Aviation News Recap

Many pilots find it intimidating to talk over the radio with ATC. Dan @TakingOffDan and Christy @PilotChristy talk with Center Controller Scott Pinkerton and Tower Controller Matt Wells about the issue and how best to communicate with ATC and get over the fear factor.

Dan (@TakingOffDan) and Christy (@PilotChristy) talk about the recent rash of general aviation crashes, including the gut punch of the Richard McSpadden accident in the Cardinal out of Lake Placid, NY. The two also talk about what’s coming next for the channel.

The Pros and Cons of the Airline Pilot Schedule—Christy @PilotChristy talks to Dan @TakingOffDan about the good and the bad of the schedule airline pilots have to keep in order to get the job done, balancing work and home for the best possible mix.

An Air Canada 767 experiences fuel exhaustion due to paperwork mistakes at over 40,000 feet.  The airplane has to glide to a safe landing and the only place in reach is an old shut down military base that the first officer used to fly out of.  Unfortunately, this day, it was being used for go-karts.  […]

AviatorAir in Grand Prairie, Texas, providing their Baron multi engine plane and instructor Reagan so that Dan Millican @TakingOffDan, Bryan Turner @JustPlaneSilly, and Colten Mortgage owner Brant Phillips could try a full immersive week of multi engine training culminating in their checkride. Starting late on Monday, with checkrides scheduled for Thursday and Friday, the trio […]

FAA Regional Administrator Rob Lowe joins Dan @TakingOffDan and Christy @PilotChristy for an indepth talk about the FAA and its role in General Aviation today. Is the FAA truly a kindler/gentler agency than in the past?

From the Archives!  The head engineer from Superior Cylinders joins A&P’s John Efinger and Bill Goebels to discuss airplane piston engine overhauls with Dan MIllican (@TakingOffDan).

Dan (@TakingOffDan) and Christy (@PilotChristy) talk about the struggles, victories and defeats in their battle with weight loss.  In flying General Aviation, weight is an important issue on these airplanes, and besides the obvious of being more healthy, weight can make a difference in the cockpit.

In 1999, famed golfer Payne Stewart was at the top of his game and third on the money list. He and his team boarded a Learjet 35 in Orlando, Florida for a flight to Dallas Love Field. On the climb, ATC lost communication with the jet and it continued to climb erratically before eventually running […]

Dan and Christy welcome via phone Josh Flowers from Aviation101 to talk about the best tips and tricks for arriving and enjoying EAA Airventure, held at Whitman Field in OshKosh, Wisconsin.  If you’re flying in, make sure you read the NOTAM (NOTICE)!  Josh’s video on flying in to OSH: https://youtu.be/rAvONg32TEg

Dan (@TakingOffDan) and Christy (@PilotChristy) sit down for a conversation about the roller coaster life of an airline pilot.  What can be so hard about a life of bus driving in the skies?  Christy breaks down the lifestyle and the impact pilot life has on a person’s quality of living.

Dan Millican @TakingOffDan and Josh Minze, founder of Fort Worth Flight Schoolhttps://fortworthflightschool.com/ talk about first steps to learning how to fly. Fro taking thatdiscovery flight to trying to find the right instructor or school for you and the differencebetween FAA’s part 61 and part 141 flight training.

Long: Dan (@TakingOffDan) and Christy (@PilotChristy) call up their friend Bryan Turner (@JUstPlaneSilly) to talk about his videos and a discussion into his commercial pilot training.  The group also discusses the upcoming EAA Airventure in OshKosh at the end of July.

(@TakingOffDan) and Christy (@PilotChristy) bring Josh Flowers (@Aviation101), Martin Pauly (@martinpauly) and Cory Robin (@FlyCory) onto the set of a live IN The Hangar to answer questions from the audience in studio and at home watching. https://www.instagram.com/takingoffdan/?hl=en https://www.instagram.com/pilotchristy/?hl=en https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKALXb2rTLNwVgH9DHVVPLw https://www...

Dan (@TakingOffDan) and Christy (@PilotChristy) discuss the Worst Accident that NEVER Happened!  In 2017, around midnight, Air Canada 759 misstook the taxiway for the runway, in which 4 airliners, all loaded with passengers waited their turn to the runway.  Only at the last moment, with feet to spare, did Air Canada realize their mistake and […]

Dan (@TakingOffDan) and Christy (@PilotChristy) talk to EAA’s Director of Communications Dick Knapinski about the upcoming EAA Airventure July 24-30, 2023.  They discuss the Notice (or NOTAM) for flying in, what’s new this year and what can be expected at this year’s fly-in. https://www.instagram.com/takingoffdan/?hl=en https://www.instagram.com/pilotchristy/?hl=en

Dan Millican (@TakingOffDan) and Christy Wong (@PilotChristy) host In The Hangar with Designated Pilot Examiner (DPE) Joe Casey.  He answers Dan and Christy’s questions, gives tips and techniques, and then they open it to questions and answers from the studio audience.  If you have a checkride in your future, this is a “must listen” podcast.

Dan (@TakingOffDan) and Christy (@PilotChristy) discuss the darkest day ever for commercial aviation—March 27, 1977.  On the Canary Island of Tenerife, a KLM 747 and a Pan Am 747 had been diverted to the Los Rodeos airport after a bomb went off at the intended airport on Gran Canarais.  After sitting at the airport for […]

From the In The Hangar series, Dan Millican hosts Cameron Morrison, less than a week after his emergency landing in his Piper Comanche, with his wife and baby on board.  With nerves of steel, Cameron keeps his head cool when his engine suddenly stops working.  He declares a mayday and tries to make an airport […]

Brad Herbert (@bradvr4) has worked with Dan (@TakingOffDan) for over 20 years. And he’s always wanted to learn to fly. Brad has started taking flying lessons and recently solo’d. While on a trip from North Carolina to Texas in Dan’s Cessna 210, they take a few minutes out of the flight training to chat about […]

Dan (@TakingOffDan) and Christy (@PilotChristy) talk about the deadliest airplane crash in the United States—the crash of American Airlines Flight 191 at Chicago O’Hare on May 25, 1979.  The fully loaded jumbo jet experienced the separation and loss of the left engine right as the plane rotated on takeoff.  The pilots did everything correctly by […]

In one of our first In The Hangar shows, Dan Millican sat down with F-4 Phantom pilot Gary Pfleiger and F-18 fighter pilot Jason Gustin.  Hear their stories about raids over the jungles, tricky carrier takeoffs and landings, and how Gary moved from fighter pilot to the CIA. From our In The Hangar shows https://youtu.be/vVSDXcJ5n08 […]

@TakingOffDan is in the plane for this podcast with @JustPlaneSilly doing the flying and his wife Eren in the back.  They catch up on happenings at SUN’nFUN, the journey there and back, and most importantly, where Bryans best ideas actually come from.  There will be Air Traffic Control chatter going on the background as it […]

Christy (@PilotChristy) and Dan (@TakingOffDan) talk about how the new series “Pilot Life” came about and how long it took to get permission from Envoy and why Christy was reticent to film it. Christy talks about how hard it is to shoot video while being an airline pilot and what’s planned for the future with […]

From the very first In The Hangar, join hosts Dan Millican (@TakingOffDan) and Christy Wong (@PilotChristy) as they interview general aviation pilots who’ve had actual inflight emergencies. They share their stories of engines dying, emergency landings and more. Learn what it takes to survive an emergency while flying.