player Became a Pilot

Connor Emmett spent years chasing baseball at a high level, playing through college and eventually professionally in Detroit, Missoula, Montana, and Colorado Springs. But

Ep. 108: He Left Welding to Become a Pilot

Nick Bowman started out working as a welder in the Texas heat. After years in blue collar construction, he realized he wanted a different future and decided to give aviat

Ep. 107: How to Get a CFI Job in a Tough Market

In this episode of Pilots Say What, Zach talks with Jackson Howard about becoming a CFI at just 20 years old, what the transition from student to instructor was really li