Midlife Pilot Podcast9 Des 2025

EP158 - Dire Pragmatism with Absolute Lunacy

1DullGeek casually announces he's signed a contract for a Czech-built TL Sparker and will spend a month in Prague building it – because apparently "24 cubic feet of cargo space" (more than his compact SUV!) justifies international aircraft construction. The only minor detail? He has absolutely nowhere to hangar this composite beauty that "costs more than his house." Cue the deep dive into "Hangar Hell" – where waiting lists stretch to 2038, car detailing businesses occupy hangars, and Mark realizes he's been "a wholesale menace in every capacity to an airport." Meanwhile, Brian's gone full on into written tests, knocking out instrument ground instructor and fundamentals of instruction in two weeks because "the sponginess of my brain is kind of working at the moment." Plus: heated seats, cup holders, and the eternal question of whether N633K (a.k.a. "N-GEEK") will ever see the inside of an actual hangar.

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Mentioned on the show:

* Mark's new plane, TL Sparker: https://tlsportaircraft.com/sparker/

* Risen Aircraft: https://www.flyrisen.com/

* Roy "Deacon" Qualls, Pilot's Edge: Think, Train, and Fly Like a Pro: https://amazon.com/dp/B0FY26ZJJM

* CGI, Cape Girardeau Regional Airport: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Girardeau_Regional_Airport

* Garmin GNC355: https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/689774/

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Episoder(194)

EP195 - I'm Temporarily Delayed, Not Canceled

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25 Aug 51min

EP194 - "That's Why I Wear the Propeller Hat" - PropHatCat!

Marcus is a magician, an off-Broadway producer, and an en route controller at Houston Center, which is either an unusual resume or a perfectly logical one. To thousands online he's PropHatCat.He opens...

18 Aug 1h 13min

EP193 - Getting in the Way of Our A&Ps

Owner-assisted maintenance, with all four hosts aboard: Ben, Brian, Ted, and Mark (1DullGeek), the show's resident expert, currently apprenticing in his mechanic's shop. What are you actually allowed ...

11 Aug 49min

EP192 - I Can't Believe Someone Pays Me to Do This

Flying, and actually having someone else pay for it. The crew sits down with James Onieal of Raven Career Development: pilot, instructor, type-rated in the King Air, Citation, and Embraer 170/190, vet...

4 Aug 58min

EP191 - I'm Just Going Where He's Going

Ben is back from AirVenture and still hearing the Fisk arrival in his sleep. Two holds around the lakes, a push all the way back to Puckaway, and made it in on the third time, following an RV toward t...

28 Jul 59min

EP190 - Nothing Like the Real Thing

This week Ben, Brian, and Ted get into IFR currency: what it actually takes to stay instrument current and ready. Six approaches, holds, tracking and intercepting nav aids, and the clock that never st...

21 Jul 1h 6min

EP189 - Sport Pilot Extraordinaire

Sport pilots get treated as lesser pilots. This week the crew takes apart why, and why it does not hold up. The restrictions are real. The skill gap is not. After MOSAIC put Cessna 172s and Cherokees ...

14 Jul 1h 1min

EP188 - Go/No-Go: Honoring Your Minimums When Everyone Else Is Leaving

Ben's coming back to McCollum with his wife in the right seat and the winds at 340, 18 gusting 28, basically direct crosswind, and he's already named the two north-south runways he'll divert to if he ...

7 Jul 45min