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EP192 - I Can't Believe Someone Pays Me to Do This
04 August 2026

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

Midlife Pilot Podcast

About

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, veteran of regional, fractional, and FAA flight check flying, and a career coach since 2010 (also a former FAA Sky Cop, but that's a topic for another day). Most aviation career advice is aimed at 22-year-olds; this conversation is for the midlife career changer: what Career 2.0 actually looks like when you're in your prime earning years, how a flight instructor made it to a legacy airline about eighteen months after starting the work, what changes when a 65-year-old airline pilot isn't ready to hang it up, and the question James opens with: what's your dream job? Tape-machine feedback, a review, and listener questions from midlife career changers round it out.


Mentioned on the show:

James Onieal, Raven Careers: https://ravencareers.com/

Brian's The Long Way, Cohort Bravo starting August 13: https://www.makesmallcorrections.com/

NetJets furloughed pilots in 2010: https://www.cnbc.com/2009/11/05/berkshire-hathaways-netjets-furloughs-495-pilots.html

James's Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesonieal/

21.Five podcast: https://www.21fivepodcast.com/