In Episode 351, Justin sits down with Ariel Johnson (@whiskeyflies on Instagram), a North Carolina-based flight instructor who earned her Citation type rating at just 800 hours. At not even 21 years old, Arielle shares her accelerated journey from discovering aviation at Sun ’n Fun to teaching students and flying corporate jets—all while completing her aviation degree.

This conversation explores the realities of flight training, the power of networking in aviation, and what it takes to break into corporate flying. Ariel discusses her experience getting typed in a Citation, the differences between Part 91 and 135 operations, and her approach to building a career through genuine relationships and hard work. She also offers candid advice for aspiring pilots on making the most of every rating, avoiding common pitfalls, and maintaining passion throughout the journey.

Whether you’re a student pilot wondering about your path forward, a CFI building time, or someone curious about corporate aviation opportunities, this episode delivers practical insights from someone who’s living proof that age is just a number when you combine dedication with smart networking.

Topics covered:

∙ Transitioning from private pilot to corporate jet operations

∙ The value of mentorship and networking in aviation

∙ Part 91 vs Part 135 flying: what to expect

∙ Getting a jet type rating early in your career

∙ Building flight time efficiently as a CFI

∙ Social media’s role in aviation careers

∙ North Carolina flying destinations (Wilmington, Oak Island, and more)

Episode 351 of the pilot the Pilot Podcast takes off now.

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It's Justin.

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My name is Arielle Johnson.

Currently I have my double I M I Mei.

I'm teaching as an independent flight instructor.

That's where the Instagram Whiskey Flies come comes from.

Is that tail number there?

And I contract on the Citation CJ.

Series AV Nation what is going on?

And welcome back to the Pilot the Pilot Podcast.

My name is Justin Seams and I am your host.

Today's episode is with Ariel from Whiskey Flies on Instagram.

She has a crazy story.

She is not even 21 yet.

She's getting ready to go off her ATT CTP type rated in a citation.

She is doing so many things that I wish I did at that age.

You know I didn't get.

I didn't even start flying until I was 20.

So she's already got more time, more type ratings, more ratings than I have before we even touch the plane at the same age, which is just crazy and is awesome.

And I think it's really cool for people to see the drive someone that really loves the job and just really, really wants to be in this industry and really wants to do it and just having fun doing it.

So shout out Ariel.

Keep that energy the whole time in your career and you're going to do great.

I hope you all really enjoy this episode.

It was a lot of fun to talk with Ariel, especially another North Carolina native, and talk about how great our state is because we love North Carolina, North Carolinians love North Carolina.

It's a, it's a sickness, I promise.

But also it's the first in flight in birthplace aviation, but can talk about that later.

Ohio, we got some beef.

AV Nation, I hope you enjoyed this episode.

Like I said, it is great.

You know, shout out to everyone who has ordered the Pilot the Pilot magazine.

We are in deep for volume two right now.

So we are trying to get that volume out as soon as possible.

I think the Plan date is March 15th.

That way we can keep the quarterly releases going.

It's been awesome.

I am so thankful for everyone who has ordered a magazine.

It truly means the most to me, my wife and my son just to try this venture, see what we can do, see if we can become, you know, the biggest and best aviation magazine out there.

And we can't do that without you.

So spread the word.

Leave a review if you have bought that.

I believe there's a way to leave a review on our website, pilothepilothq.com mag and if you haven't gotten one, what are you doing?

It's the most premium thing you'll ever see.

I promise you.

When you hold it in your hands, you're like, holy smokes, this thing is crazy.

As someone told me, it's not a magazine, it's a coffee table book.

Because it really is.

It is that impressive.

But AV Nation, I hope you are having a great day.

And without any further ado, here's Ariel from Whiskey Flies on Instagram.

Ariel, what's going on?

Welcome to the Pilot Pilot podcast.

Thank you.

I'm so excited to be here.

Yeah, I'm excited to have you on as well.

Like we talked about before we started recording, it's always great to talk to someone who flies in North Carolina, who lives in North Carolina.

We're probably biased, but it's one of the best states out there, especially to fly in.

You get all the weather you get.

Well, mostly it's nice weather, but you can go to the beaching or the mountains.

You can fly the city.

And there's always BQ1 for some of the best barbecue you'll ever have in your life.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

So I always start every podcast out with why aviation?

What was it for you that made you want to start flying?

Yeah, so growing up, my uncle always had a 172 or something of.

Of that nature and everyone.

I think it's like, somewhat of a misconception that I grew up in an aviation family, and that's not necessarily the case.

I mean, I probably went flying with him like, two or three times before I started flying.

But my parents.

Parents are very much the kind of people that they're like, any.

Any certification or rating or anything that you can learn while you're young, like, go for it, like, if it's your general contracting license, like, we support that fully.

So I was like, oh, that would be cool, you know.

And I graduated high school so young that I had this gap year in between high school and college, and I thought I wanted to go to film school.

Well, ended up in that gap year.

Right before I graduated high school.

I made the mistake of going to son and fun and seeing, like, the F35 and, you know, the Blue Angels and everything.

And then, like, you're totally.

You're totally done after that.

So I started flying in that September, you know, sign of funds in April, started flying in September after that, just purely for fun.

I was like, I'll just get my private.

You know, we already have an airplane in the family.

I'll just fly for fun.

And then somehow it turned into a career.

I got bitten by the bug really bad.

So was there any kind of tie in to wanting to go back to film school or wanting to do anything else?

Or was it just like, I'm going to be a pilot, I'm going to do this?

I mean, I think I got hooked pretty bad.

Obviously, I love, you know, photography and film and all that, and I think I've been able to explore that more through my Instagram now.

And I didn't really see that coming, but kind of just fell into place, you know, accidentally.

So I still get to, you know, have my creative outlet with that.

But it's still obviously aviation related.

Yeah, absolutely.

And it's kind of cool about aviation is that you, even as you continue to progress in your career, it gives you the ability to either have Side hustles or other kind of businesses where you could still, you know, you can still create movies, you could still create photo, but you can still do what you want to do in your off time.

So it's one of those few jobs where when you're done flying, you don't have anything else to do.

This is all you can do whatever you want, literally.

Exactly.

Exactly.

Yeah, I know.

I mean, there's so many, so many good people that, you know, create such wonderful things in aviation that they do fly.

And maybe it is like they do some contract work, but like you said, they're.

You could always do something else, too.

When you say you kind of had a gap year, you know, you're trying to figure out what you want to do.

You went to sun and Fun.

You came back, you're like, all right, flying school, I want to go fly.

What's the process look like of, like, having this dream and wanting to do it, this new dream?

And then was it just going straight to Google?

Was it watching YouTube videos, looking at other people on Instagram?

Kind of.

How did you.

You probably immersed yourself in the whole community, but how did you make the choices and where you went to go fly and how you went to go fly?

Right, Definitely.

