we found all this stuff fascinating. So we
said, ‘Why don’t we use the technology that’s
out there to share it?’”
Thus was born Oddball Pilot—or, to be
exact, OddballPilot.com.
“Most people you talk to who are learn-
ing to fly are thinking ‘airlines,’” Aidan says.
“They think they might have to fly sky div-
ers, or in Alaska, to get that airline job, but
the airlines are where they think they need
to head. But you’ll fly more, and be a better
pilot, if you don’t go to the airlines. And
really, an airline job is not that interesting.”
Oddball Pilot, he explains, is an attempt
to provide inspiration and information for
people dreaming about, or looking for, non-
conventional flying jobs. It offers stories and
profiles of pilots doing adventurous flying in
various parts of the world, a growing direc-
tory of operators around the world who
employ pilots in oddball flying jobs, and
information on the reality of what various
“oddball” pilot jobs—and the lifestyles that
come with them—are like.
Aidan in the western village of Wales, Alaska.
A good bivy on a winter attempt at the Pallisade Traverse, Sierra Mountains, California.
the pilots on Flying Wild Alaska. He told me,
‘Yeah, my character on the show is really
interesting.’ Meaning that they edit the show
to make it exciting, but it doesn’t reflect the
reality of what those pilots’ lives are like.”
Having had a few flying adventures of
my own, I know exactly what Aidan means.
The reality of any “adventure” is not only
rarely comfortable, it’s also rarely anything
like you imagined or fantasized it would be.
That’s not to say I wouldn’t do it all again.
It just helps to go in with your eyes at least
halfway open. Which is one of the goals of
Oddball Pilot.
“No matter how adventurous something
sounds, when it’s a job, it becomes a job,”
Aidan cautions. “And there are downsides to
any of these jobs. You think, ‘If I get a flying
job in Alaska, or Africa, at least it won’t be
boring.’ But you can still be plenty bored—
just in a different way. There’s a lot of
waiting around in a lot of these jobs. On the
other hand, you’re using your skills in really
interesting ways, and there’s a lot of satisfac-
tion in that.”
One pilot who found the website sent
Aidan an e-mail saying he was 55 and his
youngest daughter had just graduated from
school. He asked if it was realistic to think
about getting a flying job in Alaska.
“I told him yes,” Aidan says. “But I also
told him that these jobs are blue collar and
very hard, 10 to 12 hours a day, and he’d be
living in a frat house, because in Alaska
there’s not a lot of good housing. So if he
was married, it could be hard on his family
life. On the other hand, I said he could
make good money ($70,000 to $100,000 a
year) for two weeks of work a month. And if
he’d been fantasizing about doing this for
his whole life, then for that reason alone he
should do it.”
Not all adventurous or non-conventional
flying jobs are as rustic as Alaska, of course.
“We had no idea that there were so many
interesting, bizarre jobs out there,” Mike
says with a laugh. “And that goes for pilots of
all experience levels, too. Aidan will hear
about something, and start researching it,
and we’ll discover there’s a whole industry
we didn’t even know about. Like this guy
flying gliders in Hawaii. We looked into it
