Fighter Pilot Podcast

U.S. Air Force Reserve fighter pilot, Justin "Hasard" Lee, describes his career flying the block 50 F-16 before transitioning to the F-35 and ultimately starting a compelling YouTube channel. His exploits and many lessons learned are captured in his book, The Art of Clear Thinking. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-fighter-pilot-podcast/donations Learn more about your ad choices....

Retired U.S. Navy fighter #pilot, James "Slug" Kidrick, makes a case for aviation museums and how to keep patrons, besides just children, walking in the door. Slug had a hand in making the necessary arrangements for a San Diego Air & Space Museum F-14 Tomcat to appear on an aircraft carrier flight deck for the first time in more than a dozen years. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/t...

Retired U.S. Navy captain and MH-60 Seahawk pilot Alan "SugarBear" Worthy explains how military forces and weapons systems designed primarily to destroy and kill are also used to help and heal during natural disasters and humanitarian crises.  Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-fighter-pilot-podcast/donations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Miss the old show format where Jell-O answers listener questions and makes announcements in his usual quippy style? Well, you're in luck! This week he and guest co-host Ken Katz catch up like old times and clear out the mail bag. Then Ken interviews civilian test pilot Shannon "Bam Bam" Lunsford on the careful considerations and risk mitigation strategies employed when flying a prototype aircraft...

Former U.S. Navy A-4 Skyhawk, A-7 Corsair II, and F/A-18 Hornet pilot Jerry "Lefty" Schubert stopped by the show during a 2020 Happy Hour to share stories on grit, Naval Aviation, and fatherhood. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-fighter-pilot-podcast/donations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Designing and flying a vehicle intended to travel at five times the speed of sound or more presents significant challenges—add a human occupant and the stakes go even higher. On this episode, former U.S. Air Force B-52 Stratofortress pilot Daniel "Doc" Millman, Ph. D, now of Stratolaunch, joins guest cohost Ken Katz to discuss the challenges of hypersonic aircraft design and flight, and how the U....

Retired US Navy Captain Tom "Trotts" Trotter describes flying the beloved F-14 Tomcat and how it compares to the F/A-18 Hornet, then attending TOPGUN as one of the first Hornet students and later commanding the school. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mr. Tim Kinsella joins former U.S. Air Force Flight Test Engineer and Fighter Pilot Podcast cohost Ken "Primetime" Katz to discuss the various non-intrusive ways aircraft structures are tested in development and throughout the aircraft's service life. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-fighter-pilot-podcast/donations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Former U.S. Air Force F-16 Viper pilot Jeff "Tico" Tice was callsign 'Stroke 1,' the flight lead for the ill-fated "Package Q" strike on Iraq just days into Operation Desert Storm in 1991. Stroke 3 miraculously dodged multiple Iraqi SAMs and made it home safely where his HUD footage became a sensation. Tico was not so lucky... Read about Package Q here. Watch the Stroke 3 video here. Support this...

Former U.S. Air Force cargo pilot Bob Strang describes flying the beloved but not-well-known C-7 Caribou on risky resupply missions during the Vietnam Conflict, often landing on extremely short runways freshly cut from the jungle with no navigational aids or runway markings—all while being fired upon by the enemy. Visit the C-7A Caribou Association:http://www.c-7acaribou.com/ Support this podcast...

A discussion on how the next generation air dominance fighter will redefine air warfare with retired U.S. Air Force General J. Mike "Mobile" Holmes, hosted by Matt Arny. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-fighter-pilot-podcast/donations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

U.S. Army Reserve Lieutenant Colonel Trey Williams joins Retired U.S. Army CW5 (and future Army Aviation Hall-of-Famer) Stan Wood to discuss the Night Stalkers of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) and their role in the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu immortalized in the 2001 movie, 'Black Hawk Down.' Be sure to visit and contribute to the Night Stalker Association as well as Trey'...