I mean, Stevie Triessenberg, I'm sure, you know, Stevie, she was always one of the people that I watched that I really looked up to.

And I. I'm sure a lot of other female aviators can say the same.

The way I kind of went through is like, okay, here.

Here's my Google search.

Obviously, having an uncle that went through the process was very beneficial.

And, like, you know, I didn't really feel like I needed to take a discovery flight.

Like, I already knew that.

I. I liked it, obviously.

So just searched up, you know, here we've got three local airports in the area.

What flight schools do we have?

And honestly, this may sound a little bit vague, but the.

The way I picked the one that I.

That I went ended up going to for my private was the person that answered the phone was the most, you know, the nicest and the most helpful.

And I was like, oh, it seems like, you know, they've got it together and they're really good at customer service, so.

And he's the instructor that ended up selling me.

So that's.

That's how I picked.

You know, fortunately, I had a really good experience with flight instructors.

I think a lot of people can't say that, and they kind of get.

Get the run around and you hear these horror stories, but I'm very grateful that I had some good ones and I didn't get that experience.

Yeah.

And there's something too about just being like a good person, like you said, and having that good customer service.

Because when I was going back and doing my training, when I moved back from Columbus back to Charlotte, North Carolina, I chose Monroe to do my training.

And I was thinking of flight schools, and I looked at one at the Concorde, looked at ATP, looked at Fly Carolina, and there was a small little flight school in this really tiny building called Arrowwood Aviation.

And the people there were just so nice.

And they like, it's a bigger school now.

But they were incredibly nice.

And I was just like, you know what?

I don't feel comfortable going to these bigger schools.

I'm gonna go to the small school.

Hopefully it works out.

There is ownership change and they almost went out of business.

And Brandon came in and saved the day.

Now he's turned into crazy cool operation.

But it's really something about just being around good people that can help foster your success.

Yeah, it's awesome.

I mean, obviously being in the area.

I know of Arrowwood now, and they have a beautiful fleet of cuses.

And I've heard Brandon's name a ton.

I haven't met him, but I do look forward to the day that I do get to meet him.

Yeah, well, Brandon doesn't answer my text or phone calls.

He's too busy now.

So Brandon ever listen, I'm gonna send this to him.

Be like, brandon, you bum, call me back, man.

Let me.

Let me.

Let me fly one of your plans.

Yeah, call us, dude.

But yeah, no, it was.

We definitely.

He didn't have the nicest airplanes when he started, but he has turned that place around and it is pretty awesome.

So shout out them.

So, yeah, so you made the phone calls, you reached out was.

And, you know, you kind of had the idea of like, all right, cool, I'm gonna fly for fun.

My family has this airplane that I can fly.

I have this cool opportunity.

Did you understand kind of the cost of what you're getting into or kind of what it would look like to go from, you know, zero all the way to the eventual goal of airline pilot or commercial pilot or whatever it may be?

Right.

No, I genuinely had no idea.

You know, like, what does that mean?

The goal at the time was just to get my private.

And fortunately, I was able to know, do solo in 15 hours, get my license in three, four months.

So it was very easy, streamlined process there.

But like the ratings after that, you know, I had no clue.

Obviously, throughout that process, I met people who did have a clue and were able to help me along the way and, you know, break everything down.

And I think it can be a very, a very daunting process when you do, you look at it as a whole, you know, if you are someone who does, does do the research, say, I want to be an airline pilot.

But breaking it down piece by piece and like, okay, here's, here's one rating.

It's a, it's a written, it's a check ride.

What do I have to do?

You know, it's going to take me three months.

What do I have to do every day to get to that goal and kind of not letting it, letting it overwhelm you.

But I had no idea what the process is going to be like at all.

No, I mean, in the process, like when you're going through it too, like, you think something's going to happen, then something else happens.

You, you want to go, you go into it.

Want to be an airline pilot or not wanting to be an airline pilot, and next thing you know, you're getting ready to take your ATP CTP course so you can have these cool opportunities.

Right?

Yeah.

And everyone, I think everyone's, everyone's process is so different.

We ended up buying my airplane after private to do the rest of my ratings in.

And I was like, you know, this is going to be a quick, easy process.

And then 50 hours.

And we decided the airplane decided it wanted a new engine, and that's four months that, you know, you're not planning.

I always say, as a very blanket statement, most things in aviation are going to take longer and cost more than you ever thought.

So just be prepared.

You know, obviously have a positive mindset, but like, be prepared for maintenance and weather delays and all those things.

Yeah, I mean, I've always wanted to buy an airplane and I, I, I know, I understand maintenance, but I still in my mind, like, can't understand, like, budgeting for the maintenance or paying, you know, it's just like the expense that comes with actually owning an airplane outside of just flying it, Hangar fees and everything else.

Yeah, we were talking, we had this conversation the other night.

We're trying to figure out like a rough estimate of last year of how much it costs, you know, and I. I got a rough number, and I was talking to my dad about it.

He's like, there's no way.

And I'm like, yeah, there's.

I added up the invoices, and there's a way, you know, and it's just.

It's a tiny airplane.

You know, it doesn't have a.

A constant speed prop and retractable gear.

And then you get into all those things, and it can be.

It can be quite the nightmare, but it's still very fulfilling at the same time.

Absolutely.

Has your dad wanted to be a pilot all through this process?

Even, like, hey, if my daughter can do it, I can do it.

It's so funny.

No, not at all.

He.

He's pretty fascinated with helicopters.

I'm like, well, let that be our next venture.

He says he's out of the aviation business.

He's one and he got one airplane, and that's all he needs.

But I've told him, you know, he's a.

He's a. Yeah, right.

I mean, I can't either.

He's a pretty apprehensive flyer.

I'm like, maybe if I.

Maybe let me teach you how to land or teach you how to fight.

No interest whatsoever.

That's funny.

He's like, you got this.

I trust you.

Let's go.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Even.

Even the boys, like, you know, I have younger brothers, and I'm like, we have an airplane.

I have my ratings.

Like, don't you just want to do it for fun?

They're like, no, absolutely not.

That's what you do.

I'm gonna go.

It's not for everybody.

Yeah, yeah.

That's what.

Yeah, yeah.

Uh, what's funny is, though, you never know.

As they get older, they might be like, you know what?

My sister could do it.

Why can't I do it?

So I wouldn't give up on them.

Yeah, yeah.

They.

Of course, they say, like, again, like, with my dad with the helicopters, and I've dabbled in the helicopters, and they are really awesome, but they're like, well, why don't you fly helicopters?

That's so much cooler.

I'm like, I'm pretty sure if I flew helicopters, you would say airplanes are cooler.

It's just not.

It's always the opposite.

Talk to me about getting your private.

You know, you mentioned you kind of seem like it was like a pretty Good Accelerated timeline.

15 hours.

You got your check right?

You did your check right.

Two to three months after.

Did you think the whole process was pretty streamlined?

