Pilot to Pilot

Mark Woglom has bought and sold roughly a dozen airplanes in twenty-five years — a new Cessna 182 he learned to fly in, a Baron he never got comfortable in, a pressurized 414, a Cheyenne II XL, four separate Cirrus SR22s, a Vision Jet, a TBM 960, a Citation M2, and the CJ3+ he flies today. Six weeks ago he added an Icon A5, because you can't go sightseeing in a jet.

Along the way he built a framework for making the decision the rest of us agonize over.

In this episode we cover:

• The three F's — finances, features, and function — and why mission is the one most buyers skip
• The "fourth F": buying the wrong airplane, and how to avoid it
• Why he never trusts manufacturer range claims, broker enthusiasm, or forum consensus
• His normalized fuel reserve method for comparing aircraft honestly, apples to apples
• Real rules of thumb for insurance, capital cost, maintenance, and the ancillary costs that ambush new owners
• Why he took a five-year break from flying while still owning an airplane
• What changed when he decided to earn a type rating in his mid-fifties
• Why his wife's headset ended a turboprop purchase
• Never get plane poor — and why a fuel stop isn't the end of the world

Whether you're saving toward your first 172 or wondering whether the step up is worth it, this one's a masterclass in buying with your head instead of your heart.

Happy Flying,
Justin

Pilot to Pilot Magazine — Volume 003 is out now. Get yours at pilottopilothq.com/mag

Sponsors — please support the people who support the show: • NEW SPONSOR ALERT I'd like to welcome AeroTow to the Pilot to Pilot sponsors! check out their AeroTow T2 Engineered for easier maneuverability, the AeroTow T2 is versatile for a variety of aircraft. Its universal cradle provides a seamless towing experience ( Pilot to Pilot listeners can save $100 by using the code in the podcast!) Avemco Insurance — Save 5% as a Pilot to Pilot listener. Call (888) 635-4297 or visit avemco.com/4297-owner (owners) or avemco.com/4297-non-owner (non-owners) • Learn more about the exciting innovations at Textron Aviation today… just go to TXTAV.com • Garmin — Plan, file, fly, log with the Garmin Pilot app • Allworth Airline Advisors — Register for their latest webinar at allworthfinancial.com/justin • Allworth Financial - https://allworthfinancial.com/airlines/lp/runway-for-retirement-webinar?utm_campaign=airlines+-+more+runway+for+retirement?lmls=Partner+Channel&lmld=Pilot+to+Pilot&ad_version=Social 

Pilot to Pilot Magazine — Volume 003 is out now. Get yours at pilottopilothq.com/mag

Sponsors — please support the people who support the show: • Textron Aviation — The Pipistrel Voyager is perfect answer for high utilization flight training, easy ownership and broader access to aviation • Avemco Insurance — Save 5% as a Pilot to Pilot listener. Call (888) 635-4297 or visit avemco.com/4297-owner (owners) or avemco.com/4297-non-owner (non-owners) •  • Garmin — Plan, file, fly, log with the Garmin Pilot app • Allworth Airline Advisors — Register for their latest webinar at allworthfinancial.com/justin • Learn the Finer Points — Save 10% off your first year at learnthefinerpoints.com/justin. https://allworthfinancial.com/airlines/lp/runway-for-retirement-webinar?utm_campaign=airlines+-+more+runway+for+retirement?lmls=Partner+Channel&lmld=Pilot+to+Pilot&ad_version=Social

Kyle Skylaski had never been on an airplane — not even as a passenger — until his senior year of high school. A local orchardist flew him across Washington in a Cessna 172 so he could make a state playoff baseball game. He got there as the game started, changed in the car, and hit a three-run homer off a future big leaguer to win it.

That flight sent him to the Air Force Academy and into 23 years in the cockpit: F-15s at Holloman, F-16s as an aggressor during the fall of the Soviet Union, an exchange tour with the Navy in the F/A-18, and later a modified 727 as a test pilot for Raytheon.

In episode 366 we get into what sports actually teaches you about flying, why leadership is service and nothing else, the three C's every team needs, what it feels like at Mach 2 versus 300 feet and nine miles a minute, losing seven friends early in his career and what it changed about how he takes risk, and where electric and hybrid training aircraft might actually make sense.