Scott Chafian and Brian "Sunshine" Sinclair return to introduce Authentic Media, a game-changing subscription service providing exclusive military aviation content and community. Authentic Media subscribers will enjoy access to audio shows offering historical perspectives, detailed engineering, and personal stories—all curated by experts in the field. Subscribers will also be part of a thriving co...

Former U.S. Air Force F-15, F-5, and F-16 pilot, and Fighter Weapons School graduate, Fred "Spanky" Clifton, describes flying the MiG-29 Fulcrum as a Luftwaffe exchange pilot following German reunification after the Iron Curtain fell. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-fighter-pilot-podcast/donations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

U.S. Air Force Colonel (sel) Tom "WCMD" Meagher and former U.S. Navy Lieutenant Beau "Stewie" Griffith describe how advancements in technology, electric propulsion, and government / industry partnerships are accelerating development of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. Learn more about AFWERX here: https://www.afwerx.af.mil/ Agility Prime: https://afwerx.com/agility-prime/ Su...

A discussion on how advancements in autonomy, automation, artificial intelligence, and other technological advancements are influencing warfare. Guest host Matt Arny interviews retired U.S. Army Colonel Brad Boyd of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. Sponsored by National University. To find out more, visit nu.edu. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-fighter-pilot-podca...

U.S. Navy Captain and Fleet Logistics Multi-Mission Wing Commodore Sam "Flesh" Bryant describes how the introduction of the CMV-22B Osprey as a replacement for the C-2A Greyhound is changing the nature of aircraft carrier operations and, specifically, the carrier onboard delivery (COD) mission. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-fighter-pilot-podcast/donations Learn more about you...

Retired U.S. Navy Commander and two-time Blue Angels demonstration pilot Jerry "Turkey" Tucker describes flying airshow performances first in the F-4 Phantom II and then the A-4 Skyhawk, even years later after a fatal mishap caused him to be drafted back on the team. Visit the website of Ryan Nothhaft, grandson of Blue Angels' founder Butch Voris, here. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle....

Former U.S. Air Force F-4 Phantom II pilot Dee "Bones" Conger describes his military career and how he adapted the fighter pilot ethos into his business endeavors on this first episode in our new video-centric format. Visit Bones' fixed base operations, Circle Air Group, at Gillespie Field (KSEE) in San Diego, CA and online: https://www.circleag.com/ Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com...

Fighter Pilot Podcast friend and mentor Rob Kibbe of The MuscleCar Place returns for a year-end look at 2022 and what's in store for 2023. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-fighter-pilot-podcast/donations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aircraft carrier landings are generally regarded as one of the most difficult—and dangerous—activities performed in an airplane. Turn out the lights and add some ocean swell and these landings are downright treacherous. But with recent technological advancements comes a system that so simplifies and improves the safety of these landings that the U.S. Navy is exploring doing away with carrier quali...

November 23rd marks the release of the second great Naval Aviation movie of 2022, Devotion, except unlike the previous--this one is based on actual events. Korean War F4U Corsair pilots Jesse Brown and Tom Hudner became the U.S. Navy's most celebrated wingmen for events expertly described in a book of the same title by Mr. Adam Makos. On this episode, our warbird cohost Trevor "Boat" Boswell retur...

The Benefield Anechoic Chamber located at Edwards AFB, CA, is the world's largest anechoic test facility capable of supporting and handling virtually all DoD aircraft. The facility and its hard working staff test avionics systems in a secure, controlled, and repeatable electromagnetically controlled free-space environment using state-of-the-art simulation technology that closely duplicates real wo...

September 18, 2022 marks the 75th birthday of the U.S. Air Force and to celebrate, the FPP team created this special episode featuring many of our past USAF guests sharing their thoughts on this momentous milestone. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-fighter-pilot-podcast/donations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pitch, roll, and yaw are familiar concepts to most pilots and aviation enthusiasts accustomed to flight in the earth's atmosphere, but how do astronauts control a 250,000-lb, mach 25-traveling spacecraft when trying to dock to an equally speeding and even larger space station in low earth orbit? On this episode, retired U.S. Marine Colonel fighter pilot and NASA astronaut Doug "Chunky" Hurley join...