Did you have some hiccups?

Around the way.

Was it extremely stressful?

Kind of just talk about your feelings.

And how everything went, you know, I again, I feel like I had a really, really good experience.

Some people do, you know, have these like nightmares experiences or something.

Seems like really stressful.

Fortunately, I didn' feel like that I did have two different instructors throughout my private.

So the process of solo really was.

I really enjoyed it.

And I was like, okay, like, I'm ready to go.

It's time for you to get out of the airplane.

You know, like, I'm good.

Um, yeah.

And then I remember having like that frustration of learning how to land.

I would call my uncle after every fight and I was just like, I just can't get it, you know, and he's like, no, it's just like it's going to be a light bulb one day and it's going to click on.

So I remember having some frustration in that part.

And then, you know, you get your cross country solo done.

I really, what I really enjoyed and I continued this for the rest of my ratings.

But I did glim's online ground school.

So I didn't do a ton of in person ground and very much like, give me something to read.

And that's what GLIM is.

It's not videos.

Like, give me something to read.

I'll read it and I'll know it, but I want to do it at my pace and like, just get it done.

So that's what I carried out through all my ratings.

So I got the written done in a timely manner.

Kind of learned how I was going to go about every other rating after that.

You know, I made a flashcard for every, every question in the gleim, like little quizzes.

And then that's just what I studied, took the written.

The process of getting a check ride was pretty easy, which I know that's not always the case, especially being a flight instructor now.

I definitely know that's not always the case.

Yeah.

And then I met, I met after my first instructor that soloed me, I had another flight instructor and he was absolutely wonderful, took me all the way through CFI and is still one of my best friends.

Um, so it was a very, very good streamlined experience and I try to replicate that for students as much as I can now.

Yeah, absolutely.

And you always want to be the, the instructor that you wanted as a student.

So it was awesome that you had some good instructors kind of model yourself after.

Because when, I mean, I'm not a CFI, but I've seen a lot of people become CFIs.

It's, you know, it's kind of scary.

You get like, what, 300, 400 hours?

You're like, all right, go teach this person how to fly.

Like, I don't, I mean, I know, but like, I don't really know anything.

But yeah, it's just like.

And, yeah, and yeah, it's just a, it's a wild world, you know, thinking about new pilots, teaching brand new pilots.

But it works out.

Yeah, it does, it does.

Somehow.

I remember I had that, like, that thought right before cfi, and I'm like, I mean, I was, I got it the day after my 19th birthday and I'm like, I'm just, I'm just a young girl.

Like, you're telling me I'm supposed to teach these middle aged men how to fly?

Like, oh my gosh.

I remember that being.

It was more of a mental hurdle than anything, right?

Like, you get over it.

You're like, oh, no, I can do this.

Like, I'm good.

Did you fight?

Was it weird at all?

Like, what?

Did you have any issues kind of communicating with older men like that?

Or did it seem like, were they just like good students and ready to go?

You know, honestly, I learned that.

I think it's a huge advantage, especially people that maybe flew like 20, 30 years ago and they were out of some untowered airport and, you know, there wasn't gps, wasn't a thing, but they knew they had stick and rudder skills, they got their license and everything and then maybe they stopped and now they're coming back in their 60s or whatever.

I think it's such an advantage because there is.

Isn't that like, I mean, male ego on male ego kind of thing?

Like, they don't feel as intimidated.

It's, it's like, you know, you can, you can obviously validate what they already know and then teach them what they don't know and they're a little more receptive to a girl sometimes.

So I think it's, I think sometimes it actually ended up being an advantage.

And I thought it wasn't easy at all.

Yeah, that's good.

Love that.

When you were doing, which I guess I'll ask this, what was the hardest checkride you took?

Was it your private, Was it instrument, commercial, cfi?

Honestly, I feel like I really enjoyed everything.

I was never nervous for a checkride except my cfi, I think, because it's like, it's that part where you switch from being the student to the instructor and you're like, I'm the one that's supposed to know what we're doing now.

Like that's, that's a little bit daunting.

And it's just such a long check ride, you know, that it's mainly, obviously, you know, everything you've done for commercial, it's just from the right seat.

So it's not the flying portion as much as is the ground portion.

And I remember my GP called me.

It just had just switched from the PTS to the acs.

And he was like, are you sure you want to take this?

Like it was like the week after.

And I was like, yeah.

He's like, well, I'm telling you, I've failed to three people before you, so are you sure?

Are you sure you want to take this?

And I was like, yeah.

Okay.

Now I'm even more nervous.

I ended up taking it.

I passed and everything.

Yeah, thanks.

But yeah, cfi I think was definitely the biggest.

And then multi, maybe a little bit multi too.

I don't think I was as nervous for that.

But you get, you know, in an airplane that has 180 horsepower, that's fixed prop, fixed gear, and then you get in a twin that's got two of those engines or three tracks and two constant speed props.

And the plane that I did mine in was definitely not like updated avionics.

So now you're like twisting the CDI on top of all this stuff that I remember that just being like really task saturated I'm doing in that.

And after like an hour in the airplane, you're like, I need to take a nap.

Um, but it was still a lot of fun, I would say.

I got this.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

CFI I think was definitely the hardest.

Yeah, yeah.

I mean I didn't want to take my C5 check ride just cause I didn't want to do like a nine hour oral.

I was like, I cannot do this right now.

I am so over testing.

Jokes on me though, because there's so much more testing in aviation.

Never stops.

Um, yeah.

Who did your check rides?

Um, I did everything through Double I with Greg Hudson.

Okay.

I don't know Greg.

I know of the two people I know, Joey Rogers and Zenda.

I think her name was Zenda.

I've heard a lot of stories about Zenda.

Okay.

Or Zelda, something like that.

I've never.

Yeah, it's Zenda.

She's up out of Shiloh.

I've never, I've met her actually when I was doing type training up in Lexington, she was in, in the room and I just walked in and introduced Myself, I've never tested with her.

Joey Rogers, I believe, is out of South Carolina.

Yeah.

Out of Florence.

Joeys who did all my checks.

Yeah, out of Florence.

Yeah.

I actually know his son, and I've met him, but I've never tested with him either.

If you.

Yeah.

If you would have gone to Greg, you would know Greg for.

He's a bit of a local legend that.

And then I did.

Have you heard of Adam Rosenberg?

No.

He did my.

He did my Mei.

And then obviously my type was another DP as well.

He's out of Concord.

He's a Czech airman.

I want to say a check.

Airman with American.

Oh, cool.

As well.

He was awesome to look out for.

Yeah.

Yeah.

All right, so let's talk about how you went into this with kind of no idea of making this a career.

Right.

You're like, all right, well, my.

There's a plane in the family.

I can just go fly for fun.

You know, I can satisfy pictures, filming.

I can be like a.

A awesome pilot, just having fun.

But as this progressed, you kind of transition to the fact, like, I think I want to make this my career.