Kyle's book, The Sky Less Traveled: The Maverick Life of Leadership, Resilience, and the Pursuit of Purpose, is on Amazon now, with the audiobook coming this fall.

In this episode: first flight over the Cascades • Air Force Academy football and gliders • pilot training at Laughlin, where half the class washed out • F-15 vs F-16 vs F/A-18 • the aggressor years • flying the 727 as a test pilot • the squadron bar, call signs, and crud • three things he'd tell anyone starting over

Pilot to Pilot Magazine — Volume 003 is out now. Get yours at pilottopilothq.com/mag

Sponsors — please support the people who support the show: • Textron Aviation — The Pipistrel Voyager is perfect answer for high utilization flight training, easy ownership and broader access to aviation • Avemco Insurance — Save 5% as a Pilot to Pilot listener. Call (888) 635-4297 or visit avemco.com/4297-owner (owners) or avemco.com/4297-non-owner (non-owners) •  • Garmin — Plan, file, fly, log with the Garmin Pilot app • Allworth Airline Advisors — Register for their latest webinar at allworthfinancial.com/justin • Learn the Finer Points — Save 10% off your first year at learnthefinerpoints.com/justin. https://allworthfinancial.com/airlines/lp/runway-for-retirement-webinar?utm_campaign=airlines+-+more+runway+for+retirement?lmls=Partner+Channel&lmld=Pilot+to+Pilot&ad_version=Social

Pete Stavridis was nine years old, watching the Challenger explode on live TV, when he decided he was going to fly airplanes. No pilots in the family. No money for it. So he enlisted in the Navy out of high school in 1995 — not the optimal path to fighters — flew P-3 Orions as an enlisted aircrewman on counter-drug ops over Panama and Colombia, and worked his way into a commission. He selected #1 out of T-34s, got the Super Hornet, and flew combat over Iraq and Afghanistan.

Now he's an Airbus first officer (by design), an FAA examiner with roughly 700 checkrides behind him, an aircraft management guy specializing in the Piaggio, and he runs upset recovery training in the L-39. He also raced at Reno in the gold jet class at 500 mph, four to six feet off another airplane — until he watched his friend and competitor Aaron Hoag G-LOC and go into the ground in front of him in 2022.

We get into:

• Why enlisting first was a risk he'd take again
• What a Navy flight surgeon prescribed when Pete was struggling in T-45s (hint: Halo)
• Being shot off a carrier deck, and why nothing else compares
• Fighter pilot ego vs. actual humility — and why humility can't read as weakness
• What air racing really takes: micro-knots, wake vortices, and why pole position changes everything
• Losing Aaron, "stem power," and how he got the jet on the ground
• Why the DPE shortage isn't a DPE problem, it's an FAA problem
• What he can read about an applicant in the first two minutes
• Honesty, knowledge, determination — his three traits of a good captain, FO, or wingman
• Exposing your kids to aviation without pushing it

"When we get in an airplane, we're in a survival situation. We're not supposed to be there."

Happy Flying,

Justin

Pilot to Pilot Magazine — Volume 003 is at the printers. Get yours at pilottopilothq.com/mag

GIVEAWAY - Complete the survey to be entered to win a Pilot to Pilot hat and Magazine subscriptions

Big thanks to Textron Aviation for sponsoring this week's episode of Pilot to Pilot! This week I'm joined by Jason Rhode as we talk bout his unconventional journey in aviation - from where he started to what ultimately led up to step up into larger aircraft.

Don't miss this opportunity to hear how the right aircraft can help you take the next step in your aviation journey!

What happens when a public company CEO gets tired of the airlines and decides to fly himself? Jason Rhode, former CEO of Cirrus Logic, joins Justin to share one of the most unique aviation journeys we've featured — one that started not with a childhood dream of flying, but with a sweaty preflight in 110-degree Austin heat and a finance guy's ForeFlight demo.

In this Textron Aviation-sponsored episode, Jason walks through every aircraft in his progression — DA40, DA62, Kodiak, TBM, and finally the Citation CJ3+ — and why Textron Aviation was the throughline that made each transition smoother than the last. He breaks down what the pro ownership program actually looks like from the inside, how Textron connected him with the right mentor pilots and Flight Safety simulator training, and why the M2-to-jet transition is far less intimidating than the insurance market wants you to believe.

