I Learned About Flying From That

In this episode of the I Learned About Flying From This podcast, host Rob Reider interviews Heidi Porch, a retired airline pilot who survived a harrowing emergency landing in the Pacific Ocean. For a pilot who admitted a lifelong fear of swimming, Heidi details the technical and psychological challenges of ditching a Cessna 182 during a ferry flight from California to New Zealand in 1984.

In this episode, host Rob Reider speaks with Kevin Winder, a veterinarian and pilot from Alberta, Canada, who experienced every pilot's nightmare: a total engine failure during a routine cross-country flight.

Former Army helicopter pilot and fixed-wing aviator Jim Desmond returns to I Learned About Flying From That to share a harrowing story from March 1973. While attempting a flight from Fort Riley, Kansas, to Colorado Springs, Jim fell victim to a severe case of "get-there-itis."

Spatial disorientation accounts for less than 10% of fixed wing GA accidents; but among those, the fatality rate is 90% - a horrible statistic that hasn’t declined in the past two decades even with significant advancements in avionics. Host Rob Reider chats with Dave Speranza, who at the time was a non-instrument-rated pilot who inadvertently found himself in IMC. He’ll share how it affected him and how he handled the situation.  Sponsored by Avemco

A “time-saver” offered by ATC might not have been a good idea for the pilot and his wife en route to the Bahamas, putting them farther over water than they’d like and into weather they didn’t expect. Instrument-rated private pilot Kevin Reick shares that story with host, Rob Reider, and another from his instrument instruction when the cockpit got as dark as the night sky they were flying in. Sponsored by Avemco