Right, Right.

Yeah.

I mean, it.

It kind of all shifted during Private.

I obviously didn't know exactly what that was going to look like in the timeline that it was going to take.

Obviously, you have to be 18 to get your commercial, and I was 17 when I got my private, so we had to wait on that.

And now I'm, you know, still such a baby, so I'm waiting on ph and everything.

Fortunately, that's a very good problem to have that most people don't.

But, yeah, obviously it's a lot of anything can be fun when it's not a job.

Even though flying is the best job, there's still days when you're like, oh, my gosh, you know, this is not great, but overall, it's just such a wonderful thing to get to do for work.

Yeah, absolutely.

I mean, it's one of the greatest things you can do.

Taking off, flying, seeing sunsets.

It's pretty cool.

So you're transitioning to figuring out that this is kind of the career you want to do.

Is there corporate?

Was airlines, Was it just kind of CFIing?

What was your dream goal when you realized that you wanted to be a pilot?

Yeah, I definitely always looked forward to teaching.

I know some people can very much not say that, but I think because I had such a good experience, I wanted to be that person that my flight instructor was to me for someone else.

So obviously, that, that time of teaching, I really looked forward to, but it was always corporate.

Like, I've never, never thought airlines.

I don't really know why.

I think just once you do kind of get into that corporate environment and you're going to the FBOs, and it's very much a customer service, you know, face on face environment.

And that's kind of what I like.

You know, some people, One of my friends just went to the airlines and we saw a fractional the other day, and the pilot was loading bags and he looked at me, he's like, I will never do that.

You know, and some people, that's just, they don't, they don't want to talk to people, they don't want to load bags, they don't want to put snacks and drinks on the airplane, and that's perfectly fine, you know, and Obviously, whether it's 91 or 135, those responsibilities are going to differ pretty, pretty greatly.

But yeah, it's always been corporate.

I don't, I never really have thought, Never have thought airlines.

And maybe that'll change.

Obviously, we know you're, you do change a lot as you progress through your career, but definitely corporate.

Yep.

I used to be all corporate guy.

All corporate, yeah.

Now I'm at the airline.

So never say never.

The airlines will always come.

They always.

Never say never.

I used to say never, and now I look like an idiot.

But it's all good.

You, you, you figure out what works for your life.

And the great thing about aviation is you can either fly corporate or you can fly airlines.

And the airlines will always be there.

It is best to get there as soon as you can, just based on seniority.

But, I mean, it's worth going the corporate route if you like that.

Whether it's NetJets, whether it's Flexjet, whether it's the Dream 91 operator that has like the greatest job in the world, because those are out there.

They're hard to find, but those opportunities are.

It's definitely a fun.

It could be really fun and really rewarding.

There are different kind of jobs, like you said, like, you're loading bags, you're talking to the clients.

You're a customer service rep 247 during that flight.

I mean, there's times we're flying in and someone's trying to talk to you while you are trying to have a stable.

You're 10,000ft.

And you're like, all right, hang on, we'll talk about this later.

But you got to remember, there's no door.

You look, when you look back, you're looking at them either talking, eating, whatever may be.

So there's, there are a little bit more tasks, but it's, it's not bad.

It's nothing you can't handle.

Right?

I mean, there definitely are.

And I think it differs greatly from 91 to 135 as well.

And like you said, there's those dream, you know, salary, you're flying five days a month, like owner, 91 jobs that there are very few and far between.

I think now I'm kind of looking to transition to 135 and more of that SOPs and, you know, a structured company with benefits, kind of operating more like an airline in a sense.

Obviously, I've been doing the 91 stuff.

I remember one day we got in and I was talking to another pilot and I said, sometimes it's more like an assistant job.

You know, there's going to be things like, okay, here's where we're staying.

Here's where the airport is.

Like, figure out, you know, finding the airport with the cheapest gas and like, how long is that leg going to be?

And are we like maximizing everything, you know, that you're obviously not going to do 135.

But I looked at it and I was like, I didn't, I didn't touch the flight controls.

Today I was flying with an owner operator, you know, and I was like, there might be an event or something, and you're more, you're more there to assist and things like that.

And if you're okay with that, wonderful.

And if you're not, you're not, you know, it's, it's just whatever floats your boat.

Yeah.

And I mean, this is my one promo I will do for my previous company, NetJets.

It is as much like an airline as it can possibly be in the corporate side where you try, you truly are a pilot, but there are some tasks you have to do.

But you don't have to worry about finding fuel.

They don't care.

Just get the fuel you need to do to make sure it's safe.

All they care about is safety and taking care of the owners.

The only thing that you have to do, it's a little bit above and beyond, is catering.

Sometimes they'll call you like, hey, you're in the middle of nowhere.

We can't get catering.

Can you go to the local grocery store, get a charcuterie board, some champagne, whatever.

Just get anything, please.

So we have some food for.

Right?

Which only happened like once or twice, right?

Yeah.

I've definitely done that.

Like, okay, you've got a 30 minute turn.

Like, you know, you text him like, hey, is Chick Fil a cool?

You know, like, let's just get whatever we can get on the airplane quickly.

Yeah.

NetJets, net jets is the goal.

So hopefully that happens this summer.

Well, I don't know if they like me anymore, but I'll give you, give you a shout out.

Don't give me any more bad juju if they don't.

Yeah, I don't know, maybe I'll.

Maybe I'll stay quiet.

I'll.

I'll let the.

Over here.

Repping the air lights.

Yeah.

Hey, guys, it's me.

I know I left you, but, yeah.

I still love you.

Yeah, it, it was a great job.

Highly recommend it to anyone.

You will just work.

They'll work you hard.

But I mean, it's all good.

You do, you'll have some cool opportunities.

And I wouldn't trade it for anything of how I got my time, how I built kind of where I my career to get me to the airline.

So even if you want to stay there as a career, great.

If you want to go to the airlines.

Airlines love NetJet pilots.

They know that they're trained well, they know that they work hard.

They know that they're not going to complain.

So, yeah, it's a great route to go, right?

Definitely.

I feel like, you know, sometimes there's a time and a place for a certain thing and then maybe you grow out of that or your personal life changes and like, you need a.

You need a different schedule and that's okay that, you know, you serve your time and you did good, you're good at your job when you were there and that's all that matters.

Absolutely.

And I think one of the most important kind of things to realize is you don't want to become the old grumpy pilot that everyone's like, oh, no, I'm flying with Justin.

Like, all he does is complain about this job.

And I could see myself turning into that.

That's how I was.

Like, I gotta go.

I cannot be this person.

I have to go.

So, yeah, just whatever.

The biggest advice, be a good person and don't be the grumpy pilot that no one wants to fly with.

Yeah, exactly, exactly.

Don't, don't.

Yeah, you kind of mentioned that you look like people you look up to Stevie with bayflight.