In this episode:

• Why owning a plane extended Jason's career as a CEO by four to five years
• How Textron's pro ownership program handles maintenance tracking, mentor pilots, and service center coordination
• The CJ3+ acquisition story: buying a plane that had been in a ditch, flying it to 45,000 feet before the seller had
• Finding the right insurance underwriter for jet transitions (and why your broker matters more than you think)
• Pilot and Paws missions, concert chasing in the Citation, and the lifestyle that makes it all worth it

Sponsors — please support the people who support the show: •Textron Aviation — Built for lifelong aviators. Plan your next chapter at txtav.com/stepup • Avemco Insurance — Save 5% as a Pilot to Pilot listener. Call (888) 635-4297 or visit avemco.com/4297-owner (owners) or avemco.com/4297-non-owner (non-owners) •  Garmin — Plan, file, fly, log with the Garmin Pilot app • Allworth Airline Advisors — Register for their latest webinar at allworthfinancial.com/justin • Learn the Finer Points — Save 10% off your first year at learnthefinerpoints.com/justin. https://allworthfinancial.com/airlines/lp/runway-for-retirement-webinar?utm_campaign=airlines+-+more+runway+for+retirement?lmls=Partner+Channel&lmld=Pilot+to+Pilot&ad_version=Social

Pilot to Pilot Magazine — Volume 002 is out now. Get yours at pilottopilothq.com/mag

Sponsors — please support the people who support the show: • Avemco Insurance — Save 5% as a Pilot to Pilot listener. Call (888) 635-4297 or visit avemco.com/4297-owner (owners) or avemco.com/4297-non-owner (non-owners) • Textron Aviation — Built for lifelong aviators. Plan your next chapter at txtav.com/stepup • Garmin — Plan, file, fly, log with the Garmin Pilot app • Allworth Airline Advisors — Register for their latest webinar at allworthfinancial.com/justin • Learn the Finer Points — Save 10% off your first year at learnthefinerpoints.com/justin. https://allworthfinancial.com/airlines/lp/runway-for-retirement-webinar?utm_campaign=airlines+-+more+runway+for+retirement?lmls=Partner+Channel&lmld=Pilot+to+Pilot&ad_version=Social

Some people are drawn to the sky. Others are forged there.

Rob “Scratch” Mitchell grew up surrounded by aviation legend — his grandfather flew Spitfires over occupied Europe, his father patrolled Cold War skies in a Royal Canadian Air Force jet. By the time Scratch sat down to choose his own path, there was never really a question. He wanted to fly fighters. He wanted to be the best. And through relentless focus, iron discipline, and a willingness to outwork everyone around him, that’s exactly what he became.

In this episode of the Pilot to Pilot Podcast, Scratch takes us from the crucible of Canadian military pilot training — where attrition rates hovered near 50% — through the unforgiving world of F-18 tactical flying, into the bright lights of the Canadian Forces Snowbirds, where he eventually led the team as commanding officer. Along the way, he opens up about the fatal accident that occurred on his watch during his very first airshow weekend as team lead, and what it taught him about leadership, humanity, and what it truly means to hold a team together when the world falls apart.

What you’ll hear in this episode:

• How Scratch finished number one in his pilot training class to guarantee a fighter slot — and why second place wasn’t an option
• The story behind his callsign, involving a French tanker, the wrong basket technique, and a very expensive canopy
• What 95 airshows in a single season does to a team — and to a marriage
• The moment during the Snowbirds’ first airshow of the season when his wingman was lost, and how Scratch led nine pilots back to earth when the world had just gone silent
• Why ego has no place in the debrief room — even when you’re debriefing your commanding officer
• The civilian world’s hardest lesson for a fighter pilot: sometimes skill and effort aren’t enough, and luck is a variable you cannot control
• His pivot from the cockpit to the camera — and why aviation storytelling was always the through line

Whether you fly airliners, light aircraft, or simply love the world above the clouds, this is an episode about what it means to commit completely — to a mission, to a team, and to yourself.