and realized that flying gliders for scenic
rides is a really interesting oddball flying job,
and you don’t even need a powered airplane
license to do it.”
“Everybody has their own definition of
adventure,” Aidan adds. “A ferry pilot might
pick up a plane in New Jersey and end up in
the Middle East a couple of days later. If
you’re flying a Twin Otter in the Caribbean,
the routes might be the same every day, but
you’re on the beach every night.”
“In some cases,” Mike explains, “it’s the
flying itself that’s non-conventional. In
other cases, it’s the location where the flying
takes place, or allows you to live. And in oth-
ers, it’s the purpose of the flying that makes
it so interesting.”
The road to all of those adventures and
opportunities, however, is less straightfor-
ward than a more conventional flying
career. And generally speaking, getting
hired requires personal contact with the
people doing the hiring. Aidan got his first
break by getting a job as a line guy at an
airport with a drop zone. He already had
a commercial pilot certificate, but it
wasn’t until he wandered over to the jump
school and spent time casually talking
with the instructors, and did a few jumps
with them, that they offered him a job as a
jump plane pilot. And it wasn’t until he
actually went to Alaska, knocked on
doors, and went through a bush flying
school there that had a relationship with
a small airline, that he got his first
Alaskan flying job.
“For a lot of these flying jobs, you don’t
need to be the best pilot,” Aidan says. “You
need to have the basic technical skill to do
the job, but you really need to be able to get
along with the other people. If they don’t
think you can do that, no matter how good a
pilot you are, they don’t want you. And they
can’t tell that from a résumé.”
Oddball Pilot doesn’t use breathy super-
latives to lure pilots into dreams of
adventure. And it doesn’t enhance the reality
of adventure flying with the aura of constant
excitement that cartoon books, reality
shows, or even adventure novels employ. It’s
an attempt to convey realistic information
about what’s out there, what the flying, life-
style, and pay for those jobs are like, and
convey some general advice for newcomers
from pilots who know something about it.
But that doesn’t mean its creators aren’t out
to inspire people.
“As a kid, it’s great to have fantastical
fantasies,” Aidan says. “But when you’re
older, you also need to have more nuts and
bolts. I’m inspired 100 percent by reality. I
think real adventure is way better than
comic book adventures.”
“It’s like Richard Dawkins’ book,
Unweaving the Rainbow, which talks about
the scientists who research the workings of
the universe,” Mike adds. “People ask them
if understanding the scientific processes
takes all the art and wonder out of it, but
they say not at all. Understanding how all
the mystical and magical processes work
makes it all the more magical.”
Which would make Oddball Pilot a bit
like the Hubble Telescope, I guess. It’s an
attempt to bring distant fantasies into
clearer focus, so potential explorers can
ponder whether they want to go visit any of
those places in person. After all, somewhere
between fantasy and reality is where possi-
bility lies. And it’s the realization that life
contains more possibilities than limits that
sets a person free.
Lane Wallace, EAA 650945, has been an aviation columnist, editor, and author for more than 20 years. More of her
writing can be found at her blog, www.NoMap-NoGuide-NoLimits.com, and at www.TheAtlantic.com/lane-wallace.