But is there anyone else like that, a true mentor that you would say you have that's helped you in this career?

Yeah, I Mean, I definitely.

There's a few.

I call them.

I call them the Grandpas.

I don't know how much they love that nickname or not.

They're probably my age, too.

They're probably not even that old.

No, they're not.

Trust me.

They're.

They're.

Well, they have to be well above you, you know, falling out.

No, they, they genuinely.

I mean, there's a ton, A ton of good people in general aviation and corporate aviation.

You're going to encounter a ton that are not good people, you know, But, But I have been very fortunate.

One, One that I think of in particular, that is.

I mean, we probably talk every day on the phone.

He's like, ariel, stop calling me.

But he, he, he did my multi training on the airplane and then did my Mei.

And he's kind of the one that got me into the citations.

He's a retired airline pilot, gem of a human being, and he's so wonder, like, anyone my age that I can introduce to him, I absolutely do, because he's just like a wealth of knowledge.

Yeah, there's, yeah, there's, There's a ton, A ton of people that I've met that are, that are really awesome.

Yeah, mentors are huge.

I mean, if.

I was gonna say, if you don't have a mentor, reach out to professional pilots of tomorrow, because they can place you with a mentor that can help you and get the goals that you want achieved.

But mentors can really help you out.

You know, they, they've seen a lot.

You, you kind of lean on their knowledge and be like, hey, like, I've heard of this carrier before, you know, and when you start applying for jobs, you're like, you get this one job, but you're like, you know what?

Stay away.

They seem great from the outside, but, like, I've seen their maintenance.

I know people that have flown there before, and it just, it's not great.

Yeah.

So mentors will definitely help you and will guide you down the path.

And if anything, some people that are above me in my career, you know, they're like, hey, I flew aerial survey.

Reach out to this person person, Reach out to them, get the job.

Or I flew freight next.

All right, cool.

Let me reach out to them, get that job.

So mentors are awesome.

Exactly.

I mean, I think aviation is such an industry of where networking matters so much.

Right.

That just, you know, and you don't even.

Might even not have the intention of someone being a mentor.

But you walk up and I mean, I do it with netjets, pilots, all the time we might be in the same FBO and like, hey, how do you like the job?

What do you not like about.

What do you like about it?

Would you have any tips of like, what.

What time did you get hired?

On what?

Just things like that.

Yeah, networking and communication is huge in this industry for sure.

What do they say?

I'm interested.

What do they say when you ask them how to make a job?

Or is it mixed?

Is it like, oh, it's great, I love it.

I haven't gotten anyone that says anything negative.

The other day I asked a dude, I was like, do you like it?

He's like, this is my second day.

I'm an I.O.E.

I was like, okay, so you're not.

A very good person of the year.

Yeah, yeah.

I had one dude, I had one dude that I didn't know this was a thing, but he said he bids his schedule.

Schedule.

And I didn't even know that.

I thought it was like 8 and 6 or 7 and 7.

Yeah, six different schedules, I think.

And you can kind of.

It's called a 70, 76 day, 72 day.

I think they have like a 60 day and a 52 day.

Then they have 7 and 7, 8 and 6.

I think those are them.

But the, the other ones, you can kind of bid the days you want off.

And it's kind of similar to an airline, but you'll work more than the 7 and 7 unless you're on the 60 day.

But yeah, lots.

There's.

There's a lot there.

Yeah.

The best thing you do is everyone's loved it, though.

Questions?

Yeah, no, I. I was.

Yeah, it's like I said before, it's a great place.

Great job.

Highly recommend it.

If anyone's listening, it's great.

I love it.

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I've always, always wanted a plane from Textron Aviation.

My dream plane is a 182, maybe a 206.

So hopefully the next couple years we can make that happen.

But shout out text, run aviation, and as I said, make sure you go to txtav.com all right, so you are coming up.

You're doing your training.

You know, you did your private.

You did your instrument commercial, you got your CFI and then your double I.

And then you got into jets.

How did you get into judgment and that you had the mentor that kind of was like, hey, like, you know, let's get your rating and stuff like that.

But was there, you know, not everyone gets in the jets with as much time as you have.

So kind of talk about, about how you got into that, right?

How that played a role in.

And you're fine.

Yeah.

Again, back, I mean, back to the networking thing.

Just talking.

And I think too, not just talking about backing that up with your skill set and people saying, like, you know, she is a good pilot.

She's good at what she does.

You're gonna work hard, you know, things like that.

And so I ended up.

This was, oh, gosh, not this past December, but the fall, the previous one, I. I had like around 500 hours.

I've been teaching at a flight school on the airport.

I went and got my multi and he managed in a citation.

And he was like, you know, I'll let you, you know, after.

I'll let you write seat.

And I was like, okay, cool.

You know, but in 91 Aviation, there's a lot of false promises.

You know, people say, I'm gonna send you to school on this or let's fly this.

And it's like, you never.

It's ghost silence after that.

And I was like, okay.

You know, I didn't think anything of it.

Yeah.

Ten years later, like, you're like super senior at an airline.

And you're like, no, I don't need your job anymore.

Yeah, thanks.

Yeah.

So I ended up, you know, hopping and hopping in the right seat after I got my.

With him still teaching all throughout those five, 600 hours somewhere in there.

And then the owner was like, hey, you know, it's a single pilot airplane.

But sometimes I like to have people with me just, you know, to work the Radios or, you know, if I'm flying my family, I would like to have someone who could get the airplane on the ground if needed.

Do you want to fly with me?

I was like, okay, sure.

You know, and even if you, I could log the time obviously, but experience is experience and the jet world as a whole, you know, 40,000ft is very different than 5,000ft and just, just the threat that you have up there versus the threat that you have down here.

So I was like, yeah, okay, sure.

Ended up flying with them.

They said, well, do you want to go to type school?

Do you want to get rated on the airplane again?

I'm like, okay, back to the false promise thing.

Like, yeah, sure, but I don't think it's going to happen.

He's like, no, seriously.

So ended up.

And I mean, I think I went to type school in May, which was this past May.

We just did it in the airplane through executive flight training, which was a wonderful experience, just week long.

Um, so I had around 800 hours and I was still teaching throughout all of this when I got rated on the airplane.

And then another, another young guy that's even crazier than 800 hours got rated in the airplane with 300 hours.

Um, so he had his first jet, he ice to type with like 300 and something hours.

I know, it's crazy.

And I remember like going into training and I had, I had been right seating in the airplane, but he was off in college and I was like, oh, you know, this dude's gonna slow me down.

Like he doesn't know anything about the airplane.

I bet he hasn't studied.

Like the, the ground's just gonna be, be terrible.

He came in, he knew, he probably knew it better than I did.

Got in the airplane, was doing V1 cuts and I'm like, oh my gosh, like you're making me look bad.

I feel like I need to step up my game.

You and your 300 hours over here.

Um, but it was a really wonderful experience.

But yeah, it was just kind of one of those things like, hey, I have the, I have the opportunity to help someone out in their career, you know, and let you build some, some multi time, some jet time.

I mean, it's just like one of those needle in the haystack kind of things.

And it's, it's been really, really awesome ever since.

Did.

Were you more nervous, would you say, for kind of like type rating?

Cause you know, like it's like the first big kind of plane you're gonna fly.

It's A jet, it's a little bit different, right?

Like, it seems like it's like you could get paid.

Like, things are moving.

Just talk about your nerves going into the.

The type rating again.

Like, I mean, I say my CFI was the thing that I was, like, kind of nervous for and everything else I was pretty chill about, and I felt like I. I was pretty.

I'd been flying the airplane for, like, six months before, so I kind of knew, you know, how things.

OPER instructor that we had with EFT was wonderful, and I feel like he prepared us really, really well.

Um, I remember he was like, it's gonna be huge on performance.

And I was like, oh, gosh.

You know, like, I've never done, like, performance charts like this.

Like, you're whipping out this big binder that's this thick, and you're going through that.

So I was a little apprehensive about that.

They had flown on a DP to do the rating, but it was the most fun week ever.

I mean, very rarely are you gonna get to do, like, V1 cuts in a real airplane.

And I just remember having the best time.

I told the.

The guy that I got typed with, I was like, wasn't that so much fun?

Like, don't you want to go back and do that again?

He like, I was so stressed.

I don't ever want to do that again.

No, but it really.

It really was the best time.

It was awesome.

You know, there.

There's two ways you can look back on training, right?

Like, obviously, in the training, there is the stress, but looking back on it, you can smile, be like, all right, cool.

We learned a lot.

We grew, and we got some.

Some good times, you know, and there's other people who.

I mean, I've done this as well.

You're like, oh, my gosh, I never want to do that again.

Like, hard pass.

I'm gonna fly the same plane for the rest of my life.

Life.

So I never have to worry about a checkout ever again.

Yeah, I mean, I'm sure, like, flight safety and cae, that's a little bit more rigorous.

And, you know, maybe I'll.

My next type, hopefully, is with them, and I'll be like, oh, gosh, you know, I don't want to do that.

I'm glad my recur isn't until 12 months later.

But, yeah, it is kind of what you make it.

I think anything, obviously, that you go into prepared.

Like, if you are, you know, going into a jet type or something, like, memory items, your numbers, like, limitations, all that kind of stuff, having that memorized before you go into the checkride is huge, Huge.

So you're just actually focusing on the new information, you know, so just being prepared as you can settle down as.

You, as you keep going and you go to CAE and you go to flight safety or, you know, your airline training, getting your triggers and flows down.

If you can memorize those, get those down before you go to training.

It'll make your training so much easier because like you said, you just focus on flying the airplane and you're not like, all right, What.

All right, 18,000ft.

What button I need to push?

What do I need to say?

You know, like, just memorize that, you know?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Standard.

What does that mean?

I don't know.

Yeah.

Huh.

Standard.

What?

Yeah.

What was the coolest part about flying the jet for the first time?

Like, the very first time you got in, you know, you're sitting right seat, you're probably so excited.

Was it, was it takeoff?

You know, like actually feeling a little bit of power, you know, you.

You push back a little bit in your seat.

It's not the, the Warrior anymore.

It's not the Cherokee anymore.

Right?

Yeah, I remember, I like distinctly remember my first flight in the jet and we had, we had taken off, we were taken off and we had gone north.

They gave us Charlotte, gave us a turn through the south.

And again I was with the guy who did my multi, who I trusted a lot.

And I remember thinking, why is it so quiet?

Like, oh my gosh, you know, and there was this, there was this kind of like overcast layer.

Then above, it was kind of like somewhat of a scattered layer.

And the sun was setting and we got that, you know, you're turning and as you're turning, you're coming through the tops.

And it was just beautiful and so quiet.

And I was like, like, this is awesome, you know, like, this is definitely what I want to be in, you know, so, yeah, I definitely, I do remember it and just being like in awe.

Yeah.

When, when I was doing my training.

I mean, like when I was.

I remember distinctly, I was doing my commercial training at Airwood.

I was pre flighting the Arrow and I saw a jet, I think it was a Challenger, taxi by.

And I just remember like looking be like, I cannot wait to fly that plane.

And now I look back, be like, man, I wish I could still fly the Arrow.

Did you ever find yourself, like, wishing for the future?

Like, currently, are you just like, man, I can't wait to fly these jets.

I can't wait to go to NetJets or you able to enjoy where you are and kind of enjoy the process?

Yeah, I mean, I think it's.

It's.

Pilots are typically very type A people that are always chasing the next best thing.

Like, give me something new to learn.

I want the next thing.

Um, and I definitely do feel like that about NetJets right now.

I'm like, oh, my gosh.

Like, it's such a struggle, too.

I know.

Like, I say you can always make a better grade or you can get more flight time, but you can't get any older any quicker.

And all Grandpa's line are like, trust me, you don't want to get any older any quicker.

But, yeah, so, yeah, I.

You know, I think it's just an active thing of being appreciating where you are when you're there, because it's gonna go away.

You know the saying, this too shall pass.

Like, if it's really bad, it's gonna go away.

And if it's really good, soak it up while it is really good.

And there are definitely times when I was instructing a ton or and I was contracting a ton, that my airplane would sit and then I'd go get back in it, and I'm like, oh, my gosh.

Like, yes, I do love what I do for work, but at the same time, like, just getting to fly to the beach for lunch and in your own airplane is so much fun.

And you're kind of reminded of, why do I love this so much?

Or, like, maybe it's fine with a person that you really like that you haven't filmed with in a while, and you're like, this is what makes this really awesome.

So appreciate where you are.

I'm sorry.

Yeah, absolutely.

It's hard to do.

Easier said than done, right?

Way easier said than done.

100.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

It's easy to say on the podcast, right?

Yeah, yeah.

Now I have to go practice what I preached.

I'm like, oh, gosh, same, same.

Has there been any moment in this process where you're like, you know what?

I don't want to do this anymore.

I'm gonna go back to film school.

I'm gonna do something else.

Like, this is getting too hard.

No.

Good.

Like, genuinely not at all.

Like, it's.

It's what I'm gonna do.

And if it's hard, like, that just means you're probably doing something right.

You know, if something's difficult, obviously you're gonna fly with people that you don't like.

Or fly for, maybe don't like.

And that's okay.

But, you know, you're gonna meet those people that you do, and you'll learn the positive things from that.

And maybe you learn, okay, that's not what I want to be like as a pilot or, you know, as a person or whatever.

But genuinely, I can't imagine doing anything else, and I've never doubted it.

Good.

That's awesome.

Was there so mentioned that you wanted or thought about going to film school before all this?

Did you go to college?

Did you get your degree?

