"There I was..." An Aviation Podcast

On a night flight to Grand Strand Airport in Myrtle Beach, SC, pilot Greg Duckworth experiences an engine failure in his Rutan Long-EZ. With a sea of city lights below, Greg must resort to quick thinking and help from ATC to find a place to land.

AOPA Western Pacific Regional Manager Jared Yoshiki recounts the story of purchasing his first airplane - a Cherokee 180. While ferrying it from Indiana to his home airport in California, things went awry.

CFI Bill Tomkovic takes a Cessna 172 flight for the purpose of breaking in a new engine. In an effort to complete the break-in faster, Bill opts to fly longer than he originally intended. Unfortunately, the airplane’s fuel consumption is higher than he expects.

Student pilot Bradley Riedle was performing touch and goes with his instructor when they experienced an engine failure in their Cherokee 140. Bradley discusses the aftermath of the event, including a hard landing that resulted in aircraft damage and a back injury, as well as some unexpected anxiety during his first flight after the accident.

Retired airline captain and designated pilot examiner John Blum tells the story of giving a multiengine checkride in a Piper Seneca, when a loud bang from the tail section of the aircraft derailed the flight.

In part 2 of this 2-part episode, we hear the continuation of a story from a backcountry pilot who was involved in an aircraft accident at Mile Hi airstrip in Idaho. The pilot explains the aftermath of the accident in dealing with the NTSB, the FAA, and his insurance company.

In part 1 of this 2-part episode, we hear from a backcountry pilot who flew his Carbon Cub into Mile Hi airstrip in Idaho, and upon touchdown realized he was not decelerating as planned.

A message to our listeners regarding the tragic loss of our host, Richard McSpadden, and an update on the future of the "There I was..." podcast.

Father and son duo Chris and Michael Easton experience a bird strike while flying a Cirrus SR22 from Bedford, MA to New Garden Airport in PA.

Cherokee 140 pilot Carl Hancock recalls a go-around near disaster when trying to climb in high density altitude with full flaps.

Utah GA pilot Lee Trotter tells a story from early in his flying experience, when he got mixed up in a thunderstorm.

While flying in instrument conditions at night, Mooney pilot Bill Fredericks wrestles with a faulty autopilot.

Eric Hinson, CEO of SIMCOM and former Navy pilot, experienced an engine failure immediately after takeoff in his Bonanza A36, while departing Orlando Sanford International Airport.

When Taylor Hash, a 21-year-old student pilot flying solo, lost her nosewheel on takeoff in a Diamond DA20, an experienced pilot, Chris Yates, witnessed the event and got on the radio to coach Taylor through a safe landing.

737 First Officer Ben Zwebner tells the story of a tense flight early in his aviation career, while he was working as a flight instructor out of Montgomery County Airpark in Maryland. While flying a photographer over Washington, D.C. in the Flight Restricted Zone (FRZ), Ben experienced an electrical fire in the cockpit of his Cessna 182.

This episode features part two of our interview with ferry pilot Kerry McCauley. In this story, Kerry flies across Africa near the equator at night, facing thunderstorms, no navaids, and dead-reckoning his way across political boundaries.

On a cold January evening, pilot John Berman was flying his Velocity XL aircraft from Liberal, KS to Santa Fe, NM when he encountered severe icing.

NTSB Vice Chairman (and former senior leader of the AOPA Air Safety Institute) Bruce Landsberg comments on the 2019 Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX crash findings by Ethiopian authorities who downplayed training and other human factors.

Ferry pilot Kerry McCauley recounts a night flight in a Cessna 210 over the Sahara Desert, en route from Morocco to Ivory Coast, when he lost his alternator.

After a November afternoon flight with his father in the Boston area, GA pilot Ken Urban has an unwelcome encounter with a deer on short final.

New Hampshire-based pilot Derick Jones was flying his Cessna 172 to Lawrence Municipal Airport in Massachusetts, in IMC conditions, when he experienced a complete electrical failure.

GA pilot Devin Miller, first featured on the podcast in 2019, joins us again to talk about a more recent incident – an engine failure while flying a PA-34 Seneca III.

Regional airline pilot Cody Goodan tells the story of an incident he experienced shortly after earning his private pilot’s license as a senior in high school. During a series of touch-and-go’s in a Cessna 172 carrying 3 friends, the combination of weight and density altitude resulted in disaster.

Michael Koury tells the story of flying his Cherokee 160, VFR from Sun Valley Airport in Arizona to St. George Regional Airport in Utah. With only 15 miles remaining in his trip, Michael suddenly found himself in blizzard conditions and zero visibility.

On a November afternoon, pilots Paul Loewenstein and Larry Suter, both members of the Northern California Soaring Association at Byron Airport, took off just a short time apart from each other in separate gliders. While both heading toward nearby Mt. Diablo, the two gliders experienced a mid-air collision.