Like George Costanza pulling a golf ball from a whale's blowhole, Ben emerges from a harrowing 3.5-hour IMC flight through icing conditions with quite the tale to tell. Our intrepid Atlanta pilot finds himself wondering "did I get away with one? This sparks a deep dive into normalization of deviance, expanding personal minimums, and whether Ben just wrote "the first line of his NTSB report."

Brian continues his quest to become qualified to "give bad information for small amounts of money" as an instrument ground instructor, while Ted battles the "Mississippi River pointed at the Northwest" and installs stripped hex screws.

The crew tackles thoughtful listener feedback about pre-flight anxiety and the existential dread of pursuing aviation as what outsiders might call "the Midlife Crisis Podcast." Plus, planning continues for "The Thaden Invasion" fly-in at KVBT - a very GA-friendly airport that's excited to host the podast and community... for now.

Mentioned on the show:

* Wikipedia - List of social generations: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation#List_of_social_generations

* Beresford Research - Generations defined by name, birth year, and ages in 2025: https://www.beresfordresearch.com/age-range-by-generation/#:~:text=Generations%20defined%20by%20name%2C%20birth%20year%2C%20and%20ages%20in%202025

* Side view of The Hollywodo Squares: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059995/mediaviewer/rm648494848/?ref_=tt_ov_i

* The Finer Points on the Oscar pattern for IFR flying: https://www.learnthefinerpoints.com/articles/the-oscar-pattern

* Checkmate Aviation IFR, Oscar pattern on back: https://www.checkmateaviation.com/products/checkmate-ifr

* Oscar pattern graphic: https://www.reddit.com/r/flying/comments/13hnvzo/oscar_pattern_graphic/

* Flight Insight, the VOR Flower: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mm7XxyzZFh0

* EP36 - CFI Jeff Ramsey, Frequency Change Aviation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgaNuf5gCCo

* Seinfeld, "The Sea Was Angry That Day My Friends": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2a3TZC69tSg

* Psych Safety - The Challenger Disaster: Normalisation of Deviance: https://psychsafety.com/normalisation-of-deviance/

* Blancolirio on the N2345R Montana fatal icing encounter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkSM531bYzs

* Ben's video, "Pushing the Envelope" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9cvl1LJV1Y

* Big Bird was nearly on the Challenger: https://www.history.com/articles/big-bird-challenger-disaster-nasa-sesame-street

* Performance Pilot by Ross Bentley and Phil Wilkes : https://bookshop.org/p/books/performance-pilot-skills-techniques-and-strategies-to-maximize-your-flying-performance-phil-wilkes/1d2cd7f443b0d5ca

* The Calm Cockpit podcast: https://calmcockpit.com/

* Tammy Barlette's Crosscheck mental performance training course: https://www.crosscheckmentalperformance.com/

* Crosscheck training course and group: https://www.skool.com/crosscheck/about?ref=f15fa026369c49dfaf275891f87f1f26

Join us on Patreon, get event info, merch, and more:

www.midlifepilotpodcast.com

1DullGeek casually announces he's signed a contract for a Czech-built TL Sparker and will spend a month in Prague building it – because apparently "24 cubic feet of cargo space" (more than his compact SUV!) justifies international aircraft construction. The only minor detail? He has absolutely nowhere to hangar this composite beauty that "costs more than his house." Cue the deep dive into "Hangar Hell" – where waiting lists stretch to 2038, car detailing businesses occupy hangars, and Mark realizes he's been "a wholesale menace in every capacity to an airport." Meanwhile, Brian's gone full on into written tests, knocking out instrument ground instructor and fundamentals of instruction in two weeks because "the sponginess of my brain is kind of working at the moment." Plus: heated seats, cup holders, and the eternal question of whether N633K (a.k.a. "N-GEEK") will ever see the inside of an actual hangar.

• 
  

• Upcoming Event:

  • The Thaden Invasion Fly-In - March 13-15, 2026, Bentonville, Arkansas (VBT)
  • RSVP at midlifepilotpodcast.com - "If half the RSVPs show up, we're gonna have a real good time. If more than half show up, it'll be a disaster."

  Support the Show:

  • Patreon Community
  • Merch Store
  • Website: midlifepilotpodcast.com

  Mentioned on the show:

  * Mark's new plane, TL Sparker: https://tlsportaircraft.com/sparker/

  * Risen Aircraft: https://www.flyrisen.com/

  * Roy "Deacon" Qualls, Pilot's Edge: Think, Train, and Fly Like a Pro: https://amazon.com/dp/B0FY26ZJJM

  * CGI, Cape Girardeau Regional Airport: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Girardeau_Regional_Airport

  * Garmin GNC355: https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/689774/

The spotted cow tradition lives on as the crew discusses building instrument flows (Wendy's "source-morse-course" wisdom), why updating flows is harder than you think (law of primacy), and the great EFB pricing debate (Sky Demon €120 vs ForeFlight $370+ in Europe). Plus: celebrating no-go decisions as bigger accomplishments than completing flights, Ted's minimalist wedding where the Uber driver waited outside, and why being in aviation has made Ted realize there's a countable number of summers left in his life—a perspective his 18-year-old brain never understood.

In this episode:

• "Source-Morse-Course" - Wendy's instrument flow (identify source, check morse code, set course)
• "I need more flow, not more to-do lists" - Brian's IFR struggles
• Law of primacy: How hard is it to update flows once you've learned them?
• Ben's multi flow stuck in his head: "Mixtures forward, props forward, throttles forward, identify, feather, verify"
• Building the helmet fire muscle through repeated exposure
• Sky Demon €120 vs ForeFlight $370+ in Germany (3 more hours of flying time difference)
• Richard Yankee88: Flew to New Orleans, drove to Texas instead of flying - "That's a bigger accomplishment"
• Doug F: "I loved my private checkride. Someone wanted to ask me aviation questions!"
• "Maybe I'm overthinking this" - The most midlife phrase in Discord

Great moments:

• Ted's minimalist wedding: "The Uber driver was waiting. That's how long my ceremony took" (5 people total)
• "We have a 50% success rate for anything we talk about" / "We're like a broken clock—right twice a day"
• Notice of Disapproval pads: New merch idea
• Garmin sponsorship dreams: "Everybody has a price" / "Refurb 430s for everybody!"
• Alternative sponsors: "Icy Hot? That's more realistic"

Thaden Invasion: March 13-15, 2026 at VBT, Bentonville, Arkansas - RSVP at midlifepilotpodcast.com (parking limited!)

Mentioned on the Show:

• EP114 with Checkmate Barry
• CheckMate IFR Checklist
• Garmin Pilot
• New Glarus Spotted Cow Beer
• blancolirio on the N2345R PA-23 Montana icing crash
• ASN entry on the crash

Support the Show:

• Patreon.com/MidlifePilotPodcast - Discord access & checkride debriefs
• MidlifePilotPodcast.com - Merch & Thaden Invasion RSVP
• youtube.com/@midlifepilotpodcast - Live Mondays 8PM ET

10% of Patreon proceeds support Freedom Aviation Network's anti-human trafficking efforts

Closing wisdom: "A good laugh and a long sleep are the two best cures."