Is that something you're doing right now or you kind of just focused on flying?

Yeah, so I, again, I was like.

I went and started touring college campuses, and I was like, there's no way I could live here for four years.

Like, this isn't for me.

And that's when I kind of switched to that.

Yeah, I was like, I. I'm not.

I can't do this.

That's when I kind of switched over to flying.

And I thought I was like, you know, I don't.

I don't need a degree to be a pilot.

And then I was like, okay, when I'm 50 years old, I want to look back on the past 50 years of my life and say that there's.

There's nothing that I've regretted.

And not going to college is very much going to be something that I have that I will regret.

So I did high school, my last three years of high school through Liberty University, which is.

Has a very big aeronautics department in high school and college.

So I ended up figuring out that all your flight credits count as credits, like your certificates and your ratings count as credits if it's an aviation focused degree.

So this past year, I transferred.

I had taken some, like, college classes at high school as well.

So I had like three or four classes, and then all my ratings counted as credit.

So I transferred everything out, and I was like, pretty much halfway done with my degree with just on my transfer credit.

So, yes, I have gone back to school.

I'm getting my bachelor's of science in aviation.

I'll be done in July.

Oh, nice.

Sick.

That's awesome.

You know, you are young in this career.

You have more time, more ratings probably than most people your age have had.

People are listening to, like, dang.

I mean, they're gonna be like, 25.

They're like, oh, my gosh, she has way more than I have.

You know, like, I'm just.

I'm in this engineering job.

I want to get out of it.

Like, I like, I want to be a pilot.

What do you say to people either your age, a little bit older than you, or younger than you that are just getting to this?

Like, how can they get to where you are as fast as you did, as well as you did and have the outlook that you have?

Right.

I mean, obviously I've been very fortunate to be in a family that does have an airplane, two airplanes, so that helps a ton with it.

And I know everyone's going to have that same opportunity, but if you can do that, I would recommend kind of going that 61, like real experience route.

But really just okay saying here's what I want to accomplish.

Looking around at your flight schools like ATP maybe be, you know, it might be great for some people and I know people that have excelled through that program and they've done it quickly and taken out a loan and obviously everyone's, if you're, I have a student that's later in his 20s and has a really well paying job and it's been able to do it the 60 one way and just pay as you go and has still done it very quickly.

So kind of just assessing that, like how financially is it going to work?

And maybe a certain flight school facilitates that a little bit better and that's what you're going to go through.

But just breaking it down like, okay, each, each rating has a check ride.

That check ride is composed of an oral and a flying portion.

And then there's a written what do I need to do to get to that written portion?

And just working as hard as you can to make the, you know, people say, well a 70 is a pass is a pass.

Like I couldn't argue that more like do the best that you can.

And yeah, absolutely, absolutely everything that you're going to do because it reflects that person that, that.

I remember the way I got the job at the flight school that I taught at was it was a testing center and I had taken all my written there and I had done well on them and the owner knew that because she was the one that was giving me my paper when I got finished.

So when I went to interview with them, they were like, well, you know, it's not really a question of are you smart or not, you know, so those little things matter, but just breaking it down, okay, here's what I need to do for this.

Here's what I need to do for this.

And then doing the best that you absolutely can do to achieve that goal and don't, don't let yourself be, you know, Your own biggest enemy.

I see so many people that, that come to me and, you know, they're like, well, finances are tough right now.

I don't think I'm going to be able to fly.

I'm like, okay, why?

Have you taken the written?

No.

What are you studying for the.

The written?

No.

Could you pass the oral right now?

No.

Have you bought the book?

No.

And it's like, okay, so you're not actively doing everything that you can to be the best that you can, Right?

So just study hard, work hard, put your head down and get through it.

I love it.

What's your best.

What's the best advice you've gotten in your, your career so far?

Oh, gosh, that's such a tough question.

Um, I remember in the beginning, my first instructor, I remember being frustrated that I couldn't land or whatever.

And he said, not every flight is going to be a good flight.

And that's okay.

Just expect that for the rest of your career.

You know, not every flight you're going to have some that are.

You're like, this is incredible.

And then you're going to shoot like three back to back approaches, the minimums in the ice, and you're going to be like, this absolutely sucks.

You know, not everyone's going to be a good one.

Yeah.

Um, and then I remember one of my other flight instructors that I'm still really good friends with now.

He, he told me, he's like, there, if anything that you want to accomplish, you will accomplish if you just work hard enough and break it down.

You know, we build a wall one brick at a time.

So if, if you want to be the CEO of Delta, he's like, I don't doubt that you'll be able to accomplish it, but you're going to be the only person that gets in your own way.

So nothing's that hard when you break it down.

And I think that's really, really good advice.

Absolutely, absolutely.

What's been your favorite flight so far?

My favorite flight, one day we got this great idea that we were gonna fly to Oshkosh.

So it was like, it was like 5 o' clock in the morning.

Me and one of my girlfriends that are a pilot, you know, loaded the Cherokee up.

The baggage compartment was full, the back seat was full to the brim.

We had our tent and everything and we took off to Oshkosh and we did it all.

It was like eight hours.

We did it all in a day.

Broke it up into a few different legs.

The last leg we met up with some of our friends and they were in a veto bonanza, so they were f. Faster than us.

They were doing the faster, higher arrival.

So we kind of tried to time it because we wanted to park beside one another.

Um, and then you go fly the Fisk, you know.

That's awesome.

Those, those air show flights are awesome because you're looking forward to something so much that, like, the whole flight is just awesome because of that.

I think any flight that that's like that or like where you're flying to see one of your friends or somebody that you love is just awesome because that, like, that energy and anticipation just carries throughout the flight.

Yeah, absolutely.

And he mentioned flying to the beach in North Carolina.

Which beach would you fly to?

I'm a big fan of Wilmington, which technically isn't the beach.

Yeah.

Most people don't know that, though.

So we're teaching people today.

Wilmington's not.

Yeah.

Honestly, maybe cut out the part about Wilmington because I'm trying to gatekeep it.

It's not that great.

You don't want to go there.

No, it's not cool at all.

Please don't go there.

I went the other day and the ramp was full.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Charlotte sucks.

Raleigh sucks.

Yeah.

Beach wise, Ocean Isle is really pretty awesome.

Obviously the Outer Banks have their.

Their own thing, but that's like, you know, two, three hours if you just want to click down and back.

That's a tough ocean isle, Oak Island.

Yeah, it isn't.

It's always.

I'm a big Oak island guy.

I went to okay my whole life.

So flying to Oak island was awesome.

You get the crew car and you go to the barbecue place on Island Island.

Highly recommend.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Have you ever gotten the.

The big, like, white crew car van out there?

Yes.

Yeah.

You know what I'm talking about.

Isn't it terrible?

You're like, God, I feel like I'm gonna, like, kidnap somebody in this thing.

Yeah.

It's like, am I being kidnapped, like.

Or am I the kidnapper?

This is wild.

But that's.

That's Oak Island.

I feel like that just encompasses all of Oak island, that van.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I mean, they're all great.

What would you say has been.

So we talked about your favorite flight, but what has been the most challenging flight you've had so far?

Most challenging flight.

I don't.

I remember, like, in the beginning, you know, everything is new and so things seem so much more difficult.

Like, when there's wind, I would, like, land and I'd call my flight instructor, be like, I almost died, you know, and he's like, no, you didn't.

You're just being dramatic.

Or like, I just shot my first approach.

Like, I just got my instrument rating.

I'm single engine, like.

And I just shot my first approach like, oh, my, my gosh.

You know, and your adrenaline's just like through the roof.

Yeah.

I remember we had a day contracting and we had like a ton of legs and I was like, okay, I'm gonna take the first six and you'll take the last three or four or whatever.

My co caption and it was like the first four approaches were the minimums.

We were in the ice, it was dark.

Like, that's, that's, you know, and you're turning so quickly that you're like, okay, you get the passengers, you get out.

We're shut down the left and right.

And I'm going to reload, rebrief, you know, make sure we've got our clearance because we're all at untoward airports.

Like, things like that.

I. I mean, they're challenging because you're so task saturated, obviously.

Um, so that's one that kind of.

That kind of sticks out in my mind.

Yeah.

Yep.

Giving a lot of flashbacks in that jets when you're talking about all the legs and ice.

And I was like, oh, man.

Yeah, that does happen.

Talk a little bit about social media and how, how, you know, there's different outlooks on social media based on, you know, you mentioned the grandpas you mentioned.

Or we've.

I've talked about before about how some airline, one of my life just went out.

Some airlines don't love social media, but some do, you know, like, there's a lot of kind of.

Some people look at it bad, some people look at it great because one, you can make friends, one you can get jobs out of it, you can network, you can do a lot of cool things.

But talk about how you have used social media and what you wanted to get out of it.

Yeah, definitely.

So I think it was kind of accidental for my following to be as big as it is now.

I just posted a video and it just happened to.

To go viral.

But I've always said whatever I'm doing, I'm doing because I love it.

And then if there just happens to be a camera or a picture taken, you know, that reflects what I'm doing, wonderful.

But I'll never do something.

I'm not going to go do a flight just so I can film it.

Maybe that's why I'm kind of a bad influencer.

And not super consistent.

But like, like, you know, safety is our biggest thing and we don't need cameras in our face all the time.

Like, I don't.

I don't.

I kind of hate the word, like, content creator because it's just like, this is my life and, and anything that is captured is just, you know, a reflection of.

A small curated reflection of whatever is going on.

So that's kind of the way I view it.

But yeah, it is really wonderful networking tool.

Some of my, like, my best friends I've met, you know, being an ambassador for Signer Fund, you meet some awesome people and then they know people and, um, it's really, really awesome way to make.

To make friends.

I haven't necessarily used it as much for the business side of things of like, getting a job or anything.

I actually kind of try to keep, like, you know, I just want my little blue and white airplane on there and I've posted some things of work, you know, but like, you can't.

Yeah, you can't find, like, you can't find any tail numbers or anything.

And even, like, if I do get on with net depth, I don't.

I don't see myself being one of those influencers that comes like the day in the life or here's my tour, anything like that, because that's just not personal, like, what I want to reflect, and some people do, and some companies are great with that.

Some companies don't want you posting.

So I think it's just respecting everyone's boundaries and what they want or what they don't want.

Absolutely, 100% agree.

I was trying to think of the first video that I saw of yours on Instagram pop up and I, I want.

I think I'm right about this, but was it going when you went to jqf, did you have the crazy auctioneer, what's his name?

I can't remember his name now, but the crazy control.

Adam was Adam.

Adam, yes.

Yeah, I think.

I don't remember his name, but I remember when I was flying and like, I remember going, doing my 10 stop and goes or whatever you need to do for commercial at JQF at night.

And he was doing the pattern with me and I was just like, this guy's awesome.

I love this guy.

So when I got to hear his voice again, it was just like so many members came back and I was just like, this is so fun.

Like, I remember my.

My time doing that.

I was like, this is so cool.

So, yeah, if his name's Adam, shout out Adam you're awesome.

Yeah, they.

All those guys.

I think Adam has since retired, but I've met all the controllers up at Concord now, and, you know, they're like, they tell.

They.

They hired someone the other day and they're like, you know, be on your best behavior if you hear three, four, whiskey, because she might be filming you.

But they're wonderful.

Yeah, I think that flight, that flight.

I think I was actually going.

I was flying up there to interview for my flight school job.

Oh, no.

Just happened to throw the camera up.

Yeah, yeah.

And then Adam's up there just making you feel good because Adam's the man.

So shout out whatever you're doing.

Yeah, Yeah, I love that.

I love getting the meat.

Like, that's another great thing about social media too, is like, you'll hear there's someone with Raleigh approach.

They're like, hey, are you filming?

And I'm like, no, I'm not.

I'm so sorry.

But I put it up real quick if you want.

They're awesome.

Yeah.

Yeah, that is cool.

Well, Ariel, I appreciate you coming on.

It's.

It's really cool to talk to someone who, you know, is coming up.

And I just interview through Luke, who's also in the CFI route.

Like, he is grinding right now.

And it's really cool to see kind of be reminded of what it's like and have the enthusiasm, have like the want to.

Because I've talked to so many other pilots, you know, and some people just get down on the job or.

I mean, I haven't had too many people like that, but it is out there.

So continue to hold on to that spark that you have because it'll take you a lot of places.

And remember when you called for the first flight school and why you chose that flight school is because there was.

Were nice.

And they're good because reputation goes a very long way in this career.

So if you can just hold onto that, you're gonna do great, right?

A hundred percent.

Well, I'm happy.

Thank you so much for.

For having me on.

I. I'm such a fan and I look forward to listening to this one and hopefully we'll get to fly together since we're.

We're so close.

So close.

We'll make it happen.

Yeah, that'd be awesome.

Deliver some magazines.

Yes.

Yeah, I haven't got my shipment yet, but I'm.

I'm gonna distribute the box.

The box is sitting over there.

I have to.

I have to ship it out.

Oh, that's why I haven't gotten it.

But yeah, I'll try to do it today.

Yeah.

Yeah, Try not try.

You won't.

I will.

I will do it.

That's a wrap on today's podcast.

Thank you so much for listening to the podcast.

Everything that you all have done for the magazine, for the podcast, I'm truly thankful for.

If you haven't got a magazine yet, pilot the pilot hq.com mag and if you're not, subscribe the podcast.

You know, if your dad's not, your mom's not, take their phone, subscribe, just download them.

Just let me know.

Maybe they'll become a pilot, too.

AV Nation.

Hope you're having a great day.

And as always, happy